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Swap from TastyBrew. Thanks, TastyBrew! This one smelled really good, and malty. It tasted like a really good black tea. Couldn’t really discern specific notes brewing it western style. I also added milk, so that could be the culprit, but I wanted milk this morning, so there! ;) I think I’ll try the rest of it gong fu style, since TastyBrew had such good luck with that!

This is yummy. That is all for now. ;)

Have you ever made a cup of a tea you really liked, but this particular cup sucks? I just did. I made some of that dragonwell tea from some unknown tea plantation in China, and it tasted awful. Perhaps my steeper still had residual from my steeping of Aztec Spice, even though I washed it? Perhaps my mug had residual, even though I rinsed it? Maybe my honey is getting too old? Maybe my taste buds are off? OR, maybe I subconsciously didn’t want that tea at the moment? Anyway, it was gross. So sad.

In other news, I created a spreadsheet of my tea inventory! Yay! I was worried that I was starting to lose track of some teas, and I was right! I have A LOT of little amounts of different teas. So, it’s pretty cool because I can sort by company, by type of tea (black, oolong, etc), by amount, and by a rating. I created a new rating system for the spreadsheet: Favorite, Good, Okay, and Yuck! Lol! Favorite and Yuck pretty much speak for themselves. The difference between Good and Okay is whether I might buy it again. Now I just need to organize my physical cupboard better!

Holy sweet spice! As TastyBrew said in her note to me on this tea, it’s kinda strange! Thanks, TastyBrew for the surprise sample! I kind of like this strange tea! I didn’t realize it was a puerh until I looked it up. The first spice that hits you is the cinnamon, but this tea has a whole lot more going on. It’s definitely spicy, but kind of in a chai sort of way, with a little heat. I think the chocolate rounds it out. It is not a subtle tea. Best when you need a little punch!!

Stacy generously provided a sample of this tea in my last order. I was excited to try another Butiki black tea. Unfortunately, it was not the tea for me. It tasted kind of fruity and sweet. Fruity black teas are usually not winners for me unless they are more of a dark berry fruit flavor. The description describes a peachy note, and after I thought about it, I could discern it. The tea does have a nice creamy feel, but the fruitiness didn’t work for me. It was fun to try though!!

Stacy gave me a sample of this tea in my last order. It seems to be the base for the caramel vanilla assam. It reminded me a lot of laoshan black from Verdant, but I think I like this one better. It has malty cocoa notes, and a little raisin sweetness. The second steep included more of a honey note, similar to laoshan black. I think I like this one better because it seemed to be more smooth, especially if you compare the first steeps of each tea. I’m a little surprised that such a bold malty flavor is the base for the caramel vanilla assam, because you’d think that the flavor would overpower the very natural-tasting flavor of the caramel and vanilla. I added a little sugar, but no milk. Really good morning cup!

This is the one tea I took a chance on and outright bought a package of it. I’ve had it a few times now, and didn’t log it, because I couldn’t decide what I thought of it. This morning’s cup was the best I’ve had it. Steeped it for the recommended 4 minutes, with soy milk and sugar. Delicious! I still think the raspberry flavor is too pointed, like not as rounded out with the vanilla as I was hoping. I don’t really get a cake quality from it, but it is supposed to be sponge cake, which is light and airy, instead of buttery and rich. I’m just really glad that I found a way to like it, especially since I have so much. It would have been a serious bummer if I didn’t!!

Enjoyed this tea more yesterday. I think I was expecting it to taste like Nutella, and was disappointed when it didn’t. However, I am comparing it to the Nutella available in the U.S., which I think may be different than the Nutella I became acquainted with when I visited Europe. That was more than 10 years ago, so I can’t remember, but it’s probably less sugared-up than the U.S. version, which, btw, I eat frequently. ;) So now that I’ve changed my expectations, I like this tea. It’s really good with milk and sugar and steeped 4 minutes. I think steeping it at 5 minutes, as directed by the label, makes it too bitter, astringent.

Had this sample from bluebird last night. It was pretty good. It kind of reminded me of mother’s little helper. The peppermint definitely dominated, but it was also soothing (maybe due to the chamomile?) I haven’t had straight chamomile tea, so I’m not sure. I would have liked a little more liquorice flavor, though. Overall, It’s a good night-time tea.

This is quite good. Definitely on the sugary side though. I really liked the blend between chocolate and pumpkin pie. Nice and complex. I gave a cup to my coworker, who also liked it and said it gave her the idea of drizzling chocolate over an actual pumpkin pie. I then thought of the idea of making pumpkin pie with a chocolate graham cracker crust! Yum! We both agreed that it was good with or without milk, although I think I prefer it with milk. ;) I’m so happy I got some of this!