Autumn Hearth

Still one of my absolute favorites though I do wish I had some of Verdant’s Big Red Robe to compare, hasn’t been in stock for awhile. My sister ordered me a good amount of this and a few other teas (mostly the new alchemy blends I fell in love with) for Christmas, bless her! Now I can stop hoarding and start drinking! Still I revived this one from yesterday, because, well I can. See previous note. Me thinks I shall brew some Dan Congs this evening!

Also saw Les Mis last night with the sister and brother-in-law and we all agree it was pretty epic! We all loved Russell Crowe’s performance despite ourselves. The casting for Madame and Monsieur Thénardier (the inn keepers that were keeping Cosette) were a surprise for us and we loved them, perfect!

Ho hum! Tried this months ago and then again the other day and I really just couldn’t drink this. I don’t have much experience with Bi Luo Chun and while “soapy scent” doesn’t sound appealing, I don’t think that’s the issue. It’s a bad taste, I’ve experienced before, mostly in green teas, usually from swaps but occasionally from my own stash. I think it’s just old and *Michelle*’s tasting note confirms that for me. So I shall not rate, just want to make a note for myself.

My New Year’s resolution I already began a couple months ago: I’m drinking down my greens. I will try to stay in season this year with them, but at least drink within six months, ideally four. After I tossed this, I had a nice long glass tumbler session with some Verdant Dragonwell-style Laoshan Green. I got my mom several Verdant greens for Christmas, a glass tumbler and just bought her a Zojirushi yesterday for her birthday next week. Can’t wait to try the Laoshan Bi Lo Chun green with her!

Steepster will absolutely not let me log World Market’s Mountain Wulong, under either of it’s listings, I tried several times today. I tried two days ago back when I actually drank it. No luck, I get an error message everytime. I saw that Jason was consolidating duplicate teas and while both show up and I was able to add one to my cupboard no logging. Anywho!

I received Mountain Wulong and Ancient Pu-Erh from my sister for Christmas, both loose leaf. I haven’t tried the pu-erh yet, but was pleasantly surprised with this one. I wasn’t sure what kind of oolong it was going to be but based on the reviews, I was hoping for dark and wasn’t disappointed. Nice wiry brown leaves with some silver mixed in. The scent reminds me of an Oriental Beauty or Darjeeling even though I know its from China. And the taste is nice sweet stone fruit, mineral and herbaceous notes.

It reminds me of the first Oriental Beauty I tried almost a year ago that opened my eyes to a whole other world of tea and led me to Steepster. I’ve had teas more complex and unique in the last year, but this is very nice. A good everyday oolong with enough sparkling moments to make it engaging. See this is me being not snobby. Will try to move the note to its proper page once the issue is resolved. Happy 250 tasting notes to me!

This is one that I requested/signed off on in my swap with Tunes&Tea. I think it was because the name was fun and it was from SerendipiTea, because I’m not the biggest rooibos fan, though I have found a few I have enjoyed. So mint and rooibos, very simple and yes very refreshing. The peppermint is dominant in the taste but the rooibos grounds it. Nice palate cleansing, which is exactly what I needed right now! I think I shall take JacquelineM’s advice and add honey next time. Thanks!

Should have looked this up on Steepster before I brewed this as my morning, erm afternoon tea. I thought it was just a black tea along the lines of golden monkey and the company was just being clever with the name (later I realized this is Red Leaf and while they certainly do clever, it’s cleverly flavored blends) as this came in a little baggie compliments of Tunes&Tea thank you! It didn’t smell flavored in dry leaf form, maybe just a touch savory but when I added the hot water I was surprised to find a very fruity aroma rising out of the cup, oh dear, wine tea, in the morning, ahem afternoon. Oh well, I’ll grab a cookie and go with it.

First sip, oh hey this is spicy, hmmm is that cinnamon in my wine, err tea? Mulled wine tea. I like it! I’ve had several wine inspired teas (mostly from Teavana), though never a wine infused tea and never with a black tea base. I don’t mind the musty note others speak of and I think my wine loving aunt would really like this, I got her and her wife a cast-iron pot last year and some aforementioned wine inspired tea, but I think this and a “bottle” of vintage tea works would be good to send along.

The only thing I find weird and I mean really really weird is that when I bite in my Christmas cookie (husband’s grandmother’s recipe, nice and thick and soft and normally oh so delicious) it tasted like a chicken biscuit. Oh dear, is this my subconscious at work (chicken Marsala) or are the tea and cookie really playing off each other this way? Several more bites of Christmas chicken cookie confirm, they really are. I think I’m going to make some pasta for lunch. Thank you Tunes&Tea fr the wild monkey morning, erm afternoon (okay so the toddler and I slept in and then stayed in bed for a long time)!

Thanks to Tunes&Tea for sending this along in a huge box of wide variety of tea that arrived Christmas Eve morning! I’m super excited to try the Asian grocery finds and the pu’erh! Plum sounded good to me this morning (err just before noon) I associate it with the holidays despite the fact the husband could find absolutely no fresh plums to make pie.

So this tea is very pretty, in not sure what the petals are, they looked like saffron at first but when I saw a cluster of them I doubted that, their more pink than orange. The dried leaf has very little scent but the wet leaves smell like dark fruit. I actually spent quite awhile sitting with te cup under my nose, just contemplating the tea. The taste is sweet, fruity, tart and has a cool chalky feel. I’m not totally sold on the plum, but its close. Not sure when this was discontinued, I don’t know anything about the shop it came from, but I enjoyed it.

This tea is keeping my spirits up the day after Christmas thanks to Sare! Sweet minty, candy-cane goodness, very refreshing! I need to stay in the holiday mood because we won’t watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special until tonight! This tea and the snow are helping!

Yes, I fell a day behind in the 12 Days of Christmas swap, but it’s been wonderful! Thank you LiberTEAS for starting and organizing this and all you wonderful ladies for participating! Hope all you Steepsters have had/are having a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!

Thank you Sil for this wonderful interpretation of Eleven Pipers Piping! Scottish pipers indeed! I enjoyed this blend Christmas morning as we Skyped with the in-laws in Indiana.

My three year old son Rowan gave me a Merida doll from the Disney movie Brave, she’s beautiful! And the husband gave me a small Lord of the Rings Lego set with Gandalf arriving with his cart full of fireworks to Hobbiton and a Thorin Oakenshield action figure amongst other things. He got action figures of his own but was very excited about the tiny creamer I found him.

Anywho this tea is awesome. I love a sweet, mild Lapsang and this fits the bill even if it’s not a true Lapsang, I love the smoke. It is like sipping on scotch in the morning ;) The citrus is subtle but gives it a bright feeling. Very nice!

Thanks for sharing a tea from your local shop Sil. Set the tone for an enjoyable Christmas Day!

Apologies for the delay in posting. I didn’t get to this on the 10th day but it did help me stay awake on Christmas Eve to finish wrapping presents. This blend seemed immediately familiar and very herbal. I’ve had a few other blends of mint and cinnamon and/or tulsi and they are very comforting. Just as I was settling into the first cup, the tea morphed into something unique that I’ve never tried before, though I don’t think it was just the guaysa. The tea took on a shimmering quality and I’m not just talking how it looked, but rather how in felt. Somehow the glitter had an effect on my taste buds and it was like this mint and cinnamon tea had been turned into candy and then turned back into tea. Hard to describe, but very enjoyable. Thank you KeenTeaThyme and well done on a magical blend, Leaping Lords indeed!

So tired but didn’t want to neglect this one. Thank you Alphakitty I enjoyed the tea and toffee earlier today. A truly inspired blend and yeah everything LiberTEAS said. Have plenty for later, may write more then. Night.

On the 8th Day of Steepster’s Christmas Swap Purrfect Cup sent to me, Butiki Tea’s Cantaloupe & Cream! When I opened the package and read her note I got so excited when I saw that she had consulted Stacy at Butiki, they have been on my list of tea companies to order from. I got even more excited when I read that she had recommended Cantaloupe & Cream, then my heart sank when I read that she was unsure and I was considering Raspberry Truffle, sure I love raspberry teas and truffles but I wanted to try the creamy cantaloupe confection! I sighed in relief when I read that she came to her senses (I’m teasing Purrfect Cup).

Gorgeous, delicious, cantaloupe and creaminess in a cup! I’m sure many if not most of you reading this have already tried this tea, if not you really must get you’re hands on some. I drink far more straight teas than flavored, but this is so natural and pure tasting. It’s not sugary or full of other non-related fruit flavors (you know how most fruit blends also contain apple, peach, pineapple, no matter what main fruit their trying to imitate.

This is spot on cantaloupe, as if Jelly Belly had made it, minus the tooth ache and over sweetness and unnaturalness of it all. Okay bad analogy, I only made it because the husband received a box of Jelly Belly’s on his mail route and I was impressed with how very pear the pear was but yes my teeth are still aching from he candy. This is much better!

So thank you to Purrfect Cup for following Stacy’s advice and sending us this gem of a blend. I love the tiny tin and am grateful there is a enough for a few servings so I can impress friends with this!

And a very merry Winter Solstice to all! We have snow here, yay!

Special thanks to Rachel for this delicious coconut confection for day seven of the 12 days of Christmas! Rachel recommended pairing this with Thai curry or mango at the bottom of her note. No one has to tell me twice to eat Thai or Indian. This went amazing with my Thai spring rolls and saag paneer( both from the frozen food section). Perfection! It’s a more floral coconut white than a spice or fruit that I’m used to, but it was very smooth and creamy, I think the cornflower helped here.

Call me crazy but I just made Wild Strawberry Genmaicha and it was delicious! These two teas by Tea & Bloom came by way of the 12 Days of Christmas day six from tattooed_tea. She had mentioned fruit and cereal (Genmaicha) and I was inspired. The sweet and savory work well together and this reminds me of Kashi with strawberries or flavored rice cakes or drizzled popcorn balls. Yum!

Thanks tattooed_tea, for this tea, which I had with lunch (Indian food, couldn’t have breakfast all day long). Certainly one of the better orange spice teas I’ve had. Has a nice zing to it, from the cranberry and maybe hibiscus? As it cools it reminds me more and more of some Celestial Seasonings tea from my childhood, which in turns reminds of the holidays. Very nice!

Again it seems everyone and their mother has tried this, but not me. And thanks to tattooed_tea for including this in wee cute present box full of breakfast inspired teas she gave us for Day 6 of the 12 Days of Christmas swap. I tried this earlier in the day, after the bacon. Tis yummy, though I think I should have steeped it a bit stronger. I also used the wet leaves from this and Maple Bacon and brewed them together with a pinch of salt and sugar. They go well together, but I think I would prefer them without the additives.

Wow! Thank you tattooed_tea for sending us this feast of tea for the Sixth Day of Christmas! This is one of five teas, all of them breakfast themed! Since I had already grabbed some strong Sage Derby cheese and Almond Nut Thins I figured the bacon would be best and I quickly scrambled an egg to go with.

When I first sipped this I wasn’t sure. Smoky, sure but what else? But this has started to really round itself out, I can taste the sweet maple, I can even imagine the grease from bacon, this may sound weird or gross but I’m impressed. But this tea has more to it than just the food it’s inspired by.

This tea evokes a scene, the bacon is cooking in a smoky cabin or perhaps over a campfire. This is freaking lumberjack tea! And it reminds me of pu’erh in this way, bringing up sensory memories and the smoke is quite complex.

I definitely want to blend this with Pancake Breakfast, but I think I shall steep this a second time, try the pancake on it’s own and save a teaspoon of each to share with my sister. Sadly because of the smoke, I don’t think the husband could appreciate it. But I say YUM!

Wow there sure are a lot of tasting notes for this tea and I’m grateful to DaisyChubb for choosing this golden beauty for the 12 Days of Christmas swap, thus giving me the chance to add my own.

What an appropriate tea for this day! There are many a golden named tea, golden needles, golden monkey’s, golden fleece, but none shimmer as much as this one. I opened the beautiful hand decorated pouch Daisy made and when I peered inside it was like tiny golden Christmas bobbles were shining back at me.

I find it interesting that tea companies are totally cool with including glittering sugar balls, candy maple leafs and such in their tea and no one freaks out and thinks its horribly unnatural. This actually isn’t my first shimmery tea. I tried Della Terra Tea’s Caramel Candy Apple from the Traveling Tea Box a couple months ago.

That one was kinda pink and girlish, this one reminds me of gold dust and stars and I think could indeed be very romantic, curled up with two cups in front of a fire. Too bad the husband despises cinnamon and we don’t have a working fireplace. Oh well a girl can dream, in which case I don’t really have to picture him anyway ;)

Thank you BoxerMomma for choosing such an appropriate and interesting tea, it’s really putting me in the mood. It’s odd but if this was called Black Bird Tea, I would be like, yeah I can taste that. I do believe this is first tea from Harney & Sons, shocking I know. I have maybe had black currant tea once, didn’t think much of it so Iwasn’t sure what I would think of this one, I like it. It’s quite present without feeling artificial. Subtle yet solid.

There is a tinge of something to this tea that is bothering me though, something I’ve tasted before, something almost metallic (though you know it could just be my strainer that I almost never brew with) but its in the smell too. Will have to experiment with the second half of the sample. Thankfully its the fruit that lingers on the palate and not this odd note. Will also keep other black currant teas in mind as something I like.

this is very good reinfused with a teaspoon of day three’s French Vanilla! Yum!

Second tea I tried from LiberTEAS for day three of the 12 Days of Christmas swap, thank you! I didn’t have time for three black teas (or a black green blend, or really any tea) yesterday, so I enjoyed this one earlier today while making stew. It’s a very nice blend, it feels luxurious but not overly floral. It’s more of a smooth, candy like floral, perhaps the cornflower and vanilla? I might have made it a bit light and will probably steep it a second time. French Vanilla and hopefully Black Currant for tonight, will share the latter with the husband!

Many thanks to LiberTEAS for coordinating the 12 Days of Christmas swap and sending three wonderful teas for the third day! Yesterday was busy, busy, busy for me. My boys and I picked up sister one and her husband to go meet sister two and her family an hour away at their city’s annual Christkindle/Christmas Market. They used to have lots of vendors with booths from their sister city in Germany, but they’ve scaled back in the last two or three years and there were only two booths from Germany and half a dozen others with local artists, vendors and baked goods.

We were hoping to find a Christmas pyramid for sister two’s husband but were disappointed (luckily I had found one online that she liked and I ordered it late last night and I got notification that it shipped this morning from PA, so should be here in plenty of time). Funny side story about that, apparently in my tired state I enter my maiden name for shipping an billing, but I believe my correct name for the credit card. Sigh.

We had a very nice time taking part in the kids activities. We went for a “train” ride (really a tram/tractor with nice cars) the conductor was wild, doing donuts on the paths along the lock and Rowan, his cousins and even mom and dad were smiling and laughing. They also had a “toboggan” chute, plastic slides that could seat three, down three soapy slides. The boys also had fun playing with marbles inside the museum at the lock (featuring Akron made toys, ceramic, tires, blimps and other industries). I also had a really nice local lager, dark sweet and tasty!

Then we went out to eat at an “Irish” sports bar called Barley House. We bit disappointed with that one, but twas good company. I drove everyone home and as it got dark everyone in the car but me fell asleep, I dropped off sister one and her husband and they took a half an hour nap. Stopped home for the husband to use the bathroom, grab some things for Rowan (he stayed asleep in the car with the door cracked open and brew this tea which I really should have had for breakfast, but I was feeling odd and dehydrated when I woke up,perhaps from matcha overload.

This is a very nice blend, not as mapley as I would have thought but well balanced, smooth with a nice sweetness and it didn’t get astringent. I steeped it a second time and offered a sip to my husband who then asked if it was marshmallow flavored, he loves marshmallows, me not so much, but luckily I didn’t make the association ;)

Then it was off to see The Hobbit, which I had some issues with but was overall good. I may write a review after we see it in 3D but I don’t think this is the place for it. I’ve rambled enough in this note anyway!

Many thanks to Azzrian for this wonderful treat! I’ve been wanting to try Red Leaf for months, mostly because of Azzrian’s reviews and this is my first (professionally) flavored matcha! I was overwhelmed by the scent of this when it first arrived weeks ago and have been looking forward to it ever since. This also came with a cute card with two turtle and dove hybrid cartoons, in a lovely wax sealed envelope with an adorable wee wooden spoon attached!

I got three unique brews out of this today. One a small cup with cold milk shared with my housewights, the second a mug with hot water and the third a large and quite strong batch whisked with cold milk and sugar, drunk from a wine glass. The last was my favorite ;) I was hoping to share some of this with my husband, but he took one look at the sage brew in the stemware and said “no way”. His loss.

This is really delicious and I wanted to keep on drinking, but the buzz attacked quickly the third time round and I had to set it aside. Hopefully it will keep covered in the fridge till morning, I will re-whisk of course, it should be a nice jolt to start a busy day. I will not wax poetic about the taste as it is almost 1 am (actually not that unusual for me to be up this late). But suffice it to say it is a creamy, sweet and smooth, decadent treat that lingers on the lips (I could taste it long after when I sipped water). Ironically it does remind me a bit of lip gloss in taste, but in a very fond way.

One day I hope to order from Red Leaf, when our budget allows and I’m sure then I will think fondly of Azzrian for introducing me. Cheers!

Finally sitting down with this, though I did try it when blending. First a big thanks to LiberTEAS for starting this swap! I’m very happy to be part of it. And thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I was not expecting anyone to rate this or rave about it, but it warms my heart on this otherwise very sad day.

This tea was a thought experiment and I’m mostly pleased with it. I knew I wanted yabao, a woodsy sheng, juniper, pear, apple, cinnamon and maybe clove (I did not get to add that last one). When David release his Eight Treasures Yabao it made things easier, though I wasn’t sure how the jasmine and goji berries would play out, but I figure blossoms are just one part of the tree. I looked at lots of pear melanges but intended up purchasing two pear teas from Teavana (White Asian Pear and Anjou Pearadise) and sorting all the fruit, removing the tea, hibiscus and rose petals.

This is where this blend sort of fails for me personally, it smells too fruity and reminds me too much of other Teavana blends. Just pears and apples probably would have been best, but the peach and pineapple added sweetness and the orange slices looked festive, though I think they taste a bit too strong especially in the second and third steep. I’m going to try steeping this out further but I don’t think the fruit lends this well to extended gongfu brewing.

However it was fun to create (I also loved designing the labels!) and I do like the taste of the first cup. I would love to see what David could do with something like this, sourcing some pear, adding clove maybe even some tulsi. For those that haven’t tried the Eight Treasures Yabao Winter Blend from Verdant and liked this, I highly recommend you order at least a sample. I love it and its non-winter counterpart. Looking forward to tomorrow, thanks ladies!

Omm nom nom nom nom. I’m not the biggest genmaicha fan, only had a few, but this is delicious! Super savory and hearty. Second steep is just heaven. The third a brewed a touch too long, but it’s starting to create this really need cooling effect when I breath after a sip, it feels a bit like anise doesn’t quite taste like it, though it comes with a sweetness. Interesting. I want to make soup out of this, but I need a bigger tea budget, sigh. Not feeling much like rating things right now, but this would certainly be in the 90’s.

Drinking this today as I’m feeling pretty drained, rough night with the toddler not wanting to sleep in his own bed and the husband insisting he did. I must preface this by saying that I haven’t had rose in too many teas and the ones that I have were mostly Victorian tea room type blends. So when the rose came through prominently on the first steep I was a bit confused. Why does this Verdant spa blend taste all Victorian? Sweet, floral, soothing and tasty, but I still have the Victorian connotation. The second infusion I did western style, which may be more effective anyway, and the ginger and tulsi came through more.

I couldn’t resist adding Laoshan Black to the third infusion after reading Bonnie’s tasting note. Mmm chocolaty… reminds me of a zestier version of Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black. Would probably do green when sick but today I need the energy. Yum!