Terri HarpLady

Little Terri fixed Breakfast, & the girl knows how to cook!
If you’d like to see the photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200556320925902&set=a.1840459966648.2104718.1095023403&type=1&theater
Wow, that’s a long link!

Nothing goes better with a breakfast like that than a malty cup of Assam! Although this Organic Assam is not as bold & thick as Tea Spots (not organic) Assam, it is still malty, with a lightly sweet essence & smooth body. A nice start for my day!

Yesterday after my wedding gig I rewarded myself with a(nother wonderful) cup of this!
Then Tony & I went out for dinner & to hear some of friends band play.

Did ya know it also resteeps nicely?
I usually start my day with something bold & unflavored, but this morning I resteeped these leaves,
Because I didn’t want to waste their awesomeness.

Oh, I have missed this tea!
My Butiki order came a few days ago, & I think sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss something until you have it again, ya know?
This is a rich, bold, spicey, tasty, malty Assam with amazing looking leaves. So good to be drinking this now! I’ve been on an Assam jag lately, & this one is SO satisfying!

2nd cup of the day! I do recommend 2 tsp @ 3 minutes! Yum!

This was my first cup of the morning, so satisfyingly sweet, malty, & bold.

In an effort to broaden my SO’s horizons, I have been providing him with samples of various Earl Grey’s, since EG is his preferred tea (although he’ll also drink straight black teas).

He loved this one! He especially liked the lingering aftertaste, & his actual words were, “Where can I get more of this?”
Win!

Thanks to Laurent for this sample!
The dry smell is VERY apple, but also smells of a very ripe & fragrant pear, & rose.
The flavoring is very realistic, & amazingly so. Some apples, like red delicious, tend to have a bitter peel, & this flavor seems to have been captured in this tea, which is not very appealing to me.
Otherwise the apple & rose flavors are nicely balanced & it is a pleasure to drink.

I enjoy the gentle smokiness & sweetness of Keemun, but this one is particularly interesting because it tastes as if it were smoked over pine boughs, with a gentle brown sugar sweetness & a fruity finish.
Tasty!

This is nice.
Just a nice mellow gentle tea.
It’s has a nice brightness to it, a little fruity tang in the middle section, although the base, & by that I mean the depth, is not particularly strong.
A pleasant afternoon diversion.

So last week I placed a Butiki order. Then I saw TastyBrew’s review of this tea & there was a conversation somewhere in the discussion boards about it too, & it was like: I must have this! I’m salivating already!
One of the awesome things about STACY is that she actually participates regularly on Steepster, & it was SO EASY to have her add an oz of this. I am SO GLAD I did! Because OH MY GOD, it is DELICIOUS!
Ms Theresa, whispering “shhhhh, little terri, use your inside voice”
LT “Sorry, it’s just SO YUMMY!!!”

So, I’ll confess, as soon as I opened the box yesterday I opened this tea & breathed in. The smell of the dry tea freaked me out a little, it’s very buttery, WAY buttery, almost too buttery smelling, & cream-like too. It’s SO rich smelling! I was a little nervous…

BUT I brewed it, & this afternoon I brewed another cup, & it is the best tasting caramel tea I’ve ever tasted. Unbelievably delicious. Also, I love vanilla, but haven’t been all that excited about any of the vanilla teas I’ve tried. Even vanilla comoro didn’t quite deliver what I was hoping for, although brewed double strength it’s not bad. I think the last time I had that, I said that I wished I could add caramel flavor to it.

My wish came true in this tea! The Assam is assertive enough to give the cup depth, the Vanilla & Caramel are so perfectly balanced but also strong enough to really be tasted. As far as I’m concerned, Stacy is the Mistress of the Arts & this is the quintessential Caramel Vanilla tea! It even re-steeps rather well! We love you Stacy! You Rock!

BTW, TastyBrew’s review of this tea is so perfect, that I’m just rambling!

Opening the bag, I get a rich malty aroma with a hint of (unexpected) chocolate.
I steep…
ahhh….yes…malty, chewy, bold, full, sweet…calgon, take me away…oops, wrong commercial!
I resteep…
oops again! I accidentally resteeped yesterdays leaves from Two Friends for the 3rd time! I’m kindof shambling around here on autopilot, & I realized it as I was taking the filter out of the cup, the leaves of TF are amazingly big & beautiful! More on that later!
I resteep…
mmmm…still a substantial cup!
So, I’m off to practice some Debussy! I’ve got this, the resteep of TF, & a resteep of Caramel Vanilla Assam (review forthcoming, but I’ll say right now that it’s to die for).

I’m finally getting moving! I’ve been on a late night jag for a few weeks now, but that means I don’t get up until the morning is half over.
Last nights concert was beautiful! My guitar player/composer friend put together some really interesting music, with influences of classical Indian (he studied with Imrat Khan, who is the ultimate master of raga style music, sitar, etc. If you have never heard of him, just know that he is a legend!). Other influences: Astor Piazolla, rock, folk, & jazz!
I played on a duet for guitar & harp. I also played in an ensemble with guitar, bass, cello, violin, 2 percussion players (one on set & one on hand stuff:mallets, shakers, etc), & 2 female vocalists (no words, just syllables). Anyway, it was fun to be part of, but after the concert I hung out with the band, then came home & played my harp til 3am, working on some other things. It’s just really hard to stop, once I get started!

The tea? Oh yeah, the TEA! First cup of the day.
Not as fragrant as I like, it’s got that ‘tea’ taste that I tend to associate with the iced teas of my youth. There was a nice base note, a deep blackberry-like aroma, & a high citrusy edge, very bright, but maybe not so much in between, if you know what I mean. Still, not a bad cup of tea! No astringency, & a good start to my morning.

I stopped by the local health food store to get something. I haven’t been in that store in ages, & now they are carrying bulk teas from Frontier, a company I used to order herbs from. I bought small amounts of several different teas to try, including this one.
It’s not as bold & Malty as I expect an Irish Breakfast to be, but it’s also not bad! Next time I’ll use more leaf…

Meanwhile, my Butiki order arrived! YEAH!
Turn the kettle on baby, momma’s gonna steep some tea!

I got a sample of this & a few other black teas in my order from the Tea Spot, & it won’t last long! I drank a cup this morning, complete with re-steeps, & I don’t know how to describe it!
~ The aroma & taste remind me somewhat of a Keemun, in that there is a little of that (very light) smoke & brown sugar essence.
~ The mouth feel is ridiculously smooth & creamy, almost like I’m drinking goatmilk, but thinner, like the purest water ever.
~ It’s bold, with almost a coffee-like background, a little chocolatey, mouth watering, & did I mention ‘smooth’? It’s as smooth as silk!
Next time I get the tin…
And Sil, the answer to your question is “Yes” :D

Yesterday after drinking several steepings of this, I followed Bonnie’s pattern & put them in a jar of water in the fridge, & now I’m enjoying a nice cold brew with my lunch! Not as potent as ice tea, but definitely a step up from water!

Headed out to a rehearsal in a few minutes.
I actually started with Qu Hao Silk by the Teaspot, but I’ll have to ‘add a tea’ & tell you about it later.

This will be a busy day, rehearsal 10 to 12, a few errands, students 3 – 5, sound check 7:00, concert at 8:00. More info on my FB, for those who want to hear a sample of the style of stuff we’re doing.

I love this Tiger!! I need a good Assam to get me going today, as I stayed up practicing until 2:00, again!!

Update: I’m at the rehearsal. I’m not playing during this number, so I’m sipping my Assam & reading reviews on my iPad. I just realized that THIS was my 666th review!
There must be something auspicious about THAT, right? :D

Drank some of this last night. It used to be a favorite.
It’s a beautiful looking tea, made from the more roasty oolong that I tend to prefer, but it’s not as peachy or wonderful as I remember it being. Probably cuz it’s been in my cabinet for…awhile…

I don’t always get along with Bergamot flavored teas, but lately I’ve been getting them for Tony to sample, since he loves Bergamot, & sampling them myself, & some of them are better than others.
Like other flavorings, Bergamot can be aweful, using chemicals to create the flavor & aroma. I think that’s why some Earls are definitely a “NO” for me, creating an acidic feeling that I hate.

I like this Earl Grey! First off, the base is a mix of Ceylons & Assams, a really nice blend that is a malty, sweet, bright, & smooth, with more substance than your typical Earl. I like that!
Also, the bergamot is REAL bergamot oil from Italy! It says so on the package, which is nice because so many flavored teas don’t really tell you if the flavorings are real or artificial.

One more thing: I steeped this 4 minutes. 2nd steeping was 5, & for the 3rd steeping I combined the leaf from this & #49 for 6 minutes. All 3 cups were awesome, & the bergamot held up nicely into the 3rd steeping.
Admittedly, I don’t always resteep teas, especially flavored teas. I may even try a 4th…

Two of my tea orders arrived! Yeah!
This is the first tea I’ve ever had from Steven Smith Teamaker.
When I was in 6th grade I had a crush on a boy named Steven Smith, LOL.
Anyway, this tea is VERY assam! Malty, caramely, fruity in a bright wine like way, & there is an undertone of allspice here too.
It also resteeps very well!

Right now the peach & apricot trees in my garden are thinking of blooming.
I have a longstanding love affair with peaches, & in the past have really loved certain peach teas. More recently I’ve felt disillusioned with them. Several of my tea trades included every peach tea you could imagine, & some were better than others. With peach you often get a VERY artificial flavor. So I’m not as into peach tea as I used to be.

Having said that, this is actually pretty tasty! The first time I had it, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Today, I’m loving it. Peach, Mango, & spices. I needed something dessert like, & this is a nice treat.

My son Leif really likes this, so it’s almost gone…

I’m enjoying another round with this oolong, which was part of the January Reserve TOMC. I went through the process:
smell dry leaf
preheat gaiwan
drop leaf into hot gaiwan & cover
smell again – ahhh…the best fruit loops ever, kind of tropical! Plus a really heady fruity incense.

The early steepings are tropical & floral, mouthwatering the there is that incense sensation, tickling my sinuses.
Next I started noticing a tongue & sinus kind of tingly numbly sensation, & cooling too…kind of like mint or camphor.

I’m suppose to be practicing right now. I have a performance with an ensemble tomorrow at webster U: guitar, harp, bass, cello, viola, 2 voices, drum set & mallets/hand percussion. I’ll get to it in a minute.

Now after each sip there is a meaty umami kind of flavor & sensation down the center of my tongue, followed by a wash of salivation around the sides, & that sparkly sensation.

I honestly can say that this is probably my favorite Adagio blend of all.
A nice strong Irish Breakfast laced with vanilla & Hazelnuts? Yeah!
I made a whole pot of it, again drinking the first cup straight, & adding ‘cream’ & stevia to the rest.

There’s just enough left to send to a special friend…if she wants it?

I’m feeling groggy, crabby, & sleep deprived. I also woke up with a bitter taste in my mouth, & am having a spacey headachey morning. It’s allergies, & it pisses me off!
I drank a cup of this plain, while I was fixing my breakfast. It’s pleasantly bold & I’m really tasting the slight smokiness of the Keemun. I made a pot of it while I was drinking the cup, to have with breakfast, & added stevia & french vanilla coconut creamer, & it was very nice! I was on a creamer & stevia jag with black tea for awhile, & in fact it was really hard to break myself of it. Then for a long time I just drank all my teas black. Now I’m kind of enjoying both. The first cup is savory, the 2nd cup is dessert! Adding those things always brings out qualities in a tea that I might not notice otherwise.
And we all love variety, right?

Some other steepsterite & I were talking about cold brewing this tea, & can’t remember who is was, but I did it, & it is delicious!
And it’s a sipdown!