Amy oh

After lunch tea here…. this is the only tea I own by Mariage Freres and it’s nothing extraordinary, but I felt like enjoying some darjeeling today and I’d also like to get this tin finished off so I don’t feel guilty about buying more darjeeling later in the season. ;-)

I used to love this tea but oddly enough it is making my stomach queasy the last few times I have had it – not sure what that’s all about. :(

Will keep my rating where it is for now…

Tea of the afternoon along with some soymilk. Makes a nice companion to this Decemberists song I am listening to:

“This is the story of the boys who loved you
Who love you now and loved you then
And some were sweet, some were cold and snuffed you
And some just laid around in bed.

Some had crumbled you straight to your knees
Did it cruel, did it tenderly
Some had crawled their way into your heart
To rend your ventricles apart
This is the story of the boys who loved you
This is the story of your red right ankle".

Tea of the morning here. I did not gong fu this beautiful tea because I was in a hurry, it is quite delicious steeped in a mug for 4 minutes Western style. I was impressed by the red tea sampler from Jing and would not hesitate to buy more from this company, their oolongs are also really good.

This is my tisane of the evening mixed with soymilk. I also added some coconut extract to bump up the flavor a bit. I haven’t been drinking much rooibos lately and I’ve been missing it a bit!

See previous notes for more details.

More Red Blossom tea today… I am trying to motivate to get my yoga done. Decided to pour this over some ice but I think I prefer it hot or at least cold brewed, the flavor got way too diluted. Still good though!

I got this in one of the Steepster select boxes and haven’t written a tasting note on it before now. I have given up on buying a lot of green oolongs just due to their sorter shelf life, but I was really in the mood for this today.

I decided to gong fu this tea – so…

1st steep: 20 seconds. After steeping the leaves I am noticing the floral aromas coming forth. It does have a nice buttery/nutty quality about it but I am not getting much of the peach flavor.

2nd steep: The Lily aroma is getting quite strong now and is very pleasant. A couple of reviewers have mentioned this is a really weak jing xuan but I’m not sure I’ve ever had another one. It reminds me a bit of a milk oolong.

3rd steep: 10 seconds. The leaves are opening up a bit and I think I’m detecting a peaches and cream flavor. Although I am keeping my steeps short, I am detecting a slight vegetal bitterness in the finish.

This is an enjoyable oolong but not destined to be a favorite. I may try cold brewing the rest of this sample to see what happens!

Tea of the mid morning here. It’s been ages since I have had any sheng but I was really in the mood for this today. I love the sticky rice/pop-corny element in this tea.

See previous notes for more details.

Thanks again to Hesper June for this sample — see previous notes for more info.

It’s already been a busy weekend of socializing and art events for me, I needed something to wake my assam up so I can get motivated to be productive. :)

Tea of the morning here… I agree with Bonnie that this has a malty, almost bready quality in the flavor. It has a bit of sweetness too that reminds me ever so slightly of a golden monkey. It has a bit of that sweet potato quality. Not much bitterness in the finish here, it’s good with a splash of soymilk too. Sorry I don’t have time to write much more. I’ve had a few assams I liked better but this is nice.

It’s been a hellacious week at work and I’ve lots of time to try practicing my equanimity and patience a.k.a. – not blowing my top!

TGIF Steepster!

Sipdown! Drank the last bit of this tea of a lovely, sunny day.

I probably won’t get anymore but I did enjoy this…

Tea of the afternoon here – this is good with a splash of soymilk and nice for a dreary winter’s day.

Current beau told me I don’t need to buy any more tea for the next 5 years but it’s a good thing I don’t take orders from rational, sensible people (or anyone, really….)

Tea of the late morning here; I love this fruity and smoky cuppa on a rainy day like today.

I just looked at the bottom of the tin and not only is this tea named after the War of 1812 but evidently I also paid $18.12 for it at the store. Clever!

Backlog – we had this tea last night before bed and I enjoyed it much more than I remember so I decided to bump up the score a bit. I recommend a touch of sweetener to make this a bit more palatable.

This came in my Nature’s Tea Leaf order but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet. I know that rosemary is supposed to have a lot of health benefits and I do use it a lot in cooking, though I’ve never had it in a tea before.

This is a lot better than I thought it would be, the white tea has a nice fruity sweetness which complements the rosemary. There is a definite nuttiness to this, which reminds me of sesame or almond oil. I was worried it would be too “savory” but the rosemary is a bit on the subtle side. I’ll have to remember to drink this the next time I have a cold!

P.S. I really don’t think there’s any Vitamin B12 in rosemary, despite the claims made by Nature’s Tea Leaf.

This was the sample that came in this month’s Lupicia newsletter, I already have this tea so I am quite familiar with it, still reminds me of jolly rancher candies and is a little over the top in terms of flavoring for me. Still fairly enjoyable on this overcast day.

Tea of the morning here; I really enjoy the strawberry mixed with the slight tartness of the rhubarb. Still one of my favorite teas from Lupicia and I definitely need the boost because I’m sitting satsang with Adyashanti today and I have a busy day ahead!

Good morning Steepster – I hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day, mine was very romantic and I thought this tea would help motivate me a bit for the work day ahead.

There is a slight bitterness in the finish of this I am not really enjoying, but it could be that my steeping parameters were off. Otherwise it is reminding me of a gunpowder, very vegetal in an artichoke sort of way, earthy, I’m picking up a hint of smoke.

Tisane of the evening here… I haven’t been writing as much lately because I’ve been pretty busy. Anyway this is a bit more delicious than I remember and is definitely good with a bit of soymilk.

Happy Valentine’s, Steepster!

Hmm
It’s a sipdown for me and this tea. I guess I will need to start getting my Temi teas from Upton Tea Imports in the future. I have enjoyed this a lot!

I found a tin of this tea in the back of my tea cabinet and thought I’d drink it for a mid-afternoon tea boost. Evidently I’ve never reviewed this before. It is a bummer that RtR has folded their business already.

Anyway, I find this to be a delightful brew. I steeped mine for 4 minutes and it is definitely darjeeling-esque. I am picking up the walnut notes with a tiny bit of bitterness. There’s a slght fruitiness but I don’t know that I’d call it muscatel. Might have to steep this at a slightly lower temp. to see if I can bring out those grape notes. This was really good with some coconut sugar which made the flavors pop a bit.

TGIF Steepster! :D

Tea of the afternoon here – I still have lots of FF darjeelings from last year but this is one of the only SF ones I have. Probably do NOT need to buy any more darjeelings this year unless I can get this cute guy I know interested in tea. ;-)

Tea of the afternoon here; this is a pretty decent little tou cha – see previous notes for more info.

hmm. not much more to say about this one aside from the fact that it is sooo delicious and one of my favorite Japanese green teas. see previous notes for more details.