Amy oh

Tea of the mid-morning here… I got this for Dad last Christmas and he has barely touched it, I don’t know why. I think he likes the cheap stuff in the teabag. :)

Even though this is a year old it is still pretty tasty, broth-like and reminds me of spinach. I like it! See previous notes for more details.

I am drinking this at my parent’s house and don’t have too much to say, it is barely worth writing about. Anyway the weather is yucky, snow/rain so I thought I’d have a cuppa. This seems like a Chinese green tea, mildy vegetal and slightly astringent. Would not recommend but I bet it’s cheap. ;-)

Merry Christmas evening Steepster!

This is the 2nd year I’ve gotten Teavana tea gifts from by brother. It isn’t my favorite place to buy tea, but I will not look a gift horse or a gift tea in the mouth. :-P

This is one I haven’t had before and thought I’d brew some up tonight after a long day filled with food & presents. I am tasting mostly lemon in this with a little bit of strawberry and apple. It’s pretty tart but probably very full of vitamin C. My gift also included a bag of the rock sugar so I threw a few of the little pieces into my cup and that made this more palatable. I actually liked this better than I thought I would but I’m not sure I will need anymore once this supply runs out. I bet it would be good mixed with green tea so I might need to try that.

My gift to myself included a subscription to the BBC History magazine on the Kindle so I might have to curl up later with that and some more tea. :)

Merry Christmas Twitter… I hope everyone is having a nice holiday.

This is one of my favorite bagged teas, it’s pretty mellow and smooth. Perfect with a slash of soymilk. See previous notes for more details.

Tea of the afternoon here. Yesterday I was running around Baltimore having a grand old time in Charm City. This afternoon it started snowing and I’m curled up at home with the latest issue of Lapham’s Quarterly and this tisane. Mildly fruity with lots of rooibos, a bit of mango and the herby/minty flavor of tulsi. This is pretty good…. I think I’ll have a 2nd cup. :-)

This was another tea I got at Wegman’s yesterday. I am surprised to see the reviews of it were so mixed because I actually liked this one, even though it’s a teabag.

Sometimes decaf teas are nice in the afternoon and evening when you don’t want to keep yourself awake all night. I’ve had several pumpkin teas this fall which range from great to downright icky. This has a light pumpkin flavor with a nice mix of spices, none are too prominent and overpowering. Sometimes clove can really make a tea strong. The nutmeg here is nice too. I drank mine with soymilk and it was nice for a chilly afternoon. Overall I thought it was pretty good for a cheap bagged tea… much better than the Celestial Seasonings sweet pumpkin tea IMO.

Well — here I am on the East Coast. My family are not big tea drinkers so I got a couple to try at Wegman’s. For a bagged tea this is pretty good but mine does not say it is decaf. Nice plum and black tea flavor with lots of cinnamon. There is hibiscus in it, which I don’t really care for. Thankfully it isn’t too strong and was tempered a bit with a touch of sugar. I wanted to rate this a bit higher, but I am on the kindle fire and it’s hard to control the little slider.

After lunch tea here… I decided to drink it with the remainder of the soymilk I had because I am about to leave for 10 days due to the holiday. Happy to be getting out of S.F. for a while after the year I have had and hoping that 2013 will be better… :)

see previous notes for more details on the tea!

Tea of the morning, this is definitely a great morning cuppa or for anytime! :)

Finally finishing off this sample, great for an overcast and gloomy day… pretty good but better with soymilk. Wondering what tea I will pack with me on a 10 day trip to the East Coast, perhaps I will bring some of the samples I need to try. :)

Now drinking the second of this ancient sample from Golden Moon Tea.

The first time I tried it, I did not pick up too much caramel or sugar but today it seems nicer for some reason. It’s a typical formosa oolong with some subtle sweetness in the finish. I like it pretty well but it is not destined to be a favorite.

I am back to trying this tea after buying it yesterday at David’s Tea…

I really do like this one. The banana mixes very well with the oolong. Normally I don’t like anything with Stevia in it, but the sweetness here is very subtle. Overall a very good tea! If you put some soymilk in it, it reminds me of a banana cream pie… See previous notes for more info. :)

Went out with a girlfriend tonight and I forgot it was SantaCon in San Francisco – where people get dressed up in Santa costumes and get really drunk at a pub crawl. Evidently we were right on the main drag in Polk Street, and needless to say my days of getting wasted are behind me, so I went home early!

So anyway we walked right by David’s Tea and of course I had to go in, I wanted something chocolate-y but without caffeine so they suggested this. It definitely smells a lot like birthday cake but I was not wild about the flavor even though there were sprinkles in it. To me it tasted like maple and honeybush. I did tell them to add some soymilk. Later I realized it has dairy in it too… uck. I should have asked about that!

Anyway I found it to be acceptable but not something I would buy again. I did pick up some more banana oolong while I was there, which is one of my favorite’s from DT so far. There are so many to try though, if I keep going back I might find a new favorite. :)

Thanks to JC for sending me this one! I’m sorry it has taken me so long to try it.

I broke off a small chunk of the tea and decided to steep it in my yixing teapot. This tea has a lovely aroma. At first I was thinking it smelled like an evergreen forest.

Steep #1: It’s been a while since my last sheng. I steeped this for around 30 seconds and was surprised and how mellow it is, you can never tell with younger shengs. The tea liquor is only slightly bitter in the finish and I am also picking up on the fruity notes which are quite pleasant. I have a slight tingling on the tip of my tongue. :)

2nd steep: 30 secs?? I am getting the vegetal notes, perhaps I steped this for a little too long because the 2nd steep is more bitter than the first, still it is good though. Woodsy and a bit of smoke. It seems very invigorating on this overcast day.

Not sure if I will be able to write more on this tea as I have so many things to do this morning… It is really good! Might consider getting a cake.

I am finishing off the last of the 1 oz. sample of this. It is thoroughly enjoyable and I would get some more, so on the shopping list it goes. Hopefully I remember the next time there is something to order from S&V!

Thanks to Hesper June for this one…

I guess like a lot of people I haven’t felt up to doing much with the terrible news today about the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I can only imagine how the poor parents of those children must feel. Indeed it is a sad day for our country.

I felt like hibernating tonight and decided to watch a documentary on Grigori Rasputin. Somehow this tea seemed like the perfect accompaniment; especially as it’s cold and dreary weather today.

This is a VERY strong lapsang and has a heavy BBQ type flavor. Definitely not for the faint of heart but pretty good on a chilly evening. Very strong pine/tobacco flavors. Is there any tea in here? lol… I prefer my lapsangs to be a touch on the milder side but perhaps I will try blending the remainder of this with something? I actually do like this but it is not an everyday drinker for me. Now back to Russian history and may God bless us all…

No notes yet.

I am sooo far behind on trying all my tea swaps! This was sent to me by Tommy months ago and I’m sorry I am just getting around to trying it now.

When I first saw the leaves I was wondering if there was a darjeeling in here because I see some lighter tips. Very attractive leaves and the tea brews up quite dark, IMO.

This does remind me quite a lot of an English breakfast tea which is traditionally made with Ceylon, assam and kenya teas. It’s a bold cup with a bit of wine and tannins in the aftertaste. It was ok to drink plain but I really felt it needed soymilk. Fairly enjoyable as a bracing afternoon cup, but would also be good in the morning.

Finishing off this sample given to me by TeaEqualsBliss. I saw someone on Twitter recently drink their Oriental Beauty as a latte, so I thought I’d try it this afternoon… though my soymilk is not foamy. I guess this would qualify as a tea soy au lait? It’s pretty good! Nice sandalwood flavor and roses too!

Tea of the morning here, finishing off the last of the red tea sampler from Jing, which was excellent. This is a very refined keemun, winey but gentle. See previous notes for more details.

Sipdown!
Alright, I am finally done with a box of this and I think I bought it around last Christmas so it took me an entire year. Yes, I have a sense of accomplishment, thank you for asking. ;-) This is a lot better with soymilk and a touch of sugar, but there are MUCH better dessert teas out there for me.

I haven’t had this tea in ages but I know I drank a lot of it when I was younger. Thought I would try it again today since it was in the office and free.

Sadly this isn’t as good as I remember but I guess I’m a tea snob after spending so much time on Steepster. I steeped for the recommended two minutes but am finding the black tea base to be kind of thin with a bitter aftertaste. The orange and spices are what really make this decent. Probably won’t be tempted to try it again anytime soon.

Tea of the mid-morning here. I don’t actually drink a lot of bagged teas but this sencha from Den’s is always nice. Might need to cut back on the caffeine after this because I’m pretty energized! :-D

This is a nice morning tea, courtesy of Hesper June! Assams definitely belong in the “eye-opening” category for me. I am getting lots of malty notes but also a twinge of bitterness. It isn’t the mellowest assam blend I’ve ever had but I seem to remember this is fairly typical for Irish Breakfast teas. I would not say it is “delicate” per the company’s description, but perhaps I will try steeping it for a little less time also.

Overall, not bad but not something I will feel compelled to buy. Thanks again for the sample, HG! Now I must get my assam to work – hee hee!