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Tea of the morning……

I am recently back from vacation. I will admit that I don’t drag the tea paraphernalia along with me any more when I travel. Just a few tea bags make their way into my luggage, and even then, I usually just drink coffee. Vacation is time for a change of pace. However, I am definitely ready to greet my tea stash when I get home. It is right up there with getting to sleep in my own bed. Both make me happy.

This is a tea that I thought I could finish up and eliminate from my stash. I know you hear lots of that from me. I mean, how many black teas does a girl need? In a quest for simplicity, I am trying to reduce, but most of the tea I have now are favorites, or very close to them. My last pot of this seemed too earthy and brisk. I am thinking I must have had an issue with my parameters. My guess would be that I added too much tea.

This pot is perfection. Malty breadiness, honey, light cocoa, and yum. How could I ever think I could live without this?

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning….

Another sample from my last tea adventure from Upton. Originally, I was not going to take the time to add it to the database, but then I got further into the cup. Rich and complex taste. Deep. Kind of a coffee drinker’s tea. It does remind me quite a bit of Black Dragon Pearl tea. But with a hint of chocolate and roses. Yes, this one might need to make a home in my stash for a while. More data needed!

Usual mug method.

Tea of the morning…..

Happy Mother’s Day to all the women out there. And I mean all the women, because I am sure at one time, you made sacrifices for another. We are kind of wired that way. So, I raise my cuppa to you and say, Thank you. Someone out there comforted me when my own mother passed, another brought a few meals when my children were born, another listened to me when something weighed heavily on my heart. You are all remarkable regardless of whether you have children, or a living mother. And don’t forget it.

I picked one of the teas I hoard for today and made a whole glorious pot. It is wonderful! So, I say, today, drink the good tea!

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning……

And this is the end of my sample. I really do like this one, but not sure it is worth the cost. It is like my favorite Keemun Mao Feng without the smoke note. Smooth, cocoa-noted, and malty. I do still get a little bit of a floral note at the end of the sip. I suppose I would consider buying it if I did not have a stash full of other wonderful teas. Tasty, but not remarkable.

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the afternoon……

I have had this one for a week or two. It is a generous gift from Angel at Teavivre. Normally, I am not a drinker of green teas, but lately I am trying to eat more healthy. One thing I remember about the short time I did try to learn to like green teas was that I did like them best without additions. I know I sound like a broken record when I mention that I am trying to cut back on sweetening, but I thought it was time to give green tea another go. For certain, Teavivre carries fantastic green teas. And after this one, I am intrigued once again.

Lightly steamed asparagus and clarified butter! Very brothy and full tasting. The leaves are a gorgeous bright green and so aromatic on their own before steeping. Yes, I need some Dragonwell in my life again. I may not choose this one, but Dragonwell is definitely going on my list.

Second tea of the morning…..

I will admit it. I have been ‘re-interviewing’ my flavored teas. I am at a point where I don’t have much left in the way of flavored teas because I rarely drink them, so maybe my review doesn’t apply to most as I am not much of a fan anymore of flavored tea. I know I had fond memories of this one and bought some last April. To tell how interested I have been until now….I just opened the package today.

Call me a bit disappointed. The initial smell of the leaf was a little medicinal and artificial. I am hoping it just needs to breathe a little. It has never been opened, so it should not have degraded much. I do smell artificial chocolate in the brewed tea, too, and I can taste it. I did not go with the stevia sweetener, because I wanted this to be as close as I remembered to having it last. It looks to have a similar base as the TeaSpot’s Qu Hao Silk. I remember quality black tea with cocoa notes on steriods. I got quality black tea with chocolate and a hint of medicine. :(

Tea of the morning……

I am experimenting with sweeteners again. I did have some stevia from Trader Joe’s stashed back in the cabinet. I was doing pretty well cutting back on the Splenda, but I kind of think it eventually has to go, too. The stevia will help with the teas that are not as naturally sweet. One day I hope to take my tea without additions and love it that way. I am amazed how much my palate has changed since giving up sugar, grains and most sweeteners.

Anyway, this is always good. A solid Keemun. Smooth with a little smoke and cocoa. It would be worthy of restocking if they bring it back. I have about 7 oz. left.

Usual teapot method.

I have done the unthinkable for me…….I tried this shaken up in water. It is not as fantastic as a latte, but it still works! I am pleasantly surprised! Lots of spiciness with a hint of pumpkin. Mine is a small with robust flavoring.
1/2 tsp in about 8 oz water. I will be doing this again and trying it with my other flavors.

(I just noticed that the amount of tea must be at least 1 tsp. in the “How much tea and water did you use?” section. I think that placeholder there needs to be formatted to not round numbers….it rounded my 0.5 tsp to 0 no matter how I entered it.)

Second tea of the morning……..

This one and the herbal version have had a resurgence in my life. I recently gave up sugar and grains in my diet, and am trying to cut back on all artificial sweeteners. I am so grateful for this tea as its sweetness naturally comes from cinnamon. (Or at least I am hoping so, because it is a real treat these days!) I decided to stock up on some sachets for travel, too. Since most of the tea I drink these days are higher quality China blacks for which it is difficult to find in sachet form, this will be my tea for travel from here on out. I purchased the wrapped sachet form, too, which means I can always have a few sachets in my purse at all times. Easy. I know I could travel with all the tea regalia (and I used to!), but I tend not to want to make a mess wherever I go taking up kitchen space of those I visit. However, I will still take the electric kettle……

Tea of the morning…..

And I am now down to half of the sweetener I have been using. Luckily, a good quality tea doesn’t need much if at all in the way of additives. One of these days, I will be drinking it without additions. I just couldn’t do it cold turkey, so I decided to try to work my way down. I am not sure I would have even tackled it, but I am trying to cut out non-whole food kinds of things from my diet plus grains and sugar. Just in the week and a half I have been skipping the grains and sugar, I feel so much better. It makes me wonder if I had a wheat sensitivity.

Anyway, the tea is very good. Not as sweet potatoey as the golden tip version of this tea, not as earthy as the lower grade. I am going to refresh my memory on the other grades of this tea. I may be trading up my basic Dian Hong. Stay tuned.

Usual teapot method with a resteep at 6 minutes that is very good!