Amy oh

Thank you, Hesper June for sending me a sample of this tea I’ve been wanting to try from S & V. By the way the little containers she put them in are very cute.

So… this is a Lapsang and Earl Grey blend which is interesting, I never would have thought to put the two together. Lapsang is the first thing you notice about this, it is quite smoky. There is bergamot in here but it’s more of a background note. I’m not really a fan of Earl Grey on its’ own but I am liking this. I feel like the bergamot has a slight twinge of bitterness.

This tea is pretty strong and I needed it this afternoon. Today was supposed to be my day for laundry and cleaning, but I think I am catching a cold… fortunately I have plenty of tea and Zicam.

By the way, I did another blog post about Imperial Tea Court if anyone wants to read it: http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/2012/12/07/a-visit-to-imperial-tea-court/

Just wanted to mention I did cold brew my leaves last night to make iced tea with this and I like it this way. :)

Tea of the morning here. I have sooo many things to do today but I also slept in late (actually I really needed the sleep so it’s ok). Woke up this morning with the sniffles. I thought I would have a cup of this before the customary weekend morning matcha smoothie.

This is such a light, smooth and malty tea. I may have committed a travesty by adding soymilk to it, but that’s what I was in the mood for. This is also excellent plain.

I had another purple oolong from a different vendor (Sereni-tea), but this is most likely similar, if not the very same.

The dry leaves, after steeping smell just like roasted coffee. I decided to steep this in the gaiwan this afternoon and did so for about 60 seconds. It’s definitely an interesting tea, has notes of buckwheat and cinnamon. It is a fairly unusual oolong and might be an acquired taste, I notice one of the other tasters hated it, but it reminds me a bit of a red robe.

The second steep is a bit more mellow and fruitier, has some notes of plum in it. If you’re into darker oolongs, you may want to check it out. I did get a full sized tin of it so I hope the oxidation means it will keep for a while. I may need to try cold brewing the leftovers.

After lunch tea here, purchased at Whole Foods last night because OF COURSE I need more tea, right?

I was hoping for more of a black tea experience here, but like Lisbet I am mostly tasting plain tulsi and it is very strong, like a minty-herbaly sensation. I don’t mind it, but I guess I could always try blending my own into black tea if I wanted more tea. For an assam, it doesn’t seem that strong.

This stuff is very good for my stress levels and what can I say? Sometimes I am like a delicate flower, especially around this time of year when there’s no sun. It’s nice to make self care a priority. :)

I decided to finish of the rest of this sample today… as my previous note stated, I do not love keemuns but this is a nice tea for the winter time. I am enjoying it this morning but probably will not get anymore.

Tea of the afternoon… two cups. I haven’t been drinking as much caffeine lately because I have had insomnia – but tulsi is relaxing and this stuff is pretty good. wish me lots of slumber. :)

Finally decided to get a pouch of this with my latest 52 Teas order… in the bag it smells delicious.

This is a fairly nice tisane, although I wouldn’t say it really tastes like ice cream. I am picking up definite notes of strawberry and vanilla, the chocolate is a little more subdued. This also has a slightly “sour” flavor from the honeybush. It’s okay but I don’t love it.

Another little tin from Art of Tea to try…

This is reminiscent of Teavana’s white chai and the white tea looks like a bai mudan to me. It’s a bit of an odd backdrop for the chai spices, which are quite strong and overpowering for the delicate white tea. I am getting a lot of star anise and clove. This is actually pretty tasty, especially if you add soymilk to make it kind of creamy and rich. It’s pretty good for the chilly and overcast weather we are having. Still, I think I prefer my chais made with black tea or rooibos.

So far I am not overly impressed with the Art of Tea, but I haven’t gotten anything horrible from them either.

This is a loose leaf pu-erh purchased from Art of Tea. The little sample tins are so cute!

I think this might be the base tea they use for the coconut cacao pu-erh. The aroma of the wet leaf actually reminds me of roasted coffee. It’s very earthy with not as much funky aromas as some I have had. It seems in general that loose leaf pu-erh is less prone to developing off odors. Am I right? Maybe when they get compressed into cakes they are more susceptible to mold. I am not getting anything resembling honeysuckle or floral like the ‘Art of Tea’ description claims.

Not the best loose leaf shu I’ve ever had, but it’s certainly enjoyable on this winter afternoon.

Tea of the morning here… this is so lovely and gentle. Please see previous notes for more details.

I keep looking for nice pumpkin pie teas, especially now that it’s the holidays…

This is a nice tisane, it’s a rooibos and honeybush mix and the dry leaf smells very ginger-y. This reminds me a bit more of a gingerbread spice than it does of pumpkin pie, but it’s hard to capture a pumpkin flavor in tea, I think. Overall I am pretty happy with it though. The clove element is very strong. I think this would be really good as a late and will have to try making it that way someday, or maybe just add some whipped cream on top of this… nom!

I’ve been wanting to try this tea for a while so I broke down and got one of the little mini tins. If you have the coconut pouchong from Golden Moon, there are some similarities. This flavored oolong is slightly buttery, with vanilla notes from the silk flavoring. It reminds me a bit of kettle corn. I don’t love it, but I am pretty happy with it.

Tea of the afternoon here, this stuff is super yummy and really good with some coconut sugar added. Almost makes me believe I am eating a cookie without all the calories. :)

See previous notes for more info

Tea of the afternoon here, this one isn’t too bad, I like the cinnamon and spices. I’m definitely getting some apple here, not sure about the fig. It needed a bit of sugar to help the flavors pop. I’ve never had a fig flavored tea before, it’s pretty good but not something I would go out of my way to stock on a regular basis.

Tea of the morning here…
I can’t believe I am the first one to log this particular blend on Steepster.

It’s raining again this morning and aside from it being an ideal day for an assam, I think it’s also an ideal day to go to the Legion of Honor Museum, which I am doing later.

So I steeped this up for 4 minutes in the Beehouse teapot. It’s a pretty good assam, maybe not the best I’ve had but still quite yummy. It’s a bit malty and caramel-y with only a little bit of pungency. I almost never drink assams plain so I added some soymilk to this, which made it really good. I think this might be my only breakfast today! :)

Last caffeinated tea of the day – soon I have to get out in the rain again and go somewhere which I am not really looking forward to. I’m kind of in the mood to stay at home and draw pictures of pigs.

Anyway this tea looks great and tastes good too! See previous notes for more info…

I just got mine today! It’s a big day for tea, wheee! I always miss out on the marshmallow genmaicha so I thought I would check this out instead.

So the aroma of this is very strong in the bag. I steeped it for around 3 minutes and it is pretty good. I am getting a lot of nuttiness from the genmaicha and the green tea IS slightly bitter but I think I may have oversteeped mine as well. If you’re a fan of bananas you need to check this one out. The banana flavor is very strong and yes, I am getting a bit of cheesecake, how does Frank do it, I have no idea! It’s almost a little too much for me but I think I’ll try steeping it for less time next and see what happens. The flavors are more prominent as the cup cools. No rating for now.

Art of Tea was having a free shipping special so I decided to indulge. I like the fact that the sample size teas all come in these cute adorable tins, about enough for 5-7 cups of tea. I haven’t been buying a lot of new teas lately, I have so many already so this was my big splurge for the month.

I decided to try this one first because I love coconut and I also love puerh! Most flavored puerhs leave me kind of nonplussed, so I had some reservations about this one. The aroma of the wet leaf is a bit funky, it reminds me of barnyard mixed with tropical air freshener.

Thankfully the flavor of it is a lot better than the smell. It’s an earthy shu with a prominent hazelnut and coconut taste. This is quite pleasant to sip on plain, but I admit I liked it better after adding some plain soymilk. That made it more creamy and dessert-like. This would also be fab with some coconut milk, huh? I might try a slightly longer steep next time because I found the consistency of it to be a bit “thin” even though I used about 2 tsps. of tea for an 8 oz. mug of water. Probably won’t rush out to buy any more of this, but will finish off the little tin I have. :)

Tea of the afternoon here…
I’ve had this for a while but am trying to finish it off soon. This still tastes good to me, the mango/papaya is great with the white tea. See previous notes for more info.

Tea of the afternoon, I noticed this becomes bitter and pungent if you steep it for too long. Ick. I guess I’m having a bad tea day!

This came to me in teabag form…

I am really not a fan, too much bergamot and citrus flavors for me, it’s kind of yucky, not much more to say about it.

Tea of the morning – NOM!
This stuff is truly delicious and tastes great either plain or with soymilk. It is such a nice morning tea – see previous notes for more info.

Tea of the morning here… I see tasting notes are back to being functional.

In other news, it seems that Rare Tea Republic has shut down their website and I guess the teas will be going back to their parent company, Republic of Tea. I wonder if they will keep the line or get rid of it when the current supplies are gone. It’s too bad because I really liked a few of their offerings!

See previous notes for more info. on this.