Awkward Soul

I’ve been drinking a gyokuro for most of the afternoon for my blog. I made a huge mess! Water and leaves all over the place! It reminds me how back in art school I was always the one who’d get paint, pencil shavings and graphite all over myself. Things never change!

So, I was craving a good white after all that green tea, and I got time to squeeze another cup in before I cut off caffeine for the day, so how about one of my fav teas? Iced of course – it’s 30c here in Long Beach! WTFFFFFF! I know some of you Steepsters still haven’t seen spring yet!

Super yummy! Love the watermelon flavor, so fantastic! Back to working on blog stuff!

Yeah, sample sipdown!

This time, as a latte! Hmmm.. I really think this tea would be better as a black instead of the mix of black and green. The latte came out a little weak, despite using double the leaves.

Having this iced!

Argggg! I made a nice big tea tumbler of Agua di Jamaica iced, set it on my desk in front of me, then forgot about it when I was knitting. I’m trying to design a market bag knitting pattern and having some issues with cast on stuff.

So, my drink got kinda watery from the melted ice once I realized there’s a nice cold tea in front of me. Really nice berry flavor with a citrus aftertaste! Yum!

Cold Steeped! Darn it, I thought this could be a sipdown, but I got another serving left! BOOOO!

This is much better cold steeped as the astringency is gone. It’s kinda buttery, lots of sharp veg flavor with a little nutty. Ehhh, stale though probably because this tea is kinda old.

YES Sip down! 205 teas now! ARGGGGAHAHHHHH!

I had a very angry bunny this morning. I guess my bathroom trip at 5am got him angry. Benson, “Hey, let me out of cage! 5am is rabbit hours!” Which I didn’t do, and went back to bed.
When I got up, his chew box was flipped over, the litter box was kicked around, and he tore big wads of paper from his litter box and stuffed it inside his food bowl until it was bursting. EWWWW!
I let him out, and he proceeded to nose my legs right where I got mat burned last night at brazilian jiujitsu, which hurt! So I gave him a carrot to stop. The carrot offering appeared to please the bunny for now.

Ugg. I found the last of the Perfect Pear, and steeped the leaves earlier than what I liked, as I wanted tea now to escape the bunny headache. Overall, not bad. Still wish there was more to this than pear. Pear Crumble? ooooh

Freaky, I thought I tea logged this?

Anyways, I got a sample of this from Kasumi no Chajin, yay ty!
First time, I cold steeped it. Very very good! I saved the rest of the sample for a hot round, which did not happen. The last of my sample is me drinking it as another cold steep.
So good! I love the floral in this tea – its like jasmine but much better as it is also sweet and light. Why isn’t there more magnolia teas? The oolong is so crisp and refreshing and the cold steep works very well!
Gah, I should of tried this hot! Oh well, I might just have to order some myself!

Wow, this puerh is really different! There’s no fishyness! It’s not pitch black and strong for the first few steeps – even following the recommended steeping of boiling water for 4 minutes! Butiki’s japanese puerh has some good barley, nutty, brown rice syrup, and coffee. What I found interesting was there was a slight dryness in the first few cups, but it went away with further infusions.
And this tea can resteep very well!

Full review on my blog, the Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/organic-japanese-puerh-from-butiki-teas-tea-review/

I decided to cold steep this Iron Buddha Oolong.

A few hours in, I sampled the cold steep and it taste kinda seaweedy. I got distracted with weight lifting and crocheting stuff. Could hours later, I’m finally having this cold steep. IBO has this strong veg bite to it while going towards a slight bitter taste. I’m getting a lemongrass taste which is really refreshing. Actually, this kind of tastes like the skin of a roasted green pepper!

hmmm, I think I like this cold steeped more, but maybe I’ll go lighter on the leaves next time.

Another sleepy morning. Brazilian Jiu jitsu was really tiring last night. And sweaty! UGG! In BJJ we wear thick gis, which absorb the sweat (ew) – when we do no gi (so just workout top and shorts) the sweat is everywhere. So, my last sparring partner’s clothes felt all over like a wet towel. EWWW! After that, it was shower, crawl into bed. Wake up, crawl out of bed for breakfast and tea.

Mmm, earl grey creme? This came out really good and is waking me up. Love the creamyness and that nice wave of bergamont! My cup cooled as I went for tiger balm and petting my bunny Benson – EGH is still creamy and yummy!

Sip down, yeah! Gahh, I need to get under 200 teas!

Made this iced! The mango here came out a little different, mixing strongly with the rose. The peach is a great refreshing aftertaste, working well iced. Actually, this is better iced, the refreshingness is pretty good!

Gotta get ready for brazilian jiu jitsu. Bleh, no gi tonight, so overly sweaty class!

Bleh, having a slow day with emails piling up and crochet bits of owls I need to stitch together. I didn’t nearly drink enough tea today, but my thighs are dying!
I did the “Call Me Maybe Squat Challenge” http://youtu.be/xDpB8pWEjhk which I survived! I died at the end and was like “omg, no more” and realized it was done! WOOT!! Take that squat challenge! A overweight, though burly brazilian jiu jitsu gal finished it first try! Oww my thighs!

So, iced tea? Okay – Wild Watermelon iced is MUCH better! I added german rock sugar and a teeny bit of light agave for sweetness. You know, this tastes like a watermelon jolly rancher! Actually, I like this better than a watermelon jolly rancher!

ps. Being a tea fanatic – I was eyeing the giant tea cup in the background of that workout video the entire time! OMG I want!

Turkish spiced apple tea? Yes please! I love Bluebird Tea co’s lineup – so many cool teas, I think I might need to order from them again!

Very lovely spiced apple tea! I love the sage here as it really sets Ankara Apple from other apple spice teas. The savory green tea compliments the sage, cinnamon and clove spice, with the natural juicy apple makes this tea nice and snuggly! Oh, how I’d love to have a cup of this tea in the winter with apple slices and cinnamon sticks!

I prefer this tea with some sweetener! It makes the apple pop much more! I was wishing this one had more apple flavor, but sweetener fixes it.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/ankara-apple-from-bluebird-tea-co/
I’m a tea bird!

Sample of this from Rachel Sincere, yay! TY!

Very interesting tea – it’s kinda light/ slightly water, with a coconut, little creamy and little roasty almond taste. The black tea in this (or the green for all I know) is going astringent.
Appearance wise, it’s got a film on it, I’m guessing from the white chocolate. I kinda think this could be better just as a black tea, not as a mix or with more chocolate! Always more chocolate!

Hmmm, not bad but I probably need to mess with the steeping times and maybe drop the temp down to dump the astringency.

I went to the LA farmers market as part of my anniversary outing! Looked like it was gonna rain the whole time! Though, last year it rained really heavy after the ceremony!

I got a nice glass gaiwan and cute owl cake pan
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OMG must make Owl tea cakes!

and I got home just in time to have a round of tea before I cut myself off caffeine for the evening! So, running Dragon Feelers though my glass gaiwan, which is ouch, hotter to deal with. I’m tempted to knit some gloves (cute owl cables?) with little non slip finger tips for gaiwan use! That be so geeky!

Dragon feelers? So far so good. I think I like the western brewing better as the flavor is stronger, but this is still good. Very green beany today. They are entertaining to watch in a glass gaiwan!

Ugg, steak tartar for dinner.

Today is my husband and I’s first wedding anniversary! We had our civil ceremony a year ago, though our family wedding event was 6 months ago. (I had a fiance visa, so we had to get married in 90 days, so we couldn’t plan the wedding that quick).

So, of what teas I have time to drink today, I will drink my favorites! This one! So I tried it at 175f instead of 212f – i can taste the green tea more, the tart is less, and less fruityness. The colour of the cup is an orange. Overall, a lighter flavor.

Hmmm, it’s a toss up, but I think I like 212F more. Maybe I’ll try a temp in the middle!

Off to.. I dunno what we are doing yet. The weather is pretty grey looking so picnics and garden tours might be out.

I have a huge jar full of individually packaged bagged tea. I remember this one was a favorite before loose leaf.

I totally dislike when I open the package and I get sprayed with matcha. Taste? ehhh, kinda stale, though this has to be pretty old. The silk plastic tea bag I can see the tea looks like grainy mush. Oh, i’m spoiled from loose leaf. Snooty owl!

Yum!
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Had this while I made dinner. I was cooking a chicken recipe from “50 Shades of Chicken” cookbook. Seriously a very weird cookbook! Nice recipes though. I’ve been using my gaiwan while I’m in the kitchen doing stuff like cooking or cleaning.

This tea was really light for gaiwan runs and the first steepings looked like hot water, but had that sweet corn vegetal taste! I got ummm.. 4 steepings? I can’t remember. Last couple where really good and had a pale peach colour to the tea.

Oh, and I was interrupted by the UPS guy. I had like 5 seconds on my steep and the doorbell rang. I chose to pour the tea and get the door rather than oversteep. It wasn’t a tea related package though, boo!

Thanks to Rachel Sincere for a sample of this! TY! Wild Watermelon kinda looks like DavidsTea Goji pop.

Wow, this is pretty good – it’s a refreshing and watermelony with a grassy tang of lime. Its slightly sweet, but could use more sweetener.

I got another cup’s worth, which I will save for an iced tea later on.

I’m really tired this morning, but awake enough to use loose leaf.

I added german rock sugar while steeping – yum! I love the cakey, pineapple flavor of this tea! Bleh, still tired though, need to drag myself to the post office.

Sample sip down!

ARGGGHHHGG! I got the hiccups and they are bothering me! GO away! /hiccuphiccup! I got a sample this with my last DavidsTea online order. I cold steeped this tea for like 7 hours.

Ehhh, it’s okay. The pomegranate is really light as an aftertaste with a snippet of tart. The main flavor is the strong green mixed with a bit of black tea richness in it. I’m oddly picking up some floral, like jasmine. My roommate thought this was a jasmine tea as well.

Drinking this makes me miss Pom Power – now that’s a pomegranate tea!

Sip down!

Sad – had an interesting tea tale with this one. I disliked it the first time I tried it, but was told to make it as a latte, now we are talking! Steepster is awesome!

Anyways, my last latte. I’ve been saving this cup, but I really need the tin room right now. Sadly, as much as this is tasty buttery, rummy, coconutty latte tastyness, I don’t think I’d get more of this tea for awhile as it’s only good as a latte.

Anyways, off to work on some artwork – it’s my wedding anniversary soon

More samples! Wahh, this one is kinda old, oh well. This one came from Kittena!

First sip and I’m reminded that 52 Teas makes good lemon teas. The lemon tastes zippy and flavorful with a hint of sweet. The strawberry fruit hits me as a mild aftertaste. The white base seems a little stale, however, this sample has been kicking around my “try it” box for awhile.
I’m gonna wish list this one – I can see this being a killer iced tea, with slices of lemon and strawberries! YUM!

Sip down sample! This one’s from Kasumi no Chagin.

I got 4 rounds with a gaiwan on this black. First 2 infusions were really good! Had an interesting sweetness and fruity (grapey raisin?) going on that I wasn’t expecting. However, steeping 3 it started getting bitter and steeping 4 was full out bitter.

I find the bird logo on these Majani teas quite attractive!

Sip down!

I gotta say, this tea is lovely. Cool name! Still tastes like minty cream soda to me, with a slight astringency.

Must drink down samples to make room for more tea! Maybe I should just buy more tea tins.