Tea Cozy

Some days you need a tea which is tasty but not too special, as you had a terrible nights sleep and need the ol’ wake up juice, rather than a euphoric tea experience.
This will do. Strong, pleasant, but not a favorite, so I can sip it in bleary peace.

I live!
Whew. I’ve had a bonkers month, and I realized that I hadn’t logged a single cup of tea for weeks.
Yikes.
In the space between my last note, I have been handling my offices entire workload while my boss had a baby, and played Puck in a production of A Midsummer Nights Dream.
It’s been a lot. But life should calm waaaay down, which is nice.
I got a new packet of this a few months ago, and I can’t quite decide what I think of it (though obviously I liked it enough to get it again).
The grenadine is an interesting flavor, but I’m not sure if it’s a hit or a miss for me….

Do you ever have one of those nights where you are tired, you are all tucked up comfortably, and you cannot go to sleep? That was me last night, laying there, exhausted, unable to force myself into rest.
Ugh.
Tea to the rescue!
This is a very delicate blend, with vanilla and grenadine in it, which makes for a very soft sort of cup. That fits the mood very well. Sometimes when i am very tired I want a tea to clobber me over the head, but this one suits my desire to be gently lead into the day.

Tea of my morning!
You know, I’m not entirely sure why I bought this. Apricots, in any form, are not really my favorite. I don’t hate them, but if given options, it would be highly unusual for me to pick something apricot.
But every once in a while, apparently, I see something apricot and I am interested.
I picked this up the last time I was in the Tea Cozy shop (which is such a lovely shop, run by lovely people!), and I surprised myself by requesting some of this.
I don’t regret buying this, but it’s not destined to become a favorite or a cupboard staple, but there is nothing wrong with it.
I find it actually more buttery than apricot-y, a bit less fresh on the palate than I expected, but not unpleasant at all.

Really nice tea that has multiple re-brewings

Sipdown!
This was a perfectly lovely black apple tea. I brewed it a touch too weak for my last cup (my down darn fault), but it was still sweet and apple-y and nice.
As I am in the mood for all the apple teas right now, this was well recieved.
I should be getting my next yarn and tea club shipment soon! I cannot wait to see it!

I over steeped this today. Poor tea, it’s not your fault that I was bumbling around in a haze.
The over steep brought out a layer of bitterness from the base, but I didn’t get that in my last cup of this tea, so I can only conclude it’s my fault.
No worries, I will try again!

So I have signed myself up for a yarn and tea club. Every month the local yarn shop and the local tea shop (who are neighbors, and who are one block away from a fabulous used bookstore, making this a very expensive area for me) team up to send some yarn and a new tea to me. I hit “add to cart” so fast I’m surprised my mouse survived.
This was the tea for September, and it smells wonderful. There is apple. There are spices. There are raisins. It smells magnificent.
Each of the times I’ve brewed it so far, it’s brewed up rather paler than it smells. Next cup I’m going to try a bit more leaf, and see where that gets me!

This one of my favorite go to ‘wake me’ up teas. It’s exactly as described, smoky, but not overly smoky, well blended black teas. I love a delicious London Fog on occasion, so thought to to make one from this tea, and it’s AMAZING! I only add cream and honey to my black teas… but I’m glad to have added to this blend! I am totally new to reviewing teas, so hopefully I’ve done it justice.

The bad news- I never did find the magical steep time that would unlock all the delicious flavors I hoped would be in this tea.
The good news- I have now finished it, so do not have to worry about it any more.
Sipdown!

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago, thinking it would be a perfect summer tea. Today it brewed up rather bitter, so I’ve got to play with the temp and the steep time.
Grumble.

Sip down. Honestly it’s a pretty generic cherry-rose green tea blend very similar (if not the same) to others that I’ve tried. I suspect many places are getting it from the same wholesaler. Still it’s not bad even if there’s nothing original about it as I am a big fan of all things cherry.

I’ve been drinking this more than I’ve been logging it, as its my work morning tea, and there isn’t that much to say about it.
I’m not wild about this blend. I’ve certainly had better breakfast blends. This one was too heavy for me to find truly appealing.
But I am logging it today to say that it is a Sipdown! Whooo! Another one bites the dust in the Sipdown Summer Extravaganza!
Good progress to my goals! Now I’ll have to pick a new blend to bring to work!

I’ve been drinking this while I’m at work, but I’ve not been moved to log my cups of it.
This is a very strong breakfast blend, dark, slightly woody, and with a bitter edge to it. Its not really wowing me, like some breakfast blends have in the past. But! Its doing its job as a work tea well, and we’re nearly through it. Just a cup of two left, and then we have sipdown success in the great summer sipdown project.
But not yet!
I will say this. Its very, very good on days when you are very sleepy. This tea demands to wake you up!

My first drink of the day might have been delicate, but I got to the office and required something strong to get me through the morning.
This tea was the solid shove I needed to get down to brass tacks and get to work.

This tea brewed up to the color of a mahogany chair today- a solid, strong, blunt brew. I drank it down like a lifesaving elixir.
It is going to be a very long day, isn’t it? I am so freaking tired.

So I have clearly had this tea. The bag is open, and its clearly not as new as it could be. I just have not logged it ever.
And, upon this cup, I can see why. Its a basic breakfast blend, a bit strong on the malt, but not overwhelming in any sense of the word. Its sturdy, robust, solid, and fairly basic. Perfect work tea!
It now sits on my desk, to be sipped on during those mornings where getting up seemed to be worthy of some sort of medal. I think it will do very well there.

Well, goodness. I just hit fatigue on this tea yesterday, and today was my last cup! I somehow thought I had more of it.
Final thoughts- too strong for me, but not bad in and of its own right. I am glad this is a sipdown, and will not bring this particular specimen back.

Let this cup mark the point where I officially grew tired of this blend.
Its not dreadful, but its so strong that it can be tricky to deal with. Not a repeat performance, I think.
I am fully ready to have this all sipped down, but I have a few more cups worth.
Well, I shall try and finish it this week, and will feel very accomplished.

Brewed this a bit too long this morning, making for a very strong cuppa.
Well, I’ll certainly be awake today!

Its really windy today- like, possibly going to Oz windy. I am holed up and intend to spend as much time as humanly possible inside, drinking tea.
I can manage only one cup of this a day. Not because it is bad, but because it is so strong. Too many cups would leave my throat feeling dry, and probably caffinate me enough to buzz directly into orbit.
But, with a light steep, it is a solid thing for a Monday morning.

Yep, a very light steep is the key to this tea. Anything more than about three minutes and it turns into something almost unbearably strong.
But, at three or less minutes, its a strong, but not aggressive blend.

This tea, which is my current at-work tea, is the antithesis of the Cardamom French Toast. This is a very malty, very strong black tea blend.
I steeped it today as if it was a green tea, and that helped it from being too overpowering, I am glad to say. When brewed too long it turns into a sensation not unlike drinking a mahogany chair.

I needed a new tea to bring to work, and I grabbed this off my counter to fit that bill.
This fits all the criteria- not getting drunk at home, and sort of meh, per my memory, though my notes say I only drunk this once before.
Well, all the more reason to get it gone.
This brews up the color of a mahogany chair, and it rather tastes like one, too. Very dark, a bit bitter, and so, so powerful. The end sensation is rather as if you had been hit over the head by the mahogany chair.
A splash of milk would not go amiss.
Hmm. Very light steep time, next time I brew this.