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This is the first time I’ve had Rishi’s Masala Chai tea. Upon opening the canister, I was hit by the yummy spicy smell and the lovely assortment of spices. There seemed to be more of spices than actually black tea. I’ll begin by saying that it was indeed a yummy tea but my preparation of it needs to be tinkered with. I brewed it by the “cafe style tea” instructions on the canister. The amount of tea seemed like a lot to me but I thought I’d try it. I can safely say I’ll be using at least half of that amount next time I brew it. The tea came out strong and I had to put in more milk and sugar than I’ve have liked to use. I think my rating will go up a bit once I figure out the optimal brewing method for me.

Large, round, light blue-glazed pottery mug. 2 tbsp. 3/4 water, 1/4 milk.

So… We picked this up on sale at Earth Fare, our regional Whole Foods-type store. We thought it might be soothing for sick or rundown days. This morning I woke up after a poor night of sleep and I was sniffle-y and scratchy throated so I thought I’d give a try. I added the recommended two tsp of small pellets to a mug of hot water and it barely had any taste. After some addition of tea pellets, I figured out that it should have said 2 tbsp. Or my taste was quite impaired by the sniffle-y-ness. But still: YUCKO! It was bitter, herb-y, and had an unpleasant aftertaste. I didn’t finish my cup. I might not even try this again. I might just throw it out. I do not recommend it.

White Mepkin Abbey ceramic mug. 2 tbsp. Instant.

I had my possibly second from last or third from last cup of this tea this afternoon. I’ve been trying to use it up for awhile but now that I’ve finally figured out how to brew it (higher water temp and less time) I’ll be sad to see it finished. That said, I probably wouldn’t buy it again.

Grey, teal, and maroon striped pottery mug. 1 tsp.

Btw, love the new Cupboard and Discussion. Now I have to decide if I want to log all my teas into my Cupboard. I have a lot and it would be a project. I also might have to change my Steepster routine. I used to check my Tealog, then my Dashboard for the last 24 hours, then the Tasting notes for the last 24 hours. Now I have to add Discussion in there somewhere and I’m sure I’ll be a bit addicted to the Latest Activity stream when I’m on.

I brewed a small pot of Sencha to drink while catching up on stuff at my desk. It started out a bit bitter but as my tongue got used to it, it softened nicely into a decently yum cup. This tea has always left a little tea leaf residue in the tea but there seems to be noticeably more in this pot.

Robins-egg blue teapot. 2 tsp.
Cream pottery teacup.

Chris and I share a pot of Blood Orange Black this morning.

I’ve had this tea for awhile and did not like it. I had been trying to drink through it so not to waste tea because it wasn’t awful. The blood orange had just been coming out so bitter and astringent that I had been picking the pieces of orange peel out. I was left was an okay orange-y black tea.

Since Steepster, I’ve been experimenting more with tea steeping times, water temperature – which dramatically changed my liking for different types of teas, and amount of tea used. I tried brewing the Blood Orange Black at only 3 minutes instead of 5 – I used to think I liked really “strong”, longer brewed tea before the above experimentation – and it was like drinking a different tea. It’s still not a favorite but it’s immensely more drinkable and one of the few blacks that remains in my tea cabinet. I have been hinting to my husband that I’d like the Damn Fine Tea duo that has gotten some rave postings here for our “dating” anniversary on the 17th.

Not too long ago, I didn’t think I liked white tea. I hadn’t really drank it much. Now this tea is one of my favs and half the canister is gone. I’m also surprised to find that I can actually tell if I made the tea badly. Water was a tad to hot. Tea was a bit too brewed. But still yum.

Small robin’s egg blue teapot. 2 tbsp.

New cream pottery with dark brown speckles teacup that I brought from the farmer’s market just this morning.

Getting rid of a slight headache finally. Enjoying this tea for the second time. Yum!

Deep blue pottery mug. 1 tbsp.

Second brewing. 5 minutes 30 seconds.

Headache all gone now. Enjoying a nice salad of romaine, spinach, spring mix, cumber, scallion, radish, tomato, and ginger dressing.

Third brewing. 6 minutes.

This should tide me over until dinner is ready and my husband wakes up. He’s on nights for the next two weeks so later dinners to let him sleep a bit more. This might be the best brewing of the batch.

Last year, Teavana had a tent at our local farmer’s market and was selling 1 oz tea sample for a dollar. I swear I got this mango green tea from them there but I had moved the tea into a small container once I only had a few portions left so I don’t have the bag to look up the tea’s name. I search Steepster. I looked on Teavana’s website. It had to be called something else or discontinued. This is bothering me.

On to the tea, it tastes of mango and I can tell it’s a green. A bit sweet, a bit more fruit, a decent amount of vegetal bitter. A yum drink.

Deep blue pottery mug. 1 tsp. Gently steaming water. 1 minute.

Today I tried a tea my mom brought back for me from her vacation in Nashville, TN. My dad and her decided to take a long weekend and see the area, for no reason other than that they’d never been before. This is the first tea I’ve logged on Steepster that I haven’t had before.

Generic sencha taste, not strong. Non-descript tropical flavor, no one fruit stands out. Decent, not good, not bad.

Large pottery moose head mug. 1 tsp. Gently steaming water. 3 minutes.

I didn’t think I liked white teas. In fact, I didn’t think I liked this tea. But two days ago, I had it again for the first time since I started paying attention to water temperature. Delish. Light, grassy/vegiteal, and easy to drink. I’m adding it below the oolong on my this-is-all-I-want-to-drink list.

Standard mug – blue pottery. 1 tbsp. gently steaming water. 5 minutes.

Second brewing. 6 minutes.

I was hoping to try a third brewing but I fear I might be tea-d out for the evening.