JacquelineM

Waaah. The last pot. My tin is empty. Zhena makes magic with her rooibos chai blends! As long as you follow the advice for 6 oz water to a bag, you are golden. A little chocolate, a little spice. So dessert-y with honey and a splash of milk. I would re-buy this in an instant, but first want to give a try to the hazelnut red chai. It’s the only one I haven’t tried.

Just a little note of continued appreciation for this one. I am incredibly fond of it as a daily drinker. Good tea, roasty chocolate, excellent sans additions, good with any breakfast you can throw at it. Just a wonderful tea.

Yummy! I’ve had this once with a little milk and sugar, and once mixed with Teavana’s Honeybush Vanilla (and milk and sugar) for an evening dessert tisane recently. Both were extremely yummy, but I like the Art of Tea blend untouched the best. They know their stuff and I should not mess with perfection. :) Nice berry flavor with a bit of creamy cheesecake on the end of the sip. Perfectly satisfying when craving something warm and sweet after dinner.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Loving this in the strange sultry March (!!!) heat we are having. I think this tea could be my gateway drug into green teas. I absolutely love the herbaceous ALIVE flavor of this one.

My coworker that recently ordered from Harney & Sons got a few of these silken sachets as a thank you in her order. She passed one on to me. I thought tonight was the perfect night to try it, being Home Alone. Alas, I am a Magic: The Gathering widow this evening :)

I made it with a little honey, sachet left in the cup. Nice! Sweet and herbaceous. Not lemony but…lemonminty? Fresh and good tasting. Nothing I would run out and order (I like my healing herbals from Mountain Rose Herbs when I’m looking for this sort of tea) but if it arrived with an order again I’d be pleased!

I’ll be lazy and repeat what I wrote on twitter about this tea:

Rosy and wine-like and where is my chaise lounge?

Now Original Steepster Content:

Fans of Rosy Earl Grey – I think you would really enjoy this. It is in the same spirit (lightly rosy and makes you feel like a very elegant millionaire) but different too (no jasmine). The white tea is REALLY good in this one. Blends with the Darjeeling like no one’s business. Brings a softness and yes, a champagne quality. Rosé Brut Champagne, actually (no bubbles, and hot, but… oooh there’s an idea. In the summer, brew this strong-ish and mix with seltzer!).

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that this is fantastic and I love it!

Art of Tea, you are blowing my mind this week!

Yikes. Finished an entire tin already. Thankfully I have two more!

A great balanced spice,and a wonderful caramel flavor. A squirt of honey and a splash of cream makes it dessert. One of my favorite night time treats. I still can’t get over how quickly I go through these red chai Zhena teas. I think they are the best ones she does!

This tisane is relatively nice by itself, but ohhhhhh it really shines as a blending agent. I can pretty much take a teaspoon of any rooibos blend in my cupboard and pair it with a teaspoon of this, and it becomes the most delicious vanilla creme concoction imaginable! Last night I used Samovar’s Berry Rooibos and this: Raspberry. Creme. Heaven.

I must admit that I hate this fact! I didn’t want to fall in love with a tea from Teavana. I certainly didn’t want to love a Fake Creme Flavor … even more than a Real Vanilla Bean! But I do. It’s shameful, but I do.

My pouch is getting very low and I can’t wait to get paid next week so I can order an enormous bag of artificial vanilla goodness.

Hmph!

P.S. Teavana says there is real vanilla in this, and there probably is. BUT there is definitely a creme flavoring added as well. I’ve had a few different vanilla rooibos tisanes, and have even added vanilla beans myself, and this has something else. It could be a “natural” creme flavoring. But it is not solely real vanilla.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow!

I treated myself to two ounces of what feels like “springtime in a pouch” to me :) I was searching for the finest example of a first flush Darjeeling that I could sleuth out, and this one called to me because I had one other Margaret’s Hope that i just loved.

Wow. Have I said wow yet? :)

This is so smooth and … I don’t know how to describe it except for … fruity but herbaceous rose petals? There is something very familiar about it that has to do with the garden but I can’t put my finger on it. Bright but definitely something(s) herbaceous grounding it and making it very complex. This is a tea that I could go all wine snob on and say something like “wet granite with a stone fruit finish and blah blah blah” if I had more time but right now I’ll just say “Wow, wow, wow!”

This is a HUGE treat and although it was a pretty penny, worth every one of them.

Exquisite!

I was a huge fan of Harney’s Golden Mudan, but it is no longer offered :( I saw these at the Art of Tea and thought they looked similar, so I popped them into my cart for a recent order.

I brewed up my first puff this morning! I am finding that Black Peony is darker and molasses-y-er than GM. GM is honey :) I’m on my second steep, and as with most teas made into a ball, it’s even better than the first. Really smooth and rich. Heavy on the tongue almost like a syrup. Amazing. I am so glad I sprung for them! I would order these again and again (and again). I gave half of them to my husband, and I have a feeling that we are going to drink them so quickly!

Many thanks to ashmanra for this tea!

We had our office painted over the weekend, and oooh I’m woozy with fumes! After a nice steep of Gong Fu Black, I thought I’d throw in some of Harney’s Chocolate Mint, hoping that the mint would clear my head a bit (a coworker also opened a window). I’m really enjoying this. The chocolate flavoring complimented the chocolately, roasty notes in the Gong Fu Black, and the mint helped in making me feel a little more together. Really good sans additions.

I’ve not had this tea in awhile, since it’s not for sale anymore, and I am not very good about coming to terms with that fact. Still. After all this time.

My husband requested something “different” for our afternoon tea and since I had been thinking about this one a lot lately I thought it was time to have some. I have perhaps an ounce left? Whimper.

It’s just as wonderful as I remember it. I still can’t get over how much chocolate and caramel flavor is in this single estate, pure tea. As we drank our cups, I and my husband kept repeating, “I can’t believe how good this is.” like a broken record.

It’s really a tragedy that the Simple Leaf is no longer in business. Has anyone heard anything?

Oh my goodness, why did I wait so long to try this tea?!?!!?

I finally had an empty tin, so decided to transfer my generous sample from Teavivre into it, and I was greeted with the most wonderful fragrance imaginable! Sweet jasmine, but not perfumey or overpowering. Nutty isn’t the right word, but sort of a depth to it, too. It made me want to drink some as soon as possible! So this morning I made myself a whole pot of coffee so I wouldn’t have Caffeine Issues and could enjoy a green tea (I wish I was kidding).

This is so. good. It’s floral and rich, but the jasmine is so balanced with the green tea. I taste tea. Good tea! No bitterness, and none of the funny tastes I haven’t learned to appreciate yet in a green tea. More of a creamy taste. I am so impressed!

The pearls are also very beautiful.

I’ve made two steeps so far (the second one even lovelier than the first) and I can see at least two more this afternoon.

Thank you SO MUCH Teavivre. I’m in love!

I got another coworker hooked on Harney & Sons! :) She placed an order recently, and Paris was one of her choices. She gave me a silken sachet, and I couldn’t wait to revisit with dear Paris!

So, so enjoyable. Berry Earl Grey, with a hint of something to mellow the tartness. Is it vanilla? This is tasting so good sans additions here at work. I believe I was taking this with milk and sugar before, but I am really loving it plain today! It’s like finding an old friend who you grew apart from because maybe your interests diverged, but you ran into them and lo and behold, you are in the same place again and are so happy to resume your friendship! I am looking forward to popping a tin into my next Harney order now that I know this is a delicious tea au naturel.

P.S. My husband is traveling for work, and he was so pleased to have Harney & Sons Earl Grey Supreme silken sachets in his hotel room. It totally made his night last night when he was missing his nightly tea ritual.

Many, many thanks to Kashyap for this tea!!!

As a Hot Cinnamon Spice fanatic, I was really looking forward to trying this tea. I am finding that the main difference is that it has an utterly delicious candied orange peel flavor! It has the cinnamon verging on red hots, enjoyable tea base, but that candied orange peel (vs not all that pronounced plainish orange peel in HCS) is the distinctive factor for me. I love it! I am having that Empty Cup Syndrome where I keep picking up my empty cup to see if maybe there is a little more tea in there even though I know there is not (this after having two cups already!). I think I shall have another cup this afternoon!

What a treat! Thanks once again Kashyap! D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!!!!!

Many thanks to Doulton for this tea!

First off, I have to note what a stubborn donkey I am. Every time I have a non standard fare tea, I enjoy it so much, but I continue to tell myself I “only” like certain teas. This has to stop!

Case in point, this Darjeeling. Poor thing has been sitting in my tea drawer at work for a year I think. The sunny day inspired me to try something new and… here I am enjoying this fruity, piquant tea so much! It’s very green, and not as rich and wine-like as some of them I’ve had, but it’s very enjoyable. The touch of bitterness, tempered by a half teaspoon of sugar is one of the nicest things about it! I used to think people had to be crazy to talk about a pleasant bitterness, but I totally get it with Darjeelings, finally. Yum.

I am not saddened that this is no longer available (another thing I very much like about first flush Darjeelings is their ephemeral quality. There is only a little each year, once a year!). As I said, I do prefer them less green. But this has certainly inspired me to seek out another Darjeeling for my cupboard.

Drinking various fine and classic Earls have not dulled my appreciation for this trashy faux-ish creme tea! It’s sweet and pretty, has a good bergamot to tea ratio, and makes me smile. La la la! I can’t hear the snob on my left shoulder (who is also the devil, or maybe the angel – I really don’t know!) saying bad things ;)

I saw that Amazon had a 3 pack deal on this one, and I snapped it up! Even though I hadn’t tasted it yet, I knew I’d like it since I’m so crazy about the Vanilla Red. I am very happy with my purchase! We are already half way through the first tin, we like it so much. It has a great spice, a warm vanilla flavor, AND the burnt sugar taste all rolled into one.

Now I want to try the Hazelnut Chai Red!

Just a little note to say yikes, just dug into the new pound I ordered of this to split with my coworker (this is after ordering a pound in September, and a big tin last spring!). Our order was comical because it included a one pound bag of this AND a 7 oz tin for my other coworker who got hooked on it (she wanted the tin as she is a new addict and does not have many spare ones).

I think the next time we order, we may have to get two pounds!

Sweetspicy and warming. You either love it or hate it. You know which side I’m on ;)

My coworkers and I just went in on a Harney and Sons order so that we could get free shipping, and this was one of the teas that my coworker ordered. He kindly gave me a generous sample.

It is worth it to read the description of this tea – I had no idea that the East Frisians consumed the most tea per capita! In fact, I didn’t even know where East Frisia was (DESPITE suffering over all those maps in World Geography). I will always remember it now because I have something I love associated with it. Yes, that means this tea. It’s GOOD!

If you like robust Indian milk and sugar teas, you’ll like this one. It reminded me a lot of the Simple Leaf’s Mountain Malt – strong, dark after steeping three minutes, a bit bready. But the Ceylon and Darjeeling give it a bit of lemony fruity lightness I don’t get from MM. This tea is also pleasantly astringent, most likely from the Darjeeling. You either like that or you don’t, but when I’m chilly and tired – I love it.

This was such a pleasant surprise! I would have never, ever tried this on my own. Now, here I am ready to order a tin when my Mountain Malt runs out :) Here’s to tea and tea friends, and expanded horizons!

This morning is a happy, happy morning because the Monkey is back in my cupboard! Horray! I think this latest year’s harvest is a tad gutsier than the last one I had, and I am not complaining. It’s still completely sweet and lovely and and has a wonderful syrupy quality. A delight. I’ll tell you this much – I will NOT be using this monkey for iced tea. It’s too, too delicious and perfect and again, in my top five teas (I bet about 10 teas are in my top five teas ;)

I’ve made the acquaintance of many wonderful monkeys, but Harney’s Golden Monkey is my bestie.

So! De! Lish! Ous! I haven’t had this tea for awhile – why, I can’t fathom, because it is one of my favorites. Today it was so beyond wonderful – it was like the first time I ever had some. Rich, chocolatey, fruity, without ever doubting you are drinking tea and nothing but.

It would be impossible for me to pick my favorite tea, but sheesh, this is in the top five for sure!

Yet another one of my coworkers is a now a tea drinker! Horray! For her birthday, our department gave her a gift certificate to Premium Steap. Yesterday, she came back from her lunch break with a bag full of wonderment! When she offered me a sample of this tea, I took her up on it. What a terrible greedy gift giver I am!

Anyway – this is DELICIOUS. There are wee squares of caramel in it, need I say more? The rooibos provides richness and backbone, and the caramel is sweet but burnt and really, really good. I prepared it like a regular tea, with a smidge of sugar and a splash of milk, and I thought it tasted very tea like. Certainly better than most of the decafs I’ve had.

This goes on the to-buy list FOR SURE.

I have one tragic bit of news. When I was perusing the Premium Steap site to enter this tisane, I noticed that Emperor’s Red is no longer listed for sale! When I go to the shop I will try and find out the story. I have other teas that I think are very much in the Emperor’s family, but still…

Many thanks to SimplyJenW for this tea!

I liked the just-right honey notes in this tea, but I could have shaved a minute off of the steep time. The tea was super dark, and a bit too astringent. I knew I might have been in a little trouble when I added a splash of milk, and it behaved much more like coffee than tea! I was looking for a book about butterflies and got distracted – entirely my fault! That being said, even under ideal conditions, I don’t think this would be a purchase I’d make. As nice as the honey flavor was, I’ve been craving plain milk and sugar teas lately.