Auggy

I’m in a brown mood today. Not a bad brown mood – I’m in quite a good mood actually – I just feel very attracted to brown today. Brown shirt, brown flip flops, brown eye shadows, bronzer instead of blush… It’s just a happy brown day.

But because of my affinity toward brown, I didn’t want a sweet or fruity tea today. I wanted something solid. I would say I wanted something brown but most teas end up brown… Rather I wanted something that tasted like a happy brown. So I pulled this one out.

I probably could have used just a tiny bit more sugar or milk (for my 12 oz travel mug I pretty much just waved the sugar and milk over it) to make it a wee bit smoother because this was encroaching upon the taste I would want for a grumpy brown day, but ultimately it worked out. Very nutty tasting, maybe malty (I’m still I little unsure as to that actual taste but I’m pretty sure that’s what I got more toward the end of the mug), strong and a little rough, but not bad. Good for a happy brown day.

Yet another sample that is now gone. This one is a perfect example of how I end up with tons of little bits of teas left… when they go away, they make me sad. Flavorful and smooth, it’s not got a heavy mouth feel or much thick feeling to it. I will miss it greatly. Must order.

Too overrun with mint, not enough tea. And even that tea is decaf (dangit!).

I drank most of it but gave up at the end.

I know the tea says to steep with boiling water, but I just can’t steep a green in boiling water. I can’t. I did 190. That’s as high as I could go.

Anyway, this tea is yet another tea past its “best by” date. Oops. So that might play some part in why the scent and flavoring seemed kind of light. It smells light oranges, yes, but you really have to give it a good sniff to smell it. And as the tea cools, I can smell my hand lotion more than the tea. (My lotion is, ironically, unscented).

Taste is only a little different. There is a not-quite-bitterness to it that makes me think “SEE! This is why I don’t steep greens in too-hot water!” but then I revisit and think “Oh, wait… that’s not bitter from steep, that tastes like orange peels.” So the flavor is stronger than the smell… but not as easily identified.

Drinking this, I remember why this one got past its “best by” date. The sencha got there because I just wasn’t in a sencha mood for a bit. This one got there because I just don’t like it that much.

In its defense, though – hubby really likes this tea, giving it 4 out of 5 stars. He says it has “a good flavor to it with an odd combination of smooth and rough”, adding that he could easily drink a lot of it and thinks it would be awesome iced.

So there you go.

This is actually quite good. It has a dark, somewhat heavy taste but that works for it. I can’t really pick out the almond or the valentines which is fine by me because that means that it isn’t overwhelming. Valentines tends to hit me as too bitter so any tea with too much of it just comes across as a bit too rough for me. Anyway, this ends up being a fairly stout tea with smooth edges that I think would hit the spot on mornings that I can’t deal with something sweet but don’t want something harsh either. Pretty rich and feels very full-flavored in my mouth.

The initial smell is peachy and the taste is peachy but not as sweet as the smell. Pretty smooth. A little smoky from the oolong, I think. I think the white peach only comes out in the aftertaste – it seems sweeter/fruitier than the peach oolong on its own has when I’ve had it before. The sweeter white seems to balance the smokier, dark flavor and it’s all wrapped up in a peachy bow. All in all, a pretty good peach tea.

Used more leaf this time just because I didn’t have enough 2 separate sessions, just one large-ish session. Cut down the steep time a bit to compensate.

The first thing I though upon taking a sip was “Pineapple!?” That sweeter flavor that I found before but couldn’t ID is apparently coming across as a pineapple flavor today. More fresh than canned… the taste of one that is a lighter yellow and not so juicy. So mild pineapple, but yeah. Plus some honey. So more like not-juicy-pineapple brushed with honey.

Not at all what I was expecting with this but it’s good!

3g/6oz – This one really hits the spot tonight for some reason.

The husband said the smell reminded him of scotch… after discussion we determined maybe that was the chestnut notes Adagio describes? Honestly, I have no clue what a chestnut tastes like. Pecan, yes. Peanut, yes. Walnut, sorta. Anything other nut? Not so much.

Anyway, slightly sweet with a fairly heavy/dark flavor (for a green) and with a slight undertone of seaweed (a bit like the dehydrated wakame I use when making miso soup), a tiny bit of the briny taste I seem to always taste in Chinese greens (but not much) and a hint of dryness after a sip.

I’m going to have to try a chestnut to see if that’s the dark flavor that dominates this tea or if it is something else.

Good, very grassy, sweet. Not as buttery/creamy as the Imari nor with the same mouth-feel but still good. Still has a great fresh taste which is surprising since it’s best by date was in July. (Oops). Don’t think I get any sweet potato taste out of it though. If pushed I might say the taste I get when I hold it in my mouth is raw sweet potato but I don’t think anyone would ever drink this and good “mmm, sweet potato”. Though they might go “mmm, grass clippings”. But you know, good grass clippings.

One more sample gone now – yay!

But that’s pretty much the only good thing about this tea. It tastes flat and like it’s the water used to boil some edamame or something. Maybe it is because this was stored in a plastic bag (yes, I know, shame on me) or because it is pretty old (I’ve ignored it for a couple of months and I don’t think it was all that fresh when I got it). But whatever it is, this isn’t enjoyable to me.

I’ll probably finish this cup because it isn’t awful or anything, but I don’t think I’ll try a second steep. Ever.

Last of this tea, which makes me feel really accomplished. Not so much because this tea is gone but because I’m getting rid of the little drips and drabs I’ve had around for so long because I don’t want to use them up. Well, time to purge.

This one is very peachy, but not Jolly Rancher peachy. More Japanese fruit gummy peachy. I like it. Probably won’t get more of it right now because peach-flavored things aren’t huge in my book (this one was purchased for the husband – he’s a huge peach fan), but I WILL be getting more Lupicia flavored blacks in the future. I love how they flavor things. They have the rare flavored black teas that I can actually drink with no milk or sugar. Good stuff.

I have a confession: I will eat icing straight out of the tub. In fact, I’ve bought icing just for that purpose. I prefer the chocolate fudge icing, but DH likes vanilla best so we’ll alternate.

This tea with a little sugar and milk tastes a lot like the vanilla (or maybe the cream cheese) icing we get. Rich, really sweet (I didn’t use much sugar but obviously I should use less), totally dessert-like. I feel like I’ll go into sugar shock from drinking my whole travel mug full.

But I kind of like that feeling so I’m a fan.

This is leftover from Saturday, I think. Steeps 3 and 4 iced. I usually try to drink stuff the day after I brew it when iced, so this one is a bit older. Oh well. If I die in the next hour, we’ll know why.

This tea has no sugar but it tastes like sweet tea. Not like southern sweet tea – it isn’t that sweet – but what non-southerns make their sweet tea taste like. Then there is there slightest smoky taste on the tail. It’s really good. Makes me even sadder that this tea is gone.

ETA – As it warms up, the smoky tastes becomes stronger though the tea still tastes sweet and smooth.

You can peg the Cinnamon right away. And at first sip I like it. I didn’t know what else was in it (never would have guessed coconut) but looking at the ingredients, I’m pretty sure it was the Valentines with the Cinnamon that ultimately made me not so hot on this tea. It took me a while to drink it because I felt a bit like the tea was trying to beat my taste buds into submission. That strong and flavorful first taste just became too much sip after sip. The Cinnamon added to it makes it a bit like a tea that stood too close to chai for a while but not long enough to really get the chai flavors going. Though I can see how others would like this. I’m not a huge fan of Valentines – I find it too tart – but those that like it would probably enjoy this blend.

A while back, I had a larger sample of a honey orchid dan cong. I didn’t have a lot of sessions with the tea and could never get it quite right but part of the thing I enjoyed about it was the mental image it brought up for me.

Last year I went to the Big Island of Hawaii. We stayed at this hotel right on the ocean and had breakfast in their open-air restaurant every morning. Each morning we were up early enough that it was still a little cool, typically a bit overcast and there was just enough breeze to give you a constant fresh-ocean smell plus hints of flowers growing in the hotel’s garden. And drinking that tea would put me right back in that restaurant, getting ready to start my day while seeing if I could spot sea turtles. http://tinyurl.com/ybhxrln But there was something lacking in the tea (or in my brewing of it) so when I ran out, I didn’t feel the need to get more.

This tea reminds me of that one, but it has that something extra. So I get a little taste of overcast ocean plus a little something else – honey? fruit? a stronger floral? Don’t know. But it’s good. And I like it.

I don’t hate this. I was expecting to hate this, but I don’t.

Not a fan of rooibos or chamomile. I’m okay-ish with peppermint but much prefer spearmint. But for some reason, this mix kind of works for me. I mean, I’m not going to suddenly convert and drink this every night. But every so often, I might find the desire to have a little.

Oddly enough, I get a chocolate taste from it. No clue why. Not heavy chocolate, sort of the aftertaste from some Girl Scout Thin Mints.

This is easily the best iced oolong I’ve had that I didn’t make myself. Most bottled oolongs I’ve had before are more oxidized and I prefer greener oolongs. This one is nicely green – not overly floral but still sweet. Really good for commercial bottled tea.

Really wanted some Fine Earl Grey Lavender this morning, but I only had a gram of that. So I took that tiny gram of FEGL and put it with enough of this to make my normal morning 28 oz (shared – I don’t drink all 28). I’m sure the lavender barely made a difference.

This is good Earl Grey. I enjoy it. I will probably never crave it, but then I rarely crave full on Earl Grey. I tend to enjoy the slightly softer versions (Lavender anyone?) more. But this isn’t overly strong so it works out pretty nicely. I’ll keep hunting, though, for my perfect, slightly softened Earl Grey. But if I’m at a loss one day and feel I must have EG in my pantry, I think this EG would get voted in.

With this, I’ve finished off two more teas in my pantry.

Yet another tea I’m finishing off today. I guess I’m just really picky with my flavored greens. I prefer them to be light enough that the taste of the tea comes through nicely. Most flavored greens seem to be more about the flavoring than the tea though, and this one isn’t an exception. It’s a nice flavor though, so I don’t dislike this tea. It’s just not what I’m normally in the mood for when I reach for a green tea so while I don’t hate it, I can’t really love it either.

I decided to have this tea this afternoon when I thought I’d need it as a comfort tea. But turns out it is a celebratory tea.

Just when I thought that this month’s budget had been bent over and had dirty, dirty things done to it (kitty surgery + biopsy, $600+ of car maintenance, new car battery), I discovered today that this month is a magic month. Yay for biweekly paydays! And yay for three in one month! Now, instead of mourning the dip into our emergency fund, I am celebrating the unexpected black ink at the bottom of our budget month!

Chai is always a treat for me. Because of the time it takes to make (I do half milk, half water, tea, sugar all thrown into a pot and brought to a boil for 5 mins) this is an evening tea but due to sugar and caffeine, this is something I only do when I can stay up somewhat late. On top of that, the rich spiciness makes it something I have to be in the mood for. Usually that mood is for the tea-equivalent of curling up on the couch with an afghan. And that’s really what I thought I’d be using it for tonight.

But no. I get to use it while I relax and go “ahhhh!” and bask in the celebratory glory of a surprise magic month while I surf the net to figure out what teas I’m going to buy with some of this month’s overflow. Seriously. Gonna buy tea.

I’m feeling especially chipper tonight so I decided to go heavy on the leaf and pretty much doubled it. The milk keeps the spiciness from being overwhelming but I can tell it is there. And I like it. I think I’m even going to try resteeping, something I haven’t attempted with chai, so we’ll see how that goes. After all, it’s going to take a while to figure out what teas I’m going to get.

YAY!

Drinking steeps 3 & 4 from last night iced. When it was hot, I got a sweet taste, then the heavier not-tart taste second. Iced, I seem to get them both together. The sweetness might have even moved a little bit to the end of the tea. As it warms up a bit, the not-tart taste becomes more dominant. Anyway, it’s pretty different from my normal teas but this has a refreshing, summer-in-a-field kind of taste that is nifty.

I thought I’d be daring tonight and try another white tea. I did a shorter steep time than suggested because that’s just how I roll. (Yes, I’m a dork)

I don’t know if I would have gone with ‘blueberry’ on this. Maybe I just don’t have blueberries frequently enough – I’m more of a blackberry girl except for the rare muffin. But at the same time, not being beaten over the head with blueberry is a good thing in my world, so that’s a point in this tea’s favor.

It definitely has a sweet fruity flavor, but not too sweet. There’s maybe a little underlying something – not quite tart but just enough to give it a fuller flavor. The more I sip on this, the more I like that and this tea.

Yay! White teas aren’t anywhere near as horrid as I thought!

Whee! So many little slides and settings! So fun! Yay upgrades!

Ahem, anyway. This tea just didn’t do it for me today. It wasn’t bad. It was just… there. Maybe a little burnt tasting towards the end? Mostly, I’m just sad that this doesn’t taste orange to me. It’s boring and plain. I want oranges, dangit!!! The most I get out if it, if I try really hard and squint my eyes and turn my head juuuuuust right, I can kind of taste something similar to licking the outside of an orange.

Yeah, that’s not enough orange. The last bit of this tea will be blended into something. It’s too meh on its own for me.

It’s official: Lena rocks! Why? Because she sent me this tea.

BEST. JASMINE. EVER.

Seriously. This is what I should have had last night when I was let down by the clunky, graceless jasmine oolong I brewed. This is light and delicate but yet has a substantial enough flavor that it doesn’t seem like flavored water.

Ugh, I don’t have a good enough command of language to express how lovely this jasmine is. Gorgeous. I love breathing in over the cup – the jasmine scent hits my tongue and is so sweet and yummy that I’m tasting the tea before any gets in my mouth.

Looks like I’m going to have to place an Adagio order soon!