LiberTEAS select Send Message

Today while running around, I got to the point where a stop for tea was required. I could feel the beginnings of that lack-of-caffeine headache. Here in the Pacific Northwest, there is a starbucks at nearly every corner (seriously, if you miss the starbucks at this corner, you don’t need to turn around, just keep driving and there will be another one within a mile). But, I don’t like starbucks, and I like Teavana even less. So, hubby was nice and took a detour and took me to Brewed Awakenings where they serve Steven Smith teas. I don’t like that they serve the tea in paper cups because I can taste the paper, but, at least I got some good tea on the go. It would be better if they found a better way to serve it, but, at least I don’t have the caffeine headache now.

I do love this tea, definitely one of my favorite Earl Grey teas out there.

I find myself unsure about this tea. My first few sips … were a bit disappointing … so much so that I stopped drinking it and focused my attention on other things … and when I returned to the cup, the liquid was cold. This is infinitely better cold!

I like the peppery notes … it’s a little bit spicy which contrasts with the sweet notes of the white and Oolong teas. There’s a fruity background and I like the way the peppery notes meld with those as well. I’m not usually a huge fan of rose hips, but, I’m actually kind of enjoying how they contribute to this cup.

Overall, a very interesting tea … I don’t know that it is one that I’d want to drink often, but, I’m glad I got to try it, and it is one that I’d definitely consider having on hand when the warmer weather arrives and I want a refreshing iced tea.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this to try!

So good! I can’t believe I’m the first one to log this tea, because it’s seriously good.

I’ve only had lotus seeds once, in the paste that they use to fill steamed buns. A good friend of mine in California brought me some steamed buns while I was living there … and one batch of them were lotus seed paste buns, and they were so good. I have tried to find something like it again, but it hasn’t been easy … all the steamed buns I find are usually BBQ pork.

Not that BBQ pork is bad, but, I want more lotus seed buns!

Anyway… this tea definitely reminds me of the lotus seed paste I tasted way back then. It’s been a lot of years (let’s see … I’ve lived here in the Pacific Northwest for more than 10 years now … so it’s been at least eleven years since I’ve had those lotus seed buns!) It has a sweet, creamy, nutty flavor to it, as well as a hint of freshness and a touch of vegetative taste. And there is also a slight bitterness to the cup, nothing off-putting, but instead, kind of lively … it contrasts with the sweetness and creates a very pleasing taste.

YUM!

Not that I had my doubts or anything … but this is seriously yummy.

The flavors meld together perfectly … I’ve never had a banana cheesecake, but, if I did, this is what I’d think it would taste like: sweet, creamy, banana-y, tangy deliciousness. The toasty, nutty flavor of the genmaicha works very well with the cheesecake notes … playing to the buttery crust notes quite nicely.

Really yum. My full-length review of this tea will publish in a few days on the SororiTea Sisters blog: http://sororiteasisters.com

I got this tea during my last visit to Steven Smith’s tea shop, I know that these teas that he scents in aging barrels are of limited quantity, so I grabbed one.

I’m glad I did … this is remarkable. It tastes like Ceylon tea, but, the flavors of the wine are also present, it’s beautifully subtle, but at the same time, so very wine-like. It’s really beautiful.

I was planning on writing a full-length review on this one today for the SororiTea Sisters blog, but I think I need to spend more time with it before I do that.

Nice!

This is really a delightful Tie Guan Yin. Sweet, light and creamy. I like that I’m not getting a really heavy floral note, some Tie Guan Yins tend to be so overly floral and it’s almost inundating, not the case with this first cup (the result of my first two infusions following the rinse) … this is light and refreshing, with a nice buttery taste that hits the palate toward the end of the sip and lingers a little in the after taste. Looking forward to a few more infusions with this!

This is really tasty!

I like that the white tea is prominent, and it tastes sweet and creamy but has a delicateness to it. The black tea is there, but not overwhelming. I would liken it to a resteeped black … what you might taste if you resteep black tea leaves twice … the flavor is still there but a bit paler than what you’d experience with that first infusion.

I really like how all the components of this blend come together in the cup. It’s a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet, a little bit tart, and a whole lot of tasty! Watch for my full-length review of this on SororiTea Sisters, it will be published on the 14th.

This is really nice. I’m not always as excited about green Earl Grey teas as I am about black Earl Grey … bergamot just seems to pair better with the black tea, in my opinion. However, it works really nicely in this blend.

It doesn’t brew up pink, though, it brews up a clear amber green color, but, that’s OK, I didn’t really expect it to be pink… It is a beautiful dry leaf though, with all the little rose buds in it.

As someone who adores Earl Grey, I found myself looking at the ingredients and wondering why anyone would put rhubarb in an Earl Grey, but it really seems to work here… it gives the cup an almost strawberry-ish taste, which may seem weird, but, it’s working for me. I taste enough of the bergamot to keep the Earl Grey lover in me happy, and the green tea is soft and buttery. A very enjoyable cup.

It has been a very cold morning, and while the morning is about over (six more minutes to go), the cold doesn’t show any signs of letting up. That’s OK, of course, because it makes the hot tea all the more appealing to me. But, I also like that this strawberry tea from Kally is taking me on an adventure of sorts, even if it is all in my head. This tastes so much like mid-spring when the first strawberries start to appear (well, at least, the first strawberries that are worth eating, anyway!)

It has such a fresh, sweet flavor with a lovely strawberry taste and a hint of pineapple. I love the way these two flavors meld together. It’s sweet, a little bit tart with a tartness that lingers into the aftertaste … but not too much that I find myself puckering. The green tea is sweet and creamy.

A very nice strawberry green!

Love!

It tastes so sweet and beautiful … like the early days of spring! It has a strong vegetative tone, even though the overall cup is delicate, the vegetative tones stand out. It is somewhere between a lightly steamed spinach-y taste and that of kelp … but without the briny notes of the kelp. Sweet and green and lovely. One of the nicest Gyokuro teas I’ve yet to taste … it tastes so very clean and wonderful.

The leaves stand up well to multiple infusions as well … I’m on my second infusion now!