JacquelineM

Decided to try this in my wee oolong pot. 1 teaspoon to 4 oz of water. One thing about white teas that I don’t like is that you have to use so much! This little pot preserves the illusion of only using a teaspoon a pot, and you get plenty of tea from the multiple infusions (again, why did I wait so long to try this little wonder pot??!!)! There are a few tea leaves in my poured cup, but nothing terrible! Perhaps I can read my tea leaves after I’m done :)

My kettle only goes as low as 175, so I decided to brew at a higher temp than what is recommended on the package. The tea tastes just as spectacular thankfully! I might even prefer it a notch more – it’s more tea-y (and not bitter, which was my fear). I think I’ll continue to brew this at 175.

The black currant flavor and the mellow, delicious white tea is so enjoyable in the afternoon. Each successive steep is milder in both fruit and tea flavor, but very good. I made 5 steeps altogether, increasing a minute each steep.

Yay! This made my afternoon!

If you are curious about my tea leaves, I saw a:

BIRD – good news, psychic powers, movement, motion, good luck, a lucky sign; good news if flying, a fortunate journey

DOG – good friend, love, fidelity, faithful friends

LEAF – prosperous results of your diligence, new friends, and satisfaction

LETTER – signifies news

Thank you to the Amazing Takgoti for this tea :)

Fruity, fruity, fruity! Very smooth and extremely easy to drink. That being said, perhaps it’s a bit too easy. No chewy, no pepper, no little surprises. It’s a good tea which is very drinkable without any additives. The fruit is really nice. But!! I’m not feeling cartwheels and wonderment. I will enjoy every sip in this little tin, but I don’t think I’ll seek it out for purchase after this sample.

I got very consumed in my work, and my second steep brewed for 10 minutes (!!!) and it was still perfectly drinkable if a little (understandably!) bitter. I will add that this is a very forgiving tea :)

This is an unusual one – strange and medicinal but oddly enjoyable on the right night. A lot of pepper in this serving! The lemongrass and licorice have a great flavor. I still maintain this would be great for a cold, or if you were feeling run down. I haven’t even scratched the surface of learning about herbal tisanes as remedies, but it’s yet another aspect of tea I am interested in.

Many thanks to SoccerMom for this tea!!!!

Big Red Robe! Hello Robert Fortune!!! :)

I was very excited to try this one because this type of tea was talked about in For All the Tea in China, plus one of my little pet projects within my little pet tea obsession is trying and learning about more and more classic Chinese teas.

I’m discovering that I’m a huge fan of the roasty. This one reminds me of a less roasty version of Samovar’s Wuyi oolong. The first steep (2 min) of this tea had a raw, earthy, roasty edge to it, but the second one (3 min) that I’m enjoying right now has more of that nut butter roasty quality. The Wuyi oolong was a health food store peanut butter – but this is an almond butter or cashew butter. Really exquisite and smooth.

I am now working on the third infusion (4 min) – lighter than the second, but it retains the same nut butter qualities.

I love this tea!!! Maybe it’s because I’m a coffee drinker or maybe because I’m the type of person who loves chicory, bitter greens, olives, etc. but boy, the roasty is my big, big love :)

Oh, nostalgia! This tea tastes like the ’90s! My first creaky, crazy house – rented. I can picture the orange (!!!) formica countertops in the kitchen, and my green kettle. I must have drank about 50 boxes of this stuff. I still like it on late, lazy nights with the bag in the cup the whole time and a squeeze of honey.

Just back from visiting my mom – brought dinner and dessert and we STUFFED ourselves! A good digestive tisane was in order for this evening. This minty rooibos with a squirt of honey is doing the trick. Tasty and soothing.

Many, many, many thanks to Rabs for sending this one to me!!!!

First of all, could you believe I haven’t used my teeny tiny oolong pot from Samovar until TODAY?! It took me all this time to realize that it had that twirly piece of metal near the spout to catch the leaves (I kept on thinking “shoot! I can’t use it! I forgot my strainer!”). Anyhoo – long story short – not only do I love it for oolongs but I realized I think unfurling, floating, steeping tea leaves are BEAUTIFUL (it’s only those frightful blooming alien flowers that I find so disturbing).

Doubleanyhoo – I used about a half teaspoon of leaves in my wee pot, 175 degree water, and was all over the map with my steeping times. I did the first two at a minute – then I went up to three minutes for the next two, and now my fifth and sixth steeps are at 5 minutes. Despite my abuse, this tea is delicious. It started out very green, and morphed into a milky, meadowy, buttery delight. Still. At number six!

I can see why people are comparing it to Four Seasons – and I do think it’s similar – but I also think Four Seasons has a little more of that cinnamony nutmegy thing going on, which I didn’t get at all in this one. This one is much more a “fresh buttered greens” to me, where the Four Seasons is more of a “light buttery pastry” to me. Both are pretty darn phenomenal :) and I like them both very, very much!

I’ll edit this post later when I drink steeps 7+ this afternoon!

I also have to reiterate how much I LOVE this little oolong pot!!!!! It makes experiencing the multiple steeps so pleasurable since you are drinking four ounces of tea at a time. Why do I wait so long to try things!?!?!?

And your opinion – do you think a dragon ball is too big for this lil pot? Maybe a 30/45 second steep would work? Any opinions appreciated!

EDIT – I stopped at Lucky 13!!! I think the best steeps were from 3 to, like, 9 or 10!! Very buttery milky green heaven. Even my 13th steep had flavor and appeal. What a great tea day!

As I said to Rabs, I decided that I need to drink this tea at least once a week in order to keep my frou-frou intact. :) Good thing I bought the GIANT bag! So perfect. Rose, jasmine, a good Earl Grey black. Sweet and floral. Delicate, yet gives you a lift! I’m convinced it’s the loveliest afternoon tea on the planet!

More strawberries from the farmer’s market today means more Ultimate Chocolate Rooibos tonight! Again, a match made in heaven.I just love the way this tea tastes richer and more chocolate-y with fruit. I would drink this for the entire strawberry season but my packet is getting dreadfully low!! Cry!

So naturally sweet and caramelicious! The first steep was a darker, chewy caramel, and this second one is sweeter and yes, milky – in that coating in your mouth sort of way. I used 200 degree water and a 4 minute first steep time – thinking about maybe trying boiling and 5 minutes next time to see if I get more or less caramel. I didn’t get any pepper and am wondering if it’s my slightly cooler than boiling temp and shortish steep time, too. I think I was a little too conservative!! My third steep is a little weak, but still enjoyable.

I’m glad to add another amazing-with-nary-an-additive black tea to my at-work arsenal, and look forward to playing with the steep time and water temp a bit!

I thought this one, prepared stove top, would be a delicious cap to a great 4 day weekend, but I left it steeping on the stove for three times as long as usual because my husband and I were playing around with the drawing application on his ipad! Oh dear sweet tea leaves we were up ALL NIGHT!!! It was full bodied and tasty, not bitter or unpleasant in any way, but strong as anything!!!! Now I know – if I ever want a wake me up chai, steep for 30 or so minutes after the 8 minute simmer. PHEW!!!!!!

Great afternoon treat – made like LiberTEAS suggests with a little pinch of salt! One of our favorites – so much so that I had to bust open a new packet! Buttery nut brittle and tea. Delicious!

I made some more iced tea with this – as an experiment I was heavy with this tea and light on my Earl Grey Melange – and the iced tea suffered. It tasted flat and bland comparatively. Now I know – a little filler – perhaps one third – is great. Half is very good. More than half – disappointing!!!

This came as a free sample with my Teas Etc order (an aside: I love when a company lets you choose a sample, or chooses a sample for you based on your tastes as revealed by what you ordered :) Teas Etc. lets you choose).

Sweet lemon candy. The honeybush is really nice in this – adds depth and sweetness. I kept on wanting more SOMETHING though – more lemon? maybe some ginger? My husband loved it – I would pop it into a future order simply because he liked it so much – but this is not one that drives me wild.

An almost-afternoon tea break to top off a big home cooked brunch of poached eggs with savory parmesan, oregano, and black pepper popovers. This is one that both I and my husband love, but isn’t that popular on Steepster! I find the tea and vanilla well balanced, and with a little half and half and sugar it’s a great treat…almost like having yet another baked good!

Thanks to SoccerMom for this sample!

Absolutely delicious (you would hardly know you were drinking rooibos!) but I still love the toasty meaty coconut of my Organic Black with Coconut better, and kept on thinking about that tea the whole time I was sipping this one. I must be a one coconut kinda woman ;)

Doulton was the kindest most generous Steepsterite in creation – she sent me a tin of Thomas Sampson!!!! I can now start being a little more generous myself – I actually offered to share Thomas with my husband today! I will admit that I poured more into my cup than his, but c’mon. Baby steps!!! I also was able to be a little more generous with the leaf. I used 20 oz water, 3 teaspoons of tea for 4 minutes. I didn’t think Thomas could get any better, but people!! Thomas is even MORE of a HONEY like this!!! So sweet and malty. ♥

We have decided that we don’t like to go out to movies anymore. First, there are no cuddly dogs and cats at the theater. Second, too many people talk in the theater! And third, they do not serve stovetop chai at the concession stand!

Even though this is not my favorite chai by itself, it’s very good mixed half and half with Golden Moon’s Kashmiri chai. The resulting chai has a bit more oomph, and that little bit of chocolate is delightful. This tea can have flavor and astringency issues on its own, but the mixture helps tone them down. I don’t think I’ll repurchase this when it’s gone, but mixing it is a tasty way to use it up :)

I was straightening out my tea drawer at work yesterday, and I was inspired to take a sniff of this one. Oooooh! The fragrance of the leaves was so sweet and intoxicating! I knew I had to have it today!

Ahhhh. Sweet. Green. Cherry. Flowers. The word “tender” comes to mind, as does “Spring” – Delicious. Delicate. French. Last time, I got 4 steeps out of this one, so I am looking forward to a lovely morning :)

It tasted so nice, we had it twice! Yes, tonight we had the same dessert as last night – heavenly perfectly ripe sliced strawberries and this tea. Great chocolate flavor and no caffeine for night time. Excellent.

I’m in the mood for something in the green family today – must be the heat we are experiencing!

1st steep: very light and vegetal/asparagus. The tea is almost clear! I wonder if I could have used a slightly higher temperature? I’m going to stick with 175 for this whole cycle and see what happens, though. It’s very enjoyable in a virtuous way, and I think it would be good with food. I’m not getting any honey/apricot this steep (the reason I was attracted to this tea!).

2nd steep: (4 min) More color! A little sweeter, especially as it cools. The asparagus is still present, but morphing into something a bit grapey/musky. I now think 175 is an appropriate temperature. I definitely like this steep better, although I think I should have poured at 3:30 – slightest bit bitter.

3rd steep: (4 min again) Not bad. The second steep is the good one, though.

All in all, a solid green. My tastes prefer the naturally sweet greens and oolongs, but this is interesting and will have no trouble being drunk up ;) especially with a meal. I don’t think this is one I’d repurchase, though.

Soooooo good with our dessert of perfectly ripe strawberries from the farmer’s market. This pairing is the most delicious way to consume vitamins and antioxidants that I could ever imagine!!!

Oooheeee this is so good and rich. Half and half and just a little sugar and you have something very special for dessert.

This is the tea I keep around to dye textiles, BUT I used 4 of these teabags along with 2 tablespoons of my Earl Grey Melange to make some cold brewed iced tea. It was very good!! The addition of the finer tea plus the cold brew method feature this tea to its best advantage (to be honest, I’ve never had it hot, so for all I know it makes a great cup of hot tea! Feel free to ignore me!!). I will certainly use this again to add a little filler to my iced tea!