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I disregarded the steeping instructions, and just do it like my normal tisanes. I bought this as part of the “Greek Tea Bundle” at kliotea.com (the bundle is on sale right now!).

It’s a very mellow drink. When my husband tried it, he was like “it reminds me of a weak Lipton tea or something.” Which I could understand. It’s a very Nice Enough sort of drink. I don’t know whether or not I’ll reorder it. I probably will since it’s sort of fun to think of who else drank this sort of tea waaaaay back when.

While giving my health an overhaul over the past 6 months, I’ve been having fun with ordering small amounts of tisanes from various sources, so that I can have some nice tea in the evenings when I get home from work. Unlike my other tea choices, I really like having a variety, and am excited to share some of my finds with y’all. NE

Okay, so my tin is many-many years old (maybe 8?), so that may be the reason that I’m dropping my rating. It’s nice, and makes a decent iced tea, believe-it-or-not. But it no longer rates a teagasm in my book. What ultimately tips the scale is that I recall this tea being quite expensive, and it’s not worth the price. If you want to have a wonderful smoky tea, then try Upton Tea Import’s Black Dragon, or Oliver Pluff & Co’s Colonial Bohea. NE

This is still my favoritest-favorite black tea. I’m finally drinking it quasi-regularly in the morning – and not being such a dragon-like tea hoarder. Life’s too short to skimp on tea.

With my newly filtered water, and cutting out sugars in my diet, the sweetness of this tea almost sings from the very first cup (and gets progressively sweeter the number of steeps I have, with three being the peak). TG

Hi, y’all! I’m back-ish! I’m adding the “ish” there since I don’t trust myself to be consistent, but we’ll see.

I had a tea revelation over the past month or so, when I bought a Berkey water filter system. I ashamed to admit that for over a year I’ve been drinking/making tea with tap water. And before that I used a Pur water filter system. To keep this short: Berkey kicks Pur’s butt. Using this super-filtered water (with the fluoride filters), has given my tea new depths of flavor, all the while not leaving as thick a residue on my mugs.

So, I had a tin of A&D’s Holiday Blend from…almost a decade ago?! Probably 7-8 years old. It had never really impressed me. But now, all the harsh notes are gone, and it is a pure delight to drink. I shall miss it when my tin is empty.

And to try and be on here more often, while the inspiration of cleaner water strikes, I am trying to do a sip-down of any remaining tea I’ve stashed away (I’ve moved at least twice since last I wrote here). PLUS I’ve been purchasing more tisanes to experiment with for my evening tea, and I’ve found some really good ones.

I hope all has been well, and that you all have had happy holidays! TG

I’m not regularly reviewing tea here because I’ve narrowed down my daily teas to two, and I haven’t been trying new ones. So, when I find a tea that is “teagasm” to the max, I have to share.

I’ve changed my eating habits over the past few months and have become a vegan who intermittently fasts (i.e. I eat twice-a-day). So tea has become very important to me during the fasting times. I realized that I wanted a nice caffeine free tea to treat myself with once I get home from my job. I also knew I wanted to try and find a blend with honeybush.

Enter google! I hadn’t heard of Plum Deluxe before, and after looking at their offerings, I ordered two honeybush blends (I’ll try the Vistas blend tonight). After I’d placed my order, I received a nice email from the owner which was a really unexpectedly sweet touch.

When the teas arrived yesterday, I opened the package and was like “WHOA THAT’S FRUITY LISCIOUS!” The two teas’ fragrances combined smelled like a really fruity bubblegum.

I steeped up a whole set of water bottles (I now steep bigger quantities to fill BPA-free water bottles and store them in the fridge for iced tea throughout the day), and tried one bottle before bed. I didn’t mean to drink the whole thing (getting up to use the bathroom at night sucks), but I did AND I’D DO IT AGAIN.

The apricot is the star in this blend, and I never thought I cared for apricot that much. But this blend is freaking deliciously Foo-Foo. Like, it’s a dream Foo-Foo-Fruity tea that I’d want to drink while riding a sparkly unicorn. It’s more forgiving in terms of steeping temperature/time than my previous “Queen of the Foo-Foo Teas” Rosy Earl Grey from Teas Etc.

All this is to say that I’ll be drinking this tea every freaking night that I can as it will have a permanent place in my cupboard. TG

My favorite “treat” tea is Upton Tea Import’s Lapsan Souchong Black Dragon. But I always felt like it wasn’t a “daily tea.” This much more mellow yet still smoky tea is perfect for me: it has the smoke to begin with, it remains flavorful throughout my entire day, and ends on a gently sweet note.

Two things to note: I fill my filter almost 2/3 full to make it through the day. I noticed that when I added more leafs, I gained more end sweetness. It could just be my crazy taste buds. ALSO this may be the absolute perfect daily tea because it handles oversteeping like a pro. I tend to forget my tea’s steeping at work. Leaving it steeping for up to a half hour is more common than not. It still tastes awesome and not bitter. Yay!

Remember when I said that I needed to stop hoarding my teas? I realized this morning that I hadn’t even OPENED my tin of this tea. I’m guessing that my original review was based on a sample from a generous Steepsterite – so I trust that rating. I feel that I can’t properly review this tea since it’s ::mumblemumble:: years old. But I’m relieved to say that it’s still tasty – I just have a feeling that it’s not as “bright” as it was when I first received the tin.

Finally digging into my Andrews & Dunham stash. Again, trying to anti-gollum my teas. It pairs well with the “french toast” overnight oats I’m having for breakfast. I’ve never had overnight oats before…and I think I like it? Like oatmeal, I struggle with the texture though it tasted good. The tea seems perkier with the sweetness that was left in my mouth from the oats (there’s banana, vanilla, maple syrup, and cinnamon in it). I look forward to several more steeps. NE

Had several cups of this last night. It’s definitely one of my favorite evening teas. Pleasant taste and aroma. NE

I’m back to drinking tea on a regular basis: yay!

I went immediately for one of my all-time faves to mark the occasion (hint: it’s this one). And my cat immediately came up to try and get some for himself (jerk).

Even being a few years old (eep!) it still is smoky-tasty to me. Huzzah! But it’s definitely not as good as a fresh tin.

But with my renewed tea-drinking (and shunning of diet sodas), I have made myself a promise: I shall no longer hoard my favorite or limited-edition teas. I need to drink them uninhibitedly. So drink I shall! NE