Czar Nikolas II

Not the greatest night’s sleep last night, and just woke up feeling a little off. You know, when you wake up stressed out for no good reason. It’s all the little things getting to me, I guess. This wasn’t quite the flavor I was hoping for this morning, but I like it and I have a lot of it left so I don’t have to ration. At least the roses are nice and perky.

I’ve been craving this tea all day. When I start craving a tea, it’s officially a top-tier choice. I almost made some this morning and decided to sip down another one instead. Now this hits the spot while I finish watching an old (50’s) film adaptation of Les Miserables. Which is not Russian. But yes. This tea goes well with old movies.

I really wish we had some clear or light-colored cups in the household. I can tell this tea has a really dark, opaque liquor; wish I could see it better.

The big honkin bag of this is my best impulse tea buy to date. I’ll be seeing more of you, Russian grocery store next door to my work.

Gotta love waking up with a headache… bleh. :/ Anyone got any good natural headache remedies? Ibuprofen works about 95% of the time for me, but I’d like to find something that doesn’t involve a blood-thinning pill.

Anyhow, this is such a great tea for a draggy morning. Potent enough to be a little bit of a wake-up Cher-slap, fragrant and rosy enough to be a treat. I still think it tastes like a different era in time. Definitely perking me up, along with my mood.

So after my serendipitous trial of this tea yesterday, I’ve been drinking it for the rest of yesterday and today. I think I shouldn’t overdo this tea, because it’s just distinctive enough I could make myself tired of it if I’m not careful. But still very delicious and brisk!

So yesterday, my day off, was supposed to be my R & R day. Well, until I got an email… there is a local professional (professional-level?) symphony orchestra that I’ve been helping to write program notes for; the lady who normally does it was my really awesome music history professor from college, and she knew I could do them because one of her assignments was to write program notes for the pieces we were covering. Well, the email was an offer for me to officially take over writing program notes, since she was no longer able to do it. Perhaps I should only be mildly excited about this, but I’m thrilled. If I could make a living writing program notes, I would. It’s writing, which I a) majored in and b) am good at (at least, when I try to do it well, not in my Steepster babblings), but it’s writing to help listeners appreciate what they’re hearing, not academic or jargon-y or intimidating. I get to talk about music; I get to research; I get to explain things in ways non-music people can understand and give tidbits of music history knowledge; I get to gush (in a professional and educational manner) about works I love and look for beauty in the ones I don’t; it’s everything I love and why oh why oh why can’t this be a living?

The only downside? First set of notes is due Friday! Aaaaaah!

So there’s a Russian grocery store right next to the store where I work. A few weeks ago while a friend was visiting, I went there for the first time in my 2+ years of working there… which was something the shop owner, who is himself Russian (or at least Russian-speaking), chewed me out for. “Two years?!? Typical American!” You got me, sir. You got me.

Of course, I can’t be in a store with loose-leaf tea without buying some, especially when I have no idea what to expect. So I got this! It’s nothing if not brisk. But it’s not your “typical” brisk black tea. There are these incredibly bright, perfumey notes I can’t identify (rose?) It’s something that I feel like I shouldn’t find pleasant, but somehow, I do. It’s hard to explain, but… it’s like I’m taken to a different time and place. Not to mention it’s a great wake-up tea.

Even though I was hoping I’d enjoy this tea, it truly is an unexpected pleasure!

Another sample to thank Nicole for! This one is wonderful! The dry leaves smelled really tart, and the tea itself had a fresh berry aroma. The flavor is initially very tart with a lemony finish. The aftertaste is of ripe berries with just a wispy hint of cream. With milk and sweetener, it becomes all strawberries and cream with just a little bit of lemon. This tea reminds me of a summer day with fresh strawberries and raspberries and a big dollop of fresh whipped cream. I would definitely order more of this one!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves with small orange safflower petals, large yellow sunflower petals and large blue mallow blossoms.
-Dry leaves smell tart and fruity. Tea liquor aroma is of fresh berries.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish brown color.
-Tart berry flavor with a lemony finish. Ripe berry aftertaste with a hint of cream.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Fresh berry flavor with a hint of lemon. Reminiscent of strawberries and cream.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Sunday, February 14th: Valentine’s Day – Tea #2
additional notes:  I was looking for my Harney’s Valentine’s tea for another obvious choice but stumbled on this tea that I forgot I had.  The Harney’s Valentine’s would have been another chocolate tea anyway and was already having S&V’s Valentines…  This is roses.  I have probably had both of these teas together on Valentine’s day before!

edited to add: past note says this once had a berry flavor. Definitely not here now. too bad it’s that old. Almost gone.

Another from the HH teabox. I recently had another tea from this company. This one features rose petals. The instructions on the bag say a steep for 5-7 minutes. That seems long to me – so I went for four. The flavor is a BIT rose petaly soapy, but I don’t mind. The black base is nice and there is actually a subtle sweet fruit flavor… maybe strawberries (which makes sense seeing as how it is called “Valentine’s”… that really improves upon the rose. The cup color is very dark but the tea didn’t seem to keep me awake! I might keep a few teaspoons of this and send the rest on its way…

Nicole, thanks again for these samples! There was quite a bit of this one, so I’m glad I like it. The flowers make the leaves interesting too. To me, the flavor is peach. Not the most authentic peach, but I know I’ve mentioned before that I had this really terrible peach tea once and since I like seeing the good in everything, that one terrible peach tea will now make all the others taste better! But the flavor blends really well with the black tea base — they really compliment each other!

Found this at my local (Newport News, VA) World Market for $5.99 (250gr).

Terri, thank you for this tea :)

It is nice to sip to this while listening to Ana Karenina (again).
After sipping, I breathe in and out and nuances i did not notice before were there! A little xylitol brings together the pleasant blend’s flavors and pushes it up to the surface.
Before the bit of sweetener, I thought this is a tea a man will like :) it is robust with a slight floweryness.
But for being robust, it does not have the strength that makes me back off from breakfast teas. This is a good tea to transition my taste buds into those and I imagine I will be liking those bolder teas in the future :)

And thanks for the sugar tip, yall! It is an interesting tea upon second glance. Im glad to have enough for more encounters with this Czar <3

oops, almost forgot the AK connection! i was just thinking, if Ana had had this tea, she mightve had more courage to survive thru her trials ^^’

…and here is the 2nd bubble bath cuppa.
I wanted something that would contrast the other cup, and here it is.
This is a potent black tea with highly fragrant Rose flavor. The last time I drank it was when we were reading “Anna Karenina”, as it was my pick for that book. And now, on to the hard work of taking a bubble bath…

Today I played for tea at a nursing home that I’ve played at monthly for years (I’m not sure how long, but it’s been at least 12 years). Every month I play there. Residents come & go. My current favorite is a gentlemen who loves my arrangement of ‘Misty’. I play it for him every time, & he knows it’s for him. We always give each other the nod. He told one of the employees there that him & I “know each other. We have a special understanding.”

I always bring tea with me, as the tea they offer is plain & bland. Today I was in the mood for this one. I don’t drink St. Valentine often, but when I do, I make it strong & sweet. It’s awesome! Very heady with it’s rose aroma, very potent. It’s almost Valentine’s day!

I like to play a lot of latin jazz, which the residents seem to really enjoy, and as I was playing ‘How Insensitive’ today, I thought of 2 gals that are no longer in my audience. They used to sit at the nearest table, and once when I was playing that song, they sat there with dreamy expressions on their faces, lips parted, eyes half closed. One gal turned to the other.
“This music makes me feel SO sexy,” she said.
“Ohhhhhh yeah” her friend agreed, her voice smokey & sultry.

I love my job! I can help two 90 year old ladies re-live the sexiness of their youth, just by playing a song. How awesome is that?

I just packaged up some of this to send to my fellow “Anna Keranina” friends here on Steepster (if anyone else wants some, just let me know).
Little Terri said, “Can we have a tea party now?”, so we did.

It is a very heady blend of black tea, roses, & fruit. Honestly, it’s not something I want to drink everyday, I’m not all that into flavored teas, but once in awhile it’s fun, & it definitely packs a punch.

Dear Ms. Bonnie,
Little Terri wants you to be her Gramma! She wants to dress up in one of her fairie outfits & come have a tea party with you. I’d also like to have a tea party with you someday! We are both thankful for this sample of yummy tea.

This is a robust & amazing black tea with highly fragrant rose petals, safflowers (I was looking at the tea & thinking, "Is that saffron in there?), & some mystery fruit (who cares what it is, it’s delicious).
Little Terri was complaining that we’ve been drinking entirely too much ‘grown ups tea’ lately, & I realized that she was right, plus I still have lots of interesting samples to try. We were in the mood for something sweet, & this hit the spot! Plain it is good, sweetened it is phenomenal! It’s flowery & fancy enough for little T, & bold enough to satisfy me. It looks like I’ll be having a cleaning party tonight, as I can also verify that it pack a punch in the caffeine department.

Another tea that has seemingly gotten lost in all the other tea. Thank you for the sample, Bonnie! I know I still have a couple more from you I haven’t tried yet so I will get to them soon too!

In the bag this smells like French candy. I love the violet ones but they are pretty expensive every time I see them. http://www.amazon.com/Anis-Flavigny-Candies-France/dp/B002WZF196

It really tastes like them too. It’s very floral, but so sweet. It’s not in your face with the floral notes, and it seems like some sweetness comes from some kind of fruit also. But I seriously cannot get over how much it tastes like that candy.

It’s pretty heavily flavored stuff, definitely not for anyone who doesn’t like rose especially. As for me, I will take it and hope I don’t buy a package of it off Amazon with next semester’s books. I got a C- in the class I thought I completely failed. While I should be pretty mad I got a C- I am not, because when you’re convinced you didn’t even pass, a C- is like an A+.

And thankfully that means I will not have to do that again in the summer ever.

Many thanks to Bonnie for sending this my way forever ago!

I left the leaves in for a little too long because (like always) I got sidetracked, only this time I didn’t hear the buzzer go off. It didn’t really do this tea justice. As a result, it got kind of soapy and there’ s a lot of uncomfortable astringency. I’m not going to put a number rating on this one because I don’t want it to be judged on my bad habits. However, I am going to try again because this tea sounds like it could be pretty tasty! Thank you Bonnie for the sample!

Picked this up with the Princess Noori at the Russian market today. Smells very strongly of fruit. Not sure what fruit, but definitely fruit.

Tasting it, I get berry. Reminds me of Lady Londonderry so maybe strawberry. It’s a good tea. Light and fruity. As it cools, it becomes more tart. I think I do want to try it like Bonnie did, with a spoon of cherry jam. I sure have enough to share if anyone wants any.

Picture of leaves: http://s1165.photobucket.com/user/dagony/media/Tea%20Stash/IMG_1989_zps2f512a55.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Recieved a sample of this from Terri the Harp Lady about 2 weeks or so ago, I’ve made it about 3 times now and I’m loving this, not an everyday type of tea, it tastes like rose perfume and medium to light black tea with a hint of some kind of fruit that reminded me of a sour berry. Today being Valentines day I made a tea bag with the loose leaves and a coffee filter before leaving the house and brewed a cup of this in my travel mug before starting my shift at work [I work retail and I find no matter what I’m doing I always get really thirsty at work so I carry my travel mug with me.
Delicious and it didn’t get nasty when it got cold like some teas.

Anyway, it’s too ‘perfumey’ when you drink it straight I find, though it might help if I was a bit more particular on steep times and temperature, of course if I do feel like I’ve ‘burnt’ or oversteeped a tea I do adjust. I take mine with two spoonfuls of sugar to even out the perfume taste and it works well.
steeped for 4 minutes in boiling water. anyway a delicious blend of loose tea and flowers.
Drink with love,
Audrie Rose

I had this earlier but want to make a note of it before I forget: this is really good! I didn’t know if I’d be crazy about the rose, bu it was really enjoyable. I wouldn’t to drink it all the time, but it will make for a nice treat.

Thanks Terri HarpLady

Another Anna Karenina tea for the book club discussion. Big thank you to Terri HarpLady for sending out samples of this one!

I knew that I would love this tea the moment that I smelled it. It has a deliciously sweet aroma, florally and a little fruity. The blend itself is very pretty with its pink and yellow rose petals and vibrant orange safflower, I think Anna herself would’ve approved of this tea based on looks alone! The flavor is nice and strong, with a sweet, jam-like flavor and a finish that reminds me of a rose perfume. It leaves a taste in your mouth almost like you’ve been drinking rose perfume, but it is so very good! This is a perfect tea if you enjoy rose flavors. Although this tea is naturally sweet on its own, I experimented with adding milk and sweetener and found that it’s best with both. The milk and sweetener somehow enhance the fruit and rose flavors together very nicely without taking anything away. I adore this tea and will certainly be purchasing some from Amazon in the near future ($8.99 for 8.8 ounces – perfect!).

-Dry blend has medium size black tea leaves, pink and yellow rose petals and orange safflower. Safflower petals unfurl and float to the top during steeping.
-Dry leaves smells sweet, florally and slightly fruity. Tea liquor aroma is malty, floral and sweet.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium brown color.
-Sweet fruity jam flavor with a rose perfume finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. A perfect cup of sweet rose tea!