Front Porch Special

2024 Advent Calendar #1

December was a blur and I never had time to log in but this year I ordered the Piper and Leaf Advent Calendar. It was a good fit for me with some music, stories, Bible verses, and 2 tea sachets per day.

This was the first tea (and likely the only one I drank on the correct day). I enjoyed the blend of jasmine, bergamot, and mint. I could see this being a good cold brew but at this time of year I stick with hot mugs. I did a second steeping of this and found it enjoyable as well. The sampler started off with a good tea match for me!

Strange. Thought I had reviewed this one already. It’s hot out. So this one just made sense. Thank you Shae for the sample! It’s a good blend for a hot day. Brisk black tea along with hints of lemon and slight varnish under tones that linger with the bits of astringency. It was okay hot this morning but I’m liking it better cold.

I still have a few samplers from this company in my stash I’ve been trying to work through. The company suggested this one as an iced tea, so that is how I prepared it — I used the full 7.5g sampler to make a quart of iced tea. I steeped it hot, then chilled it in the fridge.

At least with this preparation, I’m getting a rich malty flavor but no drying/astrigent qualities (though I have a feeling it might be a bit bitey if it were steeped hot and drunk right away). This isn’t the sort of bold Earl Grey I was imagining, though I do taste the bergamot; it feels a bit gentler than I’ve seen in some blends (though it could just be the preparation, this may be my first time drinking a bergamot-flavored tea iced!) and is reading more as a vibrant citrusy note, as if I added lemon and lime wedges to my pitcher. What I really enjoyed about this, though, was how the bergamot was blending with the flavor of spearmint; the spearmint was so crisp and refreshing, and made a lovely flavor pairing alongside the citrusy bergamot, bringing out a slight mojito effect. I didn’t get any floral notes from the tea, despite the addition of jasmine in the ingredients.

Not sure how this would compare if taken straight up and hot, but it does make a refreshingly solid iced tea!

Shae’s ADVENT CALENDAR, December 5

Where to start? I am writing this note about 3 hours after finishing my cup. I was in hurry making a picture, so it’s pretty much simple (I like it anyway), but there isn’t any view of blend today. The official image is right though!

I read a note from Shae it’s great iced/cold. I was quite confused as I preapred cold brewed tea once and well, it was pretty much okay.

It’s not plain tea which is a plus and honestly it surprsied me how many notes are already here on Steepster. It seems quite average, so let’s see. The aroma of dry leaf indeed reminded me iced teas available here (read: sugary drinks which aren’t with tea at all, I wonder if it is different over there). On sweet side. But I really like blue cornflowers in the tea. They made me smile right in the morning.

I have used only one teaspoon, to avoid bitterness and too much tannic note.
I think it went great and after 3-4 minutes steep (till I finished the photo session) it was just right. The aroma was same, just stronger and taste was indeed like iced teas! I really think it can work perfectly as iced/cold brewed tea. It was mellow, yet brisk, like with added sugar/stevia maybe and bit citrusy. Not really sure about the bergamot (it wasn’t calling me I am like an Earl Grey), but it was nice. The mint didn’t get any cooling effect for me, but maybe it was too little for me or just not that prominent. I didn’t get any jasmine.

Notes to self: To re-try iced/cold brewed. Keep an eye on clock more carefully.
Photo: https://flic.kr/p/2kdxGyy
Song pairing: https://www.jamendo.com/track/896970/reality-bites

My friend dropped off three Piper and Leaf samples this morning. I steeped a sample, resteeped, added sugar, and put it in the fridge to chill. I waited a few hours to try it, but honestly all sweet tea tastes best after it has chilled for a whole day to me, minimum is probably eight hours.

Though it is called Front Porch, I am actually drinking this on the back carport which never has cars in it, just rockers. A huge fan is blowing on me because it is 94F with a heat index of 103F.

I will see how this tastes tomorrow, but my assessment now is that it needs more flavor, so I probably should not have combined two steeps. My husband said he tastes the mint mostly, but I barely noticed it. I got more bergamot, but it wasn’t a lot of bergamot. Mostly high notes without a lot of middle and base.

I try not to add much sugar but I think this could have used more just to up the flavor. It isn’t bad, but at the prices they charge I expect it to be absolutely stellar.

Tried it again tonight now that it has had more time to “meld” as my Mother always said. It is better. I think the problem is I don’t like bergamot on Ceylon, and the Earl I enjoy much is with a Keemun base. I think most people would enjoy this and it isn’t bad, just not quite living up to my high hopes in this sticky summer weather.

Ah the joys of a TTB, you know nothing about a tea until you try it. This one smelled interesting, maybe a bit minty so I brewed it up strong and finished off the sample. I’m not a fan of bergamot or jasmine and the first few sips had more of a minty taste so maybe this tea is ok? As the tea cooled, it smelled more like jasmine and has a bit of a bergamot aftertaste. Sipping to the bottom of the cup all I get is jasmine and bergamot. Glad I got to try this, and it’s a reminder of the flavors I stay away from :)

TTB #22

I didn’t love this one, but I think it’s because I drank it hot. It’s basically an Earl Grey with jasmine and mint added and it wasn’t the greatest combination hot. But it looks like this was actually intended to be an iced tea and I could see how it would be quite refreshing iced!

So when I was looking at Piper & Leaf’s advent calendar, I noticed they had an offer for 3 free weeks of their weekly subscription, so I figured I would give it a go. They send 3 individually-wrapped sachets by snail mail each week, attached to a card with some sort of theme. This one was introducing the subscription, so I guess they must have a special theme for your first week. Which honestly I don’t love, as I was specifically looking forward to seasonal teas, but that’s neither here nor there…

Anyway, this one sounded like it had a bit too much going on to me. Bergamot, spearmint, and jasmine? But in practice, it’s mostly the bergamot that I taste, with a subtle sweet minty note. It’s fine, but plain Earl Grey is not really my thing, especially since this bergamot leans more toward the floral side of things, while I prefer a more citrusy flavor. But hey, it was free!

I have two more to try from this week, one is some sort of berry hibiscus tisane and the other is a citrusy green tea I think. We shall see!

The first one up is the oh so evocative Front Porch Special, which is basically an Earl Grey with spearmint and jasmine…ah nothing quite beats a fresh glass of iced tea with mint on a hot day, it is so nostalgic for me. This makes a mean iced tea, just the right amount of briskness and bergamot with the cooling sweetness of mint and jasmine. Luckily the bergamot and jasmine are both fairly light, so I don’t have to worry about being overwhelmed by two flavors I am only lukewarm on. I tried to foist this off on Ben to try, but he is not a drinker of cold tea, what with being from the north (like really north.)

For blog and such: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/06/tea-box-express-june-box-tea.html

I picked this up, along with a couple of other Piper & Leaf teas, at the market last month with my mom. Piper and Leaf typically offers several loose leaf teas for purchase, but the main “attraction” is always the iced tea. They serve it up in big quart jars for guzzling while browsing the local wares. We always fill our jars with this sweet iced tea when we go, and this time my mom chose the Front Porch Special. One sip of hers and I knew I had to grab some of this to take home for myself.

As usual with the Piper & Leaf teas, this blend is very fragrant and smells very sweet. There are at least two types of black teas in here from what I can tell, though I’m not sure what they are. Both are small, but one is long and twisty and the other resembles tiny pellets. The mix is flecked with blue and yellow flower petals and green mint leaves. It’s quite colorful.

I used roughly 8 ounces of water here, but by the end of the steep I was left with only 6 ounces of liquid or so. Those leaves were thirsty! Once the hot water hits the tea leaves, the aroma of the mint completely takes over. The flavor of the mint is there, but it’s been overwhelmed by a certain bitterness. After the addition of honey, I can taste the mint more clearly.

Second Steep
8 ounces + 195 degrees + 4 minutes

The color on this second cup is lighter than the first but still dark enough to make me believe that this will be a good cup. I dropped the temperature this time around and it has certainly helped with the bitterness. The mint flavor has dissipated and left me with a still-satisfying cup of black tea.