CharlotteZero select Send Message

I’m bumping this ones rating up a bit because it’s a solidly nice tea. I finally have a day off work, and I’m trying to organize my teas a bit and give some away which I know I will never get around to drinking. I’m also watching the second part of “Kind Hearted Woman”. I really enjoy these David Sutherland documentaries, and they’re best watched when Casey isn’t around. The last movie he picked out to watch was Troll Hunter, and he still wants to see “I, Frankenstein” despite nearly unanimously atrocious reviews.

My mother and stepfather just got back from Hawaii on Wednesday. I asked them to keep an eye out for any Hawaiian Tea while they were there, but this is the only one my mother came across. (I also got two jars of honey and a bunch of macadamia nut foodstuffs, so I’m not complaining!)

I usually don’t like anything with hibiscus, and this is no exception. It reminds me somewhat of the one hibiscus tea I do like (Tazo’s Passion Tea), but it doesn’t have enough sweet fruitiness to balance out the sour of the hibiscus, rosehips, and the lemongrass. This is going up on the swap thread to give away…

Haha. I definitely just published this note and then immediately changed my mind. I’m going to keep this and give away the Tazo. I’m liking the non-sweetness of this as it cools, and I think it would be great with some orange slices to give it a touch of sweetness. Also, these teabags are a much more convenient size for me, as it is doubtful I will ever want to drink the 2 quarts of tea the Tazo bags make.

This is my favorite Red Blossom Wuyi oolong tea. The first steeping tonight brought back the smell of my friend Meghanne’s plum kuchen- a dense cake covered in plums and cinnamon glaze. I have to say goodbye to this, as the rest of off to thegreenteafairy.

Yum. This one is delicious. I only had about 14g left, so I used 6g of it for a gong fu session so I could finally log this tea, and the rest I will send off to thegreenteafairy. I will have to order more of this someday, but I am trying to work on not hoarding tea…

I’m bumping up the rating on this tea just a little bit. It is very nice, and has a wonderful aftertaste.

This was a sample from the RoT catalog. I just can’t stand to throw out perfectly good tea, so I decided to get this over with and make it this morning. I had recently subjected myself to Teavana’s Pumpkin Spice Brûlée, and when I when I smelled this tea bag I expected a similar super artifically-sweet cloying mess. I was pleasantly surprised that the flavoring was a relatively clean nutty vanilla. I still wouldn’t ever pick this up. The black tea base is pretty flavorless, but it’s maybe convinced me that vanilla + black tea isn’t always distasteful to me.

This is smooth, not at all fishy, and has some pleasant “river rock” mineral notes. The first steep made my throat feel somewhat dry. The second steep was darker and had a slight sweetness. There’s also a bit of a saltiness to it as well. Ok. My mind is going blank. That’s all I’ve got!

Yum. I’m really enjoying this tea. I’m a sucker for a strong cup of assam, though, and this one is certainly that. It was really nice to have after a bowl of homemade Massaman curry over rice. This isn’t too bitter or too drying. It’s a nice smooth cup of tea.

Yesterday I did my taxes and was sad to discover that I owed A LOT in state and federal taxes. I’d thought I’d be getting a refund, because when we set up payroll services through Paychex, I told them I’d prefer them to deduct too much as opposed to too little. (Insert your five favorite expletives.)

Casey was so nice to me, though. He saw that I was sad and went online and bought me the FORLIFE glass teapot that I’d been eyeing, but hadn’t purchased because I’d promised not to spend any more money on tea or teaware until my birthday in March. I completely forgot about the taxes owed and was suddenly feeling incredibly fortunate.

I had this last night. I brewed it Western style, but I can’t remember the exact specifications. It brewed a good pot of tea, despite the fact that this one is really best using gong fu brewing. I was so tired last night that I didn’t finish it, but it’s still nice this morning. I may keep some of this before sending the rest off to greenteafairy.