Amy oh

This was the whole reason for me ordering again from S & V – this is a great morning breakfast blend! see previous notes.

Tea of the morning here, I am not such a fan of Earl Grey or Bergamot in things but I had some of this sample left and decided to finish it off this morning. See previous notes for more info. ;)

I haven’t always been a big fan of floral teas but lilac is one of my favorite flower-y aromas, so I thought I’d check this out. Even though it’s called white lilac, this is a green tea.

After steeping I noticed little lavender colored blobs in the cup, I guess these are lilac pieces or tiny petals of some sort? This has a very relaxing and lovely aroma. I like the green tea here which is a Chinese tea, I think. It has a vegetal, almost buttery quality and a light yellow tea liquor.

The flavor is a bit… soapy which is not such a surprise. I love lilac soap, so there you go. This makes for an elegant afternoon tea but I can’t say I would drink this too often. Overall, I liked it but you need to be in the mood for a very flowery tea. I’m tempted to dab some behind my ears… :-P

Oh, I was a little nervous about this one initially because when I opened the tin the aroma reminded me of potpourri…. :)

Visually this is stunning with bits of cardamon, cinnamon stick, clove and ginger mingling around with the black tea. This is nicely blended because none of the flavors seem like they are overshadowing the others. I like the vanilla mixed with the chai, it reminds me of a chai creme brulee! This is delicious with soymilk.

I am definitely getting a ginger and clove “bite” in the finish. I agree with Hesper June, there is something about this that just reminds me of Christmas and it smells so lovely. It will be a nice cozy tea for winter, I think I’ll be keeping mine in the office where it tends to get very drafty in the winter time.

Still working my way through the Simpson and Vail order I received yesterday. This tea smells very fruity in the tin and has purple flowers in it. :)

This was steeped for around 3 minutes and soymilk was added, but I think it would be very good plain as well. This tea is hefty enough for morning but would also be good as an afternoon tea. The currant flavor is light and not too sickening like some currant teas can be. The description says China and India teas but I’m not sure I could place which ones – perhaps a yunnan and an assam? In any case I definitely like this blend and am happy I got a tin of this. It will be a great everyday drinker.

Second tea of the day from Simpson and Vail, I may need to stop soon before a caffeine overload. A co-worker remarked on how good the kitchen smelled and accurately identified this as strawberry & chocolate.

Another tea that tastes slightly better with sugar. This really smells like a cupcake and the flavor is pretty good. I do tend to like strawberry flavored teas and this is pretty nice. I only got 1 oz. but will have no problems finishing it off. Hopefully this will cut down on my dessert cravings a bit!

New order arrived from Simpson & Vail today – I was excited and I picked this as the first thing to try.

Steeped for around 3 minutes and with a little bit of soymilk added. I am finding the flavor to be slightly artifical tasting to me but it does taste a lot like pumpkin with a big wallop of nutmeg. Adding a bit of sugar helped it along and make it more dessert like. I’m not sure I will order this again but it’s definitely a nice tea for fall. I admit I was hoping for something a bit different but flavored teas are always kind of hit or miss for me. I do have a whole tin of it now so maybe someone would like a sample?

I’m trying to get through this ancient sample from Upton Imports. I did up the rating a bit on this tea this morning since it’s a lot tastier than I last recall. See previous notes for more info.

Tea of the morning here – a delightful Ceylon, also would be good for the afternoon. I hope my new Simpson and Vail order arrives soon! :-D

This afternoon has been about tidying up my apartment, which is why I’m drinking so much tea. And yes, I did get some cleaning done in between all the notes on Steepster. :)

This ancient sample comes from Mercuryhime – thank you!

This tea has the dreaded hibiscus in it, so I wasn’t going in expecting too much. It does smell very nice when you open up the sample pack, however.

I’m drinking this out of a glass mug and it’s a beautiful red color! The flavor is bit like fruit punch but thankfully isn’t too tart (I bet the sugared mango helps with this). Interesting that so many people did not like this one, it isn’t the worst hibiscus tea I have had by far but I don’t know if I will CRAVE this, ever. It would probably be really good as an iced tea.

Thanks for the sample, MH!

This came as a free sample from Simpson & Vail and seems very apropos for the autumn weather. This was steeped for 4 minutes in the Beehouse teapot and is a very easy one to drink plain.

I am definitely getting the orange rind as well as a bit of tartness from the cranberry. Compared to other fruit flavored teas I have had, it doesn’t overwhelm you with flavoring but is just about right. I don’t love this particular flavor profile, but if you are a huge orange/cranberry fan you should check it out. Very enjoyable for the afternoon.

Thanks to JC for sending me this one, I don’t have a ton of experience with drinking Liu-Ans, this is only the second one I have ever had! Regardless I decided to steep this in the Yixing teapot I have for shus and there is a lot of similarity to a shu pu-erh, this tea seems to me to have a slight coffee bean aroma and flavor with a hint of bitterness in the finish. Pretty interesting but I don’t know if I would buy it and I have no idea how to rate it so I’ll leave that off for now…

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one… I had it at a day long meditation class on Saturday. It was better than I thought it would be but might have needed two teabags, it has a very light apple taste and also seems very cinnamon-y. Might be worth buying if you didn’t have to use two teabags because that would make this a pretty expensive tisane.

Thank you to JC for sending me a sample of this. I’ve had a few silver needle puerhs and I’ve liked them immensely. When I first saw this I thought it was a green tea, anyway the leaves are very slender and beautiful looking. I probably should have used the whole sample I was given but I used 1/2 of it instead so I suspect this will be a very light tasting.

I steeped this in the Yixing and did a quick rinse, not even sure if that was necessary but oh well… I steeped it for around 30 seconds and it has a nice creamy flavor, reminds me a bit of almonds and is also a bit floral. Very delicate and nice for an evening.

2nd steep: I am getting the melon flavor here and I can kind of see why this tea is named snow mountain, it seems to have the essence of a fresh frosty mountain.

It’s really lovely, thanks for sharing JC! I may steep this a few more times tonight and will keep you posted. ;)

I went to go see an odd surrealist film tonight called “Alice” by Jan Svankmajer which is loosely based on the ALice in Wonderland book. It was complete with creepy dolls, stuffed animals, playing cards and skeletons. This is what pseudo intellectuals do for fun in San Francisco :P

Anyway after the film we went to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and I decided to try this. Its a mix of black tea and rooibos, and it has lots of spices including cinnamon and clove and maybe some nutmeg? It was very spicy and a bit too much for me… not sure I would get this again but I can see how it would be nice for cold weather. A little simple syrup made this more palatable.

Drinking some more of this sample pack…. I let it steep for a while longer today and I am upping the rating a bit more. I like this one although it reminds me a lot of a spicy chocolate orange. It smells really nice and it’s good for a dessert tea.

This is one of my favorite Japanese green teas and I will be getting some more when it runs out… see previous notes for more info. I am really enjoying it today, it’s so fresh and sweet tasting for a sencha.

This also came in the bulk section at Whole foods. It smells sooo good in the bag I had to try it! Roses and cardamom, lovely! But how would the flavor hold up?

I ended up steeping this for 4 minutes. It is very heavy on the cardamom, which I don’t mind, but you would have to be a big fan of the stuff. There’s a definite rose element and the ginger is more subdued. I tried mine with soymilk this morning and it IS a very interesting blend. The spices are very strong in this. I think the rich, malty assam lends a nice backdrop to this tea. Might also be interesting to try as a latte!

For me it might be more of an afternoon tea than a breakfast tea, but I like it! Glad I tried it, it’s yummy. :)

I got this is the loose leaf form at my local Whole foods where they have a bunch of teas in bulk. I haven’t been drinking a lot of rooibos lately but I thought I would give this one a shot.

It isn’t terribly fruity, I was hoping for something a bit more. The predominate note is rooibos but there is a hint of the mango passionfruit flavor here. I wonder if this would be good iced? I deided to drink it hot with soymilk and I think the creaminess of the soymilk is making it more dessert-like. Not too bad for a rooibos blend but I don’t know if I would seek this out again.

Tea of the afternoon here…. this is pretty nice for a shu. I am noticing today it seems a bit muddy but I haven’t been drinking much shu recently, I seem to have forgotten what they are like… ha

see previous notes for more info

I got this with my most recent order from Seven Cups. Shui Xian is one of my favorite types of oolong tea so I figured I would like this. It has a very nice roasty smell and a light brown tea liquor.

My first steep was for around 1 minute and is quite nice. It has some lovely caramel notes along with some fruitiness, a bit of plum I am thinking. A very mellow tea with a bit of woody flavor present. I should be able to get at least 3 steeps out of it. I like it but I think it needs to be steeped up at home in the yixing teapot!

Well, it’s a freakishly hot day here in San Francisco for November… no I am not complaining, I love it! I made some of this today in my Teavana glass tumbler (thank you exbf, wherever you are) and it is really good iced, I have to say. Happy Tuesday! :D

Sipdown!
This tea is now officially gone… not one of my favorites for sure but it has been hanging around in my cabinet so I thought I’d try to finish it off. See previous notes if interested.

Thanks to Fong Mong for this free sample. It’s been ages since I have cold brewed an oolong but I decided to do that last night. This definitely seems to have a roasted, slightly nutty flavor in addition to the nice vegetal quality I am getting. I won’t rate this since I never got to try it hot, but it’s good this way.

Now off to the farmer’s market for some vegetables!