Batrachoid

Finishing off the bag today with some fresh peaches, coconut yogurt and the first sunny evening since March! Still amazed I got a third infusion even after I ate the apricot pieces. XD

It’s hard to believe I’ve never logged this before. I must’ve gone through a pound of it this year alone!

It’s a very refreshing sencha. Light and fruity with some alfalfa notes. It changes slightly with different brewing factors and is fairly forgiving for sencha. And just as important as taste is the organic factor. It gives this tea cupboard tenure in big green canister.

After much convincing, I am home fo Easter. Which means properly prepared bai mu dan! Today was perfect for it too. Warm and drizzly with a sde of butternut squash.

I love leaving a steeping of this over night to drink wth matcha in the mornng. For some reason Bai Mu Dan gets better after sittting for several hours. The woodsy honey quality of the first few steepings fortify themsleves with a night’s rest I suppose.

Happy hoppy day by the way.

Attempting to backlog this one for the…fifth time? Somehow I write a note and it won’t save for several teas. It was probably the connection at my old house.

This is my favorite white tea to date and a baffling lesson in proper tea storage. Somehow I accidently order this online wile trying to look at the tin art in addition to purchasing it at two stores. One sample sealed up since processing, one sample from a bulk jar that saw many sudden breezes and one bizarrely stored sample. This one was in a small tin, purchased from a big sore with no bulk section, taken home and upon inspection- someone had already opened it. They opened it and shoved in the back for who knows how long. Ye-ah. Not nice.
Sample three looked beautiful, fluffy white pea pods with few fannings and smelled faintly like leaves and mushrooms. It steeped up four umami ladden cups of honeyd mushroom broth that gained citrus notes for the last cup. I drank this even when over steeped it was so amazing.
Sample two was largely fannings and a free apologee for not having many teas for a long time. It was almost black ans shriveled and had no aroma. The tea was slightly bitter and only a tinge of honey in the first steep. It was still better than a lot of teas even with that stale aftertaste!
Sample one was just like three, honey, straw, mushroom and refreshing. It makes me cry that Tao won’t have this for weeks at least. The little I have left must be hidden in a box out of sight to deter consumtion.

In the ER, out, in the ER out. At least I managed a three day interim this time.
Thanks to Ellen for this. I hadn’t tried an Indian white before but I’ve only heard laudatory reviews. This one wasn’t astounding but a nice change. Not as malty as I’d like but it’s definately a good Assam. Surprisingly like oak and held up to seven small steeps for me, not much variation in flavors. It piqued my interest in Indian white tea. Hmm, how would an Izu white taste, I wonder?

Happy 100th note to me! To celebrate it and my exit from the hospital, fresh matcha is in order.
Despite being a little expensive among matcha, it’s worth it for a couple tins a year because this isn’t just matcha. It’s also the only thing as good as matcha: CHOCOLATE.
The start of the first sip is much like the aroma: fresh, thick spinach and kale sautéed in olive oil. Then everything goes dark. The end of the first sip dissolves into raw cacao, flax, seaweed and cocoa crisps. I swear this tastes like my favorite candy bar, Fearless’s Super Seeds, wrapped in toasted nori. Oddly not any of the olfactory salad greens. As this cools and as usucha it sweetens a bit and gains a seawater taste. Combined with the perfectly thick froth this is a satisfying and chocolatey treat. I have to remember not to have this one before breakfast; I felt full and wired for an almost an hour afterwards. 100 for the 100th!

Happy 99th tasting note to me! To celebrate I got the 99th happy tin of Rabbit tea! Wait, why does that sound wrong…?

This is brightening the endless March drizzle especially after four cups of Frontier Organics’s bai mu dan. This baicha is so smooth and honeyed. I never noticed it before but this baicha has more tips than any other I’ve had. Even so I think I’m going to drastically reduce my intake of this tea, partally to make it last, and partially because I’m getting a little burnt out on bunny baicha. Too much of a good thing and all…

I kind of wish I got tin 100 to match my tin #50. Oh well. It’s better than refreshing the counter page every ten minutes and missing it altogether.
Speaking of 100, now what should I do for note #100?

I’ve passed over this tea for a year but put a sizable amount of this tea in my cart at the health food store recently. Usually don’t start with more than an ounce but, the need for extremely cheap baicha and Liberteas’s good review made it a good gamble.
The first cup was hard to judge. It seemed like a whole different type of tea. Martian mu tan? I told myself it was just my rabbit coddled palate recoiling from quality shock and made another cup.
A-and it’s definately Martian mu tan. By which I mean dusty, earthy, light and very different from other mu tans.Very light and musty and half way between puerh and strong chun mee. But not bad. It disappeared quite quickly for such a rough white. I’m quite glad I picked up a good bit instead of the usual couple cups of a bulk tea.

I made a cup to let run wild a week ago and was quite happy with the honey and cashew notes gaining umami as they thinned. I started a fifth infusion then got whisked away on errands; three hours and my entire energy supply later, I rediscovered it before rinsing the teapot.
Horror filled me as I poured it out. It was as dark as pu’erh. Even so there was no way I was wasting Damn Fine Tea. I’d never been so scared of drinking a tea in my life.
A-aaand it wasn’t bitter? Just a mild wood and nori flavor. Wow. So lesson learned: do not fear fluffy little bunnies.

Maybe immortality is not a real side effect of osmanthus but smiling certainly is. Usually I find it in oolongs so a green with the famed flower made me happy. Given how dark and brittle the osmanthus look in this blend, I was worried it wouldn’t have any taste but it’s exactly the opposite. The osmanthus flavor is fresh and strong (well, strong for osmanthus) like it was just harvested. I think the floral citrusy taste works much better with the light buttery grassiness of green tea than the plum and peach of most of the green oolongs osmanthus is usually used to scent. It makes me wonder how well it would do with white tea or lemon verbena. Definately picking up a bit more of this.

I’m not sold on this Logan series on Masterpiece but I am on Black Currant Tea! This was part of my epic SweeTea from JacquelineM and the first black currant tea I’ve ever had. The dry leaf has such a great refreshing smell. Steeped it stays fruity with just a hint of walnuty Bai Mu Dan mixed into the bushel of berries shoved into this tea. Sorting through the leaves, there aren’t many tips but it’s not crushed fannings either, so this is a good base for flavors in my opinion. The flavor and scent make this one of the most energizing white teas I’ve had.
This is really fun. I can think of too many things it would accompany perfectly. Irish soda bread. Mrs Marple. Raisin bran. Doctor Who. Definately picking this up if I ever can.

Good savory sweet green background for a satisfying jasmine tea. I think there’s some vanilla orchids in this green’s bouquet. Maybe there’s something wrong with me today. Don’t care. Comfort tea, crappy day.

For some reason I want sweet tea instead of savory today. I found this sample from Ellen after staring forlornly at my far too empty staple silver needle tin. Given the silver sleet drowning Illinois at the moment, it was a perfect fit for dessert and my penchant of matching a tea to the situation.
But this is quite savory a silver needle! Four steepings all tasted like jasmine broth, I’d say zucchini and konbu based with some vanilla at the start. It’s thin and has that distinct white mouthfeel seem to crave more and more. Each had undoubtedly jasmine notes, yet this isn’t scented. I had it beside a Bai Mu Dan as well, so I know it’s not me now.
Absolutely delicious, but not enough for the night. (Gestures to the aforementioned Bai Mu Dan) I’m not sure this tea would ever be satiating on its own, more of a hold over between other teas. I love it anyway.

I was feeling woodsy for post matcha hydration so my go-to forest green was the usual choice. Although afterwards I behaved oddly. Water was cooler and, once brewed, I let it cool to room temperature. Given how good this is hot, I kicked myself a few times then took a sip and sat down.
Oh. My. Sacred. Stars.
In that timeframe, it somehow transformed into vanilla cream butter. There were notes of coconut, honey, some of the usual vegetation. Had I made sencha by mistake? Could someone had used my cup for milk and some dried in it? It was so rich tasting I had to put it down and sip at it.
The second infusion I tried to replicate the steeping temp and a bit more time but the water must’ve been a smidge hotter. No sencha, no cup contamination, there was still vanilla creme although a darker wood taste fought with it. And won. But it was still delicious. Definately a daytime dessert.

With the recent purchase of amazing apricot and plum jams this oolong will get a lot of love this week. Today it was showered with seven cups worth and the eighth is steeping along now. I tried it at 200 F today for the first few and it came out very much like a toasty TGY with a dollop of peach preserves. I dropped the temperature to 190 and it swung back to light nectarine with plum in the background. It’s so easy to pair this oolong with a certain fruit or be careless and let it run wild while multitasking.
Ah! There’s the timer.

Six steeps from this last pot. Smoke carried through and stone fruit notes popped in for steeps 3-5. Even then the leaves reained some shape! Zhi doesn’t have this available, which is fine by me. This was much like a museum exhibit; a couple times is quietly astounding and enough.

This was my sipping tea for the 15 hour shower of gloom today, to be brewed with breakfast and left on my desk and slowly be drained through the day. This is because I was a bit scared to make it; the bergamont smell had that perume like strength. And I’ve found both Earls and Jasmine green best cooler.

Great choice for the day! This was delicious cool and all of the flavors are easy to sort out and enjoy in a few sips. The jasmine and bergamont pair so harmoniously I have to wonder why this isn’t as common as the two bases! The green isn’t detectable but a hint of the black base adds a ground to the garden.
Second steep: Hmm. The leaves smell nice even across the room. Should I risk a weak cup of beauty for a good strong scent? I’ll compromise by smiffing the tin thoughout the day.
Still good, more jasmine than I expected and less rose. Worth the loss of the brewed scent.
But I can smell the tin! And stare at the leaves as well! I wish I had the money to buy another glass jar and fill it with this tea. It would match my rose tuocha jar. =)
Another gloomy day brightened by tea from JacquelineM. Thanks!

Backlogging
I love chocolate. I hate red rooibos. Will love conquer all?
Whoo! Yes it does! Rooibos I can love! Which makes perfect sense because everything is better with chocolate.
And chocolate this is! Ginger, raw cacao, and cocoa are very strong with this one. The first cup was so strong it almost aggrivated my sore throat instead of curing it. I tried the second steep with chocolate almond milk (cocoa gone in the first cup) and it still was strong enough to clean my throat, nose, and the windows. And the best part? This rooibos was nutty, overwhelmed and tasted good. Thanks to KeenTeaThyme for swapping!

I can’t really rate this as I don’t know what plain guayusa tastes like nor how that translates to a flavored blend of it. This was a sample from RachanaC and I enjoyed it.
It’s light and refreshing, the dark color was not distracting and let me wake from just the tea’s taste and caffeine. Quite a nice smooth start to the dark, unearthly eartly morning I sampled it on. Ironically the the second cup I had for dessert yesterday didn’t keep me awake and I think it would hold up to milk if you like that. Like I said, I can’t judge it well but this is a pleasant flavored tea. Now who would make plain guayusa? Hmm…

Jasmine, roses, lavender, mint; a garden grows in my teapot and the four infusions of tonight’s tuocha protect it from the cold.

After such luxurious tea yesterday I went back to basics: BBC news and sencha. I made a second cup and threw in some lavender and spearmint for economical variety and I still crave lavender. Not bad, the crispness of the spearmint laced them together since this isn’t a very buttery sencha that loves lavender.

Another herbacious gem from JacquelineM’s SweeTeas! I’ve been low on Jasmine for a while and none of it worth singing about, but this one! This is worth a whole comcept album!
The base is lightly sweet but nutty, not too grassy to cause disharmony. The jasmine is soft and real (Is there anything more repusive than brash or fake jasmine?) and I think I spent as much time sniffing it as drinking it. The smell, taste, and color are all plesant. A&D’s Jasmine is an instant hit in the top five jasmine teas for me.

Edit: And this is what makes it Damn Fine. Four steepings and it still tastes like jasmine! The jasmine fades slower than the tea base without starting harshly! And the fourth was over night! I almost want to dance.
Ah! Here we go! I’ve always thought Venus Hum looks and sounds like this tea. Tastes like it too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clgTSuDSqWU

This my first tea from the extravegent SweeTea package from the graceful and grand JacquelineM! I was having the worst Valentine’s Day when I got her package just in time for tea! We had rose-lavender chiffon cake with cherries which would’ve gone well with all the teas she sent so I immediatly reached for the most relaxing and comforting smelling tea.

This is great sakura green! Definately not the most complex sencha but the buttery, mellow base works perfectly with the gentle, misty sakura flavor. The scent envelopes one while drinking, shutting out stress for a few moments. It was a quick cure for the frazzled lethargy that settled on me yesterday. Wonderful, simple and clean, just as sakura sencha ought to be. Its beautiful floral taste shone even more against the thawed false spring that was leaving towards the end of the day. Thanks again!

I had this as the first cup of iced tea of the false spring yesterday. Whoo! This is delicious enough hot but the cacao and fruity wine flavors meld so much more smoothly cold. Still my favorite Keemun for years.