Jiangtea

sipdown! i had a lovely cup of this while finishing off iron man 3 tonight with my other half. tonight has been a good night!

I had some more of this since the BBB Box has arrived and I am sadly behind in finishing up the other teas from the last round. I’ve had a very productive day so far today – organised some tea that needs to go out, cleaned up my tea cupboard, cleaned the bathroom, backed up my shows and for the past hour or so, i’ve been working on my photo book for 2012. Ian and I made a promise to keep up with doing a photobook every year to capture some of our favourite memories. They aren’t big books – typically about 30 pages or so, but they are time consuming. We recently had our 2011 book delivered so i’d like to get 2012 and 2013 done this weekend (well 2013 done to this point anyway). We use Picaboo, and though they don’t always get things right on the first go, they now have free shipping, and this weekend FB friends get 50% off.

I ended up letting this tea cool a bit much for my liking, but i am still enjoying it cold. Thanks again for this one Tastybrew!

This is from the last trip of the BBB Box between myself, Terri and Tastybrew. Since the next round is on it’s way i need to get cracking on drinking the tea from that other round! I could swear that i’ve had this before but either i’m imagining things or steepster ate my note.

this is a really nice brew. I think i’d like to try this gaiwan style. It’s a little weak than what i like, but the notes in this are really interesting. Similar to what terri mentioned, there’s a bit of a peppery taste, but not to the point of being spicy/hot. Looking forward to drinking more of this!

Sipdown, 147. Every time it goes down, it goes right back up! Thanks to Sil for this sample.

I’ve wanted to try a Sichuan Gongfu black tea for a while now, ever since I fell in love with Bailin Gongfu and Tan Yang Gongfu, and learned there was another type from Sichuan. I’ve been eyeing the one from Teaspring for a while now but never got around to ordering it, so it’s nice to try this one.

The scent reminds me of Bailin Gongfu… grains and molasses, although more grains than molasses. I ended up brewing it a little strong initially, so I diluted it a bit and now it’s quite nice. It’s not as sweet or honeyed as some of the other gongfu black teas that I’ve tried, but it’s tasty and has a nice dark chocolatey bittersweet note. Like dark chocolate chips in a cookie, yum. A pleasant tea for this morning!

Sipdown!
Another tea from the BBBB, compliments of TastyBrew.

We finished watching World War Z. It wasn’t as scary as the previews made it out to be. That’s all I’m saying.

I’ve been working my way through the BBBBox, & this one is from the 2nd round, contributed by TastyBrew. I enjoyed a 16oz pot of this with my breakfast, & while teaching my first student of the day.

What can I say about it? I don’t know, LOL. I wrote a pretty good review of it last time. It’s a tasty black tea, like so many others, with a little bit of a peppery edge, & a little bright.

I’m on a mission.
A mission to drink tea!
Last night I came home from Tony’s & did my monthly tea inventory, updating my collection list & printing it out. Last month I started with 343 teas in my collection, & through a series of sipdowns, got it down to 260. Then the Here’s Hoping TTB arrived. Then the BBBB arrived. For photos, stop by my blog, “Terri’s Airy Fairie World”, [email protected]. I promise I won’t try to sell you anything, get you to enter a contest, or whatever.
Anyway, I also went a little nuts & ordered some stuff. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I know it will, so I went ahead & put it on the list. I’m officially starting the month with 307 teas in my collection. Also my tea collection printout went from 19 pages to 16 pages.
Progress, not perfection!
Of course, this list doesn’t include the entire HHTTB, just the teas I’m planning on keeping. It also doesn’t include the crazy box of teas that I know Sil will bombard me with sometime soon, LOL.

I’m mostly dedicating this week to sampling teas from the HHTTB so I can get it back in the mail, & the BBBB, & also finishing my Sipdown Extravagana on NofarS’ teas, so I can send Sil a crazy box myself.

This tea is the 2nd offering from TastyBrew in the BBBB. It is a mix of straight & curly leaves, in shades of black, gray, & tan, with a bright aroma, kind of high pitched (sorry, I tend to experience sensations in musical terms). I steeped 2 tsp at 3 minutes, with a re-steep at 5. The first steep was a little bitter & peppery initially, & then sweet. The 2nd steep was similar, a little thinner & less bitter & peppery, but still very drinkable. It’s not a bad tea, but not destined to be a favorite. Of course, my tastebuds change from day to day, so probably next time I might notice some different features!

sipdown! I’m pretty happy about this one, not because i don’t really like this tea, but because the teabox is on it’s second around with me and i have just finally finished the all the teas that arrived the first time it came to me. I’m not sure i can keep up the pace going forward, but i do like being able to not have things in my cupboard for eons.

This has a bit of astringency to it, but not overly so. It’s somewhere in between a malty tea and a sweet tea…a very mellow tea.

Thanks again TB!

(257…how does my dust taste so far terri? lol)

Trying to finish up the first round of teas from our BBB box (ladies i’ll get it out this weekend!) so i opted to have this one today as well. I am digging this one quite a bit, so thanks a bunch tastybrew :) Glad i have a bit more to play with and drink. Love trying new companies!

backlogging from yesterday in between meetings as best as i can. Another great tea shared with us from tastybrew in our BBBB. All i remember from yesterday was that this one made me happy haha. sooo happy i have more to try again when i can write a proper note. but for now, thank you TB!

SIPDOWN! (221) I have really enjoyed this offering from our BBB Box. Not only is it great to try new teas but also new companies. This has been a wonderful tea, that has me wanting to try other offerings from this company. I’m sure i’ll get around to it once i get my cupboard more in control lol

My morning cup of the day to bring me one cup away from a sipdown! I am a fan of this one – yay for travelling black tea boxes :) there’s a very mellow yummy flavour to this one. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Terri was getting on my case for not having tried the two teas that tastybrew sent in our BBB Box that we’re sending around. (even though i only got it friday!!! and it’s already out the door!) sheesh! So i packed this up in the travel mug today. Sadly though, as often it happens with work, it got busy and i wasn’t able to jot my notes down. I remember being pretty happy with this one as it’s not a malty black (which i also love, but have a bunch of..) instead it’s a sweet-er black…but not sweet like stacy’s high mountain tea. it was different…and good. More to come when i get to drinking it when i’m NOT at work :) Thanks for participating in the fun girls!

This is actually my 2nd tea of the day. I started off with Yunnan Sourcing’s Premium Jin Jun Mei, & now I’ve moved on to this one. Small fluffy leaves, a yeasty sweetness, with a slightly hops kind of taste. This was one of the first teas TastyBrew included in the BBBBox, & it’s hard to believe I still have some of it! :)

Enjoying a cup of this before I actually start moving towards getting ready to go. I went with a Tb this time, I think I gave it 4 minutes, & it’s a nice rich & dark cup, not particularly bold, but nicely full mouthed & malty.

I woke up with a bit of a headache, so I brewed a cup of this tea & crawled into the bathtub. It is one of the teas from the first round of the BBBB, contributed by Tasty Brew, & although I’m not in love with it, it’s a pleasant cup, perhaps a little on the floral side today. I’ve written a better review of it previously, I’m sure.

This is my 2nd tea from the BBBB, sent by TastyBrew, & it is a Tasty Brew!
The leaves are fine & kind of downy, in shades of grey & tan, with a warm sweet aroma.
I used 2 tsp in my mug, steeped 4 min.
The flavor reminds me of beer a little, kind of a yeasty malty almost hoppy taste, a little caramel, and a mouth filling sensation, leaving my tongue feeling thick. A nice mellow vibe to start the day with!
Thanks TB,

Sipdown!

This is one of TastyBrew’s offerings from the first round of the BBBB.
Caramel Apple, good bourbon vanilla, tobacco, & dark chocolate liquoure.
Very Tasty!

I think Momo has done a terrific job with the TTB. I applaud her commitment & I hope she’ll keep doing it. I’ve been in for 2 rounds. I’m also in one with TeaSipper (it’s almost my turn to have the box), and if you’ve never been part of one of those boxes, it’s very exciting & fun. I highly recommend it! It can be a long wait, & the boxes are prone to calamities, delays, etc. Also, because I mainly like just plain unflavored teas, I’m finding the box will get to me, full of mostly flavored teas that really don’t appeal to my taste. So I had an idea for a TTB with only 4 members, who mainly just want to sample lots of black teas, & thus the BBBB was born. (I’m not going to tell you what it stands for, cuz it’s kind of ignorant, LOL, & also cuz we may decide to call it something else later).

TastyBrew started the box moving, & this is one of the 2 half-oz samples she included for each person. This is a very interesting tea. The dry leaf smells like an amazing fruity pipe tobacco, caramel apple & vanilla. I’ve brewed the tea for myself twice today. For my first cup of the day I used 1 tsp for 4 minutes. Now, hours later, I tried a Tbl @ 4 minutes. Both are tasty! Thanks TastyBrew!

The flavor of this tea is very smooth & sweet, & one minute I’m tasting caramel apple, but then the lingering aftertaste is like a really good bourbon vanilla extract. There is also a hint of chocolate liquor after that. It is all middle flavor, no real high end & no deep bass. I’d say a TBL is a little too much, as a bit of acidity is present that wasn’t in the cup I had this morning, so I’ll probably knock it back down to 2 tsp. The beauty is, with 1/2 an oz, I have enough tea to try it a couple of different ways, but not so much tea that I’m stuck with it for months (or years). Thanks to TastyBrew, Sil, & BoxerMama for embarking on this adventure with me!!