Terri HarpLady

Holy Red Zinger! This is some tart stuff!!
So I know most everybody on steepster dislikes Hibiscus. It’s been a long time since I drank anything with hibiscus in it, & they had it in the bulk section, so I figured, what the heck? I brewed up some, sweetened it with stevia, iced it down, & it is Tart! It’s like cranberry juice, which I actually like unsweetened (real cranberry, not the cocktail kind). Anyway, it’s not something I’ll drink often, but I’m gardening today (& yesterday & the day before, things are starting to take shape out there!), & I thought it might be refreshing. It is, but I think I need to dilute it more & add more ice. It’s pretty intense stuff!

Another Sipdown!
This is my final sample of tea from my trade with threewhales, so thank you!
This is a mild earl grey that is actually kind of nice, now that I’m starting to enjoy ‘some’ earl greys. It’s not ‘in your face’ with the bergamot, & they actually use real oil, instead of artificial flavor, & I think that is the big thing that makes the difference for me with EGs.

Sipdown!!
Thanks to threewhales, who I actually haven’t seen on here for awhile. This was part of our trade awhile back with the steepster book club. It’s an interesting blend of bold, tart, & a little floral in the there too. Not something I’ll buy, but not bad for a change of pace.

My only questions (not to anybody in particular) is why is this considered a seasonal blend, other than the name? I usually think of seasonal blends as having holiday-like spice flavorings, but this is just a straight mix of black, green & oolong.

It’s been awhile since I had a cup of this, & it is probably gonna be a sipdown next time I drink it, but not just yet…
Anyway, it was my bubble bath cup of the day, and although perhaps not remarkable, it was bold & a little more flavorful than I remember it being!

Good morning Steepster!
I’ve drank this tea before, but not as my first tea of the day. So I think maybe I was missing some of the nuances that this tea has to offer. It has an interesting taste that I can’t quite put my finger on:
There’s a floral, an earthiness, & definitely a fruitiness. It’s a little on the astringent side, but also has a little of that honey & coriander, as if bitten by leaf biters. I didn’t find it to be particularly malty, but it’s an interesting cup!

OK, I didn’t really drink this today, LOL, but I gave one of the (many) free samples I have to a student, along with another sample of a tea I don’t really care about (& that one counts as a sipdown, because I only had a sample of it). So I started the day with 243 teas, & I’m ending it with 240. My goal is to get down to 200.

Another awesome tea from Sil!!
I filled my 16 oz thermal cup with this & brought it along on my gig, so that I’d have something to drink on the way back home. That cup stays hot for SO long that the tea was STILL hot after I played!

This reminds me of Constant Comment, only way way better! It’s really a tasty blend! Thanks Sil!

Hey Sil, remember when I first got this tea & dropped the cannister & some of it spilled out onto the floor? Remember that I scooped it up & put it into a recycled Ahmad tea cannister (because I didn’t want to put it back into the real cannister, which I was going to send you a sample from)… Well, today I finally finished the spilled tea from the Ahmad can, of course, I can’t really count it as a sipdown, since I still have plenty left in the original can. But I knew that you’d like to know! Hahaha!

I like this tea. I like the Tiger Assam better, but this is damn fine tea (sorry, I love saying that) too. Its a nice full tasting brew, with a hint of smoke. Very satisfying! I made a 16 oz in my stainless & ceramic sippy cup to drink en route to a concert I played today over in Illinois. It was perfect.

Mmmm, I’m really digging into the box of teas I got from Sil, & this one is very tasty! Thanks Sil!

Another Sipdown from Sil’s Super Sampler of Teas!!

I used all of this making a 16 teapotful, to share with one of my students. It was a sweet a tasty treat, reminding me somewhat of the oatmeal raisin cookie tea I tried last week, only I like this one better. The only negative was as it cooled it got a little of chalky mouthfeel & an artificial edge to it. But otherwise, it was a tasty treat! Thank Sil!

Sil, just in case I haven’t thanked you enough lately, I just wanna say Thanks! Our tea trade was really fun, & I’m still having fun!
This Assam is quite robust, with a bit of a bite under the tongue, and a high grapiness in the palate. Is rich, dark, deep, & assam-like!

I’m logging this for my son Leif, who drank it this morning before he left for college. His comments, “It’s Fantastic! I even love it unsweetened plain, but it’s even better with a little coconut creamer.”

I was totally absent from Steepster yesterday. I spent the entire morning running errands with my sons, then lunch at PF Changs to commemorate Drew’s 24th birthday (a week late), then finally I came home & worked in the garden for the rest of the day until I could no longer see. My Gazebo area is finally fully planted with a variety things: various peas, radishes, lettuces, beets, turnips, parsnips, dill, leeks, red scallions, etc. Some were planted a few weeks ago, some during this past week.

So during all this, I did actually drink quite a bit of tea! I started with #49 Assam from Smith tea, which is wonderful! Then I made a 16 oz of Foxy Roxy’s, very lightly sweetened with stevia, & sipped on that all morning while I was driving around. It amazes me how long teas stay hot in that thermal cup!

While I was gardening I sipped on the rest of the ginger peach ice tea from Monday. And that my friends is all the tea I drank yesterday.

Good morning Steepster! Happy first day of May!!
Ms Theresa printed up our “Tea Collection” list this morning. It looks like my total teas is 243 (256 if I count straight out herbs like Astragulus, Elder Berry, etc, but we’ll leave those off the list.)
Of course, some of those are samples, & I’ve decided I need to get through the samples & quit hoarding!!
This one came from Sil, & it really is a tasty blend of yunnan & assam, somehow allowing the tastiness of both to shine in a really nicely balanced way! I have truly enjoyed it, & someday when I’m allowed to order tea again (today I have 12 days ‘clean’), it’s on my list to order from Upton! Thanks Sil!

I know I’m one of the only people on steepster that likes roasted chicory root. I also like this blend, which is pretty heavy on the cinnamon & ginger, nicely spicy, and thanks to the chicory it has enough depth to feel satisfying. I drank it in years, saw it on the shelf at the store, & because I’m trying to drink less caffeine in the evening, I figured, “What the heck, let’s get reacquainted”. And we did! Besides, I love the artwork on the box.

I bought a sample of this awhile back, & have drank it, but neglected to write a review. As I recall, it was nice hot, but maybe not as peachy as I’d like it to be. There is a nice bit of ginger though! I love Ginger! So today I used up the rest of the sample making sun tea while I was working in the garden. Then I let it chill & it’s very nice! I’ll actually finish drinking it tomorrow, because I’ve had enough caffeine for today, but I did want to log it, because it’s a SIPdown! :D

OK, it’s time to drink some tea that doesn’t have caffeine in it!
I think this may be my official favorite Rooibos blend. It’s lemony & tasty. What more can I ask for?

It’s been awhile since I enjoyed this tea. It really is a delightful oolong, with a light roasty flavor, a fruitiness like plums, & an undercurrent of caramelized brown sugar & hazelnuts. After awhile it takes on a roasted green bean-like flavor as well, bringing to mind laoshan black in it’s later steepings.

This tea combines the features of a smokey ‘caravan’ type tea with the bergamot of Earl Grey. It’s suppose to be a tribute to Winston Churchill, who was not a tea drinker. It was really a big ‘risk’ for me to purchase some of this, but I had to give it a try. It’s ok, but not something I will re-order… :p

My student & I enjoyed a pot of this tea this afternoon. It’s a nice malty cup, but does not resteep well.

This is the tea I took out into the garden with me today, & although I didn’t get nearly as much done as I had planned/hoped to accomplish, I did get a few things done. This is a lovely & gentle blend of Yabao buds, florals, vanilla, & goji berries. Mildly sweet & a little creamy, it kind of smells like cotton candy & marshmallows to me. As a dry tea, it is beautiful & looks like something fairies would drink.

After a weekend of practicing hard & running around playing gigs, I’m ready to settle in to some time at home. It’s been awhile since I had a cup of Golden Fleece! Where have I been? I’ve been drinking all these BOLD Assams, which I love, don’t get me wrong, but THIS is a wonderful cup of buttery goodness, so nurturing, so rich, like a cup of flavorful but gentle broth after you haven’t eaten for days. It’s like an invitation to relax & just breath!

1 Tb + 8oz X 1 min (2 min resteep) (3 min other resteep)

Wonderful!

Sil Sample Sipdown!!
I’m sitting here waiting for the Game of Thrones to start. I’ve been enjoying sipping teas.
I have to say, rooibos freaks me out, LOL. I don’t know what it is, but it’s really creepy looking stuff. It looks like insect legs, or something. It looks like it’s made out of the same stuff beetles are made out of, shellac or whatever.
Regardless, I’ve enjoyed this peach & rooibos tea. Thanks Sil!

Thank you Sil! This is a tasty fruity treat! I haven’t had a lychee in years, & as soon as I started sipping this, that was the first thing I noticed. The lychee is the dominant flavor, & it lingers on the back of the tongue. This is mouthwatering & lovely.