Seed Harvest

I steeped this at a lower temperature and time to keep the smoke notes down and found I like it a lot more this way. The fennel is the strongest note, and adds a nice anise flavor and is a bit sweet. This is so much better. Wow.

Also, I just sent Fiance this note because he hates puns. I hope he loves it. But I’m pretty sure I’m just going to get ‘the look’ (you know, the exasperated why the hell would you do that look)

Dear Valentine,

At first, I couldn’t say with certaintea you were the one for me; the realitea was you were a bit arrogant and needed to learn some humilitea. But over time, I’ve gotten claritea to the situation. You’re my favorite person and you suit me to a tea. In actualitea, I think you’re teariffic and Wuyi totealy belong together.

The vitalitea you have put into my life with your generositea and kindness is outstanding. You’re a Jasmine Pearl in the rough, and my love for you is bounteaful. You have dealt with my eccentriciteas and peculiariteas like no other. Your emotional strength has made me realize that you’re my Iron God(dess) of Mercy. (Not just that, but you’re pretea cute).

Like most relationships, ours didn’t come without a degree of difficulitea. But we have overcome that together and you have helped me with my frailtea and insecuriteas and made me realize that I am beauteaful and worthy.

I love you to eternitea, Valentine, and I promise my undying loyaltea to you forever.

Come home soon, I oolong to have you in my arms.

I know this got a little long, but I hope you appreciated my sensitivitea and creativitea

Love,

Me.

PS: Is that pu-erh tuo in your pocket, or did you just love my pun thread?

A blend from Dexter3657! thanks so much! It didn’t seem like others here on Steepster liked this one very much, so I was expecting the worst, but I actually like this one! Maybe not as much as a chai that would have the typical chai spices included, but this had a different flavor to it… a nice change! A medium bodied black tea… the first flavor I seem to taste is the licorice/anise. There is also a sweetness I didn’t expect.. I’m not sure what that might be from though… maybe the black tea itself and not the spices? I thought this blend would be more savory than it is. I don’t taste the smoke at all… I feel like by the tasting notes I’ve spotted I’m drinking another tea, but I like this one. It’s so nice to be able to sample so many different teas. If it wasn’t for this amazing Steepster community, I’d probably have to drink the same five teas over and over… and of course without the sampling it would be impossible to find those five teas that were the perfect teas for me that I wanted to sip over and over! :D

Tea #3 From the HHTTB

bleh, nope, I can’t do it. I just don’t think I’ll be able to finish this cup. At first, I though maybe I could, but it’s not happening.

I read ahead of time that it had a smoky base, but I thought for sure the fennel and spices would mellow it out. Well, I don’t know if they mellow it, but they do something for sure. It’s sweet and smoky at the same time, but not a good pairing imo. The only place smoke and sweets can get along is while making s’mores :p
note to self: stay away from all smoky Chinese black teas!

My first tea of the month from Handmade Tea! So excited. :)

I had tried two of Caleb’s teas in a traveling tea box, which is how I first heard about Handmade Tea and made me treat myself with a subscription. Both blends were very different, flavorful, and interesting. This one was no different.

A very savory tea. I can see this as a nice cold weather tea. Hearty, with some savory spices. I would have liked another spice in there to give the tea a bit more depth. Maybe a smidge of cardamom to add a bit of sweetness? Or some black pepper to give it some kick.

I really don’t like licorice that much, so I was hesitant with this tea. Brewed up, it had a very strong licorice scent coming from it. However, when I sipped it, I got sweet, almost bread-like notes instead and didn’t get much of the licorice at all. I’m pleasantly surprised with this one!

From the Here’s Hoping Teabox 3

Hmmm.. this tea reminds me of curry – it must be the cumin seed in it. Actually, I don’t mind this tea. The black base is flavorful, smokey with the spices making this tea kinda savory. I’m getting cumin first – I think luck of the teaspoon as I see more notes on people tasting the fennel/anise. The fennel and anise add a neat sweetness at the end.

I honestly didn’t know if I’d like this tea because the aroma of the dry leaf really got to me. I hate the smell of cumin so I was super hesitant to try this tea. Steeped up it’s actually a really interesting tea. The smokey black tea is what pops out first, then a touch of spice, and after all that the anise and fennel. Surprisingly I really like this tea. The flavors blend well and it makes for a bold, unique cup.

This tea is interesting and savory, but I feel like it is all cumin. I’m used to cumin accompanying other things. Like when I use it in sweet potato quesadillas it is carried by the creamy sweetness of the potato, making it much more rounded. I don’t think I like it much on it’s own. It is kind of sharp.

From the Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #2

I like savory teas, and that’s just what this tea is. Apparently I also like fennel in tea. Never in a million years would I have thought that, but I like Verdant’s Holy Basil Spa Blend which has a strong fennel note, and this tea has a lot of fennel in it as well. I also like the anise note that’s present here. It’s noticeable but not overwhelming. I do wish the base tea were stronger. I can’t taste the tea at all which is a shame. I think with a better base tea this would be outstanding.

Not something I’d drink everyday, but I can see myself wanting a tea like this every now and then.

I hadn’t been avoiding this one. But I was in no hurry to try it. It seemed like it would be a chai to me, I don’t mind chai but it is definitely not my go to tea.

After opening the tin up, it smelled strongly of fennel. The brewed tea is very strongly anise (which smells like black licorice). It taste like a moderately bold black tea with sweet black licorice notes. The licorice is not overpowering, which is quite nice. There is definitely no need to add any sweetener to this one as it is fairly sweet on its own. I get a very quick, light salty fennel taste at the beginning of the sip but it is soon covered up by the licorice flavour. I am not getting much other spice out of this tea. There is a light “heat” to the aftertaste. It is definitely not a chai.

Due to the black licorice flavour, I definitely think this one would be better as an iced/cold brew.