CHAroma

YAY!!!! First sample from the swap box Shmiracles sent me!!!! I’m so excited! There are sooooo many teas in this box! You really outdid me. I thought we were shooting for 10. I think I gave you 13. And then I open this deceivingly small box to find 20 samples!!!! Wow!! You are amazing, girl!

So, on to the first one! :D I do have to ask though…What does this tea have to do with North Africa? When I think of houjicha, I think of Japan. When I think of chai spices, I think of India. And when I think of peppermint, I think of Christmas and the North Pole. LOL! No Africa in any of that! But let’s just get brewing already. :P

The dry leaves looks like chai and are chock full of spices and big cardamom pods. Mmm, I LOVE chai! This smells heavenly! And I don’t even remember the last time I had houjicha. It’s been too long. I loved houjicha long before I loved sencha, matcha, white tea, and even oolong! Okay okay, it’s done steeping and now I can finally get to the taste!

First sip…hmm, all I can really taste is chai spices. It probably didn’t help that I just ate three slices of pepperoni and sausage pan pizza. LOL! But I was starving!! I couldn’t wait any longer! Man, I am talkative tonight. I apologize for my ramblings. Just very excited! Second sip…now I’m getting a hint of mint amongst all the spicy goodness. But the houjicha seems very quiet still.

Well, even just as a cup of chai mint tea, it’s yummy! I’m surprised I like the introduction of mint in chai. I think it works because it’s a very small amount of mint compared to the other flavors. Now if only I could get the houjicha to shine! Houjicha has such a nice roasted toasted taste. The base here feels more like a backdrop to the mint and chai spices so that you’re not drinking a purely herbal tea. No roasty toasty elements to be found, sadly.

Oh well, if I didn’t know what houjicha was supposed to taste like, I wouldn’t know what I was missing. So overall, I’m enjoying this cup for what it does taste like. ;) Wow, my brain is just kooky tonight. Is any of this making sense? LOL! Thanks Shmiracles!!!!

The dry leaf aroma of this tea is AWESOME! It smells like creamy, lemon-y goodness. Like lemon meringue pie! There were huge chunks of dried lemon in the blend and lots of yellow calendula petals too (which look exactly like marigold petals by the way).

The brewed tea aroma is mostly woodsy green rooibos with a hint of lemon zest. That’s sad. I hope the lemon creaminess returns in the flavor! I really dislike red rooibos, but flavored green rooibos is usually okay. This brewed aroma is making me second guess myself. Time to try it and find out!

Mmm, lucky for me, that lovely lemon creaminess has returned! The green rooibos base is still pretty strong though. But the added flavorings are nice. It’s worth noting that the lemon in this is very natural and zest-like. It doesn’t taste incredibly tart or citrus-y like lemon pulp or juice. It’s definitely more akin to zest.

I’m going to add a tiny bit of Truvia to see if I can make the flavors really pop. Well, it kind of worked. There’s just no way past that rooibos base. :P This is just okay in my book. But I can see how this would be the perfect late night treat for rooibos lovers. At least it won’t keep me up past bedtime. :)

I really wanted to make this Gingerbread Cookie recipe by DaisyChubb: http://www.daisychubb.com/recipe-zombie-gingerbread-men-matcha-ginger/

But I didn’t have any ginger matcha. :( I did have cotton candy, maple syrup, caramel, and cheesecake matcha in my stash…so I opted to make Gingersnap Cotton Candy Matcha Cookies!

To see photos of my creations, go here (although they are nowhere near as cute as what DaisyChubb created. I am simply not as talented a baker): http://www.flickr.com/photos/96132028@N08/sets/72157633585326552/

My improvisation kind of worked out. It made for really sweet, really sugary cookies with a ginger zing. In all honesty, I could have done without the ginger I think. But my mom and husband (fiancé at the time) loved them!

This is a recipe probably best left unaltered. But hey, it was worth a shot because I was really craving matcha cookies! Thanks to DaisyChubb for posting the recipe! And by the way, those zombie gingerbread men are soooooo freaking cute!!

I finally got around to brewing this one up for my kitty, Mr. Frodo! He rubbed his face on the bag for a while before indulging in a cup of brewed catnip tea. He was so cute! I captured the whole thing with my iPhone camera. To see the photo play-by-play, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96132028@N08/sets/72157633587132206/

While waiting for it to cool enough for Mr. Frodo, I tried it myself. If you didn’t tell me this was catnip, I’d have no idea! It tasted like green yerba mate with a touch of mint. Or just a very weak peppermint tea. It’s not bad! I gave some to my husband and he really liked it, even after I told him it was catnip. ;P

This is a fun one to have around. I’m glad I picked up a packet. If you have a kitty, you should definitely get some for him or her too! It makes for really cute photos. :) And I have a ton of it, so feel free to request some in a swap.

SIPDOWN, and a Gongfu brewing session!

Hmm, I’m not really enjoying this as much as I did when I brewed it Western style. As before, the first few infusions are my least favorite. As the dark chocolate notes wane and are replaced with caramel and honey notes, it becomes more to my liking.

I prefer sweet over bitter, and this tea leans more towards the bitter end of the scale. It doesn’t reach bitter, but it definitely leans in that direction and comes fairly close. The early infusions are dark and roast-y and maybe a tad bit woodsy. By the fifth infusion, I started getting less dark cocoa bitterness and more honey sweetness. A warm spicy note emerged as well. Now this is getting yummy!

I gave up after the eighth infusion even though the leaves could have gone longer. I can definitely see why people love this tea so much. While I can appreciate it, I don’t love it myself. I am excited I had the opportunity to try it!

This is a really delicious flavored oolong. I really like the plum flavor. It’s not the average fruit of choice for fruity tea blends. I let my husband sip it. It’s his first oolong experience, I think.

He said, “Mmm, I really like it. It tastes buttery or creamy.”

“YES!” I replied. “That’s exactly right! Green oolongs do taste buttery.” :)

I love introducing my hubby to tea. It’s so much fun! And now that I know he likes green oolongs, I have soooo much more to share with him! :D

After that Harney and Sons tea this morning, this Tazo tea just does not compete. Sans additions, it is really bitter. With additions, it’s just a weak, noncomplex drink posing as tea. It would do in a pinch, but it’s not something I’ll stock.

This is the last of the individually packaged tea bags I picked up on my mini-moon from the Cliffside Inn. Awww. :( I guess the mini-moon is officially over. Well, in reality it’s been over for weeks. LOL! The dry leaf aroma is strong oil of bergamot. That’s not my favorite way to flavor an earl grey, but I’m holding out hope. I saw a couple silver needle leaves in the sachet. What’s that about? Well, one way to find out!

Mmm, this is a smooth cuppa! I could probably drink it straight and enjoy it just fine. But with skim milk and Truvia, this is a really yummy tea! I’m unsure I can taste the soft flavor of the white tea amongst all this black tea and bergamot oil. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s still very delicious! I just don’t know if the white tea is really contributing much in the blend. Overall, I’d rate this tea a success, seeing as my cup is empty. :P

Mmm, how I love Paris! This is just as delicious as I remember it. It tastes like berries and vanilla cream. Yum! I added a little milk and sugar to experiment, but I think it’s better sans additions.

This is another individually packaged tea bag I picked up on my mini-moon from the Cliffside Inn. I enjoyed a cup then too and knew I had to grab a sachet to have later. I think it’s finally time to invest in a tin of this stuff. It’s a near perfect creation! I bet it would make an amazing iced tea too.

This is surprisingly smooth sans additions. Hmm, maybe I need to change my opinion of Keemun. Sometimes I try it and it’s God awful. Other times, like now, it tastes fine. Enjoyable even when milk and sugar are added.

It’s not very brisk for a breakfast tea though, in my opinion. I require a little more oomph in the mornings. It’s lacking the strong, full-body of Ceylons that I love so much. That’s my go-to breakfast tea.

This is okay, but it’s not quite there. I agree with others that it really lacks complexity. It’s just sort of one-sided, like one note in a song. I am glad I got the chance to try it though, thanks to the lovely Cliffside Inn where I spent my mini-moon! :)

Another raided complimentary sample tea bag. For more info on the story of Ikaati and my finding it, see my Black Orchid tasting note.

The dry leaf aroma actually smells quite good! By the look of the leaves, it has lemongrass and some kind of red berry in it. I poured boiling water over the bag and the water immediately turned bright golden yellow. I bobbed the bag around and that’s when I saw it: red liquid seeping out of the tea bag. Oh no! Those red berry looking things must be the dreaded hibiscus! Agh!

Well, I suppose I should have seen that one coming. But I honestly didn’t. I thought it was going to be a lemongrass berry tea, which I guess it kind of is in retrospect. Anyway, the tea liquor is a golden brown color now. The aroma of the brewed tea is kind of off-putting. What is this?

The flavor isn’t nearly as offensive as the aroma. It actually tastes okay! The hibiscus is at first tart, then sweet. The lemongrass complements the hibiscus well. It’s not bad. I’m enjoying this cup although I probably wouldn’t re-stock it. I’m just not an herbal gal.

On another note, has anyone watched the last season of The Office? It’s HILARIOUS! I’ve never laughed so hard in my entire life. My husband is away on a business trip for 4 days. So I’m alone at home with my cat, laughing hysterically. I didn’t think it’d be very good without Michael. But it is freaking funny!

Another raided complimentary sample tea bag. For more info on the story of Ikaati and my finding it, see my Black Orchid tasting note.

Mmm, the dry leaf aroma is lovely, vegetal green tea! I didn’t follow the steeping instructions because the ingredients list says this is dragon well. So I brewed it at my normal dragon well parameters plus 30 seconds because the liquid brewed up very pale yellow at first. Now it’s more of a golden yellow color, and the aroma coming off this cup is butter! Yummy buttery vegetables!

The taste is rather lovely as well. It’s not grassy like I usually find dragon well. Instead, it’s just a delicious cup of green tea that doesn’t taste bagged at all! There’s no bitterness and only a slight astringency. This is a very solid choice to keep stocked at the office. If only I had more. :( The second infusion is a bit weaker but still tasty. I really like this one! :)

This is the last of my Mighty Leaf bagged tea samples. I know it says to steep for 5 minutes, but it was a very dark reddish brown after only 3 minutes, so I decided to take the bag out early. The mint is very strong here in the aroma of the dry leaf and the brewed tea. It smells like spearmint to me. I hope I can taste the verbena under all that spearmint. The whole reason I wanted to try this was because it has verbena in it!

My favorite Bath and Body Works scent is Coconut Lime Verbena. Of course as soon as I fell in love with it, they discontinued it. :( So I immediately went to Ebay to stock up, and now I have at least a 5-10 year supply of shower gel and body spray. :D Honestly, it mostly smells like coconut and lime to me. I don’t even know what verbena is. So when I spotted this tea, I thought, here’s my chance to find out!

Well, to make a long story short, this tea tastes like funky spearmint. I love how the description says “soft citrus notes of verbena leaves balanced with a beautiful hint of mint.” Hint of mint my butt. This is overpowering mint! There does seem to be some kind of citrus punch in the beginning of the sip, but it’s quickly covered by mintaplooza. It’s really off-putting to my palate. Eck, I just can’t finish this cup. Sorry, verbena mint tea! You are not my cuppa!

This year, the annual awards ceremony for my husband’s work was held at the Four Seasons. After the awards ceremony and dinner, they offered tea and coffee with some fabulous desserts. This individually packaged tea bag was my winnings for the evening (along with a few other tea bags stashed in my purse for later). ;) I can’t help myself! When I see tea, I just go klepto!

The dry leaf aroma is dripping juicy guava and strawberry. Yum! The tea liquor is light amber colored and smells mainly of green tea with a generic fruitiness. I have to say the dry leaf aroma was much fruitier and more appetizing than the brewed tea aroma. But on to the taste!

Hmm, this is kind of unexpected. The beginning of the sip is green tea, but then it morphs in your mouth and there’re tons of fruity flavors by the time the aftertaste hits! I’m getting largely pineapple here, which is funny, because that fruit wasn’t apparent in the scent at all. There’s still a good level of guava, but now the strawberry is somewhat elusive.

There’s also something a little off in the cup, but it only appears at the beginning of the sip and doesn’t linger. I think it might be whatever the flower petals are contributing. The floral element doesn’t seem to mesh well with the fruits. But overall, this is a good fruity green tea, especially considering it’s bagged. I’m glad I had the opportunity to try another Mighty Leaf Tea!

My husband’s work hosts an awards ceremony every year at a hotel in D.C. We get to enjoy free food and drink and the chance to win $5000! My husband has worked there two years, been nominated both years, but hasn’t won yet. Oh well. At least we got some free tea out of it!

This is dark, nutty, and bordering on woody. The muscatel is there along with a good amount of astringency. I think I’d enjoy this more with milk and sugar. After finagling in the kitchen, I return with an improved cup of tea! The nuttiness seems even more apparent with additions.

I’m surprised that I couldn’t find this here on Steepster. Mighty Leaf seems pretty popular and well known. Anyway, this is an enjoyable cuppa. It’s not overly complex, but it seems reliable for a bagged tea.

This is an individually packaged tea bag I picked up on my mini-moon a couple weeks ago. We stayed at the most beautiful, quaint bed and breakfast in Newport, RI. It’s called the Cliffside Inn, and I highly highly recommend it! They had tea time on Wednesday afternoons, and what was offered? Harney and Sons!!! I grabbed a couple extra tea bags to try later, and later it is! ;)

This steeped up to a nice golden brown. The aroma is nutty and maybe a tad mineral? The flavor is muscatel and sweet, but the mouthfeel is very odd. It’s silky and yet extremely mouthwatering. As in, I have a sip, and then my mouth waters for several seconds as it processes the aftertaste. This results in a lot of swallowing for one little sip of tea. If I fight through that oddity, I can detect a roastiness in the flavor as well.

This is not bad! I can’t say I’m really enjoying this weird mouthwatering aspect. But the flavor itself is good. Maybe adding milk would help. I can’t tell if it’s just my taste buds acting funny this morning or if the tea is really eliciting this odd reaction. With additions, a natural yet subtle fruity sweetness appears. This is a very pleasant tea! And now my cup is empty. Aww. :(

SIPDOWN!

As soon as I saw this label, I immediately started singing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write!” Ahh, I just love Christmas. Who cares if it’s May? It’s Christmas tea time! :D This tea + skim milk + truvia = YUM! This is a delicious treat. I’m thoroughly enjoying this bit of Christmas in May. :)

Big thanks to Stacy from Butiki Teas for providing this sample with my latest order. Yay! I love trying new teas! :D

The aroma of the brewed tea is recognizably potato and apple. Wow. How did she do that? First sip! Hmm, the taste is so interesting. The first part of the sip is buttery green tea. The end of the sip is potato: warm, buttery potato pancake. Mmm! The apple is very quiet in this, but it complements the other flavors well.

This tea is very well blended indeed. I’m really enjoying this! My cup is almost empty, oh no! Time for a second infusion for 6 minutes. Wow! The aroma of this second cup seems better than the first! It smells positively AMAZING! I added a teensy tiny bit of sweetener to this cup in hopes of bringing out more apple.

Mmm, it worked! The aroma is weighted towards potato pancake, but the taste is weighted towards cinnamon apples. This is the first time I’ve identified cinnamon in the tea. The sweetener was just the right amount to bring out the apple flavor without actually making the tea taste sugary sweet. And there’s still plenty of potato pancake flavor! This is perfect!

I’m loving this! It’s so unique and delicious. And I’m sooo impressed that it re-steeps this well! I just can’t believe it. Sooooo good!!!! I never want to run out of this! This is MAGIC!!! Thanks, Stacy!

SIPDOWN!

Many thanks to Mercuryhime for this sample! This is a very special tea indeed. I gave most of this cup and its subsequent infusions to my new husband. It’s so unique! He needed to try it.

He described it as, “It’s got that weird tongue thing again…like the tea is trying to get away from my tongue and escape.”

“Okay, you’re describing the mouthfeel. But what about the flavor?” I asked.

“It tastes like brown construction paper. I like it,” he replied. LOL! Who describes a tea as tasting like paper and then likes it? “I know,” he continued, “It tastes brassy! Yeah, like I’m licking a doorknob.”

I laughed at him and then he said, “I think people would really like to read my tasting notes. I’m the best at tasting notes. You’re jealous.” :) Aww, he’s so adorable! I love my hubby. Maybe he’ll join Steepster and track his own tea journey. You never know!

Another raided complimentary sample tea bag. For more info on the story of Ikaati and my finding it, see my Black Orchid tasting note.

The dry leaf aroma here is very perfume-y bergamot. The brewed tea aroma is classic dirty diaper Keemun followed by bergamot. Unfortunately, the dirty diaper aroma has made its way into the taste. This is just nasty. Blech. :( You know, this tea says it has Yunnan and Keemun in it, so you’d think I’d like it better than the all Keemun Black Orchid tea. But I’m really only getting Keemun here. Weird.

I’ll have to add milk and sugar to see if this cup is at all redeemable. I added quite a bit of milk and only a little sweetener. This seems to have killed most of the Keemun yuckiness. Now I’m left with a pretty good cup of earl grey! If you like Keemun, then you’d most definitely like this tea. There’s nothing wrong with the Keemun here. I’m just not a fan of that particular base.

The bergamot oil is not overdone either. It’s blended nicely and reminds me of my visits to Paris. OMG! I’m going to Paris again in less than 6 months!!! Ahhhh!!!! I better buy our plane tickets! :D Damn, prices have really gone up lately. I should have bought them in March. Dang it! I knew they were good prices back then! Agh!

Oooh, but flying into London is cheap! Hmm, I need to go revise our travel plans. Maybe we’ll do London AND Paris. ;)

First cup of the day! It’s time to continue drinking down all of these one sample tea bags!

This is a sample I grabbed up at the Spa Terre at Hotel Viking in Newport, RI. I went the day before the wedding to get a French manicure with my mom. It was just the two of us, and the total bill came to $132! Needless to say, I felt a little cheated. So on the way out, I raided their complimentary tea stand. ;)

I’ve never heard of Ikaati. And apparently neither has Steepster, as I was the first one to add these teas to the database. I grabbed two black teas, one green, and one herbal. My hopes were a little dashed as upon Googling the black teas, I discovered they’re both Keemun. Blech! My nickname for Keemun is “dirty diaper tea.”

I went ahead and brewed them up anyway. First up, Black Orchid! The dry leaf aroma is just weird. I can’t really tell what’s going on here. It’s not bad necessarily, just unidentifiable to me. The tea bags are hand-tied pouches. Honestly, they didn’t seem particularly stable. Think taking a square piece of mesh fabric, putting some tea leaves in the center, and then pulling all the edges together and tying it off by wrapping a piece of string around it. O_O

But upon steeping, they held together well. Ooh boy, that Keemun is making itself known! I’m getting a lot of dirty diaper scent in the brewed tea aroma. (Sorry to all of you who actually enjoy Keemun.) I’m actually a little afraid to take this first sip…but the more I sniff it, the more recognizable it’s becoming. In fact, I think this smells a little like strawberry Twizzlers! Or Red Vines.

Okay enough stalling…first sip…hmm…second sip…this is surprisingly not bad! It does kind of taste like Red Vines too. Interesting. Hmm, I rather like this! The vanilla is coming through strongly, followed by a glimmer of orange, and then finally what must be a ylang ylang flower. I can’t say I’ve ever tried that before, but it’s rather tasty and leaves a wonderful aftertaste: a natural, soft sweetness with no bitterness or astringency.

Yay! This tea is a winner! Oh, I’m so relieved! I’m even enjoying the cup sans additions, which is rare for me. What a treat! I can now say that I recommend Ikaati to the Steepster community! Well, this tea at least. ;) It’s very unique.

I think this is the freshest of my randomly found Lupicia samples. This is surprisingly good! It’s a nice balance of smooth and brisk. The Darjeeling comes through strong, but the other teas in the blend are equally present. I usually hate drinking black tea straight, but I drank the whole cup this way! Yum! This is a solid choice if you like Darjeelings. I’m thoroughly enjoying this. :)

Another randomly found Lupicia sample. I actually bought this one with Kotobuki as a trial wedding favor. They both came in one white, mesh, organza bag with a drawstring closure. Each sample was packaged in its own plastic slip colored cream and gold. Overall, I like the favors. But at $2.50 each, I decided it wasn’t worth it. My mom ended up making cookies for our favors. :)

Anyway, I digress again. This tea is DELICIOUS! The dry leaf aroma is fruity, floral, and yummy! The brewed tea aroma is simply mouthwatering. And the taste? DE-LISH! It has a natural sweetness and can be drunk straight, which is the way I enjoyed it. I highly recommend this one, and I don’t even like Keemun! This tea is great!

Another randomly found Lupicia sample. I’m not sure if it qualifies as a sipdown since it’s only this one tea bag. I guess since I have so many one sample tea bags floating around, I won’t count them as sipdowns. Anywho, on to the tea!

The dry leaf aroma is grape and green tea. The brewed tea aroma is the same and yet different. It smells sweeter now. Mmm, the flavor here is lovely! It’s a nice mixture of grassy green tea with grape candy. The end of the sip is slightly bitter, but that’s counteracted nicely by the grape flavor which lingers long after the sip.

I’m content with this one. It’s definitely more enjoyable to me than Lupicia’s Happiness tea I just tried. Still, it’s probably not something I would re-stock. But I do feel confident in recommending it to others!