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Afternoon tea with R today.

Dry this smells exactly like that bottled Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime juice one can get at the store, plus it’s making me have a visceral memory of something from childhood but I cannot for the life of me place it. A candy or powdered drink, maybe. Strong and specific.

Steeped, the smell is still there but mutates slightly, and unfortunately brings with it that pool chlorine/cleaner aspect that is hard to avoid (there was some early 52teas intro last year for me that did the same, forget what exactly). But if you kind of avoid thinking about the chlorine/cleaner thing, it does definitely evoke chemical-y key lime pie. I don’t know what to say here exactly—it’s kind of both offputting and good, tilting back and forth each sip. I even get the oily graham cracker crust in the back. Smoothed out some with the clearance Harney goat caramels that came in the mail today, so apparently adding something genuinely creamy-tangy-sweet-rich helps (makes sense).

First thing tea this morning, good pick. Light smoke, chocolate, nice Goldilocks body. This one’s also maltier at the front than others I’ve tried. And there’s that fruity wine scent to the spent leaves the other Harney Keemuns have. That said, I’m beginning to suspect that Keemuns are, much like each year’s overwhelming number of Darjeelings, winding up to be a tea where I don’t pay terribly much attention on the fine distinctions between vendors/crops etc.—where so long as they fit the general mold of what I expect, I’ll just reach for any decent one when that’s what I’m seeking. This hasn’t been true at all for whatever reason with other teas, especially Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese—I get very brand loyal and even season/year loyal at times it seems—but maybe that’s because Keemun, while Chinese, is heavier and more opaque a thing, similar to Assam or other Indian tea. Hm. IIRC I liked Little Red Teacup’s Keemun and it felt markedly distinct. But really, so long as it’s got some chocolate and smoke and is a good balance of smooth and full/strong, I’m good.

That said, if any of you seasoned experts have one you are just flipping nuts over I haven’t tried (mine have mainly come from Harney, Teavivre, Little Red Teacup, Verdant, and Tao Tea Leaf) and can procure easily enough from the US, I’m all ears as always. (:

Also from last night’s Elementaryfest. I wanted to like this, love a good hojicha and the idea of adding a scrumptious vanilla element sounds promising, but it didn’t really deliver. It wasn’t bad tasting at all, but relatively weak in the roasty satisfying flavor department (Golden Moon’s is still my favorite), and the vanilla doesn’t integrate that smoothly with the hojicha profile. Kind of understandable though, as vanilla is often tricky to make mesh well, where it’s soft and warming and smoothly combined; I’ve tried a lot of teas where it’s just an oddly medicinal/numbing harsh element that sits distinct on top of the base unpleasantly. It isn’t quite that degree of offputting here, but it isn’t smooth or comforting either but oddly both weak and distinct. Ah well.

Had this last night while starting Elementary (which BTW I’m immediately fond of—it’s like a breath of fresh air antidote to a lot of the problems I have with Sherlock). It was lovely and I’m going to enjoy drinking my little pouch down for sure (I love bilochuns!), but Verdant’s still takes the cake (definitely no slight on this though—I’m hardpressed to think of more than maybe 5 teas I’ve had as or more delicious). Resteeped a couple times, but not endlessly potent like Verdant’s either.

If this isn’t East Frisian weather, dunno what is (rained all night, hasn’t let up, endless cold and damp and dreary dark…ETA now there’s even a flash flood warning!).

I think I like this better than the other one I tried months and months ago, from S&V if I recall correctly (part of Nicole’s super generous “Take it away!” samples). It was good unadulterated, and the second cup prepped the “sky, water, land” way was also delightful. Held up much better to the sugar and cream. There is a roasty bitterness at the end of the sip that unadulterated might be a little too much for most—this rather resembles standard morning coffee to me, but combined with that unmistakable Indian tea flavor. Sort of the best of both worlds in terms of contributing to one’s restoration, stimulation, and warmth on a wet, dark day like this.

Had for morning tea today. Feel so bad not saying more about it—aside from a lighter-than-usual (for Keemuns) note of sweet honey instead of heavy cocoa, it had a neat subtly wine-y grape element you don’t always find in Keemuns, that intensified as it cooled and was very apparent when sniffing the spent leaves—but this has been a nuts Monday morning return to work, alas.

Whoa, this is THE licorice/anise tea to beat all licorice/anise teas when that is the particular distinct, strong flavor you want (it should go without saying, but you have got to be on board with all things fennel-y…think fennel salad, holiday aniseed cakes, cookies, and scones, star anise pork roasts, absinthe/herbsaint and ouzo, black licorice, the fennel seed you use as a breath freshener after indian food, on and on). I know how divisive it is—so many of my friends here in town loathe star anise in particular, alas—but luckily my husband enjoys all forms of it and dug this. I like that it’s precise—we’re not talking about the warm/hot spices of chai here just because they often go hand in hand with star anise; this is licorice, anise, fennel all over and lots of it (NB I’m talking about my experience of the flavor, not necessarily the actual ingredients which do include some other spices)—and layered—all of those multiple elements from the licorice family. I couldn’t drink it all the time because it is so very much this one thing and one thing only, with superhero-brawny (yet rounded and welcoming, never harsh) aroma and flavor, but I bow down to how thorough a tribute it is. With vanilla pound cake crackers today for afternoon tea, it evoked old fashioned homemade aniseed cake and scones beautifully. I also really like how the cardamom contributes to and amplifies the fennel’s cooling aspect in the long-lingering aftertaste. And I like that this is not candied licorice or licorice root (though I love me some of that as a tea sweetener for sure, don’t get me wrong); it’s straight up “what you cook and eat salads out of and drink cocktails based on” plant/seed.

Keemun + maple syrup time as I settle in to start Hannibal! It’s been a gloriously cozy, snuggly, mellow Sunday.

Nice and apparently natural. Got a few resteeps out of it too. Not available through thepuriTea anymore of course, so I guess it’s a good thing I like Joy’s and other spots’ just as well.

Tea of the (laaaate) lazy dreary Sunday morning here (it was 70F last NIGHT and now they’re saying it’s going to snow today…I can’t take these wild fluctuations!). This one snuck up on me, fascinating. At the front it was a little sandpapery and I thought it’d be like the last few Harney morning blends I’ve tried in that it’d prove a little too straightforwardly rough around the edges (makes sense; I tried all the ones that sounded good and have good reviews first and am now dwindling down to the rest just out of curiosity and Harney devotion). But then at the end of the sip as well as when the cup cools a bittersweet rich smoothness not terribly different from chocolate or bready malt emerges and builds that makes it a rather stunning experience. Harney! You’ve done it again!