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Day # 5 of 24, and tea of so late in the day I think it will probably keep me up……….

This one comes to me from teawing. Thank you! I have to admit, the more teas I try from Twinings, the more I realize I dismissed bagged tea way too soon. It turns out, I never had the steeping right and always used too much water. This time I was sure to use between 6 and 8 oz of water rather than the 12 or more I used to use in my pre-loose leaf days.

I am drinking this one straight up. I like the mellow taste of this. It is not as full tasting as the Keemuns I usually drink for breakfast tea. However, this one is smooth and light enough to drink on its own. I wish I had more to say about it, but alas, it is gone…… I will definitely look for Twinings when out and not able to get my usual loose leaf. They seem to be pretty reliable for good tea.

8 oz water freshly boiled, one teabag, 4 minutes. Straight up.

Day #4 of 24 and tea of the afternoon……

This tea comes to me from Dinosara and her round the world travels. Thank you! I really like this. It is a fruity/floral version of Earl Grey with a light hint of vanilla. The tea base does look a bit more like a Darjeeling than a Chinese black tea. It kind of reminds me of Viennese Earl Grey from Harney & Son’s, but with a lot more flavors going on. It amazes me that even with all those flavors, they seamlessly complement the tea base. If I ever do order from Mariage Freres, this will be on my list. Very relaxing and enjoyable.

15 oz mug, 2 tsp tea, 209 water, 4 minutes. Very lightly sweetened.

Tea of the afternoon……

And day #3 of 24. This came from QuiltGuppy. I am trying to branch out into oolongs and greens as I am normally a die-hard black tea drinker, and she was gracious enough to send me a generous sample of this tea in a swap. Thank you, QG!

This is surprising. I get a light floral, creamy aroma. It kind of smells like butter. And the taste is also kind of creamy and buttery. The liquor has a thick taste….thicker than just water for sure. Very pleasant and refreshing. I can drink this one straight up….no additions.

15 oz mug, 185 water, 2 1/2 tsp tea, 3 minutes.

(I am holding off on a rating as I am certainly no oolong expert……)

Tea of the morning……

I got my first samples from thePuritea yesterday, and this one has been calling my name. (Thanks to those who posted about their recent offering of free shipping….it definitely helped!) I would call this something in line with Gongfu Black from Zhi, although it is slightly maltier and less chocolatey, and is very smooth. It is very cool to watch the pearls unfold. Definitely on the shopping list for my next order.

12 pearls in my 24 oz teapot (this was the entire sample), boiling water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened. Will be trying a resteep of this one….it might be the edge this one has over the Gongfu Black which is not a great resteeper.

ETA: Yep…the resteep for 6 minutes was just as good as the first….

Day #2 of 24………

This sample comes to me by way of Jillian. (Thank you!) I do get kind of a mangoey peach taste along with the herbal taste of the green mate. Actually, this mate is pretty well done and just tastes like a light fruit tea. Thoroughly enjoyable!

24 oz teapot steeped the usual way…..

Tea of the morning…..

Happy Dance! I have a tin of this in my cupboard! I love it when I can get this excited about a tea that is so affordable. Don’t get me wrong, I love my more premium teas and savor every sip, but I consider the affordable ones my lifeline. (Also, I have to give kudos to Upton for their extremely fast shipping!) I love that you don’t have to spend a huge amount of money to have good tea every day.

This one is everything a good basic Keemun should be. I did finally find my samples of Hao Ya A and Hao Ya B grades of Keemun, so I am incredibly excited to see how they compare. (I can’t include those samples in my 24 teas, though. My rules for that group of teas was that it had to be an offering or trade from someone else, and not something I paid for with money.) If I don’t get to them sooner, I am going to have to do a huge run of all the samples I have purchased and not gotten around to trying……maybe a “New Teas for the New Year”?

Tea of the evening…..

Actually, I am not sure it is this one or Candy Cane Lane from Celestial. They are pretty much interchangeable, and match up exactly ingredient wise. This was the tea that started the tea obsession in my adult life. When they were out of it for the season at Trader Joe’s, I researched by ingredient list which lead me to Candy Cane Lane. (I am guessing that Celestial repackages for Trader Joe’s.) It is funny that they were sampling this out at TJ’s today, and made me decide to drink this one for this evening.

Lightly mint, with a touch of vanilla or something close….. still probably my favorite green, but I am learning to branch out.

4 bags in a 24 oz pot. 185 water for 3 minutes.

Hello 500! And tea of the afternoon……

I owe the consumption of this tea to the lovely ashmanra. She sent me a sample a while ago, and that is the reason this tea made it onto my most recent Harney order. Thank you, again!

Love this….cocoa, honey, slight smoke, and yes, I still get bacon. Yum!

Steeped in the teapot by the usual way…..

Tea of the morning……

And Day 1 of my 24 teas of Christmas. I am just trying to finally get to a good portion of the samples generously sent to me by my Steepsterite friends, so it also becomes a counting of blessings, really. (And yes, I am counting up to Christmas, just because that is the way my family celebrates the season. Please don’t take that as a slight that I don’t respect how you spend this season.)

This tea is really good…..berry notes, a little almond, a little breadyness. Full mouth feel and a tea base that complements the flavors. A little lighter than something like Paris or Fruits de’Alsace from Harney, but still very present. Well done. I have a few more samples from this company sent to me by Dinosara along with this one , and I cannot wait to try them all!

Steeped the usual 24 oz teapot method.

Tea of the late afternoon……

Mmmmm. Harney Lychee tea. This one just gets better all the time.

Full pot…steeped the usual way.