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Tea of the morning….

I have not had this one in a while. It was buried in the recesses of my stash. I do have to say that I think the flavor has definitely gotten lighter over time.

I guess this should be a PSA: Drink your tea before it loses its flavor!

What I have left is not undrinkable, but the light floral of the jasmine is now so light that it could be mistaken for the sweetening. Fortunately, it is a good tea base and I can still drink it. I have a few other teas that are on the ‘chopping block’ this week. I am so happy to finally be getting the stash into a reasonable state, though I still have too many favorites.

Tea of the morning…..

I am onto a new Franken Breakfast Blend. The last batch got over smoked by some Lapsang Souchong (and that will permeate everything in the blend, so go very, very sparingly if you blend with smokey teas as they take over!) Right now it is 2 parts Mountain Rose Herbs Assam, 3 parts China Panyang Congou from Upton, and 3 parts Gen Ben Shi, a Yunnan from Upton. At one point, I was going to give this whole blending thing up, but today I am glad that I did not.

The resulting blend is very good. Smooth, malty, cocoa-noted, and cozy. Not a hint of bitterness or astringency. There is a slight difference in leaf size on these three teas, so I did my scooping from the bottom of the tin (the Gen Ben Shi is a huge tea!) It also reminds me that I probably need more of the Congou at some point as it is perfect for blending tea and smoothing everything together.

Usual teapot method.

Another cup of the afternoon…..

I have some very interesting samples from Upton. This is the first of about three, I think. I love Golden Monkey, so I thought this would be a perfectly fun choice for me.

The leaves are long and there are some golden leaves. The scent of the dry leaves is earthy and of dark cocoa. Brewed up it very much reminds me of the black dragon pearl teas. Dark cocoa notes, definitely toasty. Not as sweet as the Golden version, but still very good. I am not sure I need this and my black dragon pearl tea, but it was definitely worth a taste.

Usual mug method.

Second tea of the day…..

My first pot of tea today was Harney’s Hong Tao Keemun. I did not really have time yesterday to sit and enjoy it, but I did today. I am to the point where I think it is definitely a rebuy for me, and hopefully before it goes out of stock again. I remembered that I had a few ounces of Hao Ya A from Harney back in the recesses of my stash, and decided that it was time to compare the two. I know the last few times I had this tea, I over steeped and used too much leaf. Today I did it right….a little lighter on the leaf and less time on the steep. This one is over 2x the cost of Hong Tao, so I would expect there to be marked differences.

Cocoa notes, a little smoke, and remarkable body. This one definitely has the edge in body/mouthfeel. So rich tasting. The leaves are actually longer in the Hong Tao, but that could be my fault in storage as the Hao Ya A has been in my stash for at least a year. I am sure I would get a small tin of this, too, if it were currently in stock. I just love a good China black tea. I am upping the rating on this one.

Mug method, scant measures on the tea and slightly shorter on time.

Backlogging my tea of the morning…..

There is a new black tea in my stash. I loved the Hong Tao from Upton, so I knew I needed to give this one a try. This is smokier than my Keemun Mao Feng, but it does have notes of cocoa and earthiness and definitely has some body to it. It makes a great breakfast tea to get me going for the day. I am not sure it is different enough from other things I have in my sash to buy more, but I have almost 3 ounces to figure that out. Stay tuned.

Usual teapot method.

Hot cuppa the evening….

It has been a long day. Ever have one of those days where the events of the morning seemed to happen yesterday? I have not had one in a while, so I guess it was my turn. I really wanted some tea, but I know I will regret it later when it finally comes time to go to sleep tonight. This is totally working. It is filling my need of something sweet/spicy and comforting.

I am still confused how we had temps of 85 and I was melting two days ago, and today there has been snow. Please, can we have some Spring weather. I don’t like the summer to winter thing we have going right now.

Usual teapot method…heaping scoops and 7 minutes.

Tea of the morning…..

I have been revisiting a few of my black blends from the Millerton Shop. This one I can happily drink. The first one I rechecked (Anniversary Blend) is a little too strong and heavy on the Assam for me. If I have time, I will post something on the appropriate page. Often, I only post a review if I have something worth saying about a tea.

While this is not my everyday tea, I could see purchasing it again. I think it is a blend of 4 teas (Ceylon, Keemun, Oolong, Assam), and if I recall, it is the same tea they bagged for the RMS Titanic Tin. It is rich and smooth with a well rounded flavor. It is not heavily cocoa noted the way I love my tea to be, but there is still something special about it.

Usual teapot method.

Cuppa the late morning….

Every once in a while I need something kind of sweet. This helps with the craving a little, but I think there are better teas for that purpose. I am finding that my love of flavored teas is definitely waning, so take that into consideration with my review.

I get light notes of coconut and chocolate first, with just a hint of almond. I do feel that an overdone almond flavor would ruin this for me, so a hint works well. I am not wowed by this, but it is pleasant enough to finish the ounce of tea I purchased. I am very thankful for the amounts of tea Della Terra offers for sale as it makes it easy to try many teas guilt free.

Usual mug method heavy on the tea measured.

Cuppa the afternoon…..

I received this tea as a gift for being a good dog sitter last week. I have to say, I was pretty excited, even though this is bagged tea. I am thinking some loose leaf from Charleston is on my wish list. I do find it very good and satisfying. I would not call it a tea for my tea snob days, but it is a very basic black. I am thinking it would also make a stellar iced tea. It is so cool to have tea grown within driving distance of my house, even if it is a 10 hour drive!

Mug method using only 8 oz of water and one tea bag.

Tea of the morning…..

I love that Upton labels tea, including samples with the date you ordered them. I must have been shuffling this sample around in my stash since last June. It fared better than most as I gave a ton of unopened samples to my knitting friends since the kidney stone last fall. This one definitely held interest for me to keep it around that long. Unfortunately, Upton no longer has it in stock, but that does not mean I cannot enjoy this while I have it.

Leaves are pretty short like a BOP. There are a few golden tips, hence the name. It must just be a lower grade of golden monkey. Right now, I am just kind of sad I did not try this sooner, because I know I would have bought some. It is very good. Smooth, malty, cocoa noted. Yum!

I love it when Upton gets interesting black teas in. I have about 4 more samples to try from my last order and they include a black monkey, a black tie guan yin, and another snail tea. Bliss for a China black tea drinker.

Usual teapot method.