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TTB #8

My husband and I woke up to an insanely snowed in driveway. He couldn’t get out of it even with 4WD, so we had to shovel some of the snow out of the way. I knew my modest lil’ car would never make it, so I had to call off work. Not happy about it but OH WELL… I guess I will stay and taste some tea instead.

It seemed right to start off with some breakfast blend. Travelling Tea Box offered two Golden Moon ones (yay!): English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast. When I have a choice between these two, I always choose Irish. It could be the loyalty of coming from a tormented-by-history country, I guess ;)

The only Irish Breakfast blend I had before this one was Twinings’ bagged one. You can all take an educated guess that this is going to be the better one of the two ;D The color is deep, deep malty-red. And the smell… Here is the only point in common with the Twinings Irish – the sweet, grassy smell that reminds me of early afternoons at our cabin (alas, not a log cabin!) in the woods where we spend most of our time off from spring to autumn… Ah, it feels like we haven’t been there for ages!

Back to the tea though, the flavor is amazing! Pretty bitter, but not too much, it doesn’t need sugar or any other sweetener in my opinion. It sure gives you a solid kick and could replace any Colombian coffee any time (not that I care, I haven’t had coffee for months – and do not miss it). I also detect some very interesting undertones of cherry perhaps? Some kind of tart fruit.

As it cools down, it starts to taste really creamy. Delicious.

TTB #7

My husband and I had a friend over this evening so instead of a couple of greens and whites from the Traveling Box that I planned to have, I had a bunch of craft beer. Oh well!

Now I am having this Yoga Tea, which is probably the only herbal in the entire TT Box :D That’s what I needed though.

It’s very soothing, pleasantly tasting herbal. I detect ginger and licorice… It also smells like fresh leather sandals. I don’t mean it in a bad way (I think). Herbal blends (non-rooibos ones), however, have a tendency to taste the same… It’s always good to have one of these in your cupboard. But it could be ANY one.

It doesn’t make me want to do yoga either. Definitely not right now.

TTB #6

Okay, Oriental Beauty, here it is! I was the most excited about this one of the whole Traveling Tea Box (which means REALLY TERRIBLY excited) but I must say that it failed to meet my expectations somewhat. I mean, it’s still a great tea. There’s natural sweetness to it, in both scent and flavor. I can see where the “fermented” part is coming from, even though I’ve had hardly any fermented oolongs before (more fermented than roasted, that is) and I do think it’s very unique. But I find the whole experience rather… flat? Like there’s not much body to it? Perhaps it’s because of the way I steeped it (1 tsp/8 oz for 4,5 minutes at 190F?). I’ll try to resteep the leaves again before I attempt to rate it.

EDIT: Okay, I resteeped it for about 5 minutes at 195F and I still fail to notice much of complexity in it. Perhaps its subtlety is its greatest quality? It is not one I would crave for or even think about after it’s gone. It is still a great quality tea, definitely enjoyable and interesting. This oriental beauty just doesn’t seem to be my type of beauty, that’s all.

TTB #5

The beautiful deep-red color of Chinese black teas never fails to amaze me. And such was the case with this one as well. Smells like some gorgeous orange candy, perhaps orange/tangerine marmalade. The sweetness and bitterness of the flavors are well balanced. It tastes really creamy. I also definitely get the blossom part – it actually reminds me of thepuriTea’s Jasmine Golden Yunnan, although the flowery impact is not as strong here. At first it is uncertain if the blossom is really a tangerine one, until it cools – then the citrusy notes definitely start to appear.

I really like it! I don’t think I’ve ever even been to Shang Tea website, but I am definitely gonna do so now to see what else they have.

EDIT: Woah, guys, help me. The description here is so confusing claiming this is a fermented white tea (???). It sure says “red tea” on the original Shang Tea package I have! :D

A SIPDOWN! Goodbye thepuriTea’s milk oolong. You were an awesome friend to me but since you are forever gone I will have to turn to other milk oolongs now.

But you will always be My First.

TTB #4

This is my first Verdant tea ever! From the coolest loose leaf ever (that looks like fancy packing cut-ups) I got a ruby red infusion that smells like maple-chocolate icing. The maple can be found in the flavor as well, along with some wheaty, grainy notes that I really like and don’t find in teas often.

But the smell… It’s absolutely wonderful. It is insane that a non-flavored tea can smell like this. Sweet, almost caramely. There’s barely any astringency to it, and perhaps just a trace of bitter in the aftertaste as it cools down.

I really love it!

TTB #3

In my pursuit of awesome loose leaf teas I have been totally ignoring two subtypes: chai teas and earl greys. And while I am still unsure about chais, I am recently starting to realize that I have definitely been missing out on earls.

While this is not as good as the JusTea earl that I had a couple of days ago, it is still a splendidly smooth blend, very energizing and naturally sweet. It doesn’t seem to be particularly bergamot-y, more lemon-y, but that doesn’t subtract anything from its overall deliciousness. Oh yeah, and it smells absolutely delicious, like cream of lemon. Yum!

TTB #2

I am sipping and sipping this stuff, all content and cozy, while replying to some e-mails and… I almost forgot to leave any notes about it before I finished it! :D The caramel and vanilla notes are fairly strong as a scent, but as flavors they are pretty subtle. They are definitely there though, taming the usual astringent kick of assam. The outcome is really smooth, creamy and delicious. I think I might like assam better this way, although I do not hate it plain. Definitely one of these teas you can lose yourself in…

Ah, Butiki teas, when will I ever make a decent order with them? (By decent I mean FAT and EXPENSIVE :D)