Amy oh

It’s a sipdown!

Finished off a pouch of this today. I will miss it but am going to try and drink some of my other green teas before I buy anymore. My skeptical bf thinks I buy way more tea than I can drink. Of course he is right… lol

see previous notes for more info on this tea

Tea of the morning here, this is just right at 2 minutes of steeping. It is going to be a warm week for San Francisco – I have a feeling I’ll be drinking a lot of iced tea this week…

This tea is smooth with delicious flavors of starchy yam and dark bread. I am raising the points just a wee bit. I really like this, it’s also very easy to drink plain. Probably will end up being a permanent part of my tea collection. See previous notes for more details.

I also wrote a new blog post on what I’ve been up to, if you’re interested you can read it here: http://sanfrantea.teatra.de/2013/04/28/art-nepali-tea-and-other-random-musings/

Sipdown! Just brewed the last pot of this.

Back from yoga class and I thought I’d steep this up before I head out for a walk. I was planning to do more cleaning but the weather is just so lovely outside. This is a great mix of strawberry and vanilla with a touch of coconut. I hope Lupicia brings this back for the holidays because it isn’t available year around. This is one of the best decafs teas i’ve ever had.

Another sample tea from Nepali Tea Traders. Drinking tea this morning while my laundry is getting done although it looks like a beautiful day and I hope to get out and enjoy some of it after the chores are done.

Compared to yesterday’s tea, the leaves are much smaller and fine. I managed to follow instructions and let the boiling water cool for one minute and then steeped this for three minutes. I am rather impressed with the results. It’s difficult for me to drink a lot of black teas plain but this is very smooth without much bitterness or astringency. It has a slight cocoa flavor/aroma and is very smooth. I agree with Joshua that in some ways it is reminiscent of a darjeeling due to the stone fruit flavors but without that darjeeling “bite” that you can sometimes find in a second flush. It has the smoothness of a Chinese tea which is really interesting.

To me this is delightful and I will definitely consider picking up the larger size.

Another tea I picked up from Harney, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by this but I do enjoy a good Irish Breakfast tea every so often.

I steeped this for only 3 minutes and I was glad. It’s a fairly brisk and hefty assam with a bit of astringency and a winey-like aftertaste. I definitely needed milk and sugar with this one but that’s about what I was expecting. I don’t really think this is any better than the Twinings brand I can get in the grocery store but it is certainly acceptable to me. I managed to sleep for 11 hours last night and I’m happy about that! Definitely going to try avoiding coffee today…

Last weekend I had the Mint Fields by Republic of Tea so I decided to try this for comparison, the price was certainly right. A mix of peppermint, spearmint and lemongrass, the peppermint was not too overpowering which was definitely a relief. A nice soothing herbal. I had a cup hot yesterday and then brewed some and stuck it in the refrigerator so I could enjoy it iced. This will be great for the sunny days we sometimes see here in the foggy city.

The first of a few samples I purchased from Nepali Tea Traders. I had some ambitious plans for today but right now I am drinking tea in my bathrobe and that seems okay with me. :)

These are gorgeous slender leaves that are a mix of dark brown and white. My cup brewed up to be a medium reddish-brown color that smells of walnut and oak. This is slightly reminiscent of a second flush darjeeling but with some mellow character. At first I did not notice the floral character at all, but as the cup cools I am finding it.

To me the flavor of this tea is nutty with a bit of astringency and the fruitiness really comes out in the finish. I used boiling water for my tea but on the website they suggest using water that has cooled off for one minute, so I will have to try that next time. I will update my tasting notes if I find anything has changed. I do seem to get better results with teas from this region and darjeelings with water that isn’t quite so hot. It is easy to drink this plain due to the mellow quality but it would also be nice with a touch of sweetener, definitely no milk.

Overall I was pleased with this, it seems to be a fine Nepali tea.

Backlog- yesterday afternoon’s tea. This came in my last Harney and Sons order. I always liked the original Paris from H&S so I thought I’d try this.

I steeped this for 4 minutes and I think it came out just right. For a decaf it is pretty tasty, I got the vanilla and caramel but I thought I also detected a berry type of flavor. I didn’t pick up much bergamot, which is fortunate since I’m not really a fan. I did end up adding soymilk to this and quite happily finished it. It’s hard to find decaf teas that I really like but this is quite nice. I need to address my insomnia problem and I think cutting back on the caffeine will certainly help. I’m looking forward to cuddling up with this tea one afternoon and reading a good book. :)

I’ve been having problems sleeping this week, I seem to keep waking up at 3 am for some reason. Part of it could be due to the fact that I’m getting older now but I think my lifestyle could use a bit of revamping and I’m thinking about cutting caffeine out after 12 pm again.

In any case, I am tired this morning so I needed this! The anniversary blend came in a large 7 oz tin and is a mix of ceylon and assam. This blend is very smooth but perhaps a bit brisk and slightly bitter for me, which I assume is due to the assam. Some assams are so mellow I could drink them straight but evidently this is not one of them. I needed soymilk in this tea to make it drinkable for me. Not destined to be a favorite, which is too bad since I have a lot of it now!

I will certainly finish off the tin someday. Might try steeping at 3 minutes instead of 4 to see if I like it better that way.

Whoa, apparently I am the first person on Steepster to log this particular blend, amazing!

I got this with my latest Harney and Sons order. I tend to get stressed out easily and have problems sleeping so I though this would be a nice herbal tisane to try.

In the tin, the tea smells very aromatic and the teabags are made of paper. I steeped this for around 5 minutes tonight but I had a cup at work earlier too.

I am definitely liking the mix of spices here. I adore both cardamom and ginger and there is plenty of both. Licorice root can sometimes be a bit too overwhelming but this isn’t too bad. It’s a very spicy brew which seems a bit better with the addition of a touch of sugar. I do think it is helping me to relax as well which is great. I liked this but it is very pungent and has a lot of strong flavors. Might have a favorite new herbal bedtime tea here.

I got a tin of this today with my Harney and Sons order, I am lazy for using teabags but they sure are easier to use at the office. :)

Now this tea says it is a blend of Ceylon Kenilworth and Kenya Milima. I did try a sip just plain and I found it to be very smooth and almost velvety in flavor initially but the aftertaste is strong and kind of snuck up on me over time. I ended up adding soymilk because that’s normally what I would do with a breakfast tea. It is indeed mellow but I’m not so sure about the full-bodied part. It has some nice cocoa notes but it is a bit high on the tannic side for me, or I would have given it a higher rating. I’ve found some other African tea blends to be a bit on the tannic side as well.

This won’t be a repurchase item for me, but I’m glad I tried it.

I’ve been trying not to buy a lot of tea lately to focus on finishing off my stash but I did get a small order of mostly black teas and this was in it – the tagalong small tin with 5 teabags.

My first impression upon smelling this was it reminded me a bit of “Florence”, their chocolate hazelnut tea.

The tea brews up to be a light reddish brown cup and I suspect it is a ceylon of some sort. I’m finding the flavor to be a bit thin and only vaguely reminiscent of chocolate. I do detect a brazil nut type of flavor especially in the finish of this blend. I was not blown away by it but will certainly finish off what I have at some point. It benefited from the addition of some soymilk and sugar.

If anyone wants to try this I would certainly consider swapping…

It’s at work and it’s free, what more can I say?

This is a blend of spearmint and peppermint, I guess you would either like something like this or you don’t. It’s kinda hard to mess this up, I’d imagine. Might be better if it was organic. I still like the Mint Fields by Republic of Tea due to the lemon balm added.

Tea of the afternoon here. I can’t believe I’ve never logged this one before because it seems like I’ve had it a bunch of times already before I bought this latest batch.

I am really liking this! It’s buttery, slightly vegetal with a light peach and floral quality. Sometimes Lupicia teas can be a bit artificial in flavor but this particular blend is quite lovely. I’d recommend checking it out if you’re into flavored oolongs…. I steeped mine for around 4 minutes only because I forgot about it. :)

Just a note that I brewed some of this up in my Teavana glass tumbler and poured it over ice this afternoon. The weather here is gorgeous and it’s perfect iced tea weather! This makes for quite a lovely glass of iced tea. Eat your heart out, Snapple…

I went to Lupicia yesterday with a friend of mine and this is the only tea I ended up buying (shocking!)

I’ve had this one before and I remember liking it. I brewed some up this morning and then had it over ice. Unfortunately I think the ice diluted the flavor too much so I will have to try cold brewing it sometime.

I ended up cold brewing this last night and it is really delicious this way, definitely brought out some very intense floral notes and some buttery ones. Great for a sunny day like we are having!

I had a lovely dinner tonight with my friend S. at this vegan restaurant Millennium. We definitely had a bit of a splurge but it was fun and well worth it for a special occasion. I had a shaved asparagus, avocado and bitter greens salad with a smoked tempeh entree. We shared the apple cake for dessert and I was so full but not overwhelming so because the food was really healthy.

Anyway I have written about this tea quite a few times but it’s still one of my favorite rooibos blends. I really enjoy rooibos in the evening and this was great with soymilk and a touch of teavana’s rock sugar which I got as a gift last year from my brother.

It was such a delightful day and now I am really to doze off happily in slumber land…

Backlogging. I had some of this at Spirit Rock Meditation Center on Saturday, where I spent Earth Day with my charming guy. I don’t often go for straight up peppermint as it can be too strong for me and can give me heartburn. I appreciated the mint blend here along with the lemon balm, it made for a nice refreshing after lunch tisane. Republic of Tea often disappoints me but I rather liked this. I also appreciate the fact that it’s organic. May need to pick some of this up at the grocery store…

Tea of the morning here. I can’t believe I have never written a proper tasting note on this but I also don’t have a lot of time this morning. I hope to update this soon.

I brewed this in a tea infuser mug and it has such delightful vegetal notes with a creamy quality. I would like to short steep this someday when I have more time to appreciate it. Overall a very flavorful dragonwell, I would probably purchase this again. Now that summertime is coming I hope to drink some more of my green teas.

Tea of the afternoon here — it’s a bummer that Rare Tea Republic is no longer in business but I can get Mist Valley teas elsewhere. This is a beautiful reddish-brown cuppa that is extra tasty with about 1/2 tsp of turbinado sugar.

Just a note that I tried cold brewing this overnight and it’s pretty good that way. The banana flavor is a bit more subtle than when I drink it brewed with hot water but it was a good experiment. :)

Tea of the afternoon here; very vegetal with corn notes. The package says it’s green tea but this is most definitely an oolong. The leaves have unfurled quite nicely. See previous notes for more info. :)

Backlog – I was drinking this tea at the office yesterday for a much needed tea/sanity break. I really like banana bread and banana flavored things so for me this is nice. Normally I do not like stevia in anything but in this blend it is fairly subtle. It’s also good with some soymilk if you prefer more of a banana latte experience. :)