Dozy Girl

Decided to finally brew this one up tonight; I had a freebie teabag of it in my Boxing Day Sale order (I had to get that Jasmine Poached Pears while I had a chance!), but I’ve actually had one of the 20g sampler pouches from B&B for ages and still haven’t opened it up yet… so typical of me!

I love floral teas, but this does have chamomile in it, so depending on how strong the chamomile presents compared to the rose and lavender (two flavors I really love), this really could go either way for me. I am able to smell it pretty strongly in the aroma of the cup… but I’m also smelling the rose and lavender, and the tea is a pretty pink color rather than chamomile yellow, so maybe the small addition of the hibi (another thing I love… I know, controversial!) will go a long way in mellowing out that soapy chamomile taste for me.

The flavor… huh. Interesting, the main note I’m getting is lemon. There is lemon verbena in the blend, but I wasn’t even picking up any citrus in the aroma. I do taste a bit of the chamomile, but with the lemon presenting as the strongest flavor note, and it coming out a nice, pleasantly tart sort of lemon, it is rounding it out so nicely that my typical chamomile-blechniness isn’t bothering me. I get a hit of sweet florals toward the end of the sip; I’m not really picking out a distinct lavender flavor, sadly (I quite like the taste of it, and it pairs nicely with lemon citrus, too) but I definitely taste the rose.

This is far more enjoyable than I thought I was going to fare with it. It’s a gentle lemon tea with strong floral notes, and a good evening herbal. I’m not sure if I’d restock it, but I won’t have any issues going through the other sampler pouch I have stashed away nor any other freebie teabags that make their way to me.

Advent Day 5

I didn’t get to this one yesterday and today I missed one from my other advent. I spent too much time away from my kettle… with PEOPLE. SOCIALIZING. Gah.
I really like this tea. Totally reminds me of Turkish Delight, especially the kind that a local food stall makes. It has a slight tang that could be the smallest amount of hib, but it doesn’t bother me. The rose scent is strong as well as the flavor. There is a hint of an alkaline flavor somewhere in the sip, especially when I’m sipping too frequently, but it isn’t enough to bother me either. The chamomile comes out a little more as it cools, but was hard to notice for the first part of my cup. Thumbs up on this one.

This was my bedtime drink of choice yesterday. Looking at the ingredients, it’s a blend I really shouldn’t love, given I’m not a huge fan of floral teas. But for some reason, this just works for me.

It’s such a pretty tea, with the rose petals and chamomile giving it an almost dreamy appearance and the scent of the lavender creating an instant calm. It does taste floral, there’s no getting away from that; mostly chamomile, with a sizeable dose of rose and then lavender drifting in.

Every time I take a sip, I get these childhood memories of attempting to make my own perfume (mashing up flowers from my gran’s garden in a bucket of water! Please tell me I’m not the only 8-year-old that did that?) In fact, there’s a lot about this tea that reminds me of being a little girl. Those little pouches of potpourri my gran would put in my bedroom when I slept over. Maybe that’s why I find this tea so calming. It takes me back to when life was carefree and the only thing I had to worry about before I went to sleep, was if mum had remembered to stock up on Coco-Pops for the morning. I always sleep so well after drinking this tea. It’s one I will always make sure is in my cupboard.

Dozy girl is by far my favorite night time tea. It’s relaxing and cozy and puts my right into a peaceful sleep. Couldn’t recommend enough!

Lavender go woooo.
That’s my review. I’m very tired.
I’m not as much a fan of this any more. It was never my favourite, but I liked it better than I do now. Anyway, I submitted my essay. So that’s cool. Only four more weeks until the next one is due… and I haven’t started the reading yet…

Ahhh, this is nice.

It’s been tired times for little Kelshy and I am so over having blood tests taken, but I hope they’ve got enough of my blood to actually figure out how to make me feel less like perma-garbage. And way heavier than I’ve ever been. And always sleepy.

And yet I still managed to be awake until midnight last night, even though I specifically made myself a nice cuppa this to help me drift off into dreamland and maybe, just maybe wake up refreshed instead of exhausted? Oh well. Tasty, though. I love lavender, but it needs to be balanced with the right other flavours otherwise it’s a bit like drinking soap. And it needs to be sweet, otherwise, again, soap. So brewed this up with two little spoons of sugar and tucked in while finishing my evening attempt at finishing that awful race off the end of the heli-carrier in Lego Marvel Superheroes on the Xbox. The chamomile balances out the lavender beautifully, with just a touch of the other bits giving it lift and balance. It’s like being wrapped up in a warm blanket of lovely flowers that I’m magically not allergic to. Lovely.

But I also made a little gaggle of five-spice gingerbread Daleks and TARDISes to take to the office last night, and they went down an absolute treat. Huzzah! Five-spice makes the best gingerbread.

And here’s something I wrote where I talked to some nice gentleman about a Christmas special they made for a show called Doctor Who:

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/interviews/exclusives/peter-capaldi-and-steven-moffat-tell-us-about-2015s-doctor-who-christmas-ep

A sample from the EU TTB box round 3 return.
Not a huge fan of lavender in tea but I will give it a go, on the upside I love lemon verbena so it may work out well.

Ooopph, perhaps not! The raw scent is lavender, with a side of lavender and more lavender. Strong yet sweet and pure but lavender all in all. Some herbs behind but not strong enough to work them out.

Steeped scent is sweet but still uber lavender. Also the tea is a pinkish tone. At times I think I can smell rose but it’s too difficult to tell.

Flavour is light-ish (at least) and while being lavender dominate is also highly floral and herbal too, giving it more elements. Quality wise it’s fresh with only minimal dryness in the after taste. Also some sweetness in this, though not as strong with the lemon verbena as I was hoping. Drinkable though for a non lavender fan, to the point where I may consider getting more as a bed time tea. It’s rare that I can stand lavender in tea but it truly does make me tired.

So not a great tea but it does the job, and in reality it’s quite nice.