Tea Horse Road

I enjoyed this tea. At first it was a bit too mild, but as it cooled all the flavors started to burst. First there was the crisp bright muscatel of the Darjeeling, then a slight bite of ginger and finishes with peanut butter.

A couple of months ago, I signed up for Amanda ‘SoggyEnderman’ Wilson‘s Tea Advent Calendar. It’s been sitting, waiting patiently, for December to arrive.

Today has arrived.

I opened my box (it looked like a chinese carry out box) and pulled out the first envelope.

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I followed the directions she provided and steeped.

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Three minutes later, I have tea.

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The aroma is gingery. The tea is a little cloudy, but as I drank, things settled and the tea cleared somewhat.

I was a little disappointed in the ginger flavor. It wasn’t as strong as I hoped. Nor was the peanut flavor.

But it was still nice.

I’m excited to see what tomorrow’s envelope brings.

Two very important things happened today, I unpacked all my origami paper and started working on some projects, and I realized the reason I have been feeling really out of it the last couple days is I am having a Fibromyalgia flair. I started off really grumpy about it because it basically meant my plans are botched and I feel rotten, but then I realized, it has been a while since I flaired and I have been doing A LOT! Probably more things have been done by me in the last month than I have done in the last year. Ok body, you deserve a little pampering and I will take it easy for a bit. That means more time for crafts and tea!

Clearly when one feels icky, they need a tea that is comforting and warm, and that brings us to today’s tea from Tea Horse Road, Rooibos Roasted Corn. This ingenious little blend mixes Organic Rooibos and Roasted Corn, that is it! I love roasted corn, this is probably the only blend I have seen using it as an ingredient, and naturally that got me excited, and honestly mixing it with Rooibos just seems natural. The aroma is a blend of sweet woody, caramel notes and roasted, nutty, popcorn notes. They blend together really well, vaguely reminding me of caramel corn, one of my favorite autumn snacks, not sure why but I crave it this time of year.

When brewed the wet leaves are much more in favor of the Rooibos, there are notes of woody sweetness and a mellow undertone of roasted corn. It is a great blend of two wonderful smells, even though I tend to get frustrated by Rooibos in blends at times (it is a potent smelling leaf!) I do really enjoy it on its own and in simpler blends. The liquid has more of the corn in it, very roasted and rich, like popcorn and caramel with a delicate underlying woodiness.

Time for tasting! I am actually drinking this right now too, even though the notes are from my tea notebook and my photos are from earlier, writing about this tea made me want to have some, my insides needed a hug and sipping from my new bone china teacup makes me feel fancy. So, the flavor of this herbal tea is quite autumnal! Take a mix of caramel corn, toast, and woodiness and you have this tea, it reminds me of autumn nights eating those popcorn balls with distant fires, very evocative of childhood. Now I am going to curl up in my fuzzy robe with my cup of tea and finish my Skeletal Dodecahedron.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/11/tea-horse-road-rooibos-roasted-corn-tea.html