Amy oh

very interesting tea – I had to get this in my latest order from Verdant as I love white teas. I am drinking this tonight in a wine glass, aren’t I sophistimicated?

Anyway, this is lovely! I am surprised by the flavors and everything going on here with this tea. I decided to steep it for two minutes at 165F — Western style — but would like to gongfu it sometime just to see what that’s like.

I got a nice, clear infusion and I agree with Doug that it has some similarities to a dragonwell; the light vegetal notes with a hint of butteriness is what struck me first about it. There is a definite light creamy element about it that is rather charming. The clover element is what sticks with me through the finish. I’m not really getting vanilla soymilk, but perhaps I need to steep it differently in order for that to happen? It isn’t as sweet as some white teas I have tried, but still rather nice all the same. A very nice offering from Verdant! I don’t know why I am so sleepy this evening, or I would try to write more… I feel like all I do is work, sleep, eat and drink tea!

Finishing off the rest of this sample tonight, I cold brewed it for 24 hours as an experiment. It’s pretty good this way, but you would have to like rooibos. See previous notes for more info…

This a tasty and lovely herbal blend from Verdant tea. If you read my tealog, you may know I am a fan of tulsi but some blends are better than others, of course. The peppermint and the spearmint are a nice compliment to the tulsi here, which I am having after lunch. The licorice is adding a touch of sweetness, the ginger is not very strong here which is too bad, I could havve used a bit mre but I’m a ginger freak. Overall, I think this is an excellent blend and really relaxing. Too bad I’m not at a spa. :)

Green tea of the morning here, I actually like this one a lot but seem to be neglecting it for some reason. Today I’m feeling like it’s quite brothy and slightly vegetal, very nice compliment to the bowl of blackberries I’m eating. See previous notes for more info.

Last night I was at meditation and feel quite well balanced and relaxed to start the week off right!

No notes yet.

This came as a sample in an ancient Lupicia newsletter and I’m just getting around to trying it now.

Firstly, I am not a huge fan of grape or muscat flavored anything, a muscatel flavor is nice if it’s in a darjeeling and it’s natural, but this reminds me of bubble yum, or japanese gummy candies. Very artificial tasting. I have no idea what the base tea is here, it’s a lighter color which makes me wonder if it is an actual darjeeling with artificial muscat flavor? I like the base tea a lot, it’s smooth and light.

It’s easy to drink plain without any milk and sugar. Not my favorite due to the overwhelming flavoring but I will certainly finish the cup.

Sadly, i had to be at work for a few hours today even though it’s a Sunday. I’m sipping on some of this with lunch and it’s yummy! I wish it would go in the permanent collection, Frank!

This sample came to me courtesy of Mercuryhime who didn’t really care for it. First off, I had some this morning in a smoothie with banana, frozen mango, chia seeds and soy milk and it is so incredibly good this way! yum! I feel like I am eating a decadent mango dessert, but that doesn’t say a whole lot for the matcha since there are so many other things mixed in with it.

So then I decided to mix it in with some water the traditional way to see what would happen. The color is a brownish-green and is not that attractive. The flavor is swampy and gross – mango swampwater?! lol. This is just dandy mixed in a smoothie but quite disgusting on its own in my opinion. Oh well! I will enjoy it in my fruit!

I still have some of this left, but I ended up mixing it with some plain honeybush I bought in bulk at the Scarlet Sage herb company. I think it’s a bit nicer when it’s a little less strong, also I added some soymilk to it which was nice. I decided to quit alcohol at the same time my ex-BF and I broke up, I wasn’t drinking that much anyway but I figured I didn’t need anything that would be making me feel depressed… so far, so good. Drinking a lot more herbal teas and the like currently. I like my new routine even if I am something of a goody two-shoes right now. The Buddha would have approved. Nighty-night, Steepster!

I’ve had this tea for about a month but decided to get around to trying it today. I should have been doing my copyediting homework, but instead I was goofing off all day and then took a nap so I’ll probably be up kinda late trying to get it done.

I followed Upton’s steeping instructions and decided to steep this for 4 minutes at 190F in my For Life teapot. Someday I will need to gongfu this, but right now I’m running a bit short on time. This really does seem like a baby dong ha pao, it has the traditional wuyi rock tea sort of flavor but much softer and gentler. I’m getting some peachy notes as well as a gentle cocoa element that is really quite a surprise. And loads of caramel – yum! This is really quite delicious and has a soft mouthfeel that lingers.

Definitely enjoyable for an evening/afternoon tea – now off I go to be productive!

I got a sample of this tea from Norbu a while back, and decided to try it today after I was looking in the cardboard box that now holds my sheng collection. I read you shouldn’t keep these in the kitchen, but since I have a studio apartment there isn’t a ton of storage anywhere!

1st steep: in the Xiying teapot, and after a quick rinse I decided to steep it for 30 seconds or so. This is a very gentle sheng as it is evidently made from compressed ya bao tea. The tea color is very light and the aroma is that of clover with some very soft vanilla and lemony notes. The tea aftertaste is sweet and almost custard like.

2nd steep: similar to steep #1 but some thicker honey notes are becoming more prominent, this is very enjoyable!

3rd and 4th steep: I decided to combine them together into one nice cuppa. I’m still getting the lemony and custard notes as well as some banana. I don’t seem to be getting a huge energy boost from this stuff, but it is tasty! Overall, very enjoyable.

If you don’t like the standard shu type of pu-erh you might want to give this one a whirl, it’s very gentle…

This is a sip down for me, I cold brewed this blend overnight and I’m enjoying it today, definitely much better than soda. Off I go to get some yoga done!

I got this at the Japanese grocery store a few weeks ago, I am planning to do a blog post on Matcha soon because I have a really nice matcha bowl now. This particular brand of matcha I got more for blending into smoothies in the morning. Today I’m having it with blended with banana, pineapple and hemp seeds and it’s terrific! I have a Blendtec and I use it a few times a week for an easy breakfast or dinner. I will wait to give it a numerical rating until I’ve had the chance to try it plain.

Herbal tisane of the evening here, taking care of myself big time includes plenty of rest and relaxation!

You know, I think I like the regular Sleepytime better than this, the vanilla doesn’t do too much aside from providing this with a slightly strange aroma and off flavor. I have to say I am finding it kind of oooky.

Good night, all!

This comes to me courtesy of TeaEqualsBliss – thanks so much for the sample!

I was a little nervous after finding some red peppercorns in the sample and I also know this tea has dried orange peel as well as rooibos so I thought it would be curious and interesting.

Hmmm, for a rooibos blend this is pretty nice. I like my rooibos with soymilk so that’s how I’m drinking it this afternoon. The orange element is very strong and I’m also picking up on coconut and a nice spicy element. It’s a bit like a rooibos chai but fruitier. Nice afternoon tea but I don’t think I need to run out and buy any. :-) Thanks for sharing, T = B!

Thanks to Teavivre for this sample and I’m sorry I’m getting around to trying it just now.

I am steeping this in my infuser mug since I’m trapped at work on this beautiful day – we finally got some sun.

Steep #1 – approx. 1.5 minutes yielded me a dark, sweet and mellow pu-erh. Mmm, this is nice. I’ve gotten a few hints of bittersweet chocolate in the flavor here along with a slight fruitiness. I like it!

Steep #2 – also very nice and earthy. This has a definite clean taste with no fishiness or off odors like you can experience in other pu-erhs. The flavor here is reminding me a bit of pumpernickel bread. Definitely a nice after lunch tea.

Steep #3 – I accidentally let this steep for a really long time – 4 minutes? 5 minutes? Who knows. The longer steep has brought out a creamy element in this tea that I’m really enjoying. I think I could steep this a few more times but that needs to be end of caffeine for me today.

And onto other news… I have noticed today that my equanimity is back and I’m enjoying life — what could be more important than this? Huzzah!

Tea of the morning for me here, although technically it isn’t a tea but a mate, well whatever…

I’m hoping this provides me with a bit of a much needed energy boost. Yesterday I had an 11 hour day at work and I am dragging this morning… this is yummy chocolate malt deliciousness! See previous notes for more info.

This is a sample I got from Upton Tea Imports a while back but I haven’t had the opportunity to try it yet.

I steeped this for around 4 minutes in the infuser mug and added some soymilk. This is not the fruitiest blackcurrant tea I’ve ever had, unfortunately. The black tea base is nice (a Ceylon, I think??) and the fruitiness is very light, it’s currant-y with a bit of tart thrown in for good measure. I wish Harney and Sons made a decaf version of their blackcurrant tea. This isn’t too bad but doesn’t have the punch I was really looking for.

Thank you to Anny Oxidant and the Tea Bullie for sending me a sample of this tea!

I steeped this for 3 minutes in my infuser mug and I think the flavor is yummy! The green tea has a lovely vegetal/green bean flavor which is complimented well by coriander and a touch of peppermint. Some minty blends I find too strong, but this one is not bad at all.

Overall, this is a really lovely and uplifting blend which is great for after lunch time today. I would consider buying more of this. Sorry for the short note, but I am running low on time :)

Thanks to Indigobloom for sending me this sample of tea to try!

I steeped mine for 4 minutes at boiling but after I read some of the other taster’s notes I wish I had let it go for a bit longer. You can see there are large chunks of fruit in the tea. Anyway, it’s a bit of the tart side but has one of the nicer pear flavors I’ve had in a while. In my opinion, pear is a hard flavor to get right in a tea. Someone compared it to bubblegum and I have to agree, there is something in here that reminds me of bubblegum, I think perhaps it’d the smell?

I did add a bit of soymilk to it and somehow liked it better that way. I am not totally in love with this but I’m glad I got the chance to try it, thank you dear Indigobloom for sharing with me! :D

For me, this is a sipdown… this is a very nice dessert tea and I have enjoyed it a lot! It’s good this evening with a bit of soymilk. I have been feeling a lot better today, thanks for sending some good vibes my way, people!

First of all, many thanks to *Tea Equals Bliss" for sending some of this my way!

I steeped about 1 tsp. of this in my infuser mug for about 3 minutes. I got a very light orangish-tan tea liquor with some lovely peach and light muscatel notes. I am detecting a bit of spice here in the cup as well. Very smooth and mild cuppa. I might move onto something darker soon after this; yes it is still cold and foggy here while the rest of the country is roasting!

Thanks to T=B for sharing!

This teabag came as a free sample in one of my recent Lupicia newsletters.

I love art, so I was really into the name of this one! After I realized it was predominately a darjeeling blend, I do wish I had steeped it at a somewhat lower temperature than boiling.

I got a dark brownish-red tea liquor in my cup. There is definitely a lot of second flush darjeeling going on here, and another element which I am guessing is an assam? It has a very woodsy and spicy element in the cup. Sipping on it plain wasn’t too bad at all, but it was also nice with a touch of soymilk. Overall, not bad, but I don’t think I need any more.

I picked this herbal tisane up at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago but am just getting around to trying it now.

I really like the flavor here and it seems very relaxing – the only downside for me is it’s very minty and peppermint gives me acid reflux sometimes. I like the chamomile, the licorice and the lemon balm. It seems very well balanced and refreshing. I’m not sure I would buy it again due to the strong peppermint flavor but otherwise it’s very enjoyable and will hopefully bring the Sandman by soon. :)