Featured & New Tasting Notes
I just ate a bunch of leftover melted dark chocolate from making macaroons, so at first this tasted sour. The dominant aroma in this was definitely strawberry, but I also thought I might smell: cherry, apple, vanilla, chocolate, floral, and cranberry. This is a complex tea and it’s really difficult to pick out what flavorings they use, especially since they keep it a secret. I enjoyed trying this famous tea.
Preparation
This is a bit odd, not quite what I was expecting, but still I like it.
I was expecting this to be a fruity tisane, but for me it was more like a wellness blend. Does that make sense – there is some taste (lemongrass maybe) that i find in most wellness blends. Whatever that is, that’s what this tastes like.
Anyway, I like it – not very hibiscus – nice coconut and pineapple. I would order more of this.
_________________________________________________________________________
I don’t normally talk about my cupboard in my tasting notes, but just for the record I’m down to 250 – was at 358 in the middle of January. Would like to gradually reduce it down to about 150, but for now I’m feeling a lot better about it.
Congrats Dexter!! Over 100 teas is amazing!
You are doing so great, so proud of you :-)
So I can send you more tea? giggling that’s awesome….you can do eeeet!
(whispering across the continent) “Hey Sil, send me Dexter’s address, heheheheheh”
hahahahahaha
Seriously, congrats Dex! I’ve also been trying to whittle my cupboard down, & I haven’t done a count lately, but I’m hoping to end the month around 300, & then keep bringing it down to a reasonable collection of teas. I really want to be able to drink a cup of each one every month, but I don’t want to waterlog myself every day, & I don’t want to drink them just to get them drank. I want to savor them. Good luck to both of us!
My cupboard says I have 240 but that doesn’t count samples I got. I have no idea how many I really have!
That’s awesome! Way to go!!!
Thanks guys – this 100 was pretty easy, I had lots of samples and small amounts – the next 100 is going to take some time. The good news is that I’m not stressing as much about it.
Conservative, periodic orders, combined with a balanced approach to drinking older teas, samples, and favorite is the plan.
Terri I agree I don’t want to feel like I’m FORCING myself to drink tea, I need to find the balance. Thank you, but it’s ok – you don’t need to bribe Sil for an address – really I’m good. Thanks anyway. :))
TeaBrat – denial is a good thing – you won’t stress about it if you don’t know.
balance is key.. otherwise it just feels like work. :) i just think of every cup as being a step towards an eventual sipdown haha
Balance between teas I already know I really love, & teas I’d like to sample…I got plenty of both!
So apparently this blend never made it into my cupboard, so I’m back up a blend. It’s kind of a disappointing feeling because it negates the only sipdown I managed to get in all day.
Anyway, this sample comes from aisling of tea – I took advantage of the fact she has a whole bunch of RiverTea blends and I requested this one because it’s something I never would have ordered for myself, and Spring Tea because I wanted to do a comparison between it and Tea Desire’s version (which I still have to do).
This is a really interesting blend. Aesthetically speaking, it’s really beautiful – the colours of the very shapely orange swirls, blue cornflower, and the bright raspberry bits all really pop and make this something fun to look at. It’s something I’d be tempted to serve to guests/company purely because of the presentation of it.
I’m still not really that experienced with Pu’Erh blends, so I don’t know how much my word should be taken on this, but I found that the Pu’Erh really stood out – much in the way I experienced DT’s Chocolate Orange. It was really thick, and the word that springs to mind is “oily”. I also felt like there was a kind of earthy musk to it. The fruit flavours were a little lost under all that ‘weighty’ Pu’Erh, but I could still get a feel of the orange (in a sort of rind like way) and the raspberry in a really subtle, nuanced way.
My overall impression is that as a first cup this was really weird but in an intriguing way where I wanted to keep drinking just to experience all the layers of it. I think it’s the kind of blend that would really grow on you the more you have it; an “acquired taste” type of tea.
Flavors: Berries, Earth, Loam, Orange Zest
Loam? Fancy!
Basically like clay… First tea I’ve been able to apply it to :P
Haha yes that’s neat. Also, I love that loam is a flavour but pumpkin or raspberry aren’t. :P
I’ve come to the conclusion that the flavours list is more accurate when trying to describe straight blends than flavoured ones. Think about it; how often do you see Apricot, Citrus or Raisin as flavour descriptors for straight teas (Stacy’s tea descriptions for her straight blacks spring to mind) in contrast to flavours like Pumpkin, Raspberry or Apple. The former aren’t really “natural” flavours in straight blends. Loam, baked bread, tobacco or grass in a straight blend? Not as much of a stretch.
Very true! Brilliant. Although, I wish I could add flavours to all my teas.
I have only a few more samples left from the wonderful bunch Sil sent me back in Decenber…it seems that I saved the best for last.
This has an amazing aroma…it really came as a burst as soon as I removed the lid of the gaiwan. And guess what? It tastes even better!
It’s floral but not in a bouquet kind of way, just a delicate linger…also fruity, fig like.
Some caramel as well and a subtle nuttiness that wraps and ties everything together.
It feels round in the mouth, thick and voluptuous. I think it’s one of the finest Wuyi I have had for sure.
I stopped reading just to make sure I would fully focus all my attention to it. It’s that good. I had 4 delious steeps and will now cold brew the leaves for tomorrow…
Thanks Sil, this was lovely :-)
Dog and tea story…(skip if not interested)
My dog Dexter is a snob. I always say he’s an “AristoDog”, basically he acts like he’s Royalty. He doesn’t like to get messy, spring time, he tries to avoid stepping in mud, and if he does (which inevitably is bound to happen), he licks himself till he’s got no more saliva.
And Dexter likes his comfort. Yes, he’s allowed on the couch. He has special cushions that he grabs and carefuly places at stategic spots so he can morph into a sophisticated potato couch. This is a typical illustration of his concept for comfort:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/13451905514/in/photostream/
There’s one thing missing though: his “doux-doux” (French prononced “doo-doo” in English). “Doux” means soft. In my family, we’ve been calling our favourite special throws/blankets a “doux-doux” ever since we were little children. I still love special blankets, have several all over the house and ready to be used when sitting in front of a fire, or just to lounge on the couch, a book in one hand, a cup of tea in the other. Dexter has his own doux-doux, the same one since he was just a puppy. He carries it with him pretty much everywhere. When I wash it, he looks for it everywhere.
Today was a lounge doux-doux day for the both of us… I grabbed mine, he grabbed his, and we had a cup of this wonderful tea. I say “we” cause while I was sipping, he kept trying to get into my cup, literally…totally unlike him!
But there’s something about this intoxicating aroma that tantalized his canine nostrils it seems…well I don’t blame him, this stuff is irresistible!
What a cute story!
OMG I love his eyes, sad eyes. he really looks like blue blood. its doberman right?
When you cold steep the leftover leaves, how long do you have to leave them steeping?
So adorable! And he does look pretty comfortable with all his pillows!
Thanks Keychange!
Boychik, that’s his sad puppy face, he probably does it on purpose just to get the attention, he seems to love the camera, lol! Here’s his happy face, and yes, he’s an “un-cropped” Doberman :-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/90056560@N08/10899799146/lightbox/
Marzipan, I cold brew used leaves in mason jars for about 24h, but I suggest you just taste along the way and decide when it’s enough for you. New leaves, I will normally do 12 hours, depending on the tea. Don’t hesitate if you have other questions :-)
So glad you enjoyed this. I was hoping you would :)
Caile, yes, he’s quite a lucky puppy I’d say…but I’m a lucky owner as well, he’s such a great companion :-)
Sil yep, totally my style, thanks :-)
I love the floppy ears!!!
Awww….
Puppy! :) So cute!
Dexter is so so so cute and I love that you didn’t crop his ears. My dogs like to get in bed with me in the morning while i drink tea and sniff my tea mug.
I learned a new vocabulary word! Doux-doux. Love it. We use woobie and huggy interchangeably for the same sort of item.
He’s beautiful – awesome when you get to have lazy lounging days with your pets!!!
Thanks guys :-)
Stephanie & MzPriss: floppy ears are not common for Dobermans, the breeder was pressuring me to have his ears cropped when I got him at 3 months old, but just didn’t have the heart to do that to him. I’m glad I didn’t!
Haha! I see your dogs can appreciate a good cuppa also :-)
Gmathis, I love woobie, I’ll try to remember that!
Dexter, those are my favourite days…I know you enjoy them also :-)
Everything about this tea is wrong today. I was going to try it without additions, which was a stupid idea ultimately because it just tasted nasty. A bit of cream thickened it up slightly, but it was still just gross. Added some sugar and it’s still gross. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do with this tea-it just tastes terrible. And what a shame, because when I made it keychange style a while back it was lovely. Oh well, lesson learned. I think that in my experiment to find tea I can enjoy without additions, I’m going to stay away from blacks—I think I’ll just always like them with stuff in them, and so be it. Maybe oolongs and greens and tisanes are the way to go re no additions.
Uggh eww uggh no eww gross. And my poor carry mug has to deal with all this crap. Poor mug.
Preparation
I hate when that happens!
Isn’t it awful? and there goes 16 oz of work tea! uggh.
I used to take at least a little sugar in all my teas….slowly weaned myself off it and now am mostly drinking everything straight. To each her own though! :)
I think black teas will always beg me to put sugar and milk in them, but that’s also the way I drank it growing up, so that’s also an influence. I just want to have a few teas I enjoy straight ot add to my rotation. Haha this clearly isn’t one of them.
I’m the opposite. I never drank tea with milk or sugar. It still feels funny to me to add anything, but there are certain teas that just beg for additions.
I like cream or milk in black teas too. :)
yeah, I just feel it nicely takes the edg off or something.
It does. And makes it yummy!
I had totally forgotten that VariaTEA had sent me such a large amount of this blend, so when I was looking through my sample drawer in the kitchen for some much needed caffeine free blends to offset all the caffeinated teas I’ve had today I was really pleasantly surprised to find such a large amount of this one!
I should really be working towards more sipdowns; but I couldn’t resist. I brewed myself up a cup of this, and I am so pleased I still find it as delicious as remembered. I really love that the coconut in this is so creamy and thick feeling, and I like that the woodiness of the rooibos somehow translates into a graham pie crust type thing. This one feels like it should have a whipped cream pillow and maraschino cherry on top. Something sweet, indulgent, and fun!
Anyway, after sorting through the sample drawer I’ve dredged up more roobios blends to have tomorrow; blends which had sunk to the bottom of the giant pile or been pushed to the back of the drawer – so I’m excited to work some new teas into tomorrow’s line up! It really feels like, lately, I’ve had a bit of a rooibos/herbal tea shortage…
I’ve also noticed lately that I don’t have a lot of caffeine-free blends to sip in the evenings. Any particular recommendations?
what sorts of things are you looking for christina? flavour wise?
Looking through my wishlist, I’m seeing a lot of rooibos/honeybush blends, many of which contain fruit or caramel flavours. I’m also interested in trying some floral herbals like linden or elderflower/elderberry, since I sometimes enjoy elderflower soda.
River tea has decent fruit blends….verdant has an elderberry herbal as well. As a couple others….Della terra has nice rooibos blends of heathy creamier variety
That is of the…. Not heathy lol
Oh dear. I checked out Verdant’s site and realized that they actually do offer free shipping to Canada if the order is large enough. I always thought that they had really outrageous shipping charges like Golden Moon did. Now that I realize they’re more feasible, this could be very very dangerous…
I steeped this cup up like a green blend because it does have green tea in it, despite being mostly black. Even still, only one word comes to mind “Ick” – and if I’m allowing myself a second word, it would probably be “bitter”.
Sadly, in order to get a sipdown (without just sending this to other people, or throwing it away) I do have to actually drink it – and secretly I have hopes that if I experiment enough then I’ll be able to find a way it actually tastes alright.
At least I paired it with the new Supernatural episode from last night! One of the two is definitely enjoyable, that’s for sure!
Why not put it on the swap board when you get a chance? A tea you hate may be loved by someone else.
Eventually I likely will; but can’t really afford to right now so I’ve just been slowly sipping it down in the meantime. It’s mostly gone anyway.
But you have so many other delicious teas you could be drinking instead. :P
Supernatural!!!! I saw some of the live tweets, but seeing as I’m 3 seasons behind, I stayed away. Stayed off tumble today too.
sad day is sad…. last cup of this yummy ummy puerh…FOR NOW! this will rejoin my cupboard later i’m sure. I had a bit of time this early afternoon to have a few cups of this and it was a nice send off and a great way to clear my head. And now..back to the suck.
(215)
Only 4 more teas and then I will be completely Teavana free.
I’m still bitter about their poor customer service. I expected bad service in store. I expected good service on the website. (I’ve already ranted about them in the forums so no need to bore you guys, but I’ve learned my lesson!)
4 more Teavana teas left!
ETA: You know what? Make it 3. My sister-in-law keeps drinking my Maharajah/Samurai chai blend – I’ll just stick it in HER tea cupboard here at work. :P (sipdown 214?) She enjoys it far more than I do anyway.
cavo… i TOLD YOU…. lol neener neener
Yep. You are so modest!You are a shining star that everyone should hold up as the pinnacle of winning gracefully.
I’ve never had anything from Teavana, but their customer service blah and sales policies make me want to run in the opposite direction as fast as I can. There are much nicer places to give our custom! Yay sipdowns!
I had the same issue with Teavana last year and did the same thing. I immediately got rid of all the teas they BOTHERED to send from my order and gave away the teaware. My wife INSISTED on hanging on to one tea from them and it made me so, so made, especially since it was a straight oolong that was easily found elsewhere. We finally got rid of it a month ago and I was so damn happy. Teavana is awful. I refuse to even glance inside their stores.
Well the biggest reason I was so excited to order from them was 75% off! :O Who can resist that?
Well…. I can now. :P
Team Teavanaboycott HIGHFIVES!
cavo… why THANK YOU! giggling
Hell yes! I hadn’t tried match yet (so I guess this was 2 years ago XD) and their matcha set with a whisk and a bowl were part of the sale and the only reason I ordered. Of course, it wasn’t available and I had the same run around with customer service that you did. When the package of the other crap did arrive, two teacups were shattered, the tins were covered in dents and one of the packages of tea was open.
Uuugh. Screw Teavana.
OMG, really? That’s beyond awful! :|
Yikes aisling, that’s awful! :(
You might have been the way I got rid of a lot of my Teavana. I really hate the company and don’t want it around. My roommate wouldn’t even buy me a pitcher from them because she knows how much I despise Teavana.
The best part was, when we sent them pictures of the destruction within the package, their response was to “replace” it with tea with didn’t even like along with a note card that said “Thank you for your compliments!”
What, really? They didn’t even attempt to replace the teaware? Or refund it?
Nope. Since the cups were now “out of stock”, they sent off the tea without asking and considered it handled.
OMG! I am wheezing with both laughter and horror. Good combo, tea friends. :) I am so glad my ordering experience was OK. It just sucks that I really like 2 of their teas. Oh well. I’ll get them free with my sbux rewards I guess….
Oh gosh. Sleeping schedule has gone completely to hell. woke up at 4:30 again and of course couldn’t get back to sleep. There are a few loose ends going on in my life right now, and I expect I’ll probably be feeling a lot better once they’ve been addressed. Still though—possibly uncomfortable work situation today, and I think I’ll just be glad for the weekend.
I needed the type of comfort only a warming tea could bring this morning. And this tea manages to be both assertive and warming, which suits the outlook I need to have quite perfectly, actually. I sullied it a bit by adding too much milk, but hey-if that’s the worst thing that happens today I’ll be lucky. you know how all tea is warming, but some are more warming than others? this is among the warmest, I think.
It sounds like you picked the perfect cup for this morning. I hope your day goes better than you’re anticipating.
I know what it’s like to have your nerves wracked by unresolved things and anticipating uncomfortable situations. (cyberhug) This too shall pass!
Thanks, guys. You understand this so well. I’m so scared, but hopefully it’ll be ok.
I hope your work day goes better than you expect!
I desperately hope you guys are right. Thanks for thinking of me.
Update when it’s over so we all know you survived. Then treat yourself to a favorite tea!
I sure did survive. Who knows what’ll happen longterm, but when do we ever know that anyway? I want to go to bed for a few weeks. Thanks so much for caring—you are all far kinder to me than I could ever deserve.
Glad you made it through :) I hope you got that comforting cup of tea tonight and a good night’s rest for once.
I am getting seriously annoyed with the jerk in my building (or jerks, who knows) who keeps turning the heat off. When I get up in the morning, it’s cold! I’m wrapped up in a fleece blanket and a fleece robe (still bare feet tho..), with my hands wrapped around a giant mug of tea.
Brr! “Spring” doesn’t mean “turn off the heat so the north facing apartment over the storage area gets really cold”!
I keep looking outside, thinking there’s snow all over that tree. But no. Cherry blossoms. Phew.
I haven’t had this tea in a while, and I also forgot to set a timer. I steeped closer to 4 minutes though, I can tell because there’s some dryness to the tea that I don’t usually find present with my usual 3 minute brew.
So good. So, so good. Other-Flavoured earl grey’s are definitely my preferred earl grey intake method. This one is creamy and fruity and just. Yum.
Preparation
Grumpties. Whoever’s messing with your heat needs to stop! :<
I prefer earl-grey-and when I’m drinking earl grey too. Paris is good stuff!
I know! Every fall and every spring we get into this passive aggressive argument of turning it on, then turning it off, etc. It’s ridiculous.
I have a warm fuzzy cat on my lap now too. Yay extra warmth!
Brrr. That’s totally not cool! (It is, I guess that’s the problem…)
The bonus is that it’s not below freezing here! Not quite bare-leg weather, but definitely not freezing.
I’m having the exact opposite problem here. I moved in slightly earlier before the other students, so the heat was still off. In the basement here, it was pretty cold. Then once everyone moved in, they’ve cranked up the heat, and it’s been so hot that it’s been setting off the fire alarm at 6am. Ugh. Stupid maintenance people, I tell you.
It’s so hot it’s setting off the fire alarm?! What? That is ridiculous.
It’s luckily stopped last month once it started warming up a bit. I’m sure the heating system has some sensor that turns down when it warms up outside, but still, I feel really bad for the firefighters for having their time wasted so many damn times. I just hope things will straighten out for you over there, soon.
And that did NOT last long. (221)
To be fair, I only had two bags, but I am SO GRATEFUL that Sil was generous enough to share, and that someone gave them to her in the first place. <3
I swear I can smell oreo cookie/cream while I drink this, which is crazy because this tea is not oreo chocolate at all, but caramel and sweetness. I could probably drink multiple cups of this.
So, new rule: I’m not placing a Lupicia order UNLESS I can get some Cookie. /puts foot down/ :D
Isn’t it though? So tasty
I have some of this loose leaf and Sil was also kind enough to send me a teabag. I wonder how the two compare…
I’m going to pull a Sil, screw it, and just go to Hawaii once I graduate haha.
Lol why Hawaii?
Well, a) I haven’t been there before and I’ve been planning to go there anyway, and b) Lupicia! Checking it out in person would be cool.
lupicia is in san fran too… but if you’re going to hawaii…you just let me know…though on trip related notes… disney is doing northern europe next year (denmark, iceland, russia etc…) and i WANNA GO!!!!!!!!!! poop.
Oh yeah, I was tempted with San Francisco too! I recently learned that Victoria really closely resembled San Fran in the 1800s so it would be cool to compare them now.
And you did NOT have to tell me that. I’ve never been interested in Disneyland before, but hello? Scandinavia? Damn you, Disney.
Disney cruises are my favourite. Esp as an adult with no kids who loves kids. can you say adult only areas that aren’t jam packed? heyyya!
also… we did pixar disney cruise that included san fran a couple year back.. BEST.TIME.EVER. san francisco! pixar! WOOOOT!
Ah, cruises! I thought you meant that Disneyland/world was going to feature some random Northern Europe theme. I totally forgot they had a cruise line. I’ve never actually been on a cruise before. My mom and I were considering Viking River cruises. Because Vikings. ;)
i’ve been on SEVEN disney cruises. I pretty much was like wtf, who would do that…that sounds stupid. and then my friends made me go on one.
Sil, if you do go and find you wind up in Denmark, do let me know your whereabouts. If it’s near where I live, perhaps we could meet up. (If you want to)
Angrboda! Of course I want to! Oh that would be awesome :) I’ll keep you posted heh
:)
Well I am going to give this a try. I have been kind of MIA lately. About a week and a half ago I had to have eye surgery. I haven’t been able to really use a computer a whole lot since because of blurry vision and trouble concentrating. But it is getting better. So bear with me on this review.
I had been saving this one for last from my recent Red Leaf order. I am a total sucker for delayed gratification. This was the flavour I was most looking forward too. I love ginger. And the more gingery the better. I absolutely love drinks like Jamaican ginger beer.
I got this one as distinctive only for the reason that the order also contained some fruity flavours and I did not want to make the order complicated by getting some flavours distinct and some robust. But I would have liked to have gotten robust.
The smell of the dry matcha is very gingery. Not so much like a gingerale soda, but more like an alcoholic ginger beer. Delicious.
I mixed this one up cold, 1tsp per 8 oz water and a bit of white sugar. The taste was…ok. A bit different. I think I need to change my parameters a bit. There was a sweet ginger taste. But not really ginger spicey at all. It was almost as it the flavour was a bit floral and perfumey. Some bitterness that could be the matcha or could be the “ale” part. Not as strong as I would have liked but that may be due to the flavour distinctiveness I chose.
I think next time I make this, I am going to try a bit less matcha.
You can purchase it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/ginger-ale-matcha.html
And now my eyes are all blurry from looking at the screen :(
Edit: This one is slightly better with using a bit less matcha. More than 3/4 tsp but less than 1tsp.
I hope your eyes heal up quickly. :)
Hope your eyes are better soon!
No fun! I hope your eyes are better soon too!
good luck with your recovery. happy healing!
Hope you heal fast!
How did surgery go? I hope it was successful and you’re not running into any complications.
Hope you heal up soon!!
Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I am doing OK. I am progressing appropriately according to the surgeon. I could have trouble for up to 3 months.
Ugh. had one of those nights where I slept fitfully and then finally woke up for good at around 4:30. It wasn’t all that bad though—I just read and entertained myself until it was time to get ready for work. Lately, I’ve been feeling randomly nauseated, and so my tea preferences have kind of been all over the place. This morning, I wanted a tea that was reliable but not too nausea-inducing, and somehow this fit the bill perfectly. Thick creamy vanilla mouth feel with a hint of bergamot, just the way I like it.
In other news, I’ve been feeling kind of hopeless about my career prospects lately, although nothing substantive has actually changed to bring on this current bout of anxiety. I just keep on thinking I wasted my time getting a stupid degree, and that I didn’t pursue what I should have pursued, even though I distinctly remember choosing this option at the time over the other one for very specific reasons. Still though. I just hate the thought of having to job hunt once this is over, because looking for jobs is among the worst first world problems ever.
That’s enough from me about that. Now to get to work and enjoy my tea.
i’m with you on the job front!
it’s really annoying eh?
The randomly nauseated thing happens to me all the time, and I totally get feeling anxious. I have that same feeling even though I’m only halfway through the schooling I hope to do for what I want as a career. I hope things start looking up for you though. :)
Thanks, and back at you. It’ll all eventually work out, I’m fairly certain, but it isn’t a matter of just coasting along and waiting for stuff to just fall into your lap, you know? and your desires often don’t correlate with market demands, and you’re a young idiot and beggars can’t be choosers and all that sort of thing (not that you’re an idiot, I mean the generic young us LOL). And hate, hate, hate random stupid nausea. It just comes and goes and it doesn’t really seem worth fretting about to doctors and such.
Haha! I read “you’re a young idiot” and thought: Hm. Alright, I’ll just roll with it. :P Ah yes, I’m always reminded of those things. I want to do research in marine science, so my desires will never correlate with market demands. Often people can’t fully comprehend why I want to do something that won’t make money. I’m lucky I absolutely love what I’m doing so I’m hoping the hard work will pay off, even if it doesn’t “pay off”. HAH. Also, I’m so accustomed to the nausea now I just roll with it. I’ve come to realize that’s how my body manifests sickness and stress.
Hmmm, that’s interesting. I don’t tend to get “sick sick” very often, but almost always have something minor going wrong i.e.the nausea, random pain that comes and goes, unexplained weakness, etc. And yes, there’s a lot of pressure to pursue degrees that will “open many doors” and “give you the most options”, but little to no pressure to pursue what will likely bring you the most peace. That being said, we won’t be feeling very peaceful if we can’t afford food (and tea!), so I’m not discounting that type of pressure entirely, but it also doesn’t have to be an either/or concept.
Haha I wrote the thing about being a young idiot and then was like wait, she’s going to think I’m talking about her specifically haha!!
Haha, oh yes. I almost never get “sick sick” either. But I always have the minor things as well – nausea is the main one, and random pains are the follow up. I completely agree about pressure haha! Yes, I still plan to be able to live (and of course order tea). I definitely don’t like the either/or concept. I’ve been in school a long time and switched my degree a handful of times now because of that pressure (commerce – biology – nursing – biology/psychology). In the end, it’s me who has to be happy with what I’ve done, so I switched back to my true love and stuck with it. Haha I love how this went from anxious to me explaining my life. :P
Haha it’s ok. I love it when we all get off-topic in our comments. It’s hard, because we’re rarely encouraged to choose an option where, when we put our heads down at night, we can actually say we’re really happy with what we did that day. As for the anxiety, it really comes and goes, don’t you think? Like there will be weeks, months even, when I’m just like “it’ll be ok, it really will be.” and then there’ll be times when I experience crippling anxiety and am all like “holy crap, what the hell am I even doing?”. Having debt doesn’t help, although surprisingly it doesn’t keep me up at night. I figure that if I can pay it off steadily, that’s about the best I can do and so be it. And if all else fails, we’ll just go into the tea business haha. It also helps to remember that choosing to follow our passion doesn’t mean you’ll be in a constant state of bliss, so maybe the anxiety is just par for the course in any career—I mean, we all have to start somewhere, and starting sucks.
Yes! I have far worse times than other with anxiety. I have a semi-permanent “thin layer” all the time, just due to my personality, but I have days on end where I question everything and wonder if I should’ve gone a different route. My facebook is filled with people getting married and having their first, second, or even third kid, and I’m here getting ready to apply to grad schools. It doesn’t help when J’s family is always asking when we’re having kids. “Uhhh, we aren’t?”. :P Sometimes those things trigger that crippling anxiety and make me wonder if I what I’m doing is right, even though I know it is. Debt doesn’t bother me either. It’s those “deep” life questions that keep me up at night. I haven’t been sleeping well for weeks actually.
MAN. Career crap blows so hard. I have a fairly useless humanities degree and made the stupid decision to attempt a mid-career change, which has essentially rendered me unemployable. I’m lucky when I can get an 8-hour temporary retail contract. I’m haemorrhaging money. People keep telling me something will come along and it will get better, but it kind of sounds like useless platitudes when I’ve been at it for over 10 months and I can’t even get an interview. Employers are wary of taking risks on untested talent, even for entry-level positions at the moment, it seems. I feel like I’m just destined to be lost in the shuffle and never actually get to do anything meaningful. Or even be an office administrator. I’d be a great office administrator. Do you know how hard it is to get an interview as an office administrator? Now I’m just ranting, sorry. Let’s just go into the tea business. That’s something we’re good at!
I hear you all on the job front. I’m looking for work right now and have had some interviews, and I’ve got a savings cushion….but you still feel this sense of “I have to do something now” because you’re worried that if you don’t do anything, it will be harder later. Fingers crossed that things turn out okay for all of us.
I hear you on both the poor sleep (I awake for almost 2 hours in the night with my asthma. It took me almost an hour to realize that it was my asthma and that I needed to use my inhaler.) and on the career. Lately, I just haven’t been very happy with my job and how things are. :( At least the tea was perfect this morning!
Oh, job hunting. Is it bad that I’ve been perusing job ads while at work? Any wait I have that’s not long enough to do anything productive, and I’m looking at other jobs. Sadly it’s mostly a money factor. I haven’t worked up the nerve to apply for anything yet. Maybe I should.
I’m really sorry about the job situation. But maybe whatever degree you did get could be applied to different kinds of jobs? Many are more flexible than what people think, and in many cases, employers don’t really care about what you have a degree in, just that you in fact have one. I’m floating in some weird academic purgatory right now myself, hardly waiting to graduate and get away from academia, yet terrified of what I should do and which path I should take. But I’m trying to tell myself what I’m telling you, that degrees are flexible and try not to look at it as some terminal life choice.
Sipdown no. 133 of the year 2014. Another biggie, more than 4 oz of tea. Huzzah!
I had intended to do some methodical morning tea drinking today, but everything went pear-shaped because around 9 this morning I realized that I had left my wallet somewhere yesterday. Ugh. I had visions of spending the morning calling everyone under the sun to cancel cards, etc. Fortunately, the BF remembered seeing me holding my wallet at a place where we stopped for lunch after taking the kids to shoot baskets. I called the place and they had it! Even more impressive, everything was still in it. Crisis averted.
But as a result, I only had a cup of English Breakfast this morning, followed by this. It was an interesting tea, and it turned out to be a good commuting tea despite my misgivings given it’s hearty, almost black-tea flavor. It’s goodbye, and it’s goodbye for good because LeafSpa is gone, but because the LeaftSpa Blink Bonnie has a similar flavor, I’ll at least get to visit with a similar flavored tea for a while longer.
Good news about your wallet!
I know, I was so lucky!
You are lucky, you would never find it in Brooklyn
It was interesting, the guy who got it out of the safe for me said that whenever they find things like that they are careful not to even open them because there are so many security cameras throughout the restaurant they would get in serious trouble.
I wonder how long they would leave it in the safe without opening it. Maybe after a few days a manager would look to see if there was ID so they could try calling the owner.
Maybe so.
What an ordeal! I’m glad it was found..that must have been such a relief.
It really was, thanks keychange!
I LOVE bananas foster so I am sooo glad NayLynn was awesome enough to send me some of this tasty treat (Thank you NayLynn!!!).
First off, the brewed cup smells awesomely delicious – like caramelized bananas (shocking, right?). And as I sip on it now, I am reminded of the 52 tea’s Butterscotch Banana (another shocker :P). There is one exception and that is the base – there is a quality to it that is a touch present but it is lending itself to the rum component of a bananas foster. Overall, I continue to be impressed with 52 tea’s banana blends and am glad NayLynn was so generous with her sample size.
In completely unrelated news, has anyone ever used snapchat? I got the app because a bunch of my friends are spread throughout the country and it is a fun way to keep in touch but also its just really weeeiird.
Ohhh man, that sounds nice. Incidentally, I’m making some form of banana cake tonight. I’m thinking with whole spelt, dates and maple syrup. Really moist and luscious. I’m making myself hungry.
Super weird (can get creepy); I find only younger folks use it, and I just use other app if I want to chat with my friends.
Ooooh Sami, that sounds delicious!! I hope it turns out amazing!
And MissB, I am pretty sure a lot of people use it for some not-so-innocent reasons but luckily I don’t know anyone who would decide to use it in that manner. So far it has been funny faces, pictures of food, and screenshots of TV shows. Not the most productive or cultured way to spend our time but still entertaining.
To chat to groups of friends simultaneously, I just use whatsap.
A lot of my friends have Iphones so I use imessage but this is also a fun alternative.
I haven’t used it in forever, but I have a snapchat! I think it’s roswell_mfs if anyone wants to add me.
Haha we can snapchat our tea time :P
I kept reading “snapchat” and registering “chatroulette”, the chat site that sets you up to video chat with a random stranger… which reminded me of that dude Steve Kardynal. Now I have to watch his chatroulette video again. It’s the best ever! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6DmHGYy_xk
I wonder how many of those who laugh their asses off at that consider the fact that they wouldn’t have laughed if it had been a woman rather than a man performing exactly the same moves.
Also, as always, MASSIVE props to all the straight dudes getting into that performance bigtime.
He also did this one a few years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o71kCuva4B4
I have this vague memory of reading some interview with him a long time ago, where he stressed that he wanted to address gender issues. Otherwise, I’m obviously aggressively against the ‘dudes dressing up as ladies is FUNNY’ brand of humour.
Dustin – YES. I love that video.
He has done a few chatroulette videos now, but I think the Miley one is my favorite. I love all the guys who are laying down in bed with their shirts off hoping to get a hot voyeuristic girl on the other end, but get Steve instead.
I was in high school when the Nirvana video came out where they were wearing dresses (had a huge crush on the drummer) and have thought that guys in dresses were hot ever since. Mrs. Doubtfire and White Girls type guys in dresses is irritating (maybe that is the same type of humor you were talking about Anna), but drag queens are amazing and get mad respect. I do get a little envious of guys that have sexier legs than I do tho. :)
Unf yes, boys in drag (looking forward to when it’s not ‘drag’, but everyone just wears dresses and skirts, guy or not) and, for me, also boys in make up (everyone really does look better with make up, in my opinion). There’s a FB thing going around now (I think only Great Britain) in connection with a cancer donation campaign – women post selfies without make up and men post selfies with make up. My feed is like Christmas.
Big hangover this morning. Luckily, I have a great hangover cure. Seriously, best hangover cure ever: 1 large glass of water, 1 bagel, 2 large cups of Malty Irish Breakfast, 2 Excedrin Migraines, and an insane amounts of B vitamins. I’m already starting to feel great. Last night, I went to see Gary Numan live again. I have really been limiting my concert going as much as possible due to the plantar fasciitis that is still lingering. I have to drink enough to tolerate the amount of pain I will have standing through an entire show because I refuse to sit at a concert. For me concerts just are not as fun unless I’m in the crowd, dancing, and scream singing. The pain was so worth it though because it was such a fun concert. Gary Numan is great to scream sing to. Are Friends Electric? has to be one of the funnest songs, with all of it’s ‘oh ohs’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yx8Wwt7zDw.
Some really great people watching at this concert since there is a real variety of people that enjoy his music. The venue has a bar to the left so, when you enter the floor area people were already segregated by age. Most of the people on the right were young and the people on the left were older. The hubby and I went to the underage area since it was less packed and were able to make our way up front. It was interesting to see that the right half had so many people recording the concert on their cellphones but I didn’t see a single cellphone recording on the front left. Also, the younger section seemed more alive and dance-y, while the left section people were more just standing still. It was also interesting seeing the crowd react to older versus newer songs.
This tea is just perfect for my mood. It’s nice and malty, a little woody, little citrusy, with some chocolate notes peeking through. Just what I needed! It’s not overly complex but I wouldn’t enjoy that right now.
It sounds as though you had an amazing time! also interesting to read the comparison of the demographics. And I’m glad the hangover is on its way out!
I did have an amazing time! For me a concert is really my happiest place. Music is just such an important part of life for me. Thanks, I’m glad the hangover is pretty gone now too. It really is interesting to see the difference in the younger and older sections. I couldn’t help but think, yep I’m old enough to be your parent though to a lot of the people that were around me.
OMG, the hangover was totally worth it I’m sure (but glad you’re feeling better!)
Hey, this guy is 56 years old, he could be most people’s grand daddy in the audience and yet he’s so NOT out of place!! Does he still play “Cars”?
Sorry about your foot still hurting, but I so agree that concerts are meant to be experienced standing and jumping, no place like a concert to make you feel young and alive :-)
(I’m always part of the “older” section too but I don’t care, lol!)
Feeling great now. He really isn’t out of place. I think his voice is even better now than when he was younger and he has such a great energy on stage. Yes!!! He played cars yesterday. Got to hear Are Friends Electric, Cars, and Down In the Park! Those are still my favorites. The song selection was outstanding.
i have a fond memory of going out to some goth night thing on a whim years ago with my now-husband (which is so funny for me to do because my husband and i are big squares) and at the end of the night they blasted “are friends electric?” and “metal” among other things and we had such a great time. a week later husband gave me a mix tape full of the songs we were happy to hear that night (they also played iggy pop’s “the passenger” and BEF’s “optimum chant”!) and whenever any of those songs come up i get happy and lovey dovey all over again. so i can imagine actually getting to hear that live (!) and dance and scream must’ve been awesome!
and i agree, i barely drink anymore (thanks, tea!) but on the occasion when i do and wake up feeling funky b vitamins and tea and something carby for breakfast help a ton!
ifjuly-Aww, what an awesome story! It really was fun to scream sing and dance. Gary Numan is just starting to grow on the hubby and he does get excited for the older songs. I’m not much of a drinker myself. It only took me 2 beers and 2 shots to get the hangover.
^Also, mix tapes are the best!
when i get bored sometimes on long car rides i try to come up with mix tape songs for very specific themes. /nerd and aw, that’s the best when the partner gradually gets into something you love! and yeah, i’m a total lightweight now bc i go months without drinking, too wrapped in tea—3 beers and i’m already lightheaded and about at my limit! crazy. but cool too, i suppose i can joke now i’m a cheap date. :b
Love themed mix tapes! That’s awesome!
I’ve done a lot of mix tape trades with people from all over the world. So much fun!
How appropriate!
I’m reviewing this tea while I read the revised script for the last episode of Hannibal S2. (no spoilers – I’m not allowed to say anything, but I WISH I COULD. :O)
I’m in a total Hannibal mood right now – listening to this awesome music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WP6_m9rRlI&feature=youtu.be) inspired by the show. NBC heard the song and asked to collaborate with the artist to make a official music video and the final product is quite lovely and haunting! Some spoilers for Season 1 there. I don’t think anything important from S2 is in it. Just, give it a listen!
Also, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that we made a ravenstag at the shop. I helped glue the fur and feathers on. Pretty neat!
Anyway, on to the tea review: I think Aun-Juli nailed it. This is show that takes subject matter that churns the stomach and makes it antithetically pleasing. Never has cannibalism looked this good, right? The show is sophisticated and treats it’s audience intelligently, and turns the victims into art… This tea does the same. (See I was going somewhere with this…)
It takes hibiscus, orange peels and rose hips, ingredients that can very easily ruin a tea, and does something masterful with it. This tea is sweet, and tart. It’s bold, (for an Adagio blend) and the caramel orange swirl together quite nicely.The video is awesome and so is the song, thanks for sharing :-)
Yay! I’m happy you enjoyed it. :D
last night i spent a minute trying to find season 1 online. then i just ended up watching sad HBO documentaries instead.
but the important thing is that i got close :) hah
That’s infinitely more effort than you used previously! :P
And I wish I knew where you could get Season 1 legally, though I did find it here: http://www.cokeandpopcorn.info/?s=hannibal (Umm, I’ve never used this site but tumblers mention it. It may be safe? Be warned…)
Of course if you’re just looking for more sad documentaries, check out “Dear Zachary.”
This sounds delicious. As for the show, I just hope that there’s a season 3…and 4 and… :P Same for BBC sherlock.
Me too! I’m hoping to get to work on future seasons because it’s so interesting!
Wow, finally listened to the music video that you posted -love it.
Yay! I can’t stop listening to it… It’s almost like a lullaby…
I showed it to my roommate (he’s a huge Hannibal fan) and he loved it. I actually caught him listening to it this morning before school.
Look at the MF trend in my life lately! I’m actually really glad, because I actually got these teas in October of 2013, and figure I need to actually get to them instead of just hording them because they’re “too nice”. But I was craving this tea ever since I got home last night, and chose to have it with breakfast this morning. As I sipped at it, I found it passingly reminiscent of glitter and gold, but only vaguely. Perhaps it’s because both have a touch of spice to them, although this one also has the delicious marzipan component, whereas glitter and gold is more similar to a pumpkin tea (in my opinion anyway—I know it’s an odd comparison). I also like that I could really get a hefty base here, and I don’t know how to describe it other than to say that it’s a base that MF is proud of, because there aren’t any attempts to obliterate it with a ton of flavour, although this tea is very flavourful indeed. and not in the “delicate but nice” way—there really is a lot of flavour here.
yeah, i agree, there is a vague similarity between the two. (BTW, your stuff’s finally all arrived and i can send it sometime this week, sorry for the delay!) :O
This sounds really interesting! Strongly flavoured, not delicate, but the flavour doesn’t drown out the base. Sounds very well balanced.
Ifjuly, I’m so excited! and no worries on taking your time-I’m like the slowest swapper ever, but everyone’s so forgiving haha.
Christina, it really is great. would you like me to send you some?
I’d love to try it, but I’d like to hold off on a swap for now. I just got a few samples in the mail and will be getting even more (as well as 2 orders) in the future, so I don’t want to get inundated by new types of tea.
Sounds good! :). I totally understand being overwhelmed with like five million inbound packages lol
I get my vanilla from Penzey’s, & when you get to the bottom of the vanilla bottle, there is harp of a vanilla bean in there. The main thing I used vanilla for is almond flour pancakes, so I usually squeeze out the seeds into the batter. Today I dropped the bean into my cup of this tea, just for fun.
At first I thought it might be a fail: I could smell the remaining alcohol from the vanilla, but I let it sit for a few, added a little sweetening, & it was damn right tasty! We had pancakes, so this made for an after breakfast treat.
i picked a tin yesterday on tea festival. this tea is sooo good!
i want their keemun to go up on the website
Yes, & YES!
I got Keemun but didn’t try it yet. Maybe tonight. They didn’t offer it for tasting but dry leaves are perfect gorgeous black curls
I can’t wait!
I can send you some to try
they just need to put it on the website. it will be an insta-buy for me
boychik, I’m totally open for that! Feel free to check out my cupboard to see if you’d like something(s) in return :)
On the other hand, when it comes up on their site, it will also be an insta-buy for me, as I can’t resist those damn fine teas!
I know I bought it without trying. Will message you later.
They do a Keemun?
mzpriss..they mentioned it at their FB post re: the tea festival this weekend..not up for sale yet on their website
I really really want some
now! haha
I am not aware of this tea company, but it appears I should be. I’ve been reading about their Double Knit and it looks like I might need some of that too. sigh
For my 900th tasting note, I thought I’d taste a tea I haven’t tried before.
When I look at my tea stash, it’s pretty clear that most of what I have is black tea or oolong. I have far fewer green teas and fruit or herbals. I may have more white tea than I do green tea. I don’t know whether this accurately reflects the mix of what I bought, but I think not. I do love black tea, but I can’t drink it much after 1 in the afternoon, and I love oolongs, but I don’t always have time to do them justice, so I don’t drink them as much. Greens, whites and herbals/fruits are probably the ones I drink more often because of time of day considerations, but I also think I just bought fewer of them.
In any case, I have a lot of Todd & Holland samples, many of which are black teas. This is one of them. It’s malty-smoky in the package with surprisingly light colored green leaves. The liquor color is a dark sienna color and clear, quite lovely. It has a sweet, malty aroma with berry and chocolate notes.
The taste isn’t as sweet as the aroma, and there is a bit of smoke in the flavor but it isn’t strong. Like the aroma, the flavor has a maltiness and both fruity and chocolate notes. The fruit note is something on the order of blackberry or rasperry, or perhaps black cherry, and the chocolate is a lighter, mild note suggestive of milk chocolate.
It’s very tasty and it has a lot of “personality.” I can’t quite figure out whether I’ve tasted something similar in a Harney Blend, or whether it was some other tea company, but the flavor is familiar.
Am I the only person who finds it almost impossible to keep track of all the black tea blends I like, particularly over long stretches of time?
Flavors: Berries, Chocolate, Malt
Preparation
Woot, woot, 900!
(I still remember your 666 not that long ago!)
YAY for 900!! Congrats :)
Wow 900!!!
Haha, and thanks. TF, I looked for a good musical interlude for 900 but came up empty.
I’m still far from it, but I’m already thinking of a great Spartan melody for my 300th, lol!
(If such a thing exists!)
Congrats Morgana!
Congrats!! :)
Congratulations! And I’m kind of the same with black blends. They always dominate my stash, but my problem is that while I’m good at keeping track at which ones I like, it’s hard to drink down the ones I don’t care for because I have so much and want to just reach for the ones I favour haha.
Yay 900! I have a spreadsheet where I mark “rebuy” as yes, no or maybe. And I write short tasting notes into a notes column. So I can sort by yes and company, then read what I had to say and see if I really want them or not.
I have a spread sheet that I update & then print out every month, then I check teas off as I drink them. If it’s something I want to re-order, I make note of it. I never make it through all of them, ever, LOL.
Fjellrev, you can send them all to Sil…mwahahahaha
Haha yes! But not just the ones I don’t care for because that would be mean. I tried it once already but it’s so damn hard to find something in my cupboard that she hasn’t tried already. I’d do the same with you but I’m sure you’re a billion steps ahead of me too. ;)
900 notes? Congrats!
Thanks all. Yeah, I should do a spread sheet. My problem is that most of the ones I’ve tasted lately and liked fall on the right hand part of the bell curve where they’re all bunched up. Ugh. I can be counted on to over buy rather than weed out. LOL
I had another cup of this to reinforce that i’m not crazy about it. Thankfully that makes a sipdown since the rest of off to Cavocorax, as i forgot to include a sample of this in our last exchange mwahahahaha
I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with Rivertea. I guess my hopes were too high, I was so excited when they arrived. But out of the massive bunch I got, there are still a few that could be worth reordering. Too bas cause I love their presentation and all the info they provide for each tea.
I like the fruit teas they have a lot… but chocolate flavouring doesn’t sit with me.. one of the straight teas i wasn’t fond of… I have more to go through but there are some wins. It’s just figuring out which ones are the wins. For me, they seem to do well with the no caffeine ones, so i’ll likely stock up on those for summer “juice” :)
I’m not always a fan of herbals, but I really liked their banana something (but of course it was only a sample!!!)
I haven’t tried any of their teas. I think I stopped by the website, but nothing really called out, “buy me”, so I didn’t.
when i place another order i’ll send a few your way terri :)
:)
Sil – Mmmmm… summer juice!
And awesome – more teas. Thanks. IF I ever get to go on hiatus between shows, I’ll make sure to come visit you with TK.
And Terri, I should have sent bigger samples to Sil so she could share them with you*! If you’d like I can send you samples of Assam Beast of the East
Granny’s Cake, Cherry Dream, Boatsman and/or Mulberry White.
Sure Cavo! That would be awesome!
Great! I’ll add it to my spreadsheet and try to get them out to you next weekend. :D (Of course if you see anything else you’d like to try let me know – if I don’t have enough, I’ll just tell you!)
Just for the record, I’m glad Sil shares the stuff I send, & I usually send a little extra, cuz I know she will. That also saves me postage :)
:) I really appreciate it too! It’s been awhile since I had anything for Sil so I hadn’t thought to add more, but I’ll keep that in mind for future swaps I do with her. :D All that tea swapping around is just great.
Cavo – You can also always drop them off with me… I regularly send parcels to terri, so i’m happy to just add them to the ones i’m sending to save on shipping. I have 2 here to go out her way at the moment
Awesome! I’ll keep that in mind!
2 parcels or 2 tea samples? lol
Uh 2 boxes? ;) ones the BBB box so it has to go through TB but the other is all you baby!
I’ll be back up to 400 teas in no time ;)
Taste bud orgasm.
Once again, I ponder how this has such a low rating here in Steepster. It is simply the best rooibos blend I have ever tried (and I keep some pretty good rooibos/honeybush blends stocked); and I’ve yet to have anything but a flawless cup (which is why I’m bumping this up to a 100 rating).
I added milk tonight, and shit this is good. Like, you KNOW it’s a good tea because I don’t even give a fuck about all the swears in this tasting note – I’m THAT excited. Usually I try to sensor myself at least a little bit…
There were three other teas steeping/sitting in the kitchen when I made this and yet, it still managed to drown out the individual aromas of all three hour teas with its mouth watering caramel deliciousness!
I wish I had your tastebuds when it came to this blend. This and Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. Btw, what are the rooibos/honeybush blends you like to have stocked?
The ones I feel I “need” to have stocked (other than this one) are: Butiki’s Rootbeer Float Honeybush, Tea Desire’s Victoria Mint/Sweet Toffee/Latte Macciato, Della Terra’s Lime Chiffon (but this is lower on the list), this one/Gingerbread from DAVIDsTEA (I’ll be sad once my tin of that is gone since it was limited edition), and solely based on last night’s cup Pineapple Bacon Rooibos from 52Teas. I probably (this one aside) feel the most highly towards the Tea Desire blends; I think they do rooibos very well.
And, actually, I think CuppaT’s Apple Strudel Pistachio is probably on the same level as Lime Chiffon.
Ahh those are all pretty tasty. I think my rooibos/honeybush go-tos are Butiki’s Rootbeer Float Honeybush, Della Terra’s Lime Chiffon (and Lemon for cold brewing), Della Terra’s Cappucino Caramel Crunch, DAVIDs Birthday Cake, 52 Tea’s Strawberry Pie Honeybush, and Apple Strudel Pistachio (once I get around to placing that order). Oh and I like Nina’s rooibos blends.
I used to love Birthday Cake (it was my loose leaf introduction blend), but it’s lost its magic to me – especially compared to this one ;)
It was my intro too! I think I keep it around because I haven’t found a rooibos that compares. I don’t mind Oh Canada but I prefer Birthday Cake still.
Oh Canada! made for a really rich and different sort of cold brew.
Totally agree. I liked it hot initially but then I discovered much better teas and in an effort to use the leaf I cold brewed it without expecting much. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
wonder if i should try this some day haha
I just discovered davids rooibos blends; I wasn’t so into them before, but I really love Rooibos de Provence.
THANK YOU. I have no idea why this tea has such a low rating. It is probably my favourite non-caffeinated tea ever. Up there with Forever Nuts, and waaay lighter so you get a lot more bang for your buck. MUCH RECOMMEND!
You know when you place an order, there’s a point when and you realize your cart is really getting full and you need to slow down…but there are so many good ones that you just can’t leave behind, right? Then you think sample size. Yes! Yes! That’s the answer, give yourself the illusion you’ve got your act together, you’re NOT out of control, not at all. You suddenly feel much better about adding 10 more teas, seems like the reasonable thing to do. (Not!!)
That’s how I came to order this tea. I should have been less reasonable and order a larger quantity…That’s the other thing about large orders. Somehow, the full size pouches are the ones I wish I had ordered in sample sizes, and the sample pouches end up being the ones I should have ordered in full sizes. Ugh???
Not a secret, I love pretty much all types of oolong, and the aged ones fascinate me.
Don’t let the Ginseng part keep you away from this if you’re not a fan, (coughDexter) this has nothing to do with regular ginseng oolong. If it wasn’t for its name, I wouldn’t even know it’s supposed to be there.
This is not smoky at all, but roasty and caramel like. If you’d smell the infusion without knowing it’s tea, you would think it’s a dessert, very creme brûlée, custard like. There’s that faint mineral taste in the background I have come to appreciate. The ending has a cooling effect in the mouth, fresh, but not in a minty kind of way, just like when you inhale and it’s cold outside. That might be the ginseng part. But it has non of the eucalyptus notes traditional Ginseng oolongs have.
I had to basket brew cause there wasn’t enough for me to use the gaiwan. It will be interresting to try short infusions when I get more of it.
And yes, I will definitely buy a larger quantity next time.
Dexter was drinking EG earlier and is trying to be open minded to all the teas that you sent me. :))
The answer to your “the full size pouches are the ones I wish I had ordered in sample sizes, and the sample pouches end up being the ones I should have ordered in full sizes” issue is to just order small sizes of everything and then place later orders of the ones you really liked. Just saying….
Lol, I so give you A++++++ for effort, I do put you to the test, don’t I!
As for your suggestion, if I was normal, that’s totally what I would do…but I’m “tea-challenged”, my neurones just don’t function adequately and rationally when it comes to ordering tea!
Me ordering tea: “but what if I only get a sample, & I love it so much, & then I found out it’s sold out?”
terri – incentive to drink up sample sizes faster when you buy them heh
:p
Haha! Terri: EXACTLY!!!!
Sil: I checked your cupboard, me think you do need every incentive you can get ;-)
hey! I’m doing well! only 6 more teas to finish to have a cupboard that’s only 6 months old! (and that’s within april)
Lol, well… maybe I was tea drunk and had a cupboard hallucination, but I could have sworn I ‘ve seen your stash at 140 not that loog ago…
(psst…there’s a rumour circulating that machiavellian but very nice and generous Steepsterites are trying to sabotage your cupboard…beware!)
haha it was UNDER 140 like a week ago lol I’ll get there though! I won’t make my March goal BUT, I did stick to NO orders during a month where i didn’t hit my goal. So that’s good :)
(pssst…I’ve already started another box for her…heh)
terri…i’ve got a box for you that is ALMOST full enough to send :P
Haha! Hilarious Terri…
Lol, Sil, make sure it barely closes!
(I feel like a referee)
teafairy…totally! :)
Teafairy, every box we send each other barely closes. Actually, the last box I sent to Sil was 2 boxes, hahahahahaha
You two are so amusing :-)
terri – i just considered that payback for me sending 2 boxes at christmas lol
Yeah, I’m still working my way through those offerings :)
Macaroon! That’s one thing I’ve never dared try to make lol
Yum!!!
I’m sure the tea is tasty, but I’m talking about the macaroons, of course!
Oooh, you decided to make some vegan ones? How did they turn out?
I made American "macaroons"…The ones with coconut, which were very easy to make. This was my first attempt, and they came out a little too moist and a little too sweet, but overall they were very good. Next time I think I can perfect the recipe. :-)
Macaroons are surprisingly difficult to make.
You probably have higher standards than I do, CHAroma…! I made a vegan version, more or less this recipe: http://www.veganbaking.net/recipes/cookies/coconut-macaroons
I just made “macaroons” yesterday. Topped with chocolate mousse and dipped in dark chocolate ganache… so I completely get the eating of leftover melted dark chocolate… :)
Wow. That sounds much more delicious/involved than what I made…
Nicole is a rockstar in the baking/tea party sort of thing..