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Made this for someone new to loose leaf tea tonight. I love sharing the goodness! She was amazed at how the flavor changed after each steeping, and liked each steeping very much. Hopefully she’s hooked! :P

Upping the rating on this one; adjusting the steeping times to longer made the difference. The sweetness stood out more, and that nummy sesame seed oil vegetable taste stayed longer.

Finishing up my sample of this from Teavivre. It smells so good! I grew up across the road from a farm where they bred and raised Percheron horses; when we mowed our lawn we used to bag it and run over to the fence and throw it over for the horses. They loved that stuff, and we reveled in being so close to them! This tea smells like the fresh mown hay. And if this is how hay and grass tastes to horses I see why they like it! :)
The first time I drank this I didn’t pick up on the saltiness as much; now it’s apparent to me, especially in the aftertaste. Numm.

I wish Tazo would make this tea in their loose leaf line. Its one of my favorites by them, and one of my favorite bagged teas. It’s pretty light, with a nice fruity aroma. It’s easily oversteeped; good with milk and honey.

I was all afraid this tea wouldn’t be as flavorful today; I discovered waaay too late that the seal on the bag it was in wasn’t sealing properly. :( So then I put it in a container and this is the first time I’ve had it since. Thankfully, it’s still good! It may have lost a teeny weeny bit of its butteriness but I still like it. Phew! Lesson learned to double check seals!

Thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for this one!
When I first got into loose leaf I didn’t think I would ever appreciate tea bags again! But, they do have their place. I don’t like brewing up my favorite loose leaf when I’m heading out the door, for example, because then I forget to put the leaves in the fridge to brew later. And that’s very sad. That’s where tea bags come in!
I’ve never had tulsi before and I’m really enjoying this blend. It starts out minty, then lemony, then gingery, and then finishes off with cinnamon and pepper. I am a big fan of cinnamon! And pepper. This would be the perfect beverage for a sore throat or stuffy nose. It’s rainy here today, which is welcome relief from the heat, and it’s perfect tea weather. Mmmmmmm. I think in the future I would like to try more tulsi!

Went camping in the North Dakota badlands this weekend! We go there to mountain bike the Maa Daa Hey trail, which is always an adventure! We brought along several friends, some who had never done anything like it before. It started out so great..and then it got BLAZING hot. We were about 5 miles from our campsite when it was over 100 degrees. And when I say 5 miles, I mean 5 miles of crazy difficult uphills and hairy downhills. Being from up north, we just aren’t used to that kind of heat, especially while exercising!! Let’s just say, even though I brought along my tea, I didn’t get any tea this weekend. Too stinking hot, and no energy to make iced tea. Advice for any aspiring bikers: go in the early morning, or evening! Even though we felt like we had just survived the end of the world by the end of the bike ride, we had seen some pretty amazing scenery. Stuff you just don’t see unless you get out there and find it! I was hoping to see mountain lion tracks, but alas. We saw some scat however that we thought was probably mountain lion..that’s just not as cool. :P We did see a little horned toad tho! Everything else was probably too smart to be out in the sun. :)

On to the tea. This is my first Lu An Gua Pian. The leaves are dark green, long and twisted. Aroma of the dry leaves is nice.
First steep, I am sadly underwhelmed. Perhaps I didn’t use enough leaf? It has a very nice full mouthfeel but little flavor. Any flavor I am picking up is mildly vegetal and sweet. I notice the leaves haven’t un-twisted yet, so maybe that’s why.
2nd steep I went for two minutes. The leaves are unfurling more now, so maybe now the taste will amp up a bit……..There is more flavor than the first steep but it’s still very light. My tongue is tingling a little, and the sweetness is still nice. It’s just so mild! It’s a little strange. It feels so full in the mouth but the taste is so quiet……I am liking it more and More as it cools. The mild vegetal taste reminds me of good garden cucumbers. Very fresh. No bitterness as of yet.
3rd steep 3 minutes. This is probably my favorite steep. Very pleasant. Very silky. Nothing about this tea is over the top. I would view this as a contemplative tea, one to take the time to sip while sitting on the front porch. I don’t have a front porch, but that’s what this tea is made for. :)