Veronica

Updating from the last few days. I’ve taken to making this by the pot rather than the cup. It saves time, and while I prefer to drink this hot I like to iced, too. If I get distracted and my tea cools I just pour it over ice and go about my day.

Cups:57

Thank you, Dinosara for this sample!

This was a serendipitous find for me. Dinosara accidentally sent me the wrong sample, but she was sweet enough to let me keep it and give it a try. For some reason I have always stayed away from passion fruit. I’m not sure why, I have simply never wanted to try anything flavored with passion fruit. My mistake because this tea is good!

The fruit flavor is sweet, and the smell made me think of summer. I did add some sugar to my cup to bring the fruit flavor out a bit more. Since this is my first time trying anything that taste like passion fruit I don’t have a lot to compare it to. All I can say is I enjoyed it. I wish the base tea were stronger, but all in all this is a tasty tea.

We have started a major house renovation due to some damage that occurred way back in October, so I have not been able to log much of what I have been drinking lately. This EG is the only tea I have kept track of, but hopefully I can write more reviews soon. For this tea I kept a tally sheet on my fridge for the last few days. My husband and the contractor might think I went around the bend. :)

The idea of everything that needs to happen (I currently am walking on the sub-floor, have no lower cabinets, counter tops, a sink, or dishwasher in my kitchen) is overwhelming, so I’ve been drinking lots and lots of this tea. In fact, I need to place an order because last night I actually saw the bottom of my jar. Yes, there was a moment of panic. Reorder will be made today!

Before we started this re-do I decided to host a tea party for my friends when everything is over. It will be a fun way to show off my new space, and a way to say thank you because all these ladies have heard me talk about lately is paint colors and the cost/benefits of tile vs. wood flooring. When I do have the party this tea will definitely be on the menu. Then I can treat it with all of the daintiness and fun it deserves. Right now it is yet another friend that reminds me that at the end of all of this noise and worry will be (hopefully) something that I love.

(My earlier reviews have my thoughts on the tea itself)

Cups: 36

My morning pot. Drinking this while getting ready for church and tending to my son who is feeling under the weather. Right now I am very thankful for caffeine, especially when it is delivered in such a tasty tea.

Cups:16

Backlogging.

I made a trip back to my local(ish) tea house to pick up a few new teas. My main goal was to find some non-hibiscus, non-rooibos herbals, but when I was reading through their tea menu I saw this and knew I had to try it. Vanilla flavored black tea with white tea stars added… cute!

After getting home with my purchases I decided to give this one a try. While I was putting water in the kettle the water temperature issue hit me. If I boil the water I’ll burn the white tea. If I don’t boil the water the black tea will be gross. Sigh. So I took all of the tea stars out of the package and made myself a cup of vanilla black tea. I’ll save the white tea for another day. Two teas for the price of one! What could be better?

The tea is good. Really good. In fact, it’s my new favorite vanilla tea. The Assam brews up very dark and has a full flavor. The vanilla is wonderful. No artificial taste. No weird lingering scent. The two are well blended so it is easy to taste the tea and the vanilla throughout the cup. This tea is simple but so, so good. I could drink this morning, noon, and night and be a happy girl.

I’m curious about the tea stars and will be giving them a try soon. I’ll probably wait until next week when everyone else is out of the house and I can stop and really enjoy them.

I am falling more and more in love with this tea. It’s such a wonderful lemon black, and the floral note just puts it over the top. I’m going to be hard pressed to find a lemon flavored tea I love as much as this one, but the next time Frank releases a tea with lemon notes I will be buying! Also, I’m bumping up my rating because I like this more than the first time I reviewed it.

I’m sipping this while listening to the rain fall outside. It’s supposed to turn to ice later tonight, so I’m thinking we’ll be staying put tonight and a good part of tomorrow. Can’t say that this bothers me. Maybe I’ll see how much of my stash I can bust through while we are iced/snowed in. There are definitely worse ways to spend a weekend!

To all the New England Steepsters, be safe! It looks like this storm is going to be a doozy and not something to be taken lightly!

First cup of the morning. I spent way too long looking at my stash this morning. Everything sounded good and nothing sounded good. That ever happen to you? Well, this one eventually won out, and I must say it was a thoroughly enjoyable cup. I’m very careful to not let this one oversteep because I think the marshmallow and caramel are at their best with a three and a half minute steep. Absolutely delicious!

Backlogging.

I wanted something warm to drink, but I had reached my caffeine limit for the moment, so made myself a cup of this to throw in my travel mug while I was out running errands. It was something to sip and enjoy without feeling that I needed to pay a lot of attention to it. I have to say, I am enjoying this one more than I thought I would.

This is another sample from Jackie T. Thank you!

This is the second time I’ve had this tea. The first time I felt like I spent too much time trying to dissect the tea, so I ended up skipping the review. After sitting down with the tea this time I can say that Jackie’s review is spot on. I don’t taste eggnog or rum. There is a good vanilla flavor and a robust, toasty, ever so slightly astringent black tea. While I wish I could taste something that hinted of eggnog I do like this tea. The tea itself is quite delicious, and the vanilla is very well done.

So, not what I wanted, but I’ll have no trouble finishing off this sample.

I fell asleep last night wondering which tea to make this morning. Yes, that is the kind of wild and crazy life I lead. :) Anyway, my subconscious got it all worked out because as soon as my feet hit the floor I knew I wanted chai. Specifically, this chai. Good black tea with lots of wonderful spices. I added some sugar but no milk. It was perfect.

Instead of running around like a crazy person and grabbing sips of my tea when I could, I sat down and drank my tea. I was a few minutes late getting my daughter up and moving (She can ignore an alarm clock better than anyone I know.), but it was worth it. I had another cup over breakfast, and now I’ve got enough caffeine shooting through my system to get me through my morning chores. Or maybe I’ll ignore the chores and curl up with my book. Doesn’t that sound better?

Hmm, I’m not feelin’ this one. I was hoping for serious cinnamon flavor, but it’s just not there. In fact, before adding sugar I could barely taste anything at all. After the sugar there is a faint cinnamon taste, and the base tea is there but it’s weak. No vanilla. There wasn’t even the crackle from the pop rocks. I am disappoint.

I am apparently in a fruity green tea mood today. This is wonderful. The blueberry is sweet but not at all artificial. The green tea has a creamy buttery note that blends so well with the fruit flavor. A 90 second steep is about all these leaves can take. Any longer and the bitterness begins to appear. It does resteep well, which I like.

When I first bought this tea I regretted buying four ounces, but now I can see myself using it in a relatively short amount of time. This is a tea that’s begging to be cold steeped. I’m thinking that will bring the blueberry flavor out even more. I’m also looking forward to comparing this to the Harney and Sons Blueberry Green. A side by side of the two will be fun!

I picked up another box of the teabag version of this at my grocery store. I forgot how good this tea is and how much I like it. This tea is flavorful while being subtle. Nothing is over the top or in your face. It’s a very relaxing cup. The sweetness of the pineapple floats just above the clean grassy taste of the green tea. Very enjoyable. Far and away one of my favorite greens.

Thank you Jackie T for this very generous sample!

I have to start by saying that this is one of my daughter’s favorite teas. She moved it into her own tea basket so that other people (like her mother) will keep their tea lovin’ mitts off of it. She even took a cup of this to school to convince her friend that tea is much cooler than coffee. Ah, to be twelve again. So usually I do not drink this tea, but I realized I don’t have a review of it and wanted to remedy that.

This really does taste like an oatmeal raisin cookie! All of the flavors are there: oatmeal, raisin, cinnamon, brown sugar, even a spicy hint of nutmeg. It is delicious and very satisfying when my sweet tooth starts talking to me. This tea also resteeps well. The flavors aren’t as strong, but they’re all still present. I love it when a flavored tea can hold up to a second infusion.

Since this is obviously going to stay on our pantry shelf I will be buying two ounces of it with my next Della Terra order. Maybe then my daughter will willing share it. Maybe.

I got distracted and ended up overstepping this one. It’s a touch bitter (not as bad as I thought it would be given how long the leaves stayed in the water), and all of the cranberry notes were lost. Boo. I ended up finishing my cup, but next time I will pay much closer attention to the stepping time.

Another insanely busy (but good!) day. Today is my son’s birthday, and between his class party and our own little family party I am tuckered out. He had a great day and is now happily playing with his new loot. That means I have time for a cup of tea. I didn’t even consider making anything else. The black tea, the bergamot, the vanilla… it’s perfect. And if I happen to have a piece of birthday cake with it, well that’s even better.

Cups: 11

This is a great vanilla mint tea. Every time I have a cup I have a moment when I think, " Oh yeah… this really is that good." Love that. What I don’t love is that my bag is starting to look empty. I’m going to miss this tea when it’s gone.

Oh, sweet nectar of the gods! I have been thinking about this tea all day. All. Day. The only cup of tea I had today was early this morning. That’s not sufficient tea consumption for this girl! I’ve been craving a cup of this EG since 9am (it’s close to midnight here), and sitting down with it now feels like a true gift. A great way to unwind after a day of going, going, going.

I am going to drink a couple of cups of this and then tumble into bed. Even the caffeine won’t be able to keep me awake at this point.

Cups:9

Wonderfully malty and rich. Strong without being bitter. I couldn’t ask for a better Monday morning cuppa.

Thank you, Dinosara for this sample!

This is a lovely Earl Grey. The addition of grapefruit adds a brightness to the tea that I enjoy. All of the flavors are present but subtle. None of the flavors jump out at me. Instead, they all kind of quietly mingle together in a really delightful way. This one could certainly find a space on my pantry shelf.

This is so good! Sweet, buttery cakey goodness. The main flavor is the cake, but the sweetness of the pineapple is there, becoming more pronounced as the tea cools. Not that I allowed this tea to cool off too much. I steadily sipped it until my cup was empty.

Looks like I need a refill and a reorder. I’m going to go through this sample way too fast!

Made myself a cup before going to church this morning. Perfect for sipping on the drive there. I was a few minutes late getting there because a friend of mine said she was looking for new herbal and fruity teas, so I made her a big bag of samples to try. Yay for sharing the tea love!

Cups:7

In an attempt to delay my afternoon chores, I made myself a cuppa. My husband and daughter went to see a zombie flick, and my son is happily playing in his room. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as a quiet house and a cup of Earl Grey.

But alas, the laundry beckons.

Cups:6

Lots of berry, but nothing that shouts blueberry. I’m also not read tasting the yogurt. Something tells me that both of these flavors will be more pronounced as the tea cools but so will the hibiscus. I’d rather drink it warm and call this a berry blend.