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Tony & I are having a laid back pajama morning. We just finished breakfast, & we’re thinking of visiting the London Tea Room this afternoon. Yeah!

Thanks to Azzrian for sending me this tea. You Rock!

I was particularly excited about this sample (& there are so many!), because I have a thing for peaches, & I absolutely LOVE Chai too. It smells like heaven dry, though while steeping I detected a bitter underlying scent rising (& I actually identified it, but now I can’t remember what it was…& that was only a few minutes ago…did I mention I have CRS?). Brewed it smells sweet & peachy, & kind of like marshmallow.

Taste-wise: Plain, it’s just ok. Typical of flavored teas, it requires the addition of sweetness to bring out the flavors, so I added a little stevia & vanilla almond milk. The taste of peach blooms in my cup, but I’m not really getting the Chai, at least not much. It’s a pleasant dessert-like cup, for an after-breakfast tea, but probably not something I’d buy.

Tony’s not a big peach fan. His favorite teas are Plum Oolong & Jubilee (both from the London Tea Room…that’s why we’re going, he’s out of Jubilee), & Twinings Lady Grey. I gave him a sip & he said: “It’s ok. I thought you said there was chai in this?”

We are of one mind.

First tea of the morning!
Smooth, bracing, deep, need I say more?

My order from the Tea Spot came today, & now I’m at Tony’s in my PJs having a cup. I have loved this tea from the first time I saw the tin it comes in. It’s just so beautiful, with the rosebuds, so aromatic with the rosebuds & jasmine, so flavorful with the rosebuds, jasmine pearls, & white tea. If I was depressed, which I’m not (& haven’t been since I started practicing mindfulness), this tea would be perfect therapy. It’s especially nice to drink in the bubble bath (with EO’s ‘Renew’, rose & chamomile essential oils…ahhhh….)

It is aromatherapy in a cup!

First, Thanks to Amanda for sending me this yummy sample. (I know there are 2 Amandas on here, this is the one the did NOT start the traveling tea box thing. I don’t know what else to say to differentiate them!)

Tasty! I opened the package, it’s a chocolate malt! I brewed the tea, & it is delicious! I drank 1/3 of the cup plain, deeply enjoyable, 1/3 with Stevia (“Hello, you sweet thing!”), & the final 1/3 with a little unsweetened almond milk. I just picked up my cup…& it’s empty!

I do like The Tea Spot! I haven’t tried all of their teas, but I’ve enjoyed most of the ones I tried so far!

I just got home from playing my 2nd gig of the day, I’m tired & hungry, & I want tea! My package from Eric, at The Fragrant Cup, has arrived! I started the water, opened the package, & …roasted chestnut is what I am thinking. The leaves are chocolate colored, with tinges of yellow, green, & beige.

I’m going for the lazy woman’s brewing method, as I don’t feel like fussing with the Gaiwan. I want a quick tea to carry around the house with me & sip while I grab a few things to take to Tony’s & get changed out of my black dress & into some pajama-like clothes, which is what I’ll wear for the rest of the weekend. So 2 minutes brew, in a cup with the Finum. (I promise another day I’ll give this the proper treatment).

This pale gold infusion has a very mild sweet flavor, very delicate. In my mind I see a field of clover blossoms, & I’d like to lay down in that field & rest. It’s a really pleasant tea with a mild honey taste, a little drying in the back of my throat (of course, that could be my allergies, now that I think of it). Definitely a tea I’ll drink again. (gongfu style next time)

When I opened my care package from Azzrian, this one quickly swam to the surface of the wonderful collection of samples she sent me! I love peaches, & this sounds awesome. I’ve never had a Zabaglione, but according to Wiki, it’s basically a whipped egg yolk pudding with other yummy stuff in it too. I don’t get to eat desserts because my body freaks out over sugar (even small amounts, dammit), so my tea is my dessert. And this is the dessert I want now!

It smells like a dream, like peaches, caramel, pudding, & heavy cream (I’m also allergic to milk…). Creamy, dreamy, smells so yummy, I can’t wait for it to cool down. Where is my spoon?

Unsweetened…it’s ok…I think I’d like it over ice.
Add some stevia & a little unsweetened vanilla almond milk & yum! The flavors come to life, transforming my cup into a bowl of peaches & cream, a nice treat in between gigs!

Now I have to go put my black dress back & go play a wedding. I love my job!

My harp is in the car, & I’m finishing a cup before I leave to play a memorial mass.

I’m only allowed one cup this morning, (Don’t want to be waterlogged during a gig, if you know what I mean…) & if it must ONLY be one, Laoshan Black wins, hands down.

Enjoy the day, everyone!

I made myself a breakfast of scrambled eggs with a side of leftover Ratatouille, which probably sounds strange, but is really quite good.
I haven’t taken a single bite.

While I was cooking, I opened the sample I got from Verdant of this tea & breathed in German Chocolate Cake! I ignored all instructions (rebel without a clue), & brewed 2 t @ 3 min. Oh my God…so dark…so deep…I smelled sandalwood, but briefly, then molasses, & through all of that, chocolate, a deep dark chocolate bar from somewhere exotic.

I have issues with impulse control, so I drank part of the first cup by dipping out one bamboo spoonful after another, blowing until it was cool enough to sip…chocolate expresso with a hint of pepper…once the cup was cool enough, I savored every sip, swirling it around in my mouth like a wine sampling guy…reluctant to swallow because it just feels & tastes so good!

I’m in love with this tea! I need to send an email to David Duckler, requesting that he add some of this to my order, due to be shipped out soon. I got a sample of this with my last order, & I want more!

“Please, sir, I want some more.”

For the first person to guess the source of that quote, I’ll send a free copy of my xmas CD, “MidWinter’s Canon”, which is a 60 minute medley of Holiday music, lullabies, Canon in D, & some other things, all blended with a mix of classical, new age, & sort of jazzy flavors. More info @ www.harpsinger.net/Terri_Langerak/Midwinters_Canon.html *

Oh, & MsWhatsit, you’re not allowed to enter this contest, since you’re my sister & you already have a copy! Although I know that you know the answer :D

This is my first taste of any of DavidsTeas, & I’d like to thank Bonnie, wonderful Bonnie, for including this in my care package.

Dry, it has a bit of a pipe-tobacco smell. I steeped for 4 or 5 minutes, & the smell of butter with a drop of vanilla said, “Steep no more”.

It’s a dark tea, & rather than buttered rum, I taste butterscotch. Of course, it’s been a couple decades since any alcohol crossed my lips, so what do I know? Anyway, it IS tasty! A little vanilla, a little coconut, the butter-scotch-iness is decadent, especially lightly sweetened. I’m gonna save the rest of this sample to drink on Sept 19th, which is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrrrr…

Thank you to Eric, proprietor of The Fragrant Cup, for this sample!

An afternoon of private students is the perfect opportunity for me to brew tea in my Gaiwan, & I’m happy to say I’ve got my technique down!

I opened the sample package to find lovely buds, looking like large oat groats, with a light scent of fresh linens drying in the sun. Per Eric’s instructions, there were 4 steepings:
1) 1.5 minutes: The scent & taste is of a creamy breakfast cereal, like cream of wheat. Very soothing!
2) 2 min: In my minds eye, I see a bowl of that creamy hot breakfast cereal, topped with butter, cream & a spoonful of honey.
3) 3 min: hint of vanilla, linen, paper?
4) 4 mins: right before I did this steeping, I smelled the buds & they had taken on a bitter petro-like smell. That taste & smell didn’t carry through to the tea itself, but this last cup was more astringent, but not unbearably so.

All in all, this was a really pleasant break from all the black tea that I’ve been drinking (& loving!). Sometimes you just need a different perspective.