330 Tasting Notes
SIPDOWN!
I have emptied the tin. Yay! It’s all right, but not my favorite holiday-themed tea. And the tin is massive, and takes up too much tea cupboard real estate, so I am happy it can be removed. I am trying to think of a use for it, or if I should just put it in the recycling bin.
This is one of the teas I picked up in the UK back in May. This is one of the few herbal teas that 1. I enjoy hot, and 2. doesn’t taste like wet washrag! Yay!
I brewed it up, added a bit of sweetener, and am sipping it down, enjoying each sip.
While it was steeping, I took a stroll outside to take a peek at the supermoon. I saw no capes. But it was nice and 14% brighter than average :)
My last mug of this – all gone now! I liked this for a work tea, it is good enough for my tea snobbery, but not so good that I am wishing I could point my full attention at it for enjoyment. A good background tea.
Now I have to figure out what to bring to work to take its place; in the meantime, while I inevitably forget to choose and then forget to bring whatever I choose, I have a tin of Twinings loose Earl Grey.
My second packet of this from one of the Steepster Select boxes.
I felt like having something greenish this morning, something I could drink without milk and sugar, unfussy. This was a good choice. I had meant to try brewing this second packet in a gaiwan, but I forgot. That’s all right, because I got lots of flavor out of it this time.
Light & floral, with a sweet finish. A little on the dry side. I am enjoying it though.
Happy Valley Darjeeling by some tea place in Kansas (received in a swap).
Not great. Maybe I just don’t like darjeelings. I don’t seem to ever find any love for them!
This stuff wasn’t full leaves, it was all cut up leaf bits – not tiny ones, but still not full leaves.
I think I will give this away to my friend Robin.
I forgot to brew myself some LS when I had my BBQ the other day. Oops. So I had some this morning with my savory oatmeal – steel cut oats with ham and cheese. Yum. Good pairing.
Now I’m slowly sipping the rest of the pot down as I wait to see if my right eye is going to calm down any. I have yet another eye infection. Ugh. I had big plans for the day too! I wanted to go to a new exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art of works on paper; with a metal concert tonight. Now I’m putting drops in my eye hourly and hoping allergy pills and ibuprofen will convince the swelling to go down.
/whinge
I have at least enough of these leaves left for another pot on another day, and then a whole envelope of a Mandala LS to try out soon. I shall LS again! :)
Flavors: Pine, Smoke
Preparation
I brought this into work to replace the Chocolate Energy Tea that I used up yesterday. I brewed it in my ForLife brewing mug. This time, I am catching the smokiness that didn’t come out the last time. Not as much malt or cocoa, but I like the basicness of it. I think this will make a decent work tea. And hey, the cupboard at home continues to get roomier!
I mixed the last of the Chocolate Energy Tea by Tea Man with a little bit of Twinings loose Earl Grey. I wasn’t sure it would taste decent, but there wasn’t enough of the Chocolate to brew by itself. It’s actually not bad. The chocolate is pretty strong, so it actually muted the bergamot, if you can believe that!
So that clears out a tin in my drawer at work; I need to figure out what to bring in to replace it. Probably the Harney & Sons holiday tea. That should be fairly quick to run through since it’s a bagged tea.
Just one more day in the office this week, then a work-from-home day, and then a LONG WEEKEND! YAY!
One of the projects I want to tackle this week is to re-inventory my tea cabinet, and start making up a list of what to restock and what to look for come September.
backlog – tried to review this on Sunday, but Steepster was down.
I ripped open the packet and took a sniff… asparagus? This definitely is more like a green tea than a black tea. Brewed it up, still smells like a vegetable garden.
Seemed a bit light, but maybe I just don’t get along with Darjeelings. I’ve never had one I really liked :( I will probably give the second packet away to my tea-loving coworker.
