84

Started the morning with this one but didn’t get a chance to write about it. Had a nap, so I need to wake up and I’m having another cup now.

I have to say this house maintenance thing is more stressful than I’d hoped. Today we went to a lighting store because I want to replace the exterior lights and now I’m more confused than ever. This one looks good but you can’t put a motion sensor on it. That one looks good but you can’t put a dawn to dusk timer on it. This one looks awful but you can do anything you want to it. And are these even going to look good on the house? I mean, it’s a little hard to visualize while you’re there in the store and have to first visualize a larger version of what you’re looking at before you even get to visualizing what it looks like on the house. Ugh. And then I’m even wondering if I should pick these before the house gets painted. The painter said I should, but I’m not so sure. Double ugh.

Anyway. There’s an earthy black tea smell coming out of the can, very similar to that dry leaf earthy Assam smell I like. It’s sharper and less malty than the English Breakfast by LeafSpa I had yesterday, and the leaves are smaller and less tippy.

The liquor has a burnt orange/brown color with a small amount of red in it too. It’s that color I want in a sweater that I’ve seen in several other teas, notably GM’s Sinharaja.

The aroma is fruity and a little sweet. I get prunes more than plums, and something that is oddly like cola. (I’m not tasting the cola, though.) It has a crispness, a briskness to it, that is a refreshing quality for a wake up tea.

I think I prefer the English Breakfast, but I’m going to give this one a chance to grow on me.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec
Rabs

Sorry about all the stress! Thank goodness for yummy tea :)

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Rabs

Sorry about all the stress! Thank goodness for yummy tea :)

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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