So I have been at the in-laws in Indiana for four days and thus far I have brewed no tea, Thursday I had a migraine and blamed it on withdrawal. Now the mother-in-law does have a cast iron tea pot, I bought it for her, but there was no visible kettle and I just didn’t ask. This morning though I grabbed a pan and a couple pouches of tea I knew would be good iced, that I knew the m-i-l would like and that I wanted to use up (actually I only brought teas I wanted to use up, with the goal of bringing none of them back, I’m a little behind so I have some catching up to do.

Now the in-laws are having a garage sale, with a lemonade stand (country time powder bleh) so I thought a nice pitcher of Strawberry-Lemonade would be great to have as an alterative out there. I emptied the entire 2oz into a giant glass measuring pitcher, added a few teaspoons of German rock sugar and boiled my water. It was a tiny pan, the only clean one and came out to only 18-20oz, I let it steep for 15mins, poured it over a pitcher of ice and it only filled the thing half way. I tasted it in a shot glass, not bad… but I had a pot of Youthberry that had just finished brewing a couple mins ago that I was going to cool in the fridge and bring out later. I poured a bit into the shot glass with the strawberry, much better!

I don’t care whether it sells or if my in-laws end up drinking it all. They think it’s delicious and their not wrong, it a much better combo than the Youth/Wild Orange or the Straw/Blueberry, but still I say good riddance to you free online sample pack and gift set packet! Also I’m glad they got brewed seperate at their recommended times and temperatures, plus more tea liquor! I will be so glad to get back to my tea stash and wares when I get home though.

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Druid, artist, poet, mum, lover of tea, ritual and myth. I grew up on Celestial Seasons herbals but fell in love with straight loose leaf tea working at my local Teavana for a year. I am grateful for the introduction and the experience, but have moved on.

I see tea as an experience for the senses, I like to imagine tasting the land and the weather as well as the effect of sun, air, fire and the human hand. I have a soft spot for shu pu’er, yabao, scented oolongs, wuyi oolongs, taiwanese tea as well as smooth naturally sweet blacks, creamy greens and surprisingly complex whites.

I began ordering lots of samples from Upton to educate myself on different varieties of tea we didn’t have at work and have fallen head over heels for the unique offerings from Verdant Tea. I am learning things I like: buttery mouthfeel, surprising sweet or spice notes, woodiness, mineral notes, depth and complexity and things I don’t: astringency, dry and sour notes.

I collect tea tins and am in danger of collecting pots, though I am trying to restrain the urge due to current lack of space. I brew mostly in a glass infuser mug or a tea maker, only using cast-iron for company now (still need to get a gaiwan) and tend not to sweeten my teas unless they are British or fruity and iced, which is not often.

As far as ratings, I lack a definite system and haven’t been assigning numbers lately, wanting to spend multiple sessions with a tea first. I usually only log a tea once, unless it is a new harvest or I have significantly different observations, but will go back and edit or comment if I find something interesting or new.

Location

Baker Street, Berea, Ohio

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