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I had to get up at 5 am this morning not feeling too perky. This tea really did a great job of reviving me into a semi-conscious state.

This is a great morning blend, slightly malty, chocolatey and dark but without any underlying bitterness or astringency. Had a delicious smoothness, I might need more later in lieu of a nap. :)

sorry for the short note, I will try to elaborate more on this one in the future.

I have to admit after I steeped this (twice) I picked the fruit out and ate it. I’ts kind of nice when your tea can also provide you with a snack. I am fruity, perhaps.

I’ve never had honeysuckle in tea before so I wasn’t too sure what to expect.

Steeped at around 175 F for 2 minutes the liquor of this tea is a lovely golden yellow color. The aroma of the honeysuckle is not too strong and the flavor complements the white peony tea quite nicely. Quite a lovely combination really… This is slightly nutty and sweet and would be nice for a mood booster and pick me up. It could be my imagination but I feel like this is soothing my frazzled nerves a bit. I look forward to trying more of my teas from Shang (I got one of their little tea samplers).

If you told me a few months ago that I’d be sitting around enjoying a darjeeling tea I never would have believed you. It’s funny how our tastes can change over time. This one seems very enjoyable and fruity, I upped the rating and I’m drinking it in my new Bodum tea for one cup. :)

http://www.bodum.com/us/en-us/shop/detail/K11153-565/?showsize=false&navid=272

I’ve had this around for a while and evidently forgot to log it… and I think Teavana seems to have discontinued it because I don’t see it on their website anymore.

So those of you who follow my tealog may know I’m not such a fan of jasmine tea, I believe it has taken me a few months to fully realize this over time after trying it a few different ways and with a few different kinds.

This blend is not too bad though, it’s a nice medium bodied black tea which I think helps to disguise some of the jasmine for me. :) It is very nice and smooth going down but then I get that kick in the end where I feel like I’m drinking soap (seems to happen all the time to me with jasmine).

This certainly smells nice but I feel like I need some soymilk to help me get it down. I will certainly finish it off someday but if any jasmine fans would like to swap for it, you will probably appreciate it a lot more than I do.

I really enjoyed trying this one although sometimes I still am confused about what a pouchong is; however I keep reading it is somewhere between a green tea and an oolong so let’s go with that for now. :)

I steeped this for about 3 minutes around 180 F. This steeps up to be a very nice light yellow. At first I did not notice much flavor but it really seems to build up in your mouth a bit over time. The front notes are very mild, melony and a bit earthy but the finish has a real kick to it where you can sense a lot of the classic darjeeling type spice, along with a lingering astringency. Definitely a fascinating and unique cup to try although I am not sure I will need to restock when this amount runs out.

I might try steeping this at an even lower temp or for the recommend two minutes instead of three to see if I can kick the astringency down a notch or two.

It’s another sipdown!

At least I have been finishing off some stuff which makes me less guilty about buying more. :-D This one is tasty, see my previous tasting notes if interested.

I have to admit it was kind of a shock for my palette to go from Almond Sugar Cookie to this… lol. But see, I don’t discriminate, I drink almost anything. :)

First steep – this is very nice for a shu, smooth rich flavor with a bit of sweetness in the finish, but a little dark for this much time. More coffee like than anything. And I probably oversteeped this just a tad for my tastes… it was at least 2 minutes at 208 F but I also lost track of what I was doing.

Then the second steep I did for around 45 seconds and that seemed better. It definitely has a bit of a roasted quality as well as some fruitiness coming through. This one makes me feel kind of mellow and happy – I take that to be a good sign.

Third steep – about the same as the second. This definitely has the quality and richness I have come to expect from a Bana tea but I don’t think there’s anything overly exceptional about it that would make me want to buy an entire cake.

I almost feel kind of guilty for liking this…

Like I should have advanced so far in my tea-snobbery by now that I only drink 50 year old aged tea that was plucked by virgins, hatched by Chinese monks and brought over here with a pedigree and adoption papers.

But I. don’t. care.

this is yummy!

I’m usually disappointed by any tea that promises it will be like a pastry or a baked good. This is an awesome blend of black tea, almond flavor and safflowers. It definitely is a dessert tea, it’s pretty good for what it claims to be. It’s a bit much for this early in the morning, I’m drinking it with soymilk right now. But I think I will be happy to have this in my stash for when I do want something dessert-like.

I really wasn’t expecting much from this one, but I am always open to trying teas from new regions, plus if it helps the Bolivian farmers at ChaiMate earn a decent living, I am all for it.

Then I saw this news article from 2009 on it/them and I’m very happy about buying this. Aren’t these people cute? lol. http://www.newstimes.com/business/article/Rare-flavors-suit-Simpson-Vail-to-a-tea-276653.php

Anyway onto the tea, I steeped mine at 3 minutes at 212 F. It’s a dark amber cup with a slight bit of cocoa in the nose and a definite plummy taste. I found this quite easy to drink neat (without any sugar or soymilk). It is very smooth with a slight sweetness and only a tad of tannin in the aftertaste. Very, very good! This might become a new breakfast favorite in our humble abode. Thanks to Simpson & Vail for introducing it to me. :)