Jackie - BookTasting Queen

This is one of my favorite Irish Breakfast blends. Being a little under the weather, I wasn’t sure hot tea was a good idea, but this malty black tea is soothing with just enough strength to satisfy my black tea craving. I do add Splenda and a teaspoon of cream.

I’m sipping on this again today! I love my morning boost. I swear by the staying power; about 4 hours of a sustained concentration. Plus the theanine is a mood-lifter. :)

I discovered some bags in a plastic bin leftover from the holidays, and brewed it up for nostalgia’s sake. It’s an excellent quality tea! I scored it a smidge toward “middling” just because the heavy clove and other flavors aren’t quite a hit with me. But it is a good change of pace, a reminder of the warmth of the holidays, and well worth the occasional sip. For clove enthusiasts, this might be a favorite!

I began steeping this and stepped outside with my dog, and took longer than I meant. But I came back to a cup of Assam as smooth and satisfying as any I’ve tasted. This has everything I love about Assam—plenty of malt and richness, without smokiness or bitterness. I add Splenda and cream. Delicious.

This is a faithfully sturdy blend of a classic flavor. It’s particularly good with desserts or other sweets because it doesn’t complete with complex foods.

It’s definitely a Ceylon-Orange Pekoe sort of bagged replacement, with all the qualities of a traditional tea as a loose leaf.

Hm, this brewed up a rather dishwater pale. It tasted pale, too, and so I brewed it a bit longer but to no avail. I tasted some sort of bitter bergamot or something I can’t put my finger on, and – I’m no tea snob, mind you – had to dump it. Not what I’m looking for in a breakfast tea at all.

Today tastes smokier than I remember – could it be because I steeped differently, or just my tastebuds being snarky today? Interesting that this cuppa changed personalities, just a bit. Not a bad thing, I think.

I adore Jasmine teas for the delicate floral. The perfume is relaxing and hits my senses without overpowering them (like colognes, I have to be careful, or I develop weird headaches). Teavana’s little marbled pearls unfurl into a more intense Jasmine than many teas – but I brew it longer than they recommend in order to achieve that. I sweeten it sometimes for a more indulgent sip, but I like the strapping taste without sweetener as well.

There’s a paradoxical experience in reading Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” that pairs so well with this Blueberry Herbal tisane. The brew is light in a mug but weighty on the tongue, and full of taste like the pop of a fresh blueberry between the teeth.

It’s the perfect BookTaste companion to Verne’s weighty and descriptive writing. Please find my complete BookTasting for this tea-and-novel pair on my website.

Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books burn. Fahrenheit 212 is the temperature at which water boils. Pour that over some leaves of Lapsang Souchang tea, and you’ve got the perfect BookTaste of Ray Bradbury’s futuristic SF novel, “Fahrenheit 451.”

The taste literally leaps off the page and into a teacup. Please find my entire BookTasting review of this companionship on my website.

Each sip is straight-forward and charming, leaving one to focus on the taste and the results of being caught up in the experience. Just like the novel I’ve chosen to go with this cuppa! Don’t forget a little cream and sweetener.

John Wyndham’s “The Midwich Cuckoos” and Irish Breakfast tea. It’s a BookTasting dessert! Please find my entire BookTasting review on my website.

The mildness of the green tea makes the chai spice stand out, and, conversely, the flavor burst of chai makes the green tea seem that much meeker. It’s a split-personality blend that pairs so well with Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

It’s a BookTasting pair—novel and tea—that belong together! Please find my entire BookTasting review on my website.

This tea is a deeply satisfying black tea, but hums all throughout with the taste of gummy bears. So prevalent, I just had to choose it for my BookTasting tea companion to Douglas Adams’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe.” Talk about a fun experience!

Please find my complete BookTasting review of this entertaining match-up on my website.

This tea is tangy and maintains the grassy, vegetal personality of the green leaves beneath the ginger bite. I add Splenda as a sweetener, and it eases the blending.

This is a startling and bracing tea! And it’s perfect as a BookTasting tea companion to the classic dystopian novel (translated from Russian) by Yevgeny Zamyatin, “We”. Please find my complete BookTasting review on my website.

This tea blend is such a combination of flavors that it shouldn’t be so easy on the tastebuds, but it is! You simply have to try this unusual tea.

And it’s why I’ve chosen this as my BookTasting tea companion for Terry Brooks’s “Magic Kingdom for Sale” novel. Please find my complete BookTasting on my website.

This is a wonderful idea! The blend of teas is unusual and creative. Which is why this tea is my BookTasting companion of choice for Jay Lake’s “Escapement” novel.

Please find my complete BookTasting review on my website.

This is a mild and delicate version of ginger, providing just the right sparkle without overwhelming the cup. This tea is my BookTasting companion for Mary Robinette Kowal’s period fantasy “Shades of Milk and Honey.” And, true to the title, the tea is perfected with a shade of milk and honey!

Please find my complete BookTasting of the pair on my website.

A fun taste of multiple layers! This is my BookTasting tea companion choice for the children’s book “Alpha-Oops, H is for Halloween”. The tea resembles the smattering of flavors all mixed up into a Halloween candy bag.

Please find my full BookTasting review on my website.

A lovely, gentle orange blossom-touched tea. Not citrus! It contains the honeysuckle-like fragrance of the orange tree flower.

This is my BookTasting tea companion to Alma Alexander’s “The Secrets of Jin-Shei”. A most honorable match. Please find the complete BookTasting review on my website.

I adore this tea for it’s stout personality. It holds up well against cream and sweetener (I use Splenda). Use half as many bags in your pot as you would any other tea – it can handle it! Makes the tea a good choice for the pocketbook, too.

It’s my BookTasting choice for sipping along with H.G. Wells’s “Island of Dr. Moreau”. Visit my website for the full review!

Wow, is this tea ever a treat. With a little cream and honey, it turns magical. It’s my BookTasting choice to sip while reading my fantasy novel, Redheart – for the candy-sweet sting of cinnamon, like dragon’s breath.

Check out all my BookTastings (tea and book pairings) on my website. It’s fun!

This is so lovely! The color is copper-ish, and the tea is rich with just a hint of smokiness. It harkens to a tea I enjoy from the Yunnan Province of China; unusual finish to golden sort of sparkle on the tongue.

This is my first milk Oolong; I’ve been looking forward to trying it for some time. I’m amazed at the truly creamy, almost vanilla sort of after-taste. This will likely become a staple Oolong in my cupboard (although I’m interested to try other brands for comparison).

I like Oolongs for the earthy, almost musty sort of liquor they produce, and this Oolong sates that, in scent and flavor. Quite a gentle version. Then with the aftertaste of creaminess, this tea is truly unique. A double satisfaction.

Definitely a tricky steep, but well worth the gentle effort. Quick brew, water just barely about to boil.

I enjoy how the tea hits the front of the tongue with the deep tang of Darjeeling, washes toward the throat with the robust black flavor, and then finishes to a woodsy, earthy Oolong perfume.

I’m not sure why it’s limited to a holiday release, but I always look forward to the season. I add a bit of honey to soften all the flavors. And I try to make a tin of sachets last far past Christmas!