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Oh Buttered Rum, How I love thee….. Creamy, buttery, sweet, coconutty, and something ‘otherly’ that must be rum.

And I am eternally grateful to my generous Canadian tea drinking friends who have helped supply my addiction! Thank you to Ottawa Tea, Uniquity, and the most recent package from aisling of tea. I do think I could be bribed to do just about anything with the promise of Buttered Rum. (I probably shouldn’t have said that!)

A recent tea splurge….and my tea of the afternoon. The first thing that comes to mind is the roasty, nutty notes in tea without the chocolate notes that I am typically drawn to in a Chinese congou. It kind of reminds me of walnuts, of which I am not really a fan. The leaves are long, thin and very dark. The liquor brews up much lighter than I expected. The jury is still out on this one, so I will hold off rating for a while. I think I need to play around with my brewing parameters a little.

24 oz teapot, freshly boiled water, 4 actual tsp tea, 4 minutes.

Tea of the afternoon…. I am almost out of this! Gah! Thankfully, I have a tin on its way.

Honeyed smooth tea. Very relaxing, and just good. I don’t get the bite of the Assam this time, but I did lower the amount of leaves from the last few steeps. I also think my water was not quite as hot…..

24 oz teapot, 3 1/2 actual tsp tea, water at about 195, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

We have another winner. This is very good. I like this blend better than the Florence blend, but I am so happy that I don’t have to pick just one. Rather than messing with premixing, I have just been adding the scoops to my teapot before brewing.

Chocolatey with a light hint of rose, and it packs the yerba mate energy punch.

24 oz teapot, 4 1/2 actual tsp Valentine’s Blend from Harney & Son’s, 1 1/2 actual tsp Roasted Yerba Mate from Upton, 5 minutes, freshly boiled water. Lightly sweetened.

I got a sample of this is my last Upton order, and am finally getting the guts to try it. I have not really had good experience with lapsang souchong tea, but then my sources were not one of my now favorite vendors. Also, I have read some really good reviews on this one from Daulton and mrawlins2, so I figured this was the one to try.

Definitely smokey, but it is also sweet. This is a lapsang I rather enjoy! I am not sure it is an everyday tea for me, but I need some in my cupboard. On the shopping list it goes……

24 oz teapot, 4 actual tsp tea, freshly bolied water, 3 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

My afternoon pick me up…..

I always like this one. I think I might have to try it iced at some point. Full berry flavor and just yum.

EDIT TO ADD: Their delivery service is appalling. I cannot in good conscience give this tea a good rating. Service = 0, the tea was about an 80.

Along with the Countess Grey, this was my other requested tea from the friend who went on a trip to London. I do love Keemuns. The leaves are a little smaller than I thought they should be. I am wondering how this compares to Hao Ya B as it is definitely more intense than my English Breakfast from Harney. It has just a little more bite than I would like.

24 oz teapot, 4 1/2 actual tsp tea, 4 minutes, freshly boiled water. Note to self: go lighter on the leaf and shorter on the steep. I think it will be even better.

I am kind of second guessing this choice, mostly because straight teas don’t vary a great deal from vendor to vendor, even though there is some variance in quality. I have a pretty good stash of Keemun, and am planning a grand Keemun side by side sampling at some point to work out the nuances of each variety for myself. The tea is wonderful, but I wish I had stuck to requesting something that is just from Fortnum & Mason’s Picadilly offerings. There are a few varieties of this company offered in the States at Williams- Sonoma, so I did try to skip over those for now. I guess my advice to take away from this…if you have the chance to get tea from a place once in a lifetime, it is probably better to stick with their specialties.

My morning blend. Still good, and my favorite of the yerba mate blends I have tried with Elyse in close second.

This pot of tea has been a long time in the making….

EDIT TO ADD: Their delivery service is appalling. I cannot in good conscience give this tea a good rating. Service = 0, the tea was about an 80. I loved the tea gift from my friend and wanted refills. See the places section for Fortnum & Mason – online for my review.

First of all, a dear friend was making a trip to London this past month where she usually stops at Fortnum & Mason. I asked if she would mind picking up some tea for me. After perusing the site, this is the main one I chose. It is a light and citrusy twist on Earl Grey. I really like it (which is good because she bought a big tin)! The bergamot is light and it almost tastes like there are lemons in there! Refreshing! Kind of like Lady Grey from Twinings but better.

24 oz teapot, 4 1/2 actual teaspoons tea, freshly heated water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

The other part of this was my new electric kettle.
Aside: I did buy an inexpensive plastic one on vacation last week because we did not have a kettle of any kind at the lake, and I was not wanting to pour boiling water on the counter every time I made tea (pouring boiling water from a saucepan is tricky and somewhat dangerous.) The plastic electric kettle was cheaper than the stovetop one at the store. Now, I have a serious electric kettle dependency…It is so fast! I am saving the plastic one for travelling.
Back to the story: I ordered the Adagio VarieTEA last May as a gift for my birthday and it arrived today. Thoughts on the Adagio kettle> Pretty slick. I was a little concerned when a few reviewed it on Adagio’s site and complained of leaking. So far, no issues, but if I had them, I am pretty sure Adagio would make it right. The buttons on the front are just touch sensitive and don’t really press. The only plasticy parts on it are the handle and a removable filter near the pour spout which is out of the way of the heating water. I am guesssing this gets pretty hot on the outside, and it was heavier than the plastic one, which is pretty much expected. The fill guage is under the handle and not super easy to read, but it works. All in all, I am happy with it, as long as it does not leak. I like that it has several setpoints at 150, 165, 180, 195, and 212, and a keep warm feature.

I am trying this one out today from our discussions about Harney needing an Earl Grey Cream or an Earl Grey Vanilla.

Today I tried 2 parts Earl Grey Supreme to 1 part Vanilla Black. It is pretty good, but it seems light on the bergamot. It is still pleasant, but I am thinking I could handle the flavors being just a little more intense. I would try a different ratio, but right now the vanilla is about right. Has anyone tried Harney’s regular Earl Grey? Is the bergamot more intense in it?

It does seem like a sophisticated version of my Metro Earl Grey Creme, and certainly much more grown up tasting than Upton’s Earl Grey Creme Vanilla (which reminds me of creamsicles). I woud likely drink this again, which is a good sign…..