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So there have been a couple studies in the near east/Eurasia suggesting that spearmint, like lavender, may help reduce androgen levels. For some ladies with excess hair growth, especially those with PCOS, that may be super awesome. I’m more or less a side show freak, considering the way my hair grows, and so I decided to consume spearmint tea. This was the only tea I could find originally that had spearmint (because Mint Medley was only in the sampler set). It’s actually the best minty tea I’ve ever had sans the natural grow-your-own-and-put-it-in-hot-water kind. I can’t speak for the homeopathic nature of this tea, but it’s kept me calm and happy and hydrated for the last year or two. I take it with milk and sometimes honey. It has a nice smooth black tea base, and the spearmint is strong yet not skunky. I definitely oversteep it, though — the longer, the better.

I found this super-old-looking teabag at the hostel associated with Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage and thought I’d try it just so I could rate it.

It just tasted like really old paper. I knew that, if I drank the whole cup, I’d either vomit or get heartburn. There really wasn’t even a reddish color to the bag contents. It looked like some kind of yellowish leaf, though, so I don’t know what exactly it consisted of. It just was like paper. Yes, I have eaten my fair share of paper — I also enjoy eating toothpicks. However, I couldn’t stomach this.

It really looked old, though. Like, from the 70’s old. I blame my youth for such a bad experience (but at least I’m not looking at it anymore and wondering).

This is a nice mellow tea that has almost a powdery mouthfeel. The color is a lovely deep green and the depth of flavor is really nice if oversteeped (which I always do with green teas. I’m sorry?). This tea is nice when you just want to relax. I take it with milk — but that’s just me. I think that the milk brings out some of the softer notes from this sencha, which is the only kind of sencha I can find in my town (in the International store, which is seriously the most fun store where I live). This tea is perfect in spring and autumn, especially when oversteeped and with milk.

Proper tea latte recipe:
1. take tag off of teabag and submerge in 8-12 oz. milk (in ceramic mug)
2. Microwave for 2-2.5 minutes
2.5 (opt.). remove teabag and place whisk into milk, turning whisk back and forth vigourously to produce froth.
3. Add sugar/honey/agave/sweetener, garnish with cinnamon powder/cinnamon stick

It’s nom. I like this moreso than normal water-and-milk tea.

My sister loves this tea. I used to love it — perhaps grad school irreversibly injured my taste buds (I once breathed in the autoclave vapor of tubes that had HCl soaking in them and almost coughed my lungs out/went blind/died), perhaps this tea has changed. It’s seasonal, so you can only find it in the autumn here in the US, so my sister always stocks up. We’ve done this for at least four years or so. The first few years, this was super delicious and wonderful (with milk — not cream). However, I have a suspicion that the blend has changed over the years. I still like it, just not as much. I still use a lot of milk in there, though — even microwaving some milk with the tea bag in there is good.

St. Elias Specialty Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, serves this alongside cocoa and coffee in Keurig cups. I reused my mum’s k-cup (because I’m devious), and the second brewing was actually pretty dark and tasty. The only bad thing is that I reused my coffee cup, too, and got some coffee taste in there, so I couldn’t get a really good taste of the tea (hence no rating). I haven’t seen black teas from Celestial Seasonings where I live, so I’m going to seek them out next time I go to the store.

Two cups after a very stressful day. I’m not sure why, but the first cup tasted a bit like honey. Perhaps it’s just me? This tea is good for morning breakfasts and evening nightcaps. I think I would call that a successful blend, whatever it is…

The more I have this tea, the better it gets. It’s great for really lame mornings. There are a few low fronts coming into Southern Alaska, and my knees are hurting due to the weather (I really am getting old). It’s currently snowing here in Anchorage, and nothing could be better than sleeping in and drinking this tea.

This is a good standard chai — all of the normal spices put together. I got a pack of this at the Grass Roots fair trade store in Anchorage (since I’ve had Equal Exchange’s English Breakfast before, and it’s nothing short of amazing). I like the all-natural ingredients and how everything fits together so well. Balanced, strong, and warm.

I really wanted to like this — it has a nice tartish/lemony flavor, and the lemongrass is really evident — but it gave me really bad heartburn immediately after the first few sips. Today isn’t a lemon day, I guess. Perhaps I’m just getting old?