Mrnixonpants

Oh, steepster! How could I have abandoned you? I’ve been in quite a funk lately. I mean a seriously depressed funky state of anxiety. Due to financial setbacks we had to push our big move to Portland back and sign a six month extension on our lease. That has really been depressing me and I’m extremely worried we won’t be able to pull it together in the next six months. I don’t care what I have to do. Come June I’ll sell all my stuff, pile the rats in the car and just go. Forget my stuff I don’t need it (except maybe my breville haha).

The delivery of my tea of the month from Verdant has been one of the only things that has really gotten me excited. I haven’t made tea in so long. I even got the 12 Teas of Christmas from 52Teas and was too depressed to even do it. I had a few – but the whole box is just sitting in my kitchen basically untouched. I was so excited to participate and then I just neve did. =(

This morning when I woke up, after a particularly low day yesterday, I looked around my apartment and decided “this has got to stop”. So I pulled my beautiful gaiwan tea set off that damn shelf and got right to setting up a little relaxing tea session for myself.

I think there’s something magical in that little red packet. This tea is exactly what I’ve been needing. It’s sweet dark chocolate and honey. A really beautiful way to prepare mentally to face another day.

I made my first order with Della Terra on black friday and I was very excited that my order showed up at my apartment yesterday. I had a stressful night last night and I couldn’t sleep very well. We started rattie introductions and the first meeting was stressful. Hadley is definitely a little high strung compared to my other furkids. I know a little agression is normal, but I’m a total worrier and intros are just so stressful for me. So naturally I stayed up all night wondering what might happen. How things might turn out. If they would ever be friends.

Tonight we’re going to add a little rescue remedy to the mix to relax everyone a bit. And if that doesn’t work then I’ll schedule her for a spay next friday. I wanted to wait until after the holidays, but maybe a spay will straighten her hormones out. We’ll see…

Eight candles looks so fun. The little candies and gold pieces are so cute! This tea is yummy. Caramel marshmallows? Yes please! I am loving the sweetness. This is a good pick me up. I wish I could be more descriptive, but I’ve barely slept and I couldn’t stay in bed past 3 am. I’m running on empty here. I’ll have to review this again when I’m more clear headed.

On a positive note I got the Christmas cage set up! Of course I have to show off some pictures of my Christmas decorating madness…

http://flic.kr/p/dx8yvx -— The whole cage
http://flic.kr/p/dxe2uJ -— Top half
http://flic.kr/p/dxe2GY -— Bottom half

I wonder what santa will leave in their stockings this year?!

I hate when you wake up a couple hours before your alarm goes off and can’t fall back asleep. I laid in bed for a good 45 minutes before just giving in and getting up.

Last night I brought home a new member of the family. Her name is Hadley and she is a beautiful little rat I was able to adopt from work. You see, they got a shipment of babies in and they just threw the new babies into a cage with Hadley and other rats for sale. It’s standard when newcomers enter an established pack of rats for the newcomers to get picked on a little. She was just showing them who was boss, but apparently everyone agreed that she was some sort of spawn of satan or something and so they took her out and put her in the back room in isolation. She was doomed to be sold a single rat because she was so “aggressive”. I couldn’t leave the poor thing there…rats are extremely social animals who do best in large groups. I just couldn’t imagine that little girl spending her whole life alone.

So after much debate and 5 days of losing sleep I finally brought her home. I think she’s going to be really happy here. I can’t wait until she settles in and I can introduce her to my crew. She’s going to have a long happy friend filled life.

Hadley and I are having some peaceful bonding time together this morning since my body had plans for me that didn’t include sleeping until my alarm went off. We’re watching the news and she’s exploring the couch while I enjoy a cup of caramel pumpkin cheesecake. I swear this tea gets better and better every time I have some. I’m sad to say my bag is starting to look a little slim. I’ll be sad when this one is gone, but tis the season to finish off the pumpkin flavored things! I’m going to bump the rating up a touch because I really have been enjoying this one lately.

http://flic.kr/p/duuzFr -— Welcome home Hadley!
http://flic.kr/p/duuBak -— Obviously pure evil look at that monster face!

This was a sample I received from David’s Tea with my last order. Last night my sister stayed the night. We had a few drinks and things got a little crazy! And I still always wake up at 7 am no matter what went on the night before. Go figure. I opted for this tea because I wanted to make a single cup without being too disruptive.

I’m not sure if something went wrong here or not. This cup doesn’t taste very strong at all. It’s like cinnamon water. Where’s the black tea base? I don’t taste it at all. Maybe there was too little leaf in that package for a full mug of tea? I guess on the resteep I’ll try less water and see what happens.

I do have to say I absolutely adore the sparkly gold liquor though! I love love love gold glitter. Eye makeup, nail polish, and tea too I guess! Although I don’t think I’ll be ordering this one…

Ugh it happened to me! Steepster just malfunctioned and I lost my entire review I spent all morning typing up for this one! What a bummer.

This morning when I woke up I decided I’d spend the day listening to music, drinking tea, doing a face masque, curling my hair, and just spending some time with myself without the TV on. The rats had big plans for the day when they woke up too – peering at me with their sparkling eyes through their cage door like “mom we want to enjoy the day with you!” So now I’ve got all four of my little monsters running around on the couch begging for sips of tea. Thank goodness for black tea!

And what an interesting way to start the day out. This tea has such rave reviews on here! I’ve still been using my gaiwan faithfully. I wonder if the magic will wear off eventually?

This tea is rich, creamy, and deliciously sweet. I can see why this is a popular tea. It reminds me a lot of honey. With each steep the liquor turns a darker gold color and the leaves are unfurling with a curly madness. I adore the way these leaves look dry and damp. This is a very pleasant way to start the day.

Oh, and in case you were wondering the rats give Laoshan Black tea two paws up!

http://flic.kr/p/dtv82z -— Fintan and Derby enjoying some tea
http://flic.kr/p/dtAEsC -— Fievel giving a lick of approval!

Finishing off the last of this sample this morning. This is a nice strong morning tea. I wish I had time to make some pancakes to go along with this one. It really makes me think of hot maple syrup.

I steeped the leaves again this time for four minutes, threw it in a tumbler with half and half and sugar and plan to take it to work with me. I need some energy this morning! I just have to get through today and I have two days off. I plan to spend them with some pu-erh…

On another note, I think today is going to be the day I’ll put up my beloved Christmas tree. It’s almost time to get out all the Christmas decorations for the rattie cage too.

http://flic.kr/p/dtgFMz -—- A picture of my Fintan when he was just a little baby! Isn’t he just a ham?

It’s a beautiful morning! And it’s just the perfect morning for some green tea. I’ve been in a gorgeous mood lately partly due to these steroids I’ve been on for this crazy skin rash I got a few weeks ago. At first I was on a very high dose and was extremely moody. One second I was happy and laughing, the next I was very depressed and crying for no reason. I don’t think the steroids and my anxiety go very well together. Anyhow my dose is much lower now and I’ve just got tons of energy without the extreme mood swings. Woohoo!

I wanted so badly to put up my Christmas tree yesterday. I know I know, it’s too early! But hear me out. When Nathan (boyfriend) and I bought it three years ago it was our first Christmas together and we were living in Texas at the time. I’ll never forget that part of our life together. Everything was so new and we were so fearless and free. So far away from our families having this crazy adventure together in Texas. We were so unbelievably happy even though things were tougher back then. That was the best Christmas of my life. Just me, Nathan, and Nixon (our first rat). No stress over where we had to be on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day – just the three of us together enjoying the holiday in our pajamas. We had a great Christmas too. Nathan got me a Zune HD and I got him a PS3. Nixon got a brand new cage and tons of stuff to fill it with. I’d just love to go back to that time.

The next year we were living with my parents after having just moved back home from Texas so our tree was in storage. And it sat there all through the holiday season. This year I can’t wait to get that tree out and put it up! I don’t think three or four weeks to enjoy it will be enough this year! So I don’t care what anyone says, that tree is going up either tomorrow or the next day. Ahhh…memories

I’ve been making everything I can get my hands on in my gaiwan lately so of course I opted for gaiwan style here this morning. I’ve got time to really sit back and enjoy making this tea. I was a little surprsied by the brewing guide on Teavivre’s website. 4 steeps: rinse, 20s,40s,1m20s,2m. Only four steeps? And such long last steeps? I think I’m just going to wing this one because 2 minutes seems like a long time.

I really like this green. It’s so easy to drink. It’s just the right amount of vegetal goodness without any bitterness at all. It’s very smooth, relaxing, even a little buttery.

I’m on the fifth steep now and I’ve steeped this one for about 40 seconds. The wet leaves smell like spring time and look like fresh cut grass. The liquor is smiling yellow and it makes me really happy. The taste is a bit light (I’ll steep longer on the next one) but still very good. I’m finding a little nuttiness in this steep which is interesting. Something I hadn’t noticed before.

On to steep number six and I’m going to let this one go for a whole minute and see what happens. Learning how to use my gaiwan is so much fun to me. I’ve finally realized that you don’t need to be perfectly strict about the whole thing, trying to time everything down to the exact second per the steeping suggestions. I can just sorta go with the flow. It’s fun because you really learn about the tea this way by experiencing it in different layers. Seeing what a few extra seconds or grams will do to change the overall experience. A minute was a nice choice here. The nuttiness is coming out more and that smooth profile is getting a little more grassy. Delicious!

I don’t have enough time to write a full log on this one, but it seemed important enough for me to stop by and say that this tea just changed everything I know about tea.

Amazing
Yup, this one’s a game changer.

I finally recieved my beautiful gaiwan tea set from Teavivre yesterday. This morning when I woke up I knew exactly what I was feeling ready for, a pu-erh. Now I haven’t really tried much pu-erh yet so keep that in mind.

I spent lots of time last night pouring with my gaiwan and getting a feel for brewing this style. I feel so important and involved with this process.

I’m not really sure how to review pu-erh tea. I’m not really familiar with the termonology I see other people using to describe pu-erh but I’m going to wing it here. I’m using the suggested gaiwan brewing times from Teavivre.

The first steep is curious. Not as overwhelmingly strange tasting as I was expecting it to be. It’s an interesting flavor, something I’ve never really experienced before. Maybe a tiny bit fishy? But it’s actually not offputting….very weird…

Wow. The second steep looks like a completely different tea. It’s so much darker than the first! The wet leaves smell a little smokey. This steep tastes like the first one, but with a little more oomph.

After a third steep the wet leaves are starting to smell leathery. Now I understand what people mean when they use “leathery” as a description. This steep is surprsingly sweet in a way. Much different than the previous steeps.

By the fourth steep I’m starting to get stuck on the fish smell for some reason. It doesn’t really taste fishy, but it smells just fishy enough to be getting a little weird. I’m having trouble focusing on anything else. One thing I am noticing though is that my tummy is feeling much better than it did when I woke up this morning. It could just be in my head but either way it’s a plus.

I think I’m going to have to stop here. I know I could continue steeping but I think I’ll have to dive into a few more pu-erhs before I take this one all the way. I’m going to hold off on a rating for now.

And I almost forgot to thank LiberTEAS for sending me some of this! What an interesting start to the day =) Oh, I forgot to add I haven’t burnt my fingers once yet! Woohoo!

This was the second tea I got to choose from the latest Virtual Tasting I was a part of. I love fruit and this blend looks like a lot of fun.

Brewed I am quite surprised at the lack of flavor here. And I’m not really getting much of a cinnamon taste as everyone else had mentioned. It’s not bad, I just wish there was a little more to it. Even the green tea base seems a bit mellow.

The power is out all around where I live. My apartment is running on a back up generator so some of my apartment has power, but most of it doesn’t. A few lights work and most of the kitchen is working. I’m currently sitting on my kitchen counter with my laptop and phone plugged into one of the only outlets that’s working, eating ramen noodles (yay gas stove) and enjoying a nice fresh cup of Read My Lips. Thank god the outlet my Breville is plugged into is working!

I’m not sure if I will be working today or not. The power has been off at my work since about 6pm last night. My boyfriend however was not so lucky. He ventured out into the storm at 5am only to find power is on at his work and about 1/2 the people showed up today. But, since power is on the day is going according to plan for him. So I’m alone hoping the generator stays on. And very cold since the heat has been off for a while now. Yup, just me and my rats and a cup of Read My Lips. Someone had just asked in the discussions thread what tea is your “pick me up” tea – I think it’s safe to say this is my pick me up tea. I reached for it right away it wasn’t even a thought process.

Thanks LiberTEAS for this amazing sample!

I opened up my sample box this afternoon and there it was – Oolong Chardonnay. I’ve been saving my oolongs until my gaiwan arrives, but I just couldn’t wait on this one. I had to brew it up at once. I’m a big wine lover and I also adore oolong, so what’s not to like right?

The aroma of this dry tea is spot on chardonnay with a little spice. Brewed it smells a bit fruity and less chardonnay. This tea is really good. Even though it smells fruity, it doesn’t taste like a fruity tea. Very chardonnay. The cinnamon is not overpowering, but it gives it a nice warm aspect. The rose gives a faint floral note that adds balance to the cup and the vanilla bean rounds everything out for a nice smooth sip. This is actually a little earthy to me – faintly earthy in a way that reminds me a little of tree bark. But that’s really in the background the chardonnay and warm cinnamon are more apparent and the earthiness is more of an afterthought.

I’m really enjoying this so far. I wonder how it will hold up to additional steeping. I may have to order some of this…

I am so embarrassed that I missed the virtual tea tasting I was so excited to be a part of!! Even though Sandy hasn’t really effected my area yet (aside from pretty constant rain). My apartment building jumped the gun on everyone else and the power went down yesterday. Well, the storm is supposed to hit my area tonight and tomorrow. At least since losing power yesterday, I’ve stocked up on flashlights, batteries, and water. You can never be too careful!

I promised myself I’d make up for missing the tasting today, so the first thing I wanted to do this morning was brew up some Milk Chocolate Caramel. What a beautiful color this tea produces. It smells amazing as well, but I do agree with everyone it’s not quite the sweet milk chocolate caramel taste I was expecting. It’s a bit on the lighter side as far as flavoring goes, but I’m actually really enjoying this one. I added a little sugar and a splash of half and half and mmmmm…this looks like chocolate milk now! Sweetening it is bringing out some of the sweet caramel.

I think I’m enjoying this a little more than some have. I’m happy with it, but I do agree that maybe the name should be tweaked a bit.

UPDATE : Watching the president speak about Hurricane Sandy on the news right now. Please everyone stay safe these next few days!

Okay, why is some of my text turning into links with ads?!

I managed to snag a bit of this from Whispering Pines during their “all orders doubled” special they ran recently. I have a doctors appointment in an hour so I need something to calm my nerves. This tea is a brilliant yellow, nice and cheery – just what I was looking for.

This is a nice little cup of tea. Not too floral, but the notes are definitely there. I’m not really getting a lot of prominent coconut either. A very subtle tea as far as the flavoring goes, but I think it works well as a nice light cup. The green tea base isn’t bitter which is nice because it allows the flavors to linger a bit. Just a light, cheery, soft, slightly floral relaxing cup of tea. I think this one will be perfect when I’m in the mood for it.

Today after cleaning my Breville it turned out so shiny and new I wanted to try something a little different. Something I’ve never quite tried before…Fiesta Fusion seemed like the perfect candidate. I’ve never had a black/green blend before. When I ripped open the package it smelled very fruity. I was amazed by how much tea was in this sample thank you so much Teajo Teas!

I love the color of this tea! Or maybe I was just so happy watching my shiny like-new Breville go to work, but either way I really enjoyed watching this brew. It smells deliciously fruity. I would agree that this is more black than green, but I’m guessing that’s because black is more overpowering than green. The blending here is really well done. It’s got a nice black aspect that I love but without any astringency at all and the green gives it a bit of a grassy aspect, but in a way that is not bitter. This tea is absolutely smooth. There is a nice fruity tone in the background that adds a really beautiful sweetness.

I really do like this one. If you’re looking for something a little different, try this!

My first selection from my second sampler box from LiberTEAS – thank you so much for putting this box together for me!

I’ve been wanting to try Handmade Teas for a while, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to actually subscribe to their tea of the month program before trying some of their tea. I’m really anti-commitment and I can never make up my mind about things like tea clubs…it’s just too hard to choose which one to join so I end up just completely avoiding making the decision by not joining any haha! Silly I know…

I love the way the dry tea smells. Fruity and sweet. Once brewed though I’m not really smelling much aside from the white tea base. Upon tasting I do taste the strawberry, but it isn’t a very bold in-your-face type of flavor. I’m actually really enjoying the fact that the strawberry seems very light and natural. The chocolate adds a really interesting aspect. I feel like it makes the cup a little “fuller” if that makes any sense. The white tea base was a good choice for such a light flavor profile.

I think that Murmur is the perfect name for this tea. It really does fit the way the tea tastes. It really is a murmur… soft, quiet, natural, almost illusive but I actually found these things quite enjoyable. Such a relaxing lovely cup!

When I was thinking about what fruity matcha flavor I wanted to try I decided that Boysenberry sounded the most interesting to me. I’ve previously only gotten the desserty flavors but I wondered what a fruity matcha would be like and if the fruit would go well with the green flavors of the matcha. I decided to get the robust flavor level and also a small tin to make storage easy.

I tried the matcha first made the usual way with hot water and it was very good, but I was very curious about the “water bottle” method I’d noticed some people using so I gave that method a shot as well. I filled up a plastic bottle I had with ice cubes, water, and matcha and shook like mad! I ended up with a delicious iced matcha that was so easy to make and convenient to carry with me to work. If you want to take matcha on the go I suggest this method!

I did enjoy this hot, but I felt like the cold method brought out more of that tangy fruit aspect I was really looking for here. Someone else mentioned this being a bit like redbull in their review and I can really see what they mean. It does taste a bit redbull-y and I’m a former redbull addict so I know what I’m talking about here. Haha.

I have to say I’m glad I picked this flavor out. It’s so much more unique than your typical strawberry or other popular fruit flavor.

I got my matcha here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/boysenberry-matcha.html

I finally got my hands on some of the “famous” Caramel Matcha everyone has been going on and on about. I decided to go crazy and chose the robust flavor level this time, just because you really can’t have too much caramel can you? I also got a small tin to store my matcha in. They are really convenient and I love the way they close up so nicely. I’m sure my matcha will stay nice and fresh this way.

Okay, back the matcha. I made it the usual way. Sift matcha, add a bit of hot water, whisk, add a bit more water and enjoy! Mmmm you really can’t go wrong with the flavoring here! The robust option was a good choice. The flavor of the matcha does take the back seat here, but my goodness the caramel is soooo creamy and sweet. It reminds me of the hot caramel they put on top of your sundae at an ice cream shop! I can really understand why this is a steepster favorite.

If you really want to take this matcha to the next level, you’ve got to try this as a latte because it is amazing! The milk just adds an amazing creaminess. I could literally enjoy a hot caramel matcha latte every morning without getting tired of it. Oh my goodness…I just realized I can now make a caramel cheesecake matcha latte because I now have both flavors…

And it looks like I’m off to the kitchen.

If you want to get your hands on some of this, and trust me you do need to, this is where you can get it:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

The strangest thing is happening with this tea. I find myself wanting a cup quite often and I’m not sure why. When I first tried it I actually thought I didn’t really like it very much. It was alright, it just wasn’t really my thing but for some strange reason I can’t put my finger on I’ve been craving this tea. I can’t drink it straight (don’t think I like bergamont) so I do need to add milk and sugar to enjoy this one but I really really like it this way.

Something strange is going on here. A tea that I wasn’t wild about, possibly becoming one of my go-to teas? Has this ever happened to you?

I feel like I’ve really been slacking on leaving reviews for the various samples I’ve recieved, but that’s going to change today. Yup. I’m inspried today. I’ve got all day to myself to spend with the new Coheed and Cambria album and tickets to the show on tuesday and so this is possibly the greatest thing that’s happened to me all year. dkalfjioeahfenl =).

Okay so onto the tea. This is a pretty nice black tea. Not bitter at all really, but it does have a little edge at the end of the sip which I do appreciate. There’s a great rich flavor here, I’m actually getting maple. This is a great breakfast tea and it would go awesome with pancakes. This experience is exactly the reason I switched from coffee to tea. Every tea I taste has a completely different mood to it and I can always attribute it to something I’d like to be doing while drinking it. It’s inspiring in a way. Very happy with this sample.

With this being a good morning tea I just had to try it with a bit of cream and sugar (sometimes my coffee addiction does come out). I really did enjoy it much more without any additives. All they do is dull down the feeling I was getting from the tea. I’ll be sure not to add anything to it in the future.

“Your selfishness has robbed you of the man you could have been. I wouldn’t change a thing about you. I love you dearly, my friend”

Because I just had to.

So happy my 52 Teas order came in. Pumpkin cheesecake, Marshmallow Treat, Graveyard Mist….ahh!

I decided on Pumpkin Cheesecake this morning while getting ready for a long work day. It’s October and fall is really here even if I wasn’t quite ready to let go of summer…

This tea is really good with a spalsh of milk and sugar. It’s absolutely pumpkin – spicy, creamy, delicious pumpkin. One of my all time favorite flavors. The cheesecake is sort of difficult to pick out because the pumpkin is so prominent in this blend. I love the black tea base here. Every time I take another sip of this I like it more and more. It’s really nicely done.

Thanks LiberTEAS for this sample!

This tea just jumped out at me tonight and after watching my boyfriend play Madden 13 online for the past few hours, it’s a very welcome distraction. Well good thing I love football anyway, but Madden doesn’t make much sense to me. It’s so complicated…I just like to watch him yell at the tv like a little kid. Boyfriends – strange creatures they are. Anyhow, it gives me some time to browse steepster and other things while he plays so I can’t complain too much.

Mmm this is a lovely cup indeed. I’m getting a very clean crisp taste (I attribute that to the white tea) and I’m really enjoying the nutmeg here. It gives this cup a whole different angle that I didn’t expect. I’m not really getting much fruit, though there is a lingering sweetness. The vanilla adds a little creamy fullness which I appreciate. A slice of warm bananna bread would really compliment this tea.

I do like it, but I just can’t find the fruit. It must be hiding in there somewhere. I did realize today that I’m getting a sore throat and there’s a cold going around work, so maybe my senses are preparing for war or something. Here’s to shutting off my alarm and hoping my body recharges enough overnight to fight this bug off!

Finally! It feels like it’s been weeks, months, even years since I ordered 100g of Read My Lips and at last it’s here! Okay, so in reality it’s only been about 10 days but those 10 days have been an eternity, especially since I finished off the last of the amount I had. I’ve been needing this tea so bad.

Yes! Yes! Yes! The smell is driving me insane! Usually I enjoy smelling and watching the tea cool a bit but this is pure torture…but so worth it.

At last, we are reunited. Minty chocolatey milky smooth deliciousness. This tea really is better than sex, but don’t tell my boyfriend I said that =)

I’ve been waiting for the right time to try this tea and this evening seems just right. I had a long day at work and I’m still breaking in my new work shoes so my feet are killing me. On the way home I noticed how the leaves on all the trees are starting to change colors. Every year I try to notice the exact day that the leaves start changing, but fall always creeps up on me. It seems like one day it’s summer then the next day all the leaves have already started changing. Does it happen overnight? It feels like it…

The one thing that always gets me about fall is the dampness in the air – even if it hasn’t rained it’s got a damp quality about it. It sort of smells like green tea outside – damp and grassy, leaves everywhere. Refreshing. I don’t know if that makes sense or not, but refreshing is what I need tonight.

This cup of tea smells perfectly refreshing. It smells like buttery string beans. Mmmm the vegetal notes are so amazing here – not at all bitter or overpowering. I’m really enjoying the buttery smoothness and the sweet aftertaste. It’s sweet in a way that is so right. Totally unwinding right now. I’m so happy that I was able to snatch some of this because it’s sold out now. I only wish I’d gotten more…