JacquelineM

Time for my Afternoon Green!

This is another one that was rated rather poorly by most of the Steepsterverse, but I think it’s very good! Mild jasmine taste. No bitterness. Very enjoyable to sip. I think a low water temp and brief steep time suits this one.

To totally contradict myself – the second steep, forgotten about in the pot and brewed for 7 minutes (!!!) is very good too! I thought it was going to be a bitter nightmare, but it’s enjoyable!

I can’t say that it distinguishes itself from other jasmine green teas – like A+D has that unique banana/tropical thing going on. A solid B but I am looking for a little more pizzazz for a whole tin purchase.

I was in the mood for “something different” this morning and chose this one. Taken with a half teaspoon of sugar. Really nice on a hot day. The spice is subtle, and the citrusy flavors, especially the lemon verbena, are really refreshing. It finally hit me why I like this so much – I just got a memory of when I was in Florence and went to the Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.

http://www.italian.it/santamarianovella/smnuk.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/26/travel/shopper-s-world-florentine-potions-for-sale.html

There I bought the most amazing lemon verbena perfumes and soaps, made from centuries-old recipes and herbs gathered from the Tuscan countryside. The perfume is long gone, and the soaps were given out to friends as souvenirs, but I have loved lemon verbena from that day forward.

This tea has the most lemon verbena taste I have experienced yet!!!! It may have gotten its inspiration from a market in Seattle, but to me it will always evoke Florence and the olde recipies of Santa Maria Novella.

Yummy with some agave nectar. My cup was extra strawberry delicious! I love the honeybush in it – I kinda wish I could take a magic wand and turn all the rooibos in the various tisane blends in my cupboard into honeybush!!!

Thank you Soccer Mom for sending me Dragon Balls!!!!!!!!!

Some days are just simply oolong days. I get this feeling like there is nothing more that I want than to have a little pot of tea going the entire day (oh! and sit and do embroidery all day, but clearly THAT’S not going to happen today as I’m sitting here at work. At least I can have the tea part (and lunch hour embroidery!!!).

Woody and nutty, turning to buttery and cinnamony/nutmegy and SWEET! So very sweet. Honeyfloral. I simply adore this tea. And I’m only 3 steeps in!!! :)

I am in a near panic thinking that after today’s pots, I only have one Dragon Ball left in my stash. I think I require a lockdown breakout!!!!

EDIT: Seven amazing steeps today. I think it could have done a few more, but I’ve had enough for today. This would be a good one to share!

I was in the mood for something light and fruity this afternoon, and chose this one. Mmmm. Light and flavorful and refreshing. I think the papaya and pineapple are a natural with green tea! No bitterness, no artificiality. I really need to get in an afternoon green tea habit – it gives me a tiny lift which is perfect to get me through the rest of the day.

Funny aside: my former boss recently moved to LA, and tomorrow is interviewing someone who is on a Very Popular TV Show Shown on HBO. His name is a secret! BUT! He’s a tea freak and he’s coming to her apartment for tea. She asked what she should serve (he’s British). I told her to find a local tea shop that has good reviews and get something loose leaf and British style. No teabags! I could be totally wrong! Who knows what he likes!! But at least she is no longer my boss and can’t fire me ;)

Today was coffee bean buying day, which means that it’s also free tea day! I chose Awake because oh man, do I need to become awake ;) It’s a bit flat, but with the milk and sugar I put in, very comforting and spot-hitting. I dare say today it has a tinge of honeyed goodness! I must have hit the magic steep time (which is sadly a mystery – the time it took me to walk across the street, wait for the elevator, go to the office. Who knows!?!?! Much better than the time it takes to get to my classroom at school – it’s always over brewed then!!) The full leaf is very much an improvement over the former bag.

Yesterday, I made a key lime style pie (I say style because I used regular limes, and made the crust out of pretzels that I put in the food processor instead of graham crackers – it was great!!). I was at a loss as to what tea to serve with it, until I thought of this Vanilla Assam! It was an excellent pairing. The earthy vanilla bean and pod taste was an interesting and delicious counterpoint to the citrusy sweet dessert. A+!

Another deliciously well blended and subtly perfect Frenchie! Berries and caramel, a little vanilla. Also, indescribable! Have you noticed how the French flavored teas taste like 10 different things you can barely put your finger on?

Decadent with a little sugar and half and half. REALLY decadent paired with chocolate! I rate this one 90, but with a little ounce of good chocolate beside it, it rocketed to 100 for me! I am going to save this one for this purpose :) Fantastic.

Fruity and very drinkable. I still haven’t changed my mind, though – there is something missing which keeps this in the B range instead of the A range. There is a flatness to it. It’s not dramatic or horrible, but it’s there…

I am drinking my good friend the Golden Monkey once again this morning! Smooth and invigorating. Milky and delicious, especially on steeps 2 and 3. So easy to sip. Much love to the monkey!!!

Very delicious tisane! I realized why I like it so much – it tastes like the blood orange Italian sodas I adore! I think I am going to hot brew some this weekend, sweeten it lightly with organic cane sugar, cool it, and add it to sparkling mineral water for a healthier-than-store-bought (and less expensive!) refreshment!

Goodness gracious I love this tea!!!

If some Imaginary Person said, “JacquelineM! You must choose one black tea to have every single morning at work, and only one! Which would you choose!!???!!”

I would say, “Imaginary Person! I would definitely choose Imperial Red (Da Hong Pao) by Silk Road Teas!”

So smooth and roasty. Three delicious steeps – none of them weak or uninteresting. I love the nut butter quality.

Thank you so much Soccer Mom for introducing me to one of my all time faves :) This is where the Steepster Magic comes in – I wouldn’t have had the inkling to even try this one if it wasn’t for Steepster. Chinese teas of this nature were TOTALLY off my radar before now! Warm Fuzzies!!!

It was deja vu all over again! More Hershey’s chocolate and this tea last night. The tea was just as rich and enjoyable.

This tea has decided to be especially delicious today. A half teaspoon of sugar seems to have brought out the flavor: berry (lots of berry today!), then citrus, then caramel. Good tea; no bitterness. Two steeps of wonderful!

Last night’s chocolate bar was the very elegant Hershey’s Golden Almond. My first instinct was to pair it with one of my vanilla teas, but I didn’t want caffeine. I then thought of this tisane! I was unsure about the mint component with almonds, but it worked really well. The mint doesn’t hit you over the head in this one. Very nice chocolate and vanilla notes too, and a great richness. I have to keep this one in mind for future chocolate eating!!! I loved the combo!

I don’t have a single, solitary ounce of frou-frou left in my body! Time for some Rosy Earl Grey! So delicious. Jasmine, rose. Invigorating black tea. Delicate yet flavorful. Absolutely transporting!

Ahhhhh I can feel it working! I just got an urge to put on lipstick!!

For a person who says that this tea is good but not wonderment and cartwheels – I sure have been drinking it often enough!!! It’s so perfect for mornings at work. It’s gentle with me, but gives me that extra little nudge to get going, and it tastes great (at 200 – I’m getting more caramel and chewy. Then milky. Mmmmm).

LauraR helped me realize that Golden Monkey is from the Yunnan region, but is not a Yunnan tea per se. It is a smooth light(er) tea, whereas a classic Yunnan is the one with the pepper and more assertive character. I was expecting the Monkey to be a Horse!!

Now that I am enjoying the monkey as the Golden Monkey that he is, I am very satisfied. The monkey is getting a little nudge upwards in rating :)

I spent the day on friday at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. The supposed reason we went was to ride the rollercoasters (we did all 10 that were open!! The rollersoaker in the waterpark was not running for the season yet) but I ain’t gonna lie – I love going to Chocolate World. There you will find all the chocolate Hershey makes (including many things never seen in my local stores) in enormous quantities, all so perfectly fresh. We brought home some serious loot!

Last night it was our task to eat this enormous Reeses bar which I’ve never seen in a store with peanuts and wafers and a sort of peanut brittle in it (so good!) – and I decided to simply go for broke with the pairing – the most chocolate-y tea in my collection. Some half and half and sugar to just make the whole thing as decadent as possible.

The tea held up nicely to the strong flavors, and helped with the Peanut Butter Phenomenon – you know how peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth?!?

Great pairing – it was the equivalent of going on a roller coaster – a short, intense burst of WOW!!!

20 oz water + 3 teaspoons of tea + 3 minutes = delicious malty heaven. A little sugar and a splash of half and half. Wonderful morning wake-up!

This one courtesy of Doulton! Thank you!

Taken with a little half and half and sugar. Mmmmmm. Very delicious dessert tea. It reminds me of Torrone Italian candy. Almond extract, sweet. Another treat we only had at Christmas.

http://www.amazon.com/Almond-Torrone-Assorted-Flavors-Florentine/dp/B0001K5KXG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1276215558&sr=8-2

I had to add the candy to my wish list with tears in my eyes. So beautiful!

I love the tea even though it’s making me miss my grandparents something awful.

I tried this at boiling today, and I think it was chewier at 200. Oh well. It is still very enjoyable. Last time, at 200, I got milky on the second steep, but this time I got it on the third steep (my water had cooled in my kettle slightly). So, in a nutshell, I enjoy it in every way better at 200.

I think this is a great tea, but I am only in like and not in love. I will be searching for a chewier, less delicate Yunnan when I’m done this tin.

Tonight’s tea was a sachet of this, and a heaping teaspoon of plain rooibos in 20 oz of water. Squirt of honey. I like this tea as-is, but I love it like this! Much less tart. It tastes very fruity and delicious. I may have to break down and get another tin of the Vanilla roobios – Oh Cha! wrote in her review that these two combined are fabulous, and I am so curious to try!!!

I have this little ongoing project where I am transferring all of my teas that are not in tins, into tins. It was easy to do at home in one fell swoop, but it’s slower going at work – I’ve been taking 3 tins in a day along with my packed lunch, and I do the transfer before my work days starts.

Today I was planning on a totally different tea for my morning tea, but THIS was one of the three I was transferring today! I took one sniff and changed my plans immediately!!

This is yet another tea that I’m crazy for, yet isn’t super popular on here. My happy tea (jasmine) and my comfort tea (vanilla) all rolled into one! It’s delicious without additives (but a pinch of sugar can be nice if you are in the mood for it). It’s very unique and I find it super delicious! It’s a great afternoon tea, but I find it particularly delicious after a big breakfast.

My most beautiful herbal tisane! Ruby red as all get-out! Blood orange and cranberry – tart in a good way. Not overpowering. So nice before bed. Excellent with a snack of pistachios!