Queen Catherine

It is a perfect day for Her Majesty, Queen Catherine.
(Uuuuugggghhhh daylight savings time)
This was beautiful on a slow morning. I drank it black, but I must try it with cream and sugar sometimes.
I also had it with some cookies, which was an excellent choice. Maybe a scone next time.
Yuuuum.

And that’s another H&S that’s finished. I had several cups and enjoyed each, but am not convinced that this is one I need to restock.

Hmm.. I don’t remember it having those sweet and smokey tones before. It sorta reminds me of Tealux’s Four Knights!

This definitely isn’t the first time I’ve brewed up a cup of Queen Catherine, but it may very well be the first time I did so without screwing it up quite badly. This is part of a swap with Simply Jen W from probably a year ago now. Clearly, punctual tea drinking is not something I put on my resume – though I do appreciate all swaps and samples, very much so!

This time I used a teaspoon of leaves, steeped around 3 minutes and have a much more pleasant seeming cuppa. (Last time it got busy at switchboard while it was steeping and I had a 15 minute steeped disaster). This is an odd duck. It doesn’t quite smell like black tea, there is another edge to it. It smells as if it should be bitter, but the first sips yield a slightly sweet liquor. Again, it’s not quite plain black tea, there is something different here. There is no bitterness (a bonus in my book!) but there’s not really a lot of character either. As it is, I would have no porblem drinking this but I can’t imagine craving it either.

Thanks for the chance to sample, Simply Jen W!

Continuing to go through all the amazing teas that ifjuly so generously sent me.
I took this one to work today. Not sure what I expected (I hadn’t even looked it up) and was a little surprised at how smokey it was. Smoke is ok, doesn’t bother me – just wasn’t expecting it. This was deep, malty with some subtle chocolate notes, the smoke, and a touch of astringency.
I liked it, still have enough for a couple more cups – will continue to enjoy it. Not sure I would buy a tin, but it’s a nice blend. Really glad to have gotten to try it.

thank you to ifjuly for this sample….

it took me a minute to switch gears! i’ve been caught up with french apothecaries since my mammoth swap with ysaurella few months back!

i like the layers in this. there’s a sweet smoke— not a lapsang, almost a hickory dipped peach, an earthy warm tobacco, and then a crisp straightforward black. i like the fact that each layer is distinct but also mutually flattering.

thank you ifjuly! a lovely experience! i would say it’s nice to get back to basics but this really isn’t basic, lol! sneaky is a better descriptor!

very nice!

The combination of work and school has been keeping me extremely busy, and because of this my tea drinking and reviewing has fallen through the cracks a little bit. But on the bright side of things, it makes every cup of tea I get to have a little more rewarding.

I picked this up along with Florence and Boston also from Harney, and I was so disappointed with those two that I’m not even going to take the time to write a review about them. This one is a basic blend but it’s very good for what it is. It’s smooth, bready and a little malty with the faintest hints of smoke and chocolate sweetness in the background. Just a nice comfort cup.

I’ve got LOTS more tea on the way. I blew the majority of my first paycheck on tea, spending about $250 altogether on teas from Butiki, Mandala, and Verdant as well as a competition tasting set from Rishi. These things are my reward, and man they’re gonna taste so sweet.

Anyway, just thought I’d pop my head back into the Steepster world for a bit, catch ya later!

This weekend (week… month…) has been insanity. Our old house is finally on the market and now the husband and I are on the hunt for a few pieces of furniture that we need for the new house. Today, that meant we hit about five different antique stores (added to the one yesterday and other ones last week.) It was decently successful – we managed to find one of the two of pieces we were looking for. And I found this tea! Not quite your normal antique store fare, but I’m pretty happy with it.

The smell of the dry leaf is lightly smoky. Not lapsang smoky, but Keemun-like smoky, which typically strikes me as more toasted than smoky. But no, here, I get smoky. Honestly, the smell pretty much guaranteed that I had to buy this.

The taste is quite lovely. This week has been a Keemun week for me (I’ve needed the comfort of my favorite tea with our current level of insanity) so the Keemun is super obvious to me. There’s also a bit of sweetness that reminds me of the sweetness in A&D’s Assam. But that sweetness is not something I normally pick out in Assams and, since H&S’s description says it is a blend of three Chinese teas, I’m going to say the sweetness is from the Panyang. It’s been sadly a long time since I’ve had a Panyang. Num. I don’t pick out too much Yunnan really, though I’m thinking that contributes to the thicker, cuddlier feel I get from this.

The second steep (3:00) is more Yunnan-ish. There’s a bit of stray/sweet hay note going on. But the Panyang is also more obvious (probably the most obvious) with the smooth, almost silky, sweetness. The Keemun is not near as obvious this steep as the first. I think it just gives a bit of richness and some earthier back notes.

Long story short: delicious. I’m happy with both of my antique store purchases today!

Smooth, sweet, and smokey. Nice breakfast tea.

thank you cteresa for sharing this blend with me.
I really appreciated it and wasn’t impressed by the high ratings because never heard about this tea before cteresa proposed to send me some. So didn’t get high expectations.

To me, it’s not so strong.Malty but not too much (thanks God it is Chinese teas, not an Assam) I get the chocolate but in a different way comparing so many teas, it’s perfectly balanced with other notes, floral & fruity.
The tea base is really perfect, no astringency in my cup, is there a keemun as part of the tea mix ?
I had this tea in the evening and had no problem to sleep, really fantastic.
A beautiful tea to get whenever I want.

Backlog.

Last night I was tired and sore from some work I had done around the house. I offhandedly asked my husband if he knew how to make a proper cup of tea. The look on his face was priceless. He’s been a tea drinker far longer than I have, but he uses tea bags, Tetley tea bags to be precise. I guess he thought I impugned his tea honor because he made a beeline for the kitchen and was determined to make my tea. He asked me which tea I wanted and after choosing this one he banished me from the kitchen. The whole thing was really funny. Plus, I was served tea in bed. What’s not awesome about that?

The cup of tea he brought me was wonderful. Slightly smokey with a rich cocoa note. I also really like the strength of the malt note in this tea. It’s strong, but it doesn’t overwhelm the cup. So good! As a bonus, we both had a good laugh over the whole tea making process which made the tea even better. :)