Skulleigh

Arrrr, it be Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys! I sailed the Seven Seas today, and came home too late for messin’ about with the likes of the Captain or Mermaids, so I be settlin’ for a tisane fer tonight. Gots to swing in me bunk in a few hours. Arrrrr!

I’d been seein’ here and tharrrr mentions o’ this herb called lemon grass. On me last raid o’ Adagio’s site, I raided a sample fer me treasure chest!

Smells o’ lemon, indeed it does. And looks like the grass what’s been stuffed in my mattress in the Captain’s quarters. Smells better though. I supposed they washed it, shiver me timbers!

Brewed, it be golden, and it tastes fairly good. Not a keg o’ rum by any means, but tolerable. Definitely something I’d take from a rich merchant vessel sailin’ back fro’ tha Indies!

Arrrrrrr!

I think I have found the perfect breakroom method for this tea. Two packets of Splenda, not one. And creamer. And make sure I remove the basket or otherwise stop the steeping after a few minutes instead of forgetting about it and letting it steep for 8 or 10.

It’s so very good. Much like I imagined, when I was a little girl, of what coffee should taste like for the adults to drink it so much!

I am glad that I ordered a 3 oz packet of it in my recent Adagio order. I know, I know, I told myself I was going to explore outside of Adagio some more for my next tea order, but they swayed me with an offer of free merchandise – an all glass tea bottle. Which I still need to wash and test out…

I was reading fairy tales this morning (Jorinde and Joringle, and Hans the Hedgehog) and then topped it off with watching a Russian animated tale called Hedgehog in the Fog, which is completely adorable animation-wise. You can find a subtitled version on Youtube if you wish.

After all that, I wanted a Russian tea to drink, even if I don’t have a samovar to bubble at me all day. I picked out Troika, which is lovely and citrusy. Not sure if it’s terribly Russian really though. I mean, how many orange trees grow on the Steppes? If I were living in the Steppes or in a deep Russian forest, I think I would want something smokey and somewhat spicy.

But in a suburb of America, reading fairy tales, it makes for a nice cup of tea. The citrus flavors are mild, and taste good made into a latte with sugar and half & half.

I still want a samovar though…

My husband still sleeps, and the morning light is golden. So I felt like something magical but simple. I brewed up some Mermaid’s Kiss in my birdy teacup (there’s a bird perched on the top of the handle, and the saucer is shaped like a leaf). While it steeped for 5 minutes, I spun on a drop spindle. When I stepped back to remove the leaves, they had unfurled so prettily. All green and tender. The liquor is a lovely light honey yellow. A hint of floral scent…

It tastes light and pleasant all by itself. I did not add sweetener or creamer this morning. It’s a simple morning, and doesn’t need it.

Having a lazy Saturday, puttering around with yarn. Hubbylove wanted some hot water for instant coffee, so I put on the kettle, figuring to make some tea. I made this, and put only honey in it.

The first cup I only steeped for 3 minutes or so, and it was lovely. Slightly chocolatey.

The second cup steeped all the while we ate dinner, and while good, just doesn’t have the chocolate taste of the first cup.

Made with honey and half and half, frothed into a latte. So good. almost like a light cocoa.

Today shall be a fibery day, in between the chores. I started a load of laundry, emptied the draining rack, and took out the trash. It’s time for browsing my knitting forum while I sip, and then I have singles to ply into yarn, and a shawl that needs a knitting.

This was included in a swap on Ravelry, from a person from the Netherlands.
I don’t know what kind of tea this is, other than what Google translates it to – “Yellow Fruit Tea” On searching for “Gele Vructen Thee” and using Google Translate, I found one site that listed it in a box with 4 varieties, and said (in Dutch) “The yellow fruit tea has a refreshing, fruity flavor of lemon, apple and a hint of peppermint.”

It does seem fruity, like it’s an herbal tisane, not camelia sinensis. I’m not detecting peppermint. But I think I do detect lemon and apple. Plus there’s what I call the “wet washrag” taste I get on a lot of herbals.

I’m nervous that it might have rooibos in it, as it’s listed as an “African Original.” I guess I’ll know if I get a stomachache.

Brewed, it’s a deep reddish-brown liquid. It smells fruity, maybe similar to Orange & Spice from Bigelow.
It tastes all right, but not something I’d hunt down or request more of.

I’m lowering my rating on this tea, not because I think it’s worse than it was, but because after starting to explore more tea, I find that I set this one too high to begin with. It’s a reshuffling of my own rating system rather than a commentary on the tea.

It got the breakroom tea treatment this morning, and it’s all right. Not much to say about something so basic!

I have had this sample kicking around for awhile, and apparently never remembered to add it to my Cupboard here, or review it. It stands up well to breakroom tea abuse (not optimal water temp, splenda, and room-temp plastic tub creamer). Not bitter, fairly mild. Probably better for a rainy afternoon than for a wake-me-up tea though.

The blue cornflower makes the unsteeped leaves quite pretty. I am not sure what it does for the taste, I’ll have to look that up someday.

sniffle, sniffle, sob sob

My prince is gone. I steeped the last of it up in my Brown Betty, and shared it with my husband. I must like that man to share one of my best teas :D

I am still on a high from last night’s concert (Indigo Girls played with the Dallas Symphony Orchesta, and it was aaaaaaamazing!), so I decided this morning required a treat. On the way out the door to work, I grabbed the sample packet of Black Dragon Pearls.

Drinking plain. Nice color, tastes very good. Goes well with the leftover chocolate cake from yesterday’s celebration of August birthdays (I work for a good company!). No bitterness or astringency.

Not getting much smellwise, but my allergys are acting up.

I am working from home today, so I can have any tea I want. That is so nice. I chose St Petersburg this morning based on smell. It was the most appealing to my nose.

I let it steep while I showered, so it’s probably oversteeped, but it doesn’t taste like it. Made with sugar and half & half, then frothed. It’s not too heavy, it’s sweet, and is a good way to ease into the morning as I work while the sun comes up.

In spinning news, my order of bobbins should come today. Maybe I will get to spin at lunchtime! I have a concert to go to tonight, so spinning tonight won’t happen. I’d pout, but it’s a concert for my all time favorite group, the Indigo Girls, with a symphony orchestra! That’s going to be awesome!

I’ve had this tea before and really enjoyed it, out at a restaurant. Once. The first time I had it. But then every time I’ve tried it after that, it has had a bitter taste to it that just stops any enjoyment of it.

I bought a box of it, determined to see if I could recapture that first cup. This morning it gets standard breakroom treatment – splenda and a creamer tub. Bleah.

Tried adding a second packet of Splenda. Still not really good, but tolerable.

I will have to try a shorter steep.

(Waxed my spinning wheel last night. It looks so much better. Waiting on bobbins and a driveband tension knob to be able to spin.)

I got my spinning wheel! happy dancing
It needs some work – the wood was never finished, and it’s fairly dry. I woke up to rain though, so I can’t sit outside and do the feed-n-wax treatment I was wanting to do. The feed-n-wax doesn’t seem that stinky, but it has Dire Warnings on it that say to be in a ventilated area. Maybe I’ll pull hubby’s truck out and sit in the garage.

Now I am sitting with a mug of Kusmi Caramel frothed up with half&half and sugar. Nummy. And I’m off to do some wheel repair research. The thing that moves the mother-of-all up and down to adjust the drive wheel band tension is missing altogether, and the 1 bobbin it came with needs an end glued back on. I am wondering if I should order a new tension thingy or if I can find a bolt to use at the hardware store. And I am not sure if I should put some feed-n-wax on the bobbin first and then glue it, or glue and then feed-n-wax. It’s very dry, and I don’t know how it will affect things.

I am waiting rather impatiently for someone to get back to me about selling me a spinning wheel. They were supposedly available yesterday but didn’t return my call… argh…

So I am having a cuppa to try and be patient, along with some oatmeal for breakfast. Cream and sugar, but not frothed, as I did not leave room in the cup.

The citrus is really coming to the forefront this morning. My tastebuds don’t generally pick out bergamot separately from everything else, but it’s coming through this morning. Tasty.

I can’t wait to get a spinning wheel. Tea and spinning go so well together. I already spin on drop spindles, and it’s lovely. But the addition of treadling while spinning will definitely be meditative. And hopefully good for the muscles in my legs. :D

My 100th tasting note! /blows horn and throws confetti

It’s a work day. Brought out the Bodum cup with infuser basket, and went with the sample of Almond black tea.

Brews up very dark. Smells nice, but there’s a bit of an alcohol taste to the tea, I’m guessing they use an almond extract for the flavoring, which generally contains alcohol. I don’t like that taste, unfortunately, so I can’t see ordering this tea in the future.

Which makes me think I should give the one last serving in the packet to my coworker who likes tea. Why am I drinking it if it is something I wouldn’t order? I always get stuck in this “gotta use it up” mentality. “Using” also can include gifting. Duh! :D

Thud. Rip. Tap, tap, tap. Crinkle. Plorp. Tink, tink, tink.

That’s the sounds of me throwing the last teabag into the trashcan, followed by opening the Splenda packet and pouring it into the cup (I tap the edge of the packet with my finger), opening and pouring the little tub of creamer, and stirring with a stirrer straw.

That’s one more tea to take out of the cupboard. I’ll use the tin for storing something on my desk. I don’t know what, but I’ll find a use rather than throwing it away.

Backlogging.

I got this a few years ago, in the tea of the month thing hubs got for me one Christmas. I liked it the first couple times I made it, but then I kind of forgot it in the cupboard. By the time I rediscovered it, I think it was too old – I didn’t like it after that. I always drank it iced.

So this last weekend, I dumped it all in a pan and simmered it on the stove for awhile to scent the house. It smelled awesome :D

Backlog from last night.

My tummy had been slightly threatening all day yesterday, and I have read that Pu-Erh is supposed to be good for digestion, so I thought I’d give this another try.

This tea just isn’t my thing. It has a scent to it that I can only describe as fishy. Do not want! At least not in my tea. I tried it with cream and sugar to see if it would mask that scent, but it didn’t.

On the plus side, it did seem to calm the tummy rumblings, so I would like to try a different Pu-Erh, and see if I can find one without the piscean scent.

Ok, I have found this tea’s niche. If you have some, try it with oreos. Even brewing with crappy breakroom creamer, it’s so much better with crappy breakroom chocolate sandwich cookies!

Just one more teabag to go and this will be out of my cupboard!

Of all the weird things… this weekend, I grabbed a spare 4 oz canister that I had ordered from Adagio, and filled it with Jasmine #9. I was tired of refilling the little sample canister so often to take to work.

Got to work this morning, and made my tea. Tasted it and… PEPPER? Why am I tasting pepper? Do not like!

I don’t know where it’s coming from – the canister, or if something happened to my tea bottle when hubs put it in the cupboard. Perhaps he set it down near the pepper grinder in the kitchen?

I have no idea why it’s happening, I guess I will just have to make more to see if it still tastes like pepper with another serving.

Blech.

As soon as Word finishes its 110 mb update, I’m going to be outlining a story I’ve been working on since last year. The working title is The Goat Princess, so I pulled out another Princess for a nice cuppa while I work. A spoonful of sugar and some half & half and I have a delicate ladylike drink – probably a complete opposite of my protagonist.

It used to be that I would just start writing, and make it up as I go along. But that doesn’t seem to work any longer, and never worked incredibly well in terms of actually finishing a story. So if what I am doing doesn’t work, I might as well try something new.

Well, the silly installer thinks Firefox has to be closed to update completely separate software. So I guess that’s it for this tasting note! :)

Harumph. I made a pot of this tea in my little iron kyusu this morning, sat down to wait for it to steep, and promptly got distracted. After I got up to put the clothes in the dryer, I only then remembered. Whooops.

I don’t think I put enough into the steeping basket to make a decent pot of tea though – it tastes like smokey water. I might just dump this and make a pot of something else. :(

I have a couple of tea bottles I alternate between at work. There’s the Lock & Lock and the generic one (it’s like this one: http://amzn.com/B001KW03I6 ). I realized that this tea really doesn’t like the generic bottle. There’s just not enough room in the basket for the leaves to expand. So the tea ends up kind of astringent, unlike in the Lock & Lock where they float around freely like some strange species of green seahorse.

So if you’ve tried this and found it too heavy or astringent, give it some room to swim around. It’s much better that way.