Jaime

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I’ve been on the hunt for my perfect chamomile tea. The one that isn’t too flowery, or too heavily flavored. The one that, once I find it, I’ll always keep around. I found this at Jungle Jim’s and grabbed a couple different flavors of this brand. There’s 10 individual wrapped bags to a box, and the price point is great for trying lots of new flavors. I love almonds, so I thought maybe, just maybe, I had found my unicorn of chamomile teas.

Alas, the hunt continues.

It tastes like someone soaked the chamomile in almond extract. Or that I poured straight almond extract into a cup of chamomile tea. And lots of it. There’s no gentleness to it, just BHAM, almond right in the mouth. If you can last after that, there is a lingering sweetness to it that can be nice. Still not a blend I’d purchase again, and I’d wager that it’s going to take me a while to go through these 10 bags.

A fresh, flavorful pot to try out my new tea cozy with! This tea is one that I like better everytime I drink it. It’s absolutely delicious when paired with some vanilla graham crackers.

Whilst I was knitting my teapot cozy, my tea in the teapot got cold. Ironic, eh?

So I’m mixing the cold raspberry zinger with some 7up to have with my lunch. And it’s very tasty and fizzy.

From a sampler of Celestial Seasonings herbals. Definitely raspberry, and definitely zingy. The spice mix blends well with the raspberry flavoring. Very nice, and would be good iced as well.

Steeped the leaves a second time, at 195 for 4 minutes. Not sure this is one of the teas that lends itself to resteeping.

Found a bottle of Coffee-mate that has been sitting in my cupboard for years. It’s French Vanilla flavored, but I thought it might help with the bitterness. I’ll need to try it with a first steep, but it does make this a bit less bitter.

And now I’m settling down to knit a tea cozy for my teapot. Happy Sunday!

Still playing with the time/temp on this tea. I feel a bit like Goldilocks, trying to get this tea just right.

Brewed at 185&degree for 3 minutes this time. It smells just like strawberry pie with whipped cream. It is much less bitter, and the cream and strawberry flavors are there too soothe that last bit of bitterness away. Will continue to tweak it and find the perfect cup!

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I realized I hadn’t made a green tea in my One-Touch yet, and decided I needed to fix that situation this morning. I picked this one up earlier this week whilst on a trek to Whole Foods for tea (though they didn’t have the one I wanted). I’d never seen tea with rhubarb in it before, so I grabbed it.

The smell is very berry, and chocolatey, with some grassy in there, too. I taste the rhubarb first, and then the berry/fruit (not sure I’d call it a true strawberry), and then green tea (which has a very good green tea taste). It’s extremely sweet, almost as though syrup has been added. It’s not bad, just very different for me, since I don’t sweeten tea. This tea would be good as an after-breakfast dessert tea. I think for me, though, it’s way too sweet to have first thing after rolling out of bed.

I want a good night’s sleep tonight, so I’m starting some chamomile early.

I was rather sad the first time I had this. I was hoping for a much stronger apple taste. It’s very light; it definitely takes a backseat to the chamomile. The apple helps to cut the flowery of the chamomile and keeps it from being overpowering. It’s a good chamomile, but not one I’d buy again.

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There’s gigantic chunks of figs! Love it. Tastes just like the Fig Date bars that my mom’s friend Annie makes on special days, right down to that hint of oatmeal crust. Meghann M, thanks for this sample, too. It’s just fantastic.

This held up very well for the third steep. Less pear, more spiced white tea. Still absolutely lovely. A great pot for a gloomy, early fall day (though, sadly, the rain stopped).

Thank you Frank, for making such fantastic teas!

Second steep might just be better than the first. The pear is fresh and crisp tasting, the cinnamon is just right, and the white tea is yummy. I never want to be without this tea.

Dare I steep another time?!

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Thanks to Meghann M, I get to try another of Frank’s blends!!

This is quite close to being the palest tea I’ve ever sipped. The scent is mainly white tea, with a hint of pear. It’s very faint (in fact, you almost have to stick your nose in it to get a good whiff).

The taste is incredible. It tastes like a baked pear drizzled with cinnamon-caramel syrup. It’s not a heavy flavor; you can still taste the Bai Mu Dan tea underneath the warmth of the pear/cinnamon. I can see myself starting many a fall morning with this tea. Can’t wait to see how a second steep turns out.

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It’s a wonderful, dreary, rainy day here in the Bluegrass, perfect for pot after pot of tea. This is my first ever Lovers Leap. It’s deliciously rich black tea, with an undertone of flowers (though I couldn’t tell you what kind of flowers). It has just the right amount of astringency to make this a great morning cup.

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3rd steep: 8 min, boiling water. More robust than the second steep was, but hardly any spice left at all. More chocolatey than first and second steeps (perhaps because the spice isn’t strong?), and the taste of the tea is much more pronounced. It’s still a nice, warm-flavored cup. Don’t think this would survive a fourth steeping, however.

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Second steep: boiling water at 5 minutes. I probably should have went for 7, but this is still quite nice. A bit thin, but there’s still spice, and I’m tasting much, much more chocolate this time around. I’m amazed at how much I love this blend. Going to be so sad to see my little sample bag go. Thanks again, Meghann M for letting me try some!

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