Terri HarpLady

Two of my adult harp students are here practicing together for a duet performance they will be giving this summer. It’s such a treat to have harp music in the background while I’m doing other things! I’m here if they have any questions, but I’m not actively ‘teaching’ at the moment. I’m also enjoying providing a succession of teas for their enjoyment, with the first one being a pot this coconut oolong, steeped in my green 16 oz dragonfly cast iron pot so it will stay hot for awhile, wit 2 little green ceramic cups. I had a cup too, of course, & it really is tasty :)

What to serve them next…

“sipdown”, little terri said with tears in her eyes.
We have loved this tea, with its Malty peppery savory sweetness.

;_; Even Ms Theresa is sad. She said that if she had known it wasn’t coming back she would have let us order even MOAR of it (although we did order alot). This was a tea worthy of being hoarded, & hoard it we did. So rich, so mouth-filling, so satisfying. I can’t believe it’s not coming back…sob…

On a lighter note, I love the new layout on the Verdant website? I don’t want to send anyone into a fit of tea ordering, but if you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. Under each tea type, they have folders now: What’s In Stock, what’s Out of Stock (meaning they will be getting more), and what’s Archived (meaning it’s not coming back).

Sadly, this awesome tea is in that final category. I will savor every last drop…sigh…

I’ve never drank Merlot. Actually I haven’t had a drink of any alcoholic beverage (or other substance other than tea) in 29 years. So I have no idea what merlot tastes like, but I will say that this is a very tasty fruity tea & doesn’t taste at all like wine to me, which is probably a good thing! :)
Thanks Sil, for sharing this!

Taking a break from my office cleaning (it’s coming along). My biggest success of the day so far is that I finally got my Paypal account working again! Since January my account has been frozen to receiving any payments. After numerous phone calls & sitting on hold for hours, one wonderful guy got me through the redtape of setting up the ability to receive payments on my iphone/ipad & fixed my account. Whew!

I’ve enjoyed this Tiger Eye, it’s quite tasty with essence of chocolate, vanilla, & caramel. Now I’m taking a break from my office to go deposit some checks at the credit union, & I’m bringing along the last cup of this! YES, Sil, it’s another SIPdown!! That brings me down to 227 teas!

This was one of the January reserved TOMC offerings. I loved it then, & I’m loving it now. I’ve never had creme brulee, but I imagine it being like this tea: creamy mouthfeel with a sweet brown sugar topping.

As far as Lapsangs go, this one is very refined. The smoke quality is there, but not so intensely as many others. It’s really lovely. Other images that come to mind while sipping:
canned condensed milk
kettle corn
A fine pipe tobacco

I’ll keep sipping :)

This is a beautifully fragrance white tea. The flavor is delicate, as white teas are, & the Jasmine scenting of the leaves is quite aromatic, but in the flavor it is not overpowering, but rather balanced. I’ve been working in my office all morning, (I can actually see part of the floor!), the this tea provided a nice relaxing break.

Thank you to Angel & TeaVivre for this sample, which was very generous! I’ve drank it a few times, & still have enough for at least one more session!

No notes yet.

Sample Sipdown!

As soon as I started sipping on this, I knew I’d drank it before! So I scrolled through the reviews, to see if I’d written one, & sure enough I had! To me this tea smells like a tray of roasted veggies: carrots, green beans, winter squash. It also tastes of roasted acorns. It’s very pleasant, very fall-like. There is none of the floral essence that you find with some oolongs. This is roasty, toasty, & delicious.
Thanks for the sample Stacy!

This is definitely on my short list of Most Favorite Assams & on the list of Most Favorite Black Teas as well. Bold, Malty, Sweet, & Spicy, it really satisfies me this morning, & I’m even getting a bit of a butteriness to it today! I don’t think I’ve noticed that before! :D

I woke at 4 am, tossed & turned awhile, & finally got up & had a nice long yoga session, followed by some tennis ball therapy. My neck is still out of whack, but improving. So here I am, ready for the day, a few hours earlier than usual!

I’m starting with this Irish breakfast, not because it’s a favorite by any means, but simply because it’s a sipdown! And now it’s gone! :)
“NEXT!”

Tasty desert like tea for the end of the day :)

Sometimes I want a Chai, but I don’t want caffeine. Such is the case right now, as I really zinged it up on the caffeine level today, drinking one pot of tea after another. Time to mellow out now, but in the mood for something spicy. Here it is! This has always been one of my favorite teas from Celestial, & although I didn’t drink it for a long time, & don’t drink it often, it’s nicely spicy & makes a decent sub for chai.

I served this to one of my students today, & enjoyed a cup myself as well. Bold, Malty, & smooth.
And another Sipdown!

The new Ms. Li’s Dragonwell is up on the Verdant page, & I’m still drinking the old one. I still have enough for 2 more sessions too.

This is a really nice Dragonwell. I used to be a huge Dragonwell fan, & I still love it. Anyone who reads my posts knows I love Black teas better, but there was a time when I drank cup after cup of greens, loving everything sip.

I’m using the Dragonwell brewing method, per Verdant’s suggestions:
3G + 8oz glass cup X 175F
Blowing the leaves away doesn’t really seem to ever work well for me, but I don’t mind chewing up a leaf here & there. Eventually they all sink to the bottom of the cup, problem solved!
Nice & spring like!

I’ve been working in my office for the last couple of hours. It’s menial work really, work that I always avoid (which is why my office is such a wreck). I didn’t feel like doing anything today, so this is what I’m doing: all the small office tasks that are way overdue. My desk is clean, I’m making a list as I go along of things I need to do (like update website, actually start writing the blog I set up back on new year’s day…blah blah). All of these creative projects have been hampered by the mess that is my office.

Anyway, my desk is clear, the underneath of my desk is clean & vacuumed & the file box under there (mailing labels, extra file folders, etc) is organized. Would you believe there was a bulk package of cassette labels in there? How long do you think it’s been since I used those?
My city tax are finally filed (I didn’t actually owe anything), all of my tax papers are finally put away. It’s a start.

I enjoyed this Irish Breakfast with my lunch. It’s not as punchy as I’d like, but not pad either.

Sample Sipdown!

This is the final sample from my trade with Ysaurella, which was a wonderful trade for myself, but not so good for her, as the package I sent got stuck in customs…or drank by somebody there?

Tomorrow will mark a week that I sent a 2nd package. Everybody think successful thoughts, please? It seems like everybody else’s packages have made it through. Hopefully mine will as well!

This is a flavorful tea with just the right amounts of almond, vanilla, orange, cinnamon, & cloves. It does have a very celebratory holiday taste. Thank you so much, Ysaurella, for all of the lovely teas that you sent to me! :D

I’m having one of those days where I don’t really want to do anything.
I don’t have any students until 3:00. My neck is still kinked, but not as badly, so I was able to ease back into my yoga, very gently. Since then, all I’ve done is drink tea & eat a little breakfast.
There are tons of things to do, so I feel like I should be doing something, but maybe a hot bubble bath…maybe I just need another day off? Another cup of tea?

I picked this Keemun next because Sil just posted the Keemun I sent her, LOL, so why not return the favor? :)
I enjoy Keemun. It’s a nice earthy grounding kind of tea, lightly sweet, with a hint of smoke. It’s not at all like Assam & Yunnans, which are without a doubt my favorites, but it’s got this balanced taste, which I also really enjoy. This cup I’m having today has a nice sweet fullness to it, & it’s just what I needed.
Another sipdown sample!
Thanks Sil!

Sample Sipdown!
On 2 of my orders from about a month ago, Stacy sent me samples of this tea. For some reason they were different quantities. One weighed in at 2G, the other at 5G. They were clearly the same tea, so I combined them into my 16 oz teapot, steeped 3 minutes at 180, & am enjoying the pot as my first tea of the day.

This is a lovely cup, with nuances of almond & melon, & after I swallow it, I taste cinnamon! There’s also a lemony brightness to it. It’s quite nice.

Thank you Stacy!

Another sample sipdown! Thank you Ysaurella!
The St. Louis cardinals won, 10 – 1, completing a 4 game sweep of the Brewers.
This was my celebration tea, & victory is sweet! This lovely tea combines a blend of black teas with strawberries, rhubarb, & florals. It was a very nice cup, & Tony enjoyed it too!

Cardinals 8
Brewers 1
top of the 6th
Go Cards!!
What else can I say about this tea that hasn’t been said? It is wonderful. It is an amazing contrast to Assam. So buttery, sweet, & rich, with a tingling thick mouth feel that is SO satisfying!
Perfect for watching baseball!

Still reviewing tea from breakfast:
I also drank a cup of this. For an earl grey, it’s ok. Not too heavy on the bergamot. I used 2 bags, because the Assam is kind of weak.

Tony & I went to breakfast at our usual haunt, with his 2 kids (both adults). This restaurant has the brown Numi box, & the selection is getting pretty thin. I tried a cup of this, sweetened with stevia. It was ok, definitely got the berry flavors in there, very bright tasting. It actually reminds me of berry flavored koolaid. Not something I’d buy.

Dear Sil,
Please forgive me, but I really had to have this today. I hope you don’t think I’m drinking it to spite you, as I know you’ve been hoarding that last cup. Drink up, my friend! Drink up & enjoy! Drink up & savor the bold malty sweet wine like awesomeness that this tea has to offer, for the world could end tonight, or there could be a zombie apocalypse, or anything could happen, & it would be a shame for this tea to have gone to waste!
No more hoarding! : D

I enjoyed this today too.
Sorry my reviews are lame today…