SimplyJenW

Tea of the morning…..

I was lucky enough to have had two tins of this while it was available from Harney & Sons. I am definitely into the second tin…the one that I purchased on a surprise trip to the SoHo Store last year. Since it has history, it makes me happy as a tea, and brings back happy memories. Bliss.

Dark and malty, rich and cocoa- noted. I so hope that Harney finds some close to this to offer in the future. It is very much a treat, and I will savor the rest of it. Totally notable…these leaves brew up so huge, my infuser basket is almost overflowing. That is pretty remarkable for a black tea. Most only fill it about halfway when I make a whole 24 oz. pot of tea.

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning….

And attempt #2 for my Smokin’ Earl AKA Cowboy Grey. Today I used 5 parts Lupicia Earl Grey with one part of the Lapsang Souchong I got from Mountain Rose Herbs. Yep, this’ll do. Now I got a hankerin’ for some chili or stew….but on the finest of china with linen napkins….. Yes, my humor is a little off today, but I thought I would share what goes through this twisted mind of mine this morning.

Any recommendations for Murder Mystery games for Teens out there? My DD all of a sudden has the bug to host one, but many of them aren’t completely appropriate for her age (15). Thanks for the input!

Tea of the afternoon……

I was almost going to de-stash this one. However, I am needing a source of indulgence that won’t kill me in calories. This actually works very well. I think I need to bump up the rating a little! Notes of cream and caramel, and maybe a little chocolate on a cocoa-ey tea base. Yummy!

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning…..

All of the talk on Steepster about a “Cowboy” version of Earl Grey has me intrigued. I do have a tin of Earl of Harlem on order from Ambessa/Harney & Sons, but I was curious if I could put something similar together in my cupboard. This pot is a 1:2 blend of Upton Lapsang Souchong Black Dragon and Lupicia’s Earl Grey. Hmmm. Definitely need to play around with the ratios. It is smokey enough, but not ‘Early’ enough. Maybe we will go with a straight Lapsang next time and a ratio more like 1:5ish…. All that said, it makes me very happy that I have the Earl of Harlem coming my way.

Sorry that I have not been posting much here….I am not sure how interesting my staple teas are for posting as that has been mostly what I have been drinking. I send first born off to High School in about a week….I am all emotional. I am glad she is growing up, but mourning the fact that I wish I had done some things differently for her childhood. I guess perfection in childhood would not have made her the cool human she is now. Yes, I am over-thinking it! Plus, I am needing to do a bit of an overhaul on my stash/life in general. I definitely know what I like and need these days all around, and that makes it easier to simplify, even though it is a long road ahead.

I am sure I will be here often reading, though! I love this community.

Tea of the morning…..

This was the free sample sent with my first Verdant Tea order. Very pleased! I am drinking this one unsweetened in new teaware. I added a 14 oz Forlife Q Teapot in teal blue to my arsenal. It just made sense for how I drink tea to have a smaller teapot. I am not sure I will ever have a Yixing, or a Gong Fu set as they seem kind of overwhelming to me (I also don’t have the space to store dedicated yixing to a certain tea, or room to store all the pieces of a set.) For now, I just like things that are easy to manage (and clean!) Love the teapot. No drips.

The tea is remarkable, too. It is chocolately, bready, malty. Very smooth. No astringency, which is how I like it. I am getting so set in my ways as far as tea is concerned. I guess I have tried enough tea at this point to know what I really like, and this fits my profile. (I am becoming a little less enamored with greens and oolongs, but I am hoping it is just a phase.) For all those reasons, this was a good sample for me. If I were in the market for stash expansion, it would be on the list for sure. Until things change, I think I will have to enjoy what I have. This is definitely a place I would only purchase in small amounts as the prices are quite a bit higher than my normal range. Service is wonderful, teas I have tried are fabulous, though.

14 oz teapot. 2 tsp tea, freshly boiled water, 4 minutes. Resteep ahead.

Surprise tea of the day…..

I was running to the grocer for a few things…fresh spinach, cake mix, English muffins, and I ran into this! Of course it just jumped into my cart.

The tea flavor in this is plenty strong. There are hints of citrus and honey, too, but they are light. I should have realized there would be some sweetness involved (20 calories per 8 oz., 40 in the whole bottle), and I usually take my iced tea plain. My initial thoughts were that the tea was too strong, but by the end, I found it refreshingly good, a good strong black iced tea. It won’t be a normal staple in my cupboard as I like fresh brewed much better, but for a bottled tea it is good!~

Iced tea of the day…..

With all of the references on Steepster about how good Moroccan Mint teas are iced, I had to give it a go. I know this is traditionally a sweetened tea, but I had to try it neat.

Mmmm. Very refreshing. I get a bite of smokiness from the gunpowder green, and a hint of refreshing mint. Man, I think this would be the ideal iced tea for a very, very hot day. (I might add some more comments after I get farther into the pitcher.)

I used my usual hot brewing method for iced tea. The water was a little cooler than boiling, I only steeped 3 minutes, and I used 4 perfect tsp of tea for my teapot, then transferred to my pitcher with ice. Added water up to about a 60 oz. volume.

Tea of the morning….. and (SRP #49)

It has been almost a whole month since I destashed something. Schedules have been weird, as they are over Summer break, and it has just been easier to grab favorites. This is a sample I received from JacquelineM quite some time ago. (Thank you!) Now it goes out with a bang….a whole decadent pot of this tea. It is probably my favorite Golden Monkey by taste, but the frugal gal in me also pays some attention to price, and this one is pricey for my pocketbook. However, it is worth it, too. Once I cut down on the amount of general China black tea in my cupboard, I will probably buy this one. I also like that for me, it requires less sweetener than others!

Usual teapot method. Resteep coming up!

Tea of the afternoon…..

….along with a big dose of the London Olympic Games. The tea is a solid Earl Grey with an exquisite tea base. Life is good.

Usual teapot method.

Iced tea of the day, and second steep…..

I stored the once used bag in the refrigerator overnight, and brewed this up again today for 6 minutes in about 2 cups of freshly boiled water. Then I added it to my pitcher with water and ice up to about 60 ounces. Yes, it is just as good as day number one! Yummy! Love these!

Tea of the evening….

I did my own version of this tonight. My teapot requires three perfect teaspoons for the perfect pot of tea, so I added 2 Decaf Paris and 1 Vanilla Comoro. I guess I was looking for a more berried version of a decaf tea. Somehow, I do think I need to go the other way and do 2 of the Vanilla Comoro and 1 of the Decaf Paris. The way it is now, it is just a slightly more creamy and vanilla version of Decaf Paris itself, because the flavors in the Decaf Paris are generally the stronger of the two. Black Currant, Vanilla, Caramelly-creaminess, and the bergamot notes add just a hint of brightness. I am not sad I tried it this way and will thoroughly enjoy this pot. More testing on another evening!

Usual teapot method with above ratio for 3 minutes. Slightly sweetened.

Iced tea of the day……

Yum! I mostly smell strawberries and creaminess. Once I get a taste of the brew, it definitely has all three flavors going on, Strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. I am sure the flavors would come out even more if I sweetened it, but this is good as it is, and that is how I usually drink iced tea. Definitely a winner. Not sure which one I like better….this or Rainbow Sherbet, but I am glad I have some of both. Bubblegum and Cotton Candy are still in the bag to try.

Tea of the morning…..

I am down 100 grams of this in a month and a half. Right now I am glad I bought a tin and a 100g refill and am calculating how soon I will have to order again! I am not particularly fond of the shipping cost from France, but the exchange rate has been such to make it a fairly good deal if you purchase a bunch. There are a few more teas from Dammann I’d like to try. My first small order arrived without a hitch in about a week and a half, so a bigger order will be in my near future! This tea makes me happy!

Usual teapot method. All sipped up in record time.

Iced tea of the day….

This is the last of the goodies sent to me by Russel at the Harney Shop in Millerton, NY. Thank you for the wonderful treat! I was excited to try this one, because on occasion I have a need for a decaffeinated iced tea. As I get older, I have become more sensitive to having caffeine too late in the day. It affects my ability to sleep well. Since this has been such a brutally hot Summer, iced tea is always a welcomed beverage for me into the evening.

For decaf, this is really good. I can usually detect a hint that a tea is decaf, but not so in this version. I get light notes of passion fruit that I am sure would come out a little more with the addition of something sweet. I take my iced tea unsweetened, though. The tea base is smooth, but not quite a smooth as the Peach Iced Tea I had earlier this week. I do prefer the Peach and need to do another run of Midsummer’s Peach (decaf) iced to see which of the two decaf versions I prefer. The pouches are pretty handy, so Decaf Passion Fruit might win just for convenience.

Thanks again, Russel, for my introduction to Harney iced tea pouches. There will be some iced tea pouches in a future order for myself, of that I can be sure! The next time I brew up the Peach, I am going to save the pouch in the refrigerator for a second brew the next day. Something tells me that they will do well on a second steep.

It is a Bohea morning!

Loving the smokey notes in this one. I still can’t get over how big some of the leaves are. I did end up transferring to a tin, just because I have my doubts about the packaging over the long haul. Definitely an enjoyable tea, even if it is from a touristy source. I feel so colonial!

Usual teapot method.

I did find a downside for me and smokey teas….I am sitting here with a little general morning congestion and I keep getting a whiff of something smokey. Then I have the sudden urge to figure out what is burning when it is just my tea!

Tea of the afternoon…..

I was starting to wonder if I could ever possibly drink a whole pound of this. And then I have another cup that reassures me that this will definitely not be one of those teas I regret buying in a large amount. (Don’t we all have a few of those in our stash?..or maybe you have been smart to gift/rehome the evidence!) This is a staple tea for me. There is no other way to describe it, other than subtle Earl Grey with a sweet grapefruit kicker! Such a lovely afternoon pick me up. Thank you to Mr. Harney for listening to our pleas requesting this in loose leaf. It is a wonderful blend.

Usual mug method.

I had to move this to a corrected tea page, but I did not want to loose the info on the other page by editing it, so this is a double post.

Iced tea of the day….

Another sample from Russel at the Millerton Shop. (Thank you!) I was really glad to get to try this, because I have gifted it to friends and not even had a chance to try it for myself. I am a big fan of their Midsummer’s Peach decaf blend in loose leaf. MSP was the tea that introduced me to the Millerton Shop since I was not prepared to buy an entire pound of it, and that is how it is offered online in loose leaf other than a sample. Midsummer’s Peach makes a great iced tea, but usually, I want the caffeine during the day. Enter, the Peach Iced Tea in 2 qt. pouches.

I must say, the convenience of the pouches is wonderful. It makes the perfect gift for those who don’t have the patience or tea obsession to mess with leaves. I like it, too, actually. I made the iced tea in a pyrex measuring cup right along side my first morning cuppa. Then I added the super-strength brew to my favorite pitcher full of ice plus a little more water to bring it up to about 2 qts. Notes of fresh peach and oh so smooth and refreshing. It definitely holds a place in my top favorite iced teas, and readily nudged out Midsummer’s. I will have to purchase some….for me and more for gifts. Did you see how cute the tin is?

Iced tea of the day……

I just noticed the one they sell now is not Organic…..I will be moving this tea note to the proper tea page soon. My review is for Peach Iced Tea which is the offering as of July 2012….probably sooner, but it needed a date!

Another sample from Russel at the Millerton Shop. (Thank you!) I was really glad to get to try this, because I have gifted it to friends and not even had a chance to try it for myself. I am a big fan of their Midsummer’s Peach decaf blend in loose leaf. MSP was the tea that introduced me to the Millerton Shop since I was not prepared to buy an entire pound of it, and that is how it is offered online in loose leaf other than a sample. Midsummer’s Peach makes a great iced tea, but usually, I want the caffeine during the day. Enter, the Peach Iced Tea in 2 qt. pouches.

I must say, the convenience of the pouches is wonderful. It makes the perfect gift for those who don’t have the patience or tea obsession to mess with leaves. I like it, too, actually. I made the iced tea in a pyrex measuring cup right along side my first morning cuppa. Then I added the super-strength brew to my favorite pitcher full of ice plus a little more water to bring it up to about 2 qts. Notes of fresh peach and oh so smooth and refreshing. It definitely holds a place in my top favorite iced teas, and readily nudged out Midsummer’s. I will have to purchase some….for me and more for gifts. Did you see how cute the tin is?

Tea of the morning….

Thank you to Russel of Harney & Sons Millerton shop for the chance to sample this one! Oh my, it is like a candy bar in a cup. Notes of chocolate, peanut, caramel for sure. I do catch a little something fruity sweet in there, too. Must be the apricot. One thing that really stands out is the tea base is a little more hefty than most dessert tea blends. A little malt, a slight briskness. The mouthfeel is quite notable….it is heavy for sure, and this adds to the rich desserty feel of the tea. Yum. Very well done, Mr. Samulesson and Mr. Harney!

Usual mug method.

I need another Harney Logo mug when I order a few of these tins. The mugs stand up so well to the temperature extremes of brewing tea. Unfortunately, most of my regular mugs have become a safety hazard from making tea in them all the time….the bottoms were cracking out of them and I had to get rid of 5 of them as a consequence of my tea habit (and of course they are discontinued, too). So, this is a PSA! Check the bottoms of your mugs for cracking if you make tea in a mug very often! The cracks weaken the structure of the mug and it will eventually break. Plus, it probably harbors bacteria, which is not good, either.

Tea of the morning….

It has been a while since I have had an audience with the Queen. I love the way her subtle strength nudges you into action for the day. Cocoa notes, light malt and a hint of smoke. With those kind of flavors, you would think it a hearty cup, but it is still on the light side. One of my favorite Harney blends. Happy Monday!

Usual teapot method.

(2nd) Tea of the morning……

Ahhh. That is the sigh of happiness. My first pot of tea this morning was a dump out. You know those teas that you keep trying to like because you have a slight bit of buyer’s remorse…. well, this is the reward tea, because I finally got rid of the tea that was no longer making my tea journey a happy one. I should probably do even a little more stash editing, but I think my tea drinking friends are tealogged themselves!

Then, it was onto the tea that I know can fix any bad mood…..my first black tea love….Harney’s Keemun Mao Feng. I love this one any day. And really, I should drink this one more often. I still have a full tin from when they were sold as 4 oz (rather than 2) to enjoy.

Definite notes of cocoa and malt. The slightest hint of smoke. Very rich and wonderful. This is one of which I never tire.

On a super wonderful note, we are finally getting some much needed rain. I did not know my grass could turn gray in spots…..I have seen brown and crunchy, but never gray and essentially flat. I am thinking it might need reseeding in places. Actually, I have been more worried about the trees. Such an odd Summer. But I guess it was time for the extreme warm weather. I remember a summer here when we were lucky to get up to 80. Now 80 seems like a cold spell. Anyway, I will enjoy the rain and this wonderful tea. Life is good.

Usual teapot method….yes, a whole teapot with a resteep! Soo happy!

Tea of the afternoon…..

I am a lucky girl. Russel at the Harney Tea shop graciously sent me some teas to try….a couple of the new Ambessa teas and some iced tea sachets. It is funny on the iced tea sachets…I have always given them as gifts and never kept any for myself to try. Reviews of those will be up within the next week, as what else is there better to drink in this abnormally hot Summer we are having?

I have to admit, I was most excited about this tea, though. I love the subtlety in Harney’s Earl Grey blends….the perfect level of bergamot with the particular tea base of choice. I was very much drawn in by the mention of this being a smokey version of Earl Grey. Can we just say it is love at first sip? I wish I had tried more smokey Earls to compare this one, but then again, this will probably be the standard to which I compare all others. For comparing to other more standard Earls, the tea base is just heftier and more dark. I would even call it more mysterious and, of course, very lightly smokey. For some reason, I think this tea would be the perfect complement to a period mystery….. I definitely need some, but I think the tea base will lend itself better to cooler temps. Who am I kidding?….I bet I can’t hold off for more than a month.

Thank you, again, Russel for your generosity!

Usual mug method.

Have I mentioned how perfectly the Harney logo mugs go with my Forlife Curve teaware? They are the same mug as the tall infuser mugs! And it is a good way for me to have a few more cups to go with my infusers. Life is good.

Tea with lunch…..

I have been reading ashmanra’s reviews of this tea and decided I needed to give it a shot. I wanted another ForLife tall mug and a refill for my Malachi McCormick tin, so I decided to order from the Millerton Shop. As always, their service is great, and very personal. I have come to accept that if I value the personal service, it makes sense that it would be more evident in interactions from the shop than the website. Once a process becomes mostly automated and takes out more of the human element, it just becomes more impersonal. Both definitely have their place, though, and I do appreciate the simplicity of both, and that my favorite tea comes to my door. It is a wonderful thing!

I tend to think Assams are a little on the brisk side for me, but since this one is blended with the golden variety, I thought it might work. I get notes of malt, super light smoke, and I do sense a slight note of chocolate which I would not expect, along with a light briskness from the Assam. I do see why she thought there was a hint of Keemun in this, and it was actually that part of the review that intrigued me the most. My favorite blend for breakfast tea is Malachi McCormick, and I am amazed how similarly they taste. This one is a little maltier and brisker than Malachi, and lower on the cocoa notes, but still pretty smooth. In comparison with Harney’s Organic Assam, the Anniversary Blend is sweeter and more cocoa-ey with the Organic Assam having the edge over Anniversary Blend in briskness and body. While I don’t think it will replace my beloved Malachi, this is definitely a good one. It is like Malachi, but with an extra kick in the pants! Sometimes, that kick is very beneficial, especially on Monday. I also have to say how well this held up in a pairing with a ham, salami, and American cheese sandwich. Some teas get lost in strongly flavored food parings.

Usual mug method.

Backlogging iced tea from the weekend…..

I am loving these new iced teas offered by 52teas! Nicely done, Frank! The berry notes in this are at a perfect level for a very refreshing pitcher of iced tea. I love the tea base. There is just the perfect amount of Darjeeling to make it bright and I am sure that adds to the refreshing quality of the tea. So happy that I have some more en route to me in the mail!

Usual iced tea method.