Amy oh

No notes yet.

Another sample from my tea pimp, Jenn…. ;-)

I rather liked this but I am a fan of chamomile, almond and especially cardamom. It really smells like a yummy white chocolate dessert!

The flavor here is kind of subtle which is nice – I felt it needed something to “round it out” a bit so for me it was vanilla soymilk. Voila, perfection! I would like a small tin of this, do you think Santa will bring me one? :)

No notes yet.

Purchased from the cafe down the street because someone is in my kitchen having a meeting. Go away so I can make some tea!!!

Smells very fruity-sweet and I am worried it will be nauseating, thank goodness no.

It’s a very light and smooth tea with just a very subtle smattering of fruit flavor. A really good choice for my afternoon. Still I was hoping for more fruit, I guess. Although I don’t mind this I will not rush right out and buy any.

well, this tea is certainly very interesting. It has a very beautiful long and slender leaf shape.

Upon opening it I got a smoky smell like a lapsang souchong which was really surprising!

I stepped this for about 90 seconds in cooler water (not sure of the exact temperature)

To me this tastes of pine, wood and ocean. I’m not sure I love it but it is very intriguing and complex… the website says it carries the taste and smells of the misty northern Fujian countryside where it is grown. I am definitely picking that up here, very cool.

I am quite enamored with this stuff, it is putting all my other tea to shame. sad. ;-)

Kusmi Tea Sampler 3/5

This is a fairly subtle blend which I am coming to appreciate after being knocked over by Prince Vladimir earlier this week. The bergamot is in the forefront here, the citrus and orange blossom is hanging out in the finish in a nice, polite manner. I was worried the orange blossom would be too flowery here but no, it’s very unassuming. I don’t even like bergamot that much so I don’t know why I am drinking all this bergamot flavored tea… :)

I like this pretty well, it seems like an afternoon type of tea for moi so I may end up bringing it to work.

yummm. there is not too much more I can say. For me, personally it is the best chai I have been able to make at home and is the perfect balance of tea, with mostly cinnamon and cardamom flavors with a bit of black pepper and clove. It is sweet and yummy and the cinnamon/cardamom flavors really stand out but I also really like them both. The black tea here is not very pronounced and blends in with the other spices. I highly recommend you try cooking this the traditional way on the stove but is also excellent just brewed plain with milk or soymilk added. My perfect winter tea. Try a bit of brandy too, that is heavenly on a cold winter night.

Some of the reviews here seem to be for the concentrated Rishi masala chai concentrate you make and add milk to, I would NOT recommend this, you need to get the real tea and make it yourself!

I was actually craving a chai today and then I forgot I had this little sample in my desk provided by the ever generous and lovely Jenn…

I think I learned something from my cinnamon spice experience with H & S, their flavor is strong so there is no need to overdo it. I believe I used about 1/2 tsb of this in 8 oz of hot water about 206 degrees.

This is a pretty good spicy chai type of tea. I did add my usual soymilk to mine and then after tasting it I felt the need to add some sugar which is kind of rare for me. On the website it says assam is used as the base for this. I am not picking up too much on the cinnamon or cardamom here and instead am getting a lot of clove and something else, I think perhaps it is black pepper. In any case, I like it but when it comes to chais I am partial to Rishi’s Masala Chai and West Cape Chai, they set the bar pretty high for me. :)

Ono tea – this is the company that has now become Koni tea and I don’t really feel like making a new listing for it.

I liked most of the things I got from Koni – this was good but it was not my favorite out of the bunch. I was hoping for more of a coconut flavor as well. It is a little weak and the coconut is competing with the fruit flavors in here for my attention and tastebuds.

I am having this iced with lunch today. It makes a delicious iced tea….

Bumped up the rating to 100 today… just ‘cause I love it so!! And it’s organic. wheeee.

drinking this again this morning since I needed an energy boost. I measured my water temp at around 135 F and thought this was too low but it is bringing out some nice subtleties of the flavor I did not notice before.

The smell of vanilla definitely hits you when you open the bag! I am reminded of vanilla ice cream. Organic, Fair Trade Certified tea, a definite bonus in my book.

I brewed this for 4 minutes using the water/leaf ratio that Rishi recommends. The brewed tea is a nice and simple way to start my morning. I drank this with some plain soymilk. The vanilla is still fairly strong in the nose but mild on the palate. The vanilla flavor is most strong in the finish of the tasting. I liked this but I do not think it is going on my list of things I must buy again but I’m also just not sure if vanilla tea is really my “thing”. I got a sample of the H & S Vanilla Black also so it will be interesting to try that one soon to compare.

I forget who suggested this to me but I picked some up today and I am liking it…
I am a big fan of cinnamon and plum flavors together, I have the cinnamon plum tea by Rishi which I also like. This one is sweeter and a little lighter on the hibiscus and has some other things like roasted barley and chicory which bring it down to Earth a bit.

Lately I’ve been reflecting a lot on this tea drinking habit of mine and as much as I like trying a lot of different teas it still makes me cringe when I have to buy tea and tea bags that are all wrapped up in plastic and hermetically sealed like surgical instruments. Have we really become this precious? Tea used to get from China to Russia on the back of a camel and somehow the world managed to carry on.

So thanks to Celestial Seasonings for providing simple no frill teabags and cardboard boxes and keeping some waste out of the landfill. I am coming to the conclusion that I have to find more companies that reflect my values as a person. Or maybe I need to just go to local teashops and buy in bulk and bring in my own containers.

Perhaps I am getting a little nutty but it does help me to enjoy my tea when I’m not also obsessing over my contribution to the gigantic plastic gyre in the Pacific Ocean…. ;-)

I almost didn’t recognize this as a Tevana tea – where’s the pound of dehydrated fruit and spices that’s normally floating around in these things?

In any event I was looking for something this afternoon that was mild and easygoing and this certainly has fit the bill. A nice green oolong, very clean tasting, and vegetal. I am getting a bit of nutty flavor in the finish. A classic tea with a great taste. I would certainly consider purchasing this if I ever place another order with Teavana.

Thanks again to Jenn for sending me a sample of this. I LOVE cinnamon and this tea certainly packs a wallop. It is like drinking red hots candy! Sweet and cinnamony and hot and spicy all at once. Definitely seems like a winner for moi.

A few minutes later: I’m not sure my stomach is going to agree with my assessment of the tea. I am getting nauseated. Are there flames coming out of my ears?? I feel like I need to lie down and have a glass of water, geez! Downgraded a lot for the nausea factor… boo. I do love the taste of this but if it makes me ill, I’m afraid it’s got to go in the yuck category… :(

yeah baby!
Now this is really my kind of black tea… malty, smooth, with hints of caramel and yes, sweet potatoes! Not astringent at all, just heavenly! I brewed up a strong cup of this and am quite a happy camper. Thanks to the Steepsterites who recommended it. You can also add me to the list of devoteas. ;-) If you like assams you should give it a try.

Kusmi sampler 2/5 St. Petersburg
With caramel, red fruit and bergamot I am enjoying this quite a lot this morning. It is more mellow and less perfumey, citrusy than the Prince Vladimir of yesterday. Caramel gives it a slightly sweet note. Yes, there is berry here but very subtle. Again, lots of bergamot is not really my favorite thing but the blend here is really quite nice… mmm. I could get used to this! Really quite a nice way to wake up…

I’m not a huge green tea lover but this is definitely one of the nicer ones I have tried lately. I need to write my review since I just finished the sample! It has a wonderful fresh and nutty smell when you open the bag. The tea is super mellow and rich, has a walnut taste and a bit of butter in the finish. I would recommend it without hesitation.

Like a lot of green teas this one is a finicky creature and is easy to ruin if you steep it with water that is too hot or steeping time that is too long. This makes it difficult for me to enjoy at work where I don’t have the benefit of being able to stand around with my timer and thermometer! I was a skeptic but am amazed at how much better my greens are when I keep the water temp. lower & the steeping time short.

I have enjoyed these Laoshan green teas very much, thanks to Verdant for making them available…

Thanks very much to Jenn for sending me a sample of this.

The smell of this tea is just delightful! I am not normally one for floral teas so this may skew my review a little bit. I decided on this as a nice afternoon tea to try. I am very much enjoying this as a relaxing cup of tea. Orange and jasmine flower complement each other pretty well. This is very little girly, and yes, perfume-y but it’s a nice way for me to begin winding down my afternoon. I’d also like to try this as an iced tea…

Finishing up the last bit of it this morning – a very unique flavored oolong from 52 Teas. I hope to see more from them in the future with oolongs.

This is a pretty nice Organic Nilgiri, overall I do not like it quite as much as the one I got from the Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchant at the bulk section in my local Whole Foods. It seems a bit more on the astringent-y, darjeeling-ish side so I had to add soy milk to mellow it out a bit. Probably will try steeping it a little less next time. I am enjoying it this morning but probably will not add to the “must have” list.

Part 1 of a 5 part sampler I got from Kusmi (discovered at the Bi Rite Market in San Francisco). I was pretty excited to find these locally, however they do not carry the large size of the tins in the store, only teabags.

This tea is not for the faint of heart nor the faint of scent. If you hold the tins to your nose you can smell the scent very strongly! Open them up and get a whiff of perfume! yowza…

We picked this particular one to try this morning based on the recommendation of one of the store’s employees. It is a strong and smooth black tea but predominately all you taste here is the spices. Smells very much like root beer! It is such an interesting tea… I am tasting a lot of clove here in addition to citrus and bergamot. The bergamot is nice and subtle and does not provide the same amount of bergamot as an Earl Grey. I am getting a lot of citrus but perhaps not that much vanilla.

I did try steeping it twice, the second steep was weaker and with a lot less perfume and also the citrus flavors are coming though more here so I am not enjoying steep #2 quite as much.

Overall I quite liked this but I suspect I will like a few of the other ones better since I am not a huge fan of grapefruit in tea usually. I also enjoyed this little piece of history on the Kusmi tea company:
http://www.us.kusmitea.com/en/history/i111/information.html