Jaime

Trying this one out again, with a bit of tweaking. Not getting as much cayenne…no, wait, there it is. Okay, throat tingling not-so-pleasantly. Cayenne and I aren’t meant to be.

JacquelineM sent me some of this. I’ve been wanting to try it for ages, but didn’t get it because of my now-very-silly-seeming fear of chai.

Steeped for 10 minutes (my standard rooibos steep time). It’s very nice…smooth and spicy, without too much heat. Just enough chocolate to give you a chocolate fix.

Thanks so much, JacquelineM! I’ll definitely have to get more of this when my cupboard is under control!!

I’m not operating at maximum capacity right now…attempting to get back on track and finish everything on my desk before our 2pm meeting.

And…decupboarding!!

No notes yet.

Cinnamon Bun Latte = WIN.

No notes yet.

I’ve had these last two bags of Constant Comment from my Bigelow Tea sampler for a while now…the first bag I had wasn’t pleasant at all. I finally decided to just go ahead and brew these, and have it as my first morning cup that, in all honesty, really just has to be more caffeinated than anything.

So, when I sipped this morning, bracing for that horrible spice taste, it wasn’t there. Gone. In it’s place is a spiced, orange-y black tea that’s quite lovely. What the crap?

Oh, I brewed it at 5 minutes before, and 3 minutes this time. Wow, that does make a difference! At 3 minutes, whatever spice I’d been tasting before hasn’t made its evil appearance, and all the flavors blend well together. Upping the rating, because this is very nice this morning.

From my Fall Collection sampler.

I was rather surprised by how little “tea” the 25g pouch contained…I scooped out 2 heaping tsp, then decided just to dump the whole thing into Chloe and make a 3 cup pot. So, little disappointed that I won’t get a second chance at brewing it if I messed this up, but one more sample of tea down, right?

Okay, so it does taste like banana nut bread. It does. Very banana-y, not too terribly much on the bread part, but definitely the nuts. Not the sweetness, no, but I’m sure that would be fixed with a little brown sugar…

Oh, sweet baby jeebus.

ETA: Whatever you do, put it in a tsac or other disposable steeping device!! You will have to wash, really, truly wash whatever you steep it in otherwise.

My last pot of Earl of Africa! I started craving it at work this afternoon, and had none there. Went to make some this evening and realized I only had two bags left. Well, at least I’ve sipdowned something today!

This is a really nice Earl Grey rooibos…if you like rooibos. I find this to be a great afternoon, relax-the-morning-away tea. I’d definitely be interested in getting more in the future. But for now…decupboarding!

A soothing cup for a crazy afternoon…just threw a bag into the cup and left it whilst going over extremely boring, aggravating, yet highly important things.

On bright note, I will be visiting my school next to Cuppa tomorrow (due to above things). A latte will definitely be in order.

I work in the same building as our plant operations department. The head of the department and I kid around that I’m the one always drinking the last of the coffee (I’m usually refilling my bottle of water at the same time he’s making the 3rd or 4th pot), and he pokes fun of the teastains in all my mugs (I do tend toward mugs that have cream or white interiors).

Today, he slyly hands me this tissue-wrapped package and tells me that I don’t know where it came from. I get back to my desk…it’s a black mug with our district’s logo on it. And it’s the perfect shape, rounded and wider at the bottom. I had to start using it immediately, of course. I’m thinking it could hold a full 16 oz…will have to test that out in a bit!

ETA: Oh, and this tea is yummy.

It’s cold, and rainy, and the perfect day to be snuggled up under a blanket watching old movies and drinking pot after pot of tea. sigh

No notes yet.

Jillian sent me a few bags of this tea to try, since I’ve been drooling over her tasting notes about it. Thanks, Jillian!

This smells incredible! The scent is nearly identical to the chocolate oranges that are sold around the holidays. And I daresay I’ll have to pick up one soon…this smell could cause a craving!

The chocolate is not as strong when it comes to taste, though. It’s a very subtle chocolate taste. Orange definitely dominates, and the green tea is rather good. Actually, the taste of this reminds me of a white chocolate orange candy bar that I had when I was in England…the British chap I was semi-dating would bring me random chocolates/candies that he thought I should try. I remember him handing this bar to me and thinking “who puts orange in white chocolate”. Aw, I haven’t thought of that in ages. Wish I knew the name of that candy bar, too.

I won’t say that this is the best orange chocolate tea out there, and if you’re looking for milk chocolate taste, I’d look elsewhere. But if you look at it as a white chocolate orange, the taste is much more accurate. And I quite like it.

I’m so glad I decided to pre-set the Breville with this last night. I’ve woken up feeling rather “off”; wouldn’t say sick, exactly, but definitely not 100% myself. This tea is very soothing and calming. I really like the way the lemon, spices, and tea blend together in this one. I’m definitely going to be looking for this in decaf next grocery trip, as I think it’d be a perfect nighttime blend.

Upping the rating a bit; it deserves it.

I love tea (bet you didn’t know that). I also love my sleep. Sometimes these two passions do not get along so well. I generally don’t consume any caffeine after noon, so I’m always on the hunt for decaf blends (as well as rooibos and herbal blends). I kept seeing reviews of this one, and thinking that I had to try it. The lovely JacquelineM sent me a little tin full of it, and it arrived today (thank you soooo much)!!

The smell of the dry leaf is amazing…it smells like pull candy while it’s cooking!! So good. The smell of the tea after brewing is incredible; more like a vanilla poundcake baking.

Oh, my, is this good. Rich, creamy, and no chemically this-is-decaf taste. Seriously, are we absolutely sure this is decaf? I suppose I’ll know a definite answer to that later tonight!! It is starting to border on bitter, so I think next time I’ll reduce it to a 4 minute steep and see what happens. But I’m thinking this could end up being a regularly scheduled nighttime blend at my house!!

Rachel sent me this awesome box with all kinds of little goodies in it. This is one that I’ve been wanting to try ever since I knew it existed. Thank you so, so much!!

The smell is wonderful, crisp strawberry and that effervescent scent of sparkling alcohols. The taste is almost decadent. I feel like I should be sipping this out of a champagne flute rather than the mug that I’m using. The honeybush suits this flavor combination perfectly. Really, it’s delicious!!

I am so, so happy I got to try some of this!! Will definitely need to pick some up from MSH’s website!!

Mint and I don’t always get along. Somedays we’re perfect for eachother, others we’re not talking to eachother at all. So when I pulled this one out of the work stash, I decided to see if it’s a good Mintday or a bad Mintday.

It’s a meh Mintday. This isn’t too bad; a lot less minty than the bag smells (which is good, since the bag smelled really strong). The black tea could be stronger, but it’s still there.

I’m not a spearmint fan, though. Can’t stand toothpastes or gum flavored with it, and it’s looking like it could be the same way with this tea. Though it tastes much, much better than toothpaste!!

Drinking up the last of this this morning. It’s been an okay green tea, but not one that I’ll run out and get more of anytime soon.

Edited to Ask: I can count this as the first of my Sipdown, right?

Monday, you’ve come entirely too early this week.

Hopefully the Earl will keep you at bay.

My obsession with different Breakfast blends continues!

It’s bitter. Not tea-bitter, but citrus-pith bitter. Not very pleasant. Glad I ordered a sample of this before getting a whole tin.

Meghann tucked a sampler tin of this into my box o’ goodies. I love trying new and different tea flavors, and Toasted Sesame is definitely new and different!

The leaves look wet, they are so oily-looking. And, after brewing, there’s an oil-slick-like sheen on the top of the tea. The taste, to me, is more sweet black tea than sesame seeds. It’s pretty good. Would have liked it a bit less sweet and more toasty. I’ll try it at 5 minutes next time and see if more toasty taste comes out.

I love the smell of this! It’s like I’m drinking a strong English Breakfast tea whilst sitting in a gigantic rose garden. It takes me back to my days in London, when I’d take the tube to St. James Park to sit in the swings and enjoy the gardens.

Now, the tea itself is delightful. The base black is strong and smooth, with no hint of bitterness. The rose is subtle and slightly sweet; the taste is reminiscent of rosewater.

This is a great first cup this morning, but I think it would really shine as part of a true afternoon tea, paired with Ladyfingers or some shortbreads.

Thanks, Rachel, for sending me some of this! I’ll definitely be looking for it on my next trip to Jungle Jim’s (my closest Tao of Tea retailer).

Geoffrey sent me a bit of this LS. I’ve fallen in love with these smoked teas. They remind me of fall where I grew up, smelling the burning of the leaves and the smoke from wood and coal fires. I get these great nostalgic moments whenever I drink them, of being small and being at my great-aunt’s house, curled in a blanket on her screen porch.

I don’t think I like this one as much as Art of Tea’s, but I did only brew this for 3 minutes as opposed to my 5 minute steep of AoT’s. I’ll have to have another pot here in a little bit. I’d call this one a LS-lite. There’s a definite sweetness to it, and something slightly cocoa-like. I’ll be interested in seeing how this translates in a longer steep.

Thanks, Geoffrey!