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It begins! My birthday weekend, ok it isn’t until Tuesday but since Ben has school that day and everyone will be out of town next weekend, we are celebrating this weekend. No idea what all we are doing except going to the British Faire held by the Daughters of the British Empire local chapter. I plan on talking to them about joining, my dad was English and on my mom’s side I can trace my genealogy back to English and Scottish royalty, I am a perfect candidate! A good way to start off the celebratory weekend is with a good chocolaty tea!

Chocolate Chai by Adagio Teas is a Chai blend featuring Chocolate flavored Ceylon tea, Cardamon, Ginger, Cloves and Cinnamon. The aroma is very chocolaty and reminds me a little of Xoclatl (Aztec drinking chocolate) with its blend of spices and chocolate. There are rich malty undertones and sweetness. This aroma is quite delicious, especially if you are craving some chocolate.

Once the tea is steeped the aroma becomes even spicier with the ginger and cinnamon being prominent with a touch of peppery spice. The chocolate is not as strong after steeping the blend, but there is still the malty aroma. The liquid without all the leafy goodness has a very sweet aroma with strong notes of chocolate and spices. No one spice stands out as dominant.

The taste perfectly hit the spot, creamy, spicy, chocolaty goodness! The blend of chocolate and spice makes for a balanced cup, I do wish that I could have a little bit more cardamon, but that spice is strong so I can see how getting it to be balanced would be a pain. The taste still reminds me of Xoclatl but with a bright tea taste instead of just the chocolate spice. Brewed with milk (whole milk in my case) and a bit of sugar this makes for an excellent chai with a chocolate twist.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/adagio-teas-chocolate-chai-tea-review.html

I should warn you all in advance that tomorrow there might not be a new review since I will be…drumroll…at the Opera! Yes, it is what I have been waiting (not entirely patiently) for since it was announced at the end of last season, The Magic Flute! It might be my favorite opera, I waffle back and forth between The Magic Flute and Turandot. In other news I am almost finished with the advent calenders, so those will probably be going in the mail on Friday, woo! Today though is about tea that gives an extra zing of energy.

Ginseng Vitality Oolong Tea by Teasenz is a blend of the root Ginseng and a floral Oolong resembling Tie Guan Yin. Hailing from Taiwan and sometimes referred to as King’s Tea, it is thought to give the drinker a nice boost of energy and to help digestion, awesome. I found the aroma to be very green, like bamboo leaves and herbaceous like dill weed. There is also earthiness and the aroma of baked bread with a slight undertone of sweetness. The ginseng is an odd smelling herb, it gives a slight muskiness to the already herbaceous aroma.

Giving the leaves a steeping I notice that the ginseng did not all fall off the leaves, you all know what that means; multiple steeps! The aroma of the leaves still has the delicate green scent of bamboo leaves but now it also mixes in the aroma of lychees and very mild earthiness. The liquid is sweet like baking bread and fresh pears, there is also a slight hint of dill as I pull the cup away from my nose.

The taste is strange yet good, it is the strangeness of trying something completely new. I have had ginseng before but only in candy or in supplements, this is my first time tasting it in a tea. At first the taste is slightly floral like cherry blossoms followed by the vegetal taste of asparagus. There is a hint of fruity tartness, like a mix of tart cherries and lychees. As the tea cools it takes on the typical chestnut flavor I associate with Oolongs.

The second steep has the leaves unfolded and the ginseng more spread out in the teacup. The aroma is much sweeter and more like honey with that tiny hint of dill from earlier. The taste is sweet but with an herbaceous bitterness as an aftertaste, like a root herb, it is not unpleasant just astringent. In fact I would go as far as to say it is barely there at all. As the tea cools it gets more of a lychee taste. It is an odd tea, but it is an oddness I like, mixing the tastes of an oolong with the tastes of ginseng makes for a powerfully tasty combination.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/teasenz-ginseng-vitality-oolong-tea-tea.html

I am stumped, I cannot think of a clever opening to today’s review so I guess I will just fill you all in on how life is for me. I folded all 200 Advent Calender envelopes in more or less one sitting, I couldn’t sleep so I stayed up all night watching Doctor Who and folding, it was very nostalgic. It is getting dramatically colder so there is a cat in my lap, the other cat is extremely happy and playful since she likes the cold. Also my stomach is being a real jerk so I decided to try out another of Raizana Teas herbal blends.

This tea is geared towards soothing the savage belly beast with its easy to remember name, DigestTea. Made from Cilantro, Dill Weed, Passionflower, Spearmint, Chamomile, Lemongrass, Stevia, and Natural Papaya flavors. The aroma is sweet and minty with notes of chamomile herbaceous tones. There is also a bit of papaya sweetness that lingers at the end. The aroma is very clean and it smells refreshing, sinus cleansing! As I pull the bag away completely I notice there is a tiny, tiny hint of dill, which I really liked.

As the tea steeps I start to notice the lemongrass aroma wafting out of my leaves, it is a bit strong and made me sneeze! Oddly I did not find the lemongrass off-putting like a usually do, I guess because it mixes really well with the mint, dill, and chamomile aromas. The liquid, sans steeping basket, has a very savory aroma. To me it smells like a really good soup or pickle spices, lemony and dill with a hint of mint and cilantro. I almost want to make a marinade using some of these together because it smells delicious.

The taste, however, is not savory at all, it is sweet like papaya. The taste also reminds me a little of lemon poppy-seed cake. The savory herbs are not really present in the taste, it is mild and sweet. This tea is really perfect for days when your stomach is being a real jerk and most things make you feel kinda ill. Withing a few minutes of drinking this tea my stomach was soothed and I felt much better. The aftertaste of the tea is sweet with a hint of tingling mint, as it cools the mint also becomes stronger and sweeter.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/raizana-teas-digesttea-tea-review.html

Even though I feel like garbage with a Lupus flair in full bloom, I still managed to accomplish something today and that makes me immensely happy. I am almost finished with my room rearrange and massive reorganize meaning I have a tea tasting station at my craft area (so much better lighting than the kitchen) now I can tea and craft in peace. I am fairly reclusive so always having to be social in the kitchen was grating on my nerves, plus it meant I was a whole room away from my craft supplies, tragic! Once I am finished I will have to post some photos, but I can tell you it involves Octopus art, a jellyfish lamp, a magical electric firefly in a jar, and of course my various Minecraft loot, it is an area conducive to creativity.

Today I am going to review a fruity and colorful tea from The Persimmon Tree, Fruit Fusion. I was extremely lucky and won a tin of this tea in a contest run by fellow tea enthusiast The Cup of Life. The tea (or really Tisane in this case) is made from Strawberries, Rose Hips, Hibiscus Flowers, Applies, Orange Peel, Cherries, Lemongrass, and Sunflower Petals, some amazing ingredients and a few that I am notorious for not being a fan of. The aroma is very sweet and super fruity, I love all the different fruits and can certainly detect the strawberries, cherries and apples. There is a tartness from the fruit (and hibiscus flowers) as well but it is not as strong as the sweet. The aroma vaguely reminds me of a fruity trail mix and is making me kinda hungry. Thankfully I do not smell any of the dreaded lemongrass, yay!

Giving the tisane a thorough steeping reveals an incredibly vibrant liquid, it is very red and reminds me of maple leaves. The aroma is very sweet, but it is also very tart, like a mixture of very tart cherries and fresh apples. There are also undertones of strawberries and citrus. The ruby liquid is very sweet, it has the aroma of fruit juice or maybe a wine-less Sangria. I can certainly say it smells delicious.

I am excited and a bit apprehensive to taste the tea, the aroma is sweet (which you all probably know by now I like naturally sweet things) but it is also tart (which, I really don’t like at all…but yet I love sour) so if it is more sweet than tart I will be a happy Enderman. Nope, nope, nope, it is tart, crazy intense tart! That popping sound was probably my salivary glands exploding from the tartness. I have no shame in admitting I am adding some sugar to this tea because I really want to taste it, I just find that much tart painful. With the sugar it is still tart but much easier for me to drink, the taste is very fruity as expected. The strongest flavor that pops through is cherry followed by rose hips and a bit of strawberry. I am not a huge fan of this tea, it is certainly a great fruit blend and the flavors are really clear, I just don’t like them. I gave a visiting friend who loves tart teas a cup of this and she loved it, so I can certainly say to this tea ’it’s not you, it’s me.’ I will certainly have to try more from this company though, so stay tuned.

Photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-persimmon-tree-fruit-fusion-tea.html

I am so glad that I take extensive notes on tea or I would not be able to write a cohesive blog today. Why, you might be asking, well because my Lupus is acting up and it always gives me a serious case of brain fog. I have been lucky to get sentences out today that were not a garbled mess. As per usual, enough whinging and on to the tea, today we are reviewing an Oolong (surprise, surprise, I know) but this is a special one that has been on my ‘to try’ list for a while.

Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong by Teavivre is a fancy Oolong from Alishan, Nantou, Taiwan. As you can suspect from the name, Milk Oolongs are known for their creamy sweetness, sadly a lot of these teas are artificially enhanced. This Jin Xuan, however, comes by its milkiness naturally, which is one of the reasons I was waiting so long to try it, I wanted the pure stuff! The aroma is mostly sweet and floral, like fresh vegetation and lilacs. There is of course a creamy, or more accurately milky, aroma with a slight hint of nuttiness. The sweetness reminds me of honey, so mixing cream, honey, and lilacs together you get an amazingly delicious smelling tea!

The steeped leaves unfurl into a lovely sweet and creamy aroma. Not only is is creamy it is also nutty like chestnuts with a tiny vegetal hint of green beans. Actually mixing the creaminess and nuttiness with that hint of beans vaguely reminds me of a hint of green bean casserole, neat! The liquid is crazy sweet, probably the sweetest aroma that I have found in an unflavored Oolong, I love it. Mostly the smell of honey and milk, but there is a tiny hint of nuttiness as an after thought, it sneaks in as you lean away from the steaming cup.

Time to taste the first steeping! Quoting my notebook directly “Drop the Mic, that is bangin’ sweet” just goes to show that maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to write! Goofiness aside, it is sweet, really sweet and creamy. It is like drinking sweetened cream without the thickness (I actually just drink straight cream on occasion, and not having the heaviness and just the cream taste is a plus). It is more honey sweet than sugar sweet, but there is a slight note of caramelized sugar in there at the end. After the initial creamy sweet taste fades you are left with a mild vegetal taste evocative of green beans and a tiny buttery chestnut aftertaste. As the tea cools it gets even sweeter.

I had to do a second steep, seeing this tea evolve through steepings was too tempting not to. The aroma of the leaves is more vegetal this time around, more of an artichoke and citrus than creamy sweetness. There is still the aroma of chestnut and sweetness in the liquid, though it is not as sweet of creamy as the first steep. The taste is still really sweet though, but it is not quite as creamy. It takes on more of the vegetal notes of green beans and chestnut and continues to become sweeter as it cools. This is a really unusual Oolong, but I like that about it. Well worth the wait and certainly a new favorite.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/teavivre-taiwan-jin-xuan-milk-oolong.html

Ah, this time of year always leaves me in an emotional funk. I have been trying to cure it this year with copious amounts of Minecraft (because of course) reorganizing my stuff, and planning craft projects. I can see the light at the end of the proverbial cloud bank and my annual ‘Beginning of November Funk’ seems to be ended early. I am especially excited because my Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands seems to be better so I can go back to Origami again, woohoo! Speaking of hands, today I am going to review a hand themed tea that has been in my notebook for a bit.

Upton Tea Imports has a fancy named Oolong named Buddha’s Palm that I wanted to try because it have Buddha in the name and is an Oolong (I am easy to please) but sadly their website does not have much info on the tea other than it is from Fujian and it has superior aroma, flavor and leaf style. You know me, I want more info so I went researching! Buddha’s Palm is not named after Buddha exactly but after the (kinda horrifying looking) Buddha’s Hand Fruit, a kind of citrus. It is a Se Chung variety and also goes by the name Yong Chun Fo Shou. The aroma of this tea is very rich and heady to the point of making me dizzy. I notice intense malt and a bit of nuttiness and campfire smoke, but mainly there is the intense floral aroma. The floral is sickly sweet like flowers that are old and have been blooming for days, or like some of varieties of orchid. I admit the aroma is not too my liking, it is a little too intense and makes me feel a bit queasy.

Adding the tea to some nice warm water I notice the leaves start taking on a strong Tobacco aroma mixing with pine smoke and loam. It reminds me of a Gentleman’s library in the Victorian era, complete with pipe smoke and polished wood bookshelves. The aroma is not entirely unpleasant but it certainly is a little too strong on the Tobacco front. The steeped liquid sans leaves is very rich, pine wood and campfire mixed with an undertone of honey.

The taste is crazy intense, and not in a good way. The taste is like pine fire mixed with cigar smoke, I kid you not it tastes like a cigar that has been stored in a pine box. It is a touch bitter, like the bitterness of oak wood, not astringency. There is a roasted aftertaste that is somewhat pleasant but the cigar taste is giving me a nasty headache!

I am going to try a second steep, sometimes I have noticed the unpleasantness of the first steep can make for a really delicious second steep, wish me luck. The taste is still a bit too much like a humidor for my liking, but it is better than the first steep. The bitterness is gone entirely and the taste (other than cigar) is piney and sweet. I am not going to say this tea is bad but it does have qualities that I am entirely not fond of. I think if I want a smokey Oolong I will stick with the significantly less expensive Shui Hsien and pass on the Buddha’s Palm in the future.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/upton-tea-imports-china-oolong-buddhas.html

This tea is not full of skeletons, but does evoke the oh so stealthy archers, mixing White Peach (for their bleached bones), Almond Oolong (for their sounds that to me sound like almonds hitting a floor), and Vanilla Green (to celebrate the growing power of bonemeal). The aroma is very sweet, blending the fruity peach, creamy vanilla, and nutty almond. Under the initial flavors you can detect notes of papery white which I always associate with Bai Mu Dan. There is also a tiny floral note and a bit of vegetal green.

Once the skeleton gets a a good steeping, the aroma becomes more roasted oolong and rich almond. The peach and vanilla aroma fades leaving the almond to be prominent. The aroma is sweet and smooth with a touch of earthiness. Removing the skeleton from the water leaves tea that has a warm and sweet aroma. The almond is much more mellow with the vanilla become more of a presence. The peach is also there but it is more of an afterthought.

Time to drink the skelley tea (as Ben and I lovingly call it) there are no skeletons, bows, arrows, or other rare drops in this tea though, I should point out. Before I get into too much of an analysis of the flavor, I should point out that Ben loves this tea, Ben who dislikes most greens and oolongs and only mildly enjoys white teas. He is very picky with his tea drinking so him enjoying this tea was a huge feather in my diamond helmet. Bragging aside, the taste is initial sweet and warming, the first thing you notice is the almond and creamy vanilla. There is a slight undertone of peach that reminds me of cooked peaches in a cobbler, just without the spice. Under all those delicious flavors are notes of roasted oolong and a touch of papery white. As the tea cools it gets sweeter and a touch tart, more like a fresh peach, with a note of artichoke and sage. This tea is also pretty good iced, when it is iced it tastes mostly of peach with a tiny bit of vanilla sweetness. And now off to play Minecraft and brood that I am not at Minecon in a Creeper costume.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/adagio-signature-blend-minecraft.html

Happy All Hallow’s Eve everyone, it is my favorite holiday of the year because it is centered around some of my favorite things: pumpkins, ghosts, monsters, candy, more pumpkins, and select gourds. Obsession with pumpkins aside, this holiday has a lot of spook in it, lots of haunting and booing, in fact I am wearing a white sheet with eye holes cut out as I type this. Ok, no I am not, I would be if there was a white sheet in this house but a golden ghost or one with stupid patterns would be embarrassing. Ghosts are meant to be white, or maybe pale, ectoplasm blue. Just like the ghosts of blueberries!

Yes, blueberries have ghosts, how else would we have Blueberry Boo! by Della Terra Teas? (which they have run out of tears, I wanted more but there are other spooky teas) OH, apparently there are ghosts AND blueberries, well that changes everything. I like having ghosts in my tea! Along with adorable little sugar ghosts there is also Black Tea, Dried Blueberries, Blueberry Flavor, and Mini Chocolate bits. Yes this tea immediately made me think of my beloved Boo Berries cereal, the love of blueberries, chocolate, ghosts, and tea was too much for. I had to have some of this tea! The aroma is sweet and fruity! Very obviously a blueberry tea, luckily the blueberries smell fresh and sweet and not at all tart like some much hated by me blueberry teas. In the pouch the aroma of chocolate is very faint but once I poured some out for photography purposes the chocolate was much stronger and blended wonderfully with the blueberries. There is no ghost aroma, but that is not necessarily a bad thing because ghosts tend to smell musty.

Time to turn the ghosties into liquid ectoplasm (no, not Ectocooler) with a bit of hot water. The aroma is much more chocolaty and malty, I would describe the ‘tea’ aroma as bright, not outshining the flavors but not disappearing under them either. The blueberry is not as strong and comes in as an afterthought. The liquid sans leaves is sweet and creamy with note of malt and a hint of chocolate. I do not detect any blueberries (or wandering haunts) but as I wait for it to cool enough to drink I notice the chocolate becomes less of a haunting and more of a full body apparition.

The taste is mild and bright, it really lights up the mouth with its Black Tea quality while still maintains its mild, smooth aspects. It is sweet and malty with an initial chocolate taste. Sneaking in like a phantom is the blueberry, it is faint at first and then as the tea cools (hey, just like when ghosts show up!) the blueberry becomes much stronger and sweeter. This tea is pleasantly sweet on its own, but if you want a real kick adding a bit of sugar and cream makes for a treat that is phantasmagorical, also the color is more ghostly so that is a plus. I have certainly learned that if this tea comes back next All Hallow’s Eve I am going to need to stock up because I went through my supply of it really quickly.

For spooky photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/10/della-terra-teas-blueberry-boo-tea.html

Today, as you might know, is the day before Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve…Eve. It has been a perfectly stormy day complete with hail and a nicely flooded basement, a great sign for a good Halloween. I do have a special tea that I am reviewing tomorrow that is on theme, but I wanted to start off the festivities with a bit of pumpkin goodness (I did not carve one this year, tragic).

Presenting Pumpkin Pie Spice Black Tea by Republic of Tea, an Autumn themed tea made from a blend of Black teas, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger and Cloves. They advice adding a splash of cream but I am a completely out and there is no way I am using the much maligned skim milk that is in the fridge. The aroma is very spiced, and very evocative of pumpkin pie spice. There is of course absolutely no pumpkin and just spice, but the it said that on the tin so you won’t get me raging about being misled with squash. There is also a touch of buttered rum aroma which I always enjoy. The most prominent spice aroma is clove, definitely lots of clove!

Time to dunk the teabag! The aroma is super sweet and pie like, I can even detect a bit of crust but I am willing to chock that up to ghosts. The spices are well balanced after being steeped, no one spice sticks out unlike the un-drenched bag. The aroma is practically crying out ‘drink me on a chilly day! Enjoy me with mounds of Autumnal foods’ not to mention the desire for cream.

Drinking the tea the first thing I notice is the sweetness and balanced spices. I do love a spiced tea that is well balanced and nuanced, having one spice drown out all the others is sad. The taste is very much so pumpkin pie spice with a delightful mouth tingling from the cloves. As per my usual gripe, the tea tastes nothing like actual pumpkins, one day I will find a pumpkin spice tea that tastes like pumpkins, but as just spiced teas go this one is pretty good for a tea bag! Not that there is anything wrong with teabags, I just have gotten very spoiled with all my loose leaf. So far this has been my favorite bagged pumpkin themed tea that I have yet tried, so give it a try if you are part of the pumpkin craze!

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/10/republic-of-tea-pumpkin-spice-black-tea.html