Tealux

this was perfect for today…the right sort of fruity, honey black that i needed to take the edge of insanity off.

Another one from my coworker that i’ve been meaning to pick up since i first had it ages ago. This one doesn’t disappoint even sort of, even after all the TTC honey like teas that i’ve had since i had this one. this is more brownsugar, malty sweet but man it was tasty. glad i have this back for a little while :)

Cards and tea travelling teabox

Oh i am loving this one. Talk about gulping hot tea down! While this smells similar to some of the teas from TTC and a few from Stacy (Butiki) this one IS different. malty, sweet honey fruity deliciousness.

Cards and tea travelling tea box

This tea called out to me because i have found through trial and error that i MUCH prefer tealux’s straight teas to their flavoured ones. I hadn’t tried this one yet so i figured i should give it a go. this tea is really nice and smooth, however it’s not for me. There’s a taste here that i don’t like but i suspect that others would love this. I steeped this alongside another from tealux and it is divine! while this one is just ok. I still enjoyed this but the taste just doesn’t woo me like the tones in the other cup. I can’t quite explain what the taste is, but it’s similar, though not quite, to the roasty oolong taste that i am not a huge fan of. if that makes sense haha

NOPE! musty spearmint mixed with….. something. absolutely not. there is creative license and then there is just gross. }=0(

dammit, i paid for this too! at least it was just a small one.

Life stuff first.

My parents bought a condo in NYC and so this past weekend (really an extended weekend – short vacation), my husband and I went up (actually we just got back today). First of all, I am so behind on steepster it’s ridiculous. Second, NYC is crazy in the summer, third, in 2 days I walked over 8 miles so I’m a wee bit exhausted. I only bought a little bit of tea (Davidstea Hot Tropic and Sangria) since I had a family friend walking with me and I didn’t want to seem like a complete nut-case; next time I will definitely spend over $5 on tea while I’m there. Also, I passed a Kusmi and I know there are several other brands available. And I bought Ladurée macaroons. Yum.
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Anyway, I knew I was going to be dehydrated when I got home so I had a container of this (actually, there’s another blend too) cold brewing in the fridge. It is delightful! I’m mostly getting strawberry. No added sweetener needed.

I really do not want to go to work tomorrow… and I want Steepster to work today since I have a lot to catch up on. But I keep on getting that black screen which makes it seem like they are doing updates or something. All I’m saying is that this note better not get eaten.

I’ve realized a few things. The main one is that I need to quit trying to review new teas when I’m spending the weekend at Tony’s, except maybe in the dead of winter when there is snow on the ground. I think there are 2 reasons, & both of them effect my sense of smell & taste. The first is simply that my allergies are worse at his house. He uses a window unit for air conditioning in the bedroom, so I always wake up congested & with a funky taste in my mouth, because airborne crap comes right in. It’s an old brick house, & would be a major ordeal to route the central air to the attic. I can handle being outside in that stuff for a few hours at a time, as long as I can go into my air conditioned house to decompress, but sleeping with it all night sucks.
Reason number 2, his water filter is also the really cheap kind. To clarify, When I buy something, i do a little research first, & I tend to buy the best quality of that thing that I can afford. This applies to water filters, cars, etc.
Don’t tell Tony I’m complaining, it will hurt his feelings. He really is the most wonderful man in the world, but if we ever actually move in together, these are a few points I’ll be adamant about.

Having said all of that, this tea was sent by our dear TeaFairy, & I should not be drinking it, because I know it’s much better than what I’m getting. I’d like to apologize for all the lame reviews I’ve written over the last several weekends for teas from various friends. I doubt that I did them justice.

Tony & I are in full couch potato mode, watching the “Rise of an Empire”, which is a sequel to the 300. I’m having trouble following the storyline, to be honest. I guess it’s not really a sequel, but a storyline that takes place concurrently with what went on in the 300. So I have to be honest, I get kind of bored with movies that rely too heavily on CGI effects. Just sayin’

I’m also really tired of auto spellcheck constantly changing yixing to mixing, etc…
So, as the movie ends, I’m going to disable my spell checker. Look forward to misspelled words, but at least they will be the actual words I wanted to use, instead of some of the crazy substitutes that I’ve been getting lately.

Meanwhile, yet another sip down from the TeaFairy Collection. This really was an awesome trade!

Another one from TeaFairy
This is a tasty cup, with the main features being a honey & fruit aroma.

Excellent stuff. Not the best Jin Xuan I’ve ever had, but not far off and it’s a bargain for the price.
A sweet buttery aroma from the tin, almost like Caramel popcorn.
Taste is milky and smooth. Very enjoyable, just don’t steep too long.

So this is one of the last samples that Virginia sent me…storm it, I’m gonna spend all my money at David’s Tea and Tealux. It’s ridiculous! XD
I figured this tea would taste like honey since its name is Jin Jun Mei Golden Eyebrow. You know…codeword for honey…well, maybe that doesn’t make sense to you. But that’s how my stupid brain works I guess.
The first couple sips definitely did taste like honey mixed with malty-ness which I loved. But then the honey flavor went away and was replaced by a roast-y flavor…which I thought was even better. But then when all was well it started tasting more nutty than malt-y. 0_0 I have no idea what happened. That was one of the strangest teas I’ve ever had. I have no idea what’s goin’ on with my taste buds today xD
So overall it was a pretty good tea. Just not exactly what I expected. And now I just have the taste of peanuts in my mouth. So weird-but a good weird! I’ll probably get more! XD Thanks again, Virginia!

After a hideously extended tea buying hiatus I nearly tackled the UPS guy at the door when he came to deliver my Tealux order. WONDER! JOY! GLORY! TEEEEEEA!

Once I’d literally hugged the multitude of packets to my chest, I set to the lovely and soothing task of putting everything in tins and jars. Ah, the ritual. I picked up 11 different teas in 25 gram packets, just trying a bit of everything since I’d never ordered from Tealux before. I was especially excited about their pu-erh chais, so this is the first one I’m trying from the batch!

I’m surprised I don’t taste more caramel considering the pretty little round chunks of it I found in the mix. The spices are heavy but I’m not sure what’s standing out – the clove, maybe, and a bit of tingle from the ginger? It really has a great depth of flavor and is hitting the spot for me as I’ve been craving more savory flavors lately. Part of it must be the pu-erh, as I literally can’t remember the last time I had a cup of it. Could be far enough back that I actually forgot how it tastes (pitiful). It’s a much richer base than the black teas I’ve been used to, and I have to say I’m loving it. Must do a better job keeping up my pu-erh stock, clearly.

Might try it with vanilla soy milk later and see how that does it, but I’m definitely enjoying this!

They make matcha by grounding this tea…Funny that I absolutely love it but can’t appreciate a good matcha.

The leaves resemble green party confetti. The little flakes are so light, you need at least 3 tsp to make a flavourful cup. It’s worth brewing in a glass vessel, looks like a shaken magic crystal snowball!

It’s too expensive to make it an everyday green, too bad cause I could drink it a lot more often. I only buy it once in a while and try to drink it quickly cause the fresher the better.

I like that it’s so forgiving for a green tea, not finicky at all. It never goes bitter, it’s pretty neutral, the taste is not overly grassy or vegetal and it’s probably one of sweetest greens I have had.

A green for the non green lover (even Sil and Dexter liked it!!)

It seems hard to find, out of the vendors I purchase from, only a few carry it.

Well I’m all out now…It was a great afternoon tea.

This is a good, smooth tea. You can definitely taste the mango, though I wish the mango were a tad bit stronger and sweeter ( it’s sweet but could be sweeter). I don’t taste any of the orange but maybe my blend didn’t have as many freeze-dried fruit. Nevertheless, don’t expect anything citrusy, as I taste primarily the rooibos tea and mango flavouring. I would recommend if you’re looking for a nice rooibos mango blend.

This week, it’s all about getting outside old tea habits. I never have mild tea in the morning, I need my fix of strong black fuel! Just thought it would be fun to see what I can extract from more “zen teas” early in the morning!

This is the second Wild Arbor pu’erh I try, the first being Mandala’s.

I’m using the glass Test Tube to brew. It’s so beautiful to watch those pinecone shaped buds do their dance.

This is like drinking pine sap. I find a lot more piney notes than in the Mandala version. Also, it’s not as sweet. I remember Mandala’s tasting like sweet maple water.

Because this type of tea it is so light, it requires a lot more leaf to make a flavourful cup.

I had to let it steep much longer on the 3rd steep.

It smells and tastes like steamed asparagus this time around.

It’s one of those that I find very hard to describe cause it’s nature like. A little earthy, and savoury.

A quality I also really appreciate is that fresh finish, like sweet and cool spearmint.

It gave me a good 7 steeps in the Test Tube.

I conclude that this tea requires a much stronger brew than suggested. I am also glad it tastes very different than the other one I own.

And though this will never replace my beloved black morning tea, it did provide a nice energizing warming feeling inside.

It’s so funny how the weather affects people’s lives. No matter where you live around the globe, the one thing we all have in common is weather talk. And it seems we are never happy about it…

It rained everyday here last week. I love, love the rain, but a full week was getting depressing and I complained a little about it. This week, we got 4 days of hot sun in a row, and I couldn’t handle it anymore, I am beyond happy to find miss Rain this morning. Rainy days make my trees lush and pollen free, to quote a friend :-)

So it’s tea day today, cause I want to make up for yesterday.

I wanted to get outside old habits and start my day with something unusual instead of my typical strong black of the morning. I chose one I’ve never drank before, a Japanese Oolong.

This looks like Pouchong Baozhong, the greenest type of oolong. The colour of the dry leaf is beautiful, a nice silver teal.

First steep (using gaiwan) is very interesting. It’s almost a traditional Japanese green tea, vegetal and grassy.

The distinction comes from its floral body, it’s not orchid or lilac like most Chinese or Taiwanese oolong, but a different variety that I can’t really name. The end of the sip is nutmeg, a note I often find in greener oolong.

The second and third steeps are evolving into a sweet and soft mineral taste, it has an almost syrupy texture. Strong florals lingers for a long time after I swallow.

Later steeps bring some sweet cherry notes, I know it sounds silly, and it’s probably the fruit of my imagination (no pun intended) but it reminds me of Bath & Body Works hand cream Japanese Cherry Blossom fragrance. You’re probably going yikes, hand cream, right? What can I say, tea has a strange way of bringing olfactory hallucinations to life :-)

Bottom line, if you like a good Wenshan Baozhong, you will adore this tea.

It was only a sample I purchased from Tealux, but it will be on my shopping list, that’s for sure.

Sipdown!

I overleafed my pot of this to finish off the remainder that I had, but that was a bad call. It ended up tasting really artificial, kind of plasticy, and I didn’t finish the pot.

Ah well.

Thanks again to Ubacat for the sample.

My final tea of the evening before turning in. The cherry tastes kind of artificial/medicinal, but I definitely do taste the cocoa. However, I’m not really sure how I feel about this flavour combination in tea – it tastes kind of artificial here.

Samples Only TTB

Well I am truly confused. This tea smells odd. I thought at first it might be the rooibos which I’m decidedly un-fond of… But I wasn’t sure what to make of it so I gave it a go.
It doesn’t have the strongest aroma. The rosehips make it smell blech to me.
But I was VERY surprised to find that it doesn’t taste terrible. The rooibos and rosehips… both things I despise… aren’t overpowering the tea.

Now can I can still taste the rosehips. They are something I’d still rather it DIDN’T Have. Ugh. But the rooibos blends nicely and just like my beloved Foxtrot, it is true that Rooibos can use its powers for evil or for Awesome.

I like this tea. I like it a lot even. if it didn’t have rosehips I’d rate it REALLY high… But alas! That dastardly Rosehips, my arch nemesis strikes again! I give it full marks for being this good despite the evil Rosehips having gotten to it already!

Aaaah, beautiful Taiwanese teas, I l-o-v-e them!

The leaves look like long dark spider legs…not hairy, no worries, just very long.

It’s rich and malty. There’s no chocolate here, it’s all fruits.

Figs and dates, not just “notes” but a true taste, easily identifiable. The presence of honey is to be found, it’s a sweet cup.

It’s a little earthy, with a light astringent finish.

This is always in my cupboard, and now that I’m reorganizing all my tea stash with colour coordinated tins, it’s so easy to find! With this new set up, it will be so much easier to find and have ALL of my teas, instead of always reaching for the same ones…

Again, not an oolong lover. But I tried this tea anyway out of curiosity. Or masochism. Who really knows.

Slightly better than the unflavored milk oolong. Sweeter with a deep floral taste. Vegetal and unfortunately, still tastes like creamed corn. My brother agrees that it tastes mainly of flowers with an underlying silkiness. Got further along with this one than the other, but like the other milk oolong from tealux I had to dump this one.

May revisit it in the future when I’m feeling brave enough.