Bonnie

Hi Everyone.
I know this is not the first time I’ve reviewed this tea but I needed a good friend to comfort me tonight.
This Chai is a comfort tea, one of my special Jewels in my cupboard.

I knew that writing a review would be difficult tonight.
I’m so upset about the fires raging in Colorado. There’s a new fire in Boulder close to Steepster Chadao. There’s a big fire with 32,000 evacuations tonight in Colorado Springs where Steepster Jason works. The fire here in my County is 65% contained after burning 85,000 acres and 260 homes. There are 16 fires in all!!! Plus 5 days of heat over 100 degrees.
Please remember your fellow steepsters and the people fighting these fires. I have friends in the path of this newest fire.
(While writing this a message came across my Facebook from friends in Colorado Springs. Just one word ….evacuating!)

Review:
I can always count on this particular Chai to comfort me with a blanket of warmth from cinnamon, fennel (love it) and burdock. The additional hint of saffron is such a special treat. Who else does that?

Another thing I love is the restraint in blending clove, cardamon and peppercorn. It irritates me to no end when I take a sip of Chai and a spice bomb goes off in my mouth that tastes like a bag of mulling spice mix full strength….blech…spit it oout! You’ll never get an awful vulgar spice bomb from Verdant! This tea is smooth. Mellow. Restrained, yet with enough oomph to stand up to sweetening and cream if you want additions.
The star of the show…the best of the best…is the Laoshan Black Tea base. Cocoa, thick and juicy tea that stands on it’s own as absolutely spectacular. It’s a treat to have this incredable tea used for Chai. Did someone make a mistake? Shouldn’t Verdant have used another black tea of lesser quality? Not happening! That’s not the way Verdant operates and I’m soooo glad. I benefit! We all benefit and can enjoy the best available tea and blended tea’s without denegration of quality.

My time with this Chai (one of my Jewels) was good for me tonight, relaxing and uplifting. Comforting.

I hope you will join me in sending good thoughts if that’s what you do, or prayers if you are one who prays for the people fighting the fires here in Colorado and those who are in danger and have lost their homes.

Thanks.

I had a little bit of this sample from Amanda left in the bin…and decided to purge…(such an ugly word)…the rest from my ‘Monster Tea Cupboard’. (My tea cupboard is alive and Claws at me with Talons and Tenticles as I walk past it in the kitchen! Creepy!)I think it’s time for some of the naughtier tea’s to ‘Another One Bite’s the Dust’ and some of the tablespoon sized hanger-on-ers to ‘Hit the Road Jack’!(You know you have um too!)

I found little hanger-on-er Smoky Chocolate 52teas in a little zip packet hiding on the top shelf bin. It smiled a half smile at me and turned swiftly to slink back into the darker part of the cupboard. I swiftly scooped Smoky up and poured the leaves into my brew basket before little 52tea knew what happened. (I did hear a tiny voice “…” explative…!)
Boiling water and a 4 minute steep transformed my friend into a medium smoke liquor tasting malty but not very chocolatey.
The flavor is pleasant…not bad, but not chocolate or mocha or cocoa.
I had likened the flavor in my first review to a Necco Wafer Chocolate Candy, and that’s where I stand. A little chalky, malty and smoky.
The recommendation would have to be that this is a smoky tea and that it’s smooth and fairly good tasting. The saving grace is that the flavoring used was not bad and leaves no sour aftertaste!

Adios little tea!

I reviewed this tea 5 months ago when I was just a wee baby Steepster.
Now I must be an adolescent. A teenaged Steepster, not quite respectable and wise like my elders who’ve been here for a long, long while. My irreverance irratates many I’m sure.

I remember when fun flavored tea was all the rage with me. Packages of DavidsTea from Canada arriving at my home in Colorado was a thrill. I can’t believe that in such a short time I’ve learned so much about tea and that I drink mostly unflavored or naturally flavored tea now.

To revisit and reevaluate tea gives you a chance to see where you’ve come from and test your palate to see how your taste has changed.
Tonight, in drinking Check Mate, I took another look at what was a pretty nice cup of coconut scented tea 5 months past. Would I still rate this tea the same today?

Review:
The flavor was coconut but with a sour aftertaste that I associate with artificial flavoring. I don’t like it at all. A nice cup of tea with promise of cocoa and coconut just gets ruined with bad flavoring.
The sourness is overwhelming. Ick! The cup is all mucked up! I’ve become spoiled by high quality tea’s to the extent that this Check Mate mess is not good at all anymore. I don’t want to do it but I have got to downgrade this tea. Meh! Petoowy!

Thanks TheTeaFairy for this big sample!

I must be the LAST person on Steepster to taste and review Movie Night!
EVERYONE has written reviews except moi! (and Miss Piggy)

I’m celebrating the occasion of being able to open my window tonight to let in FRESH AIR!
There’s no smoke from the forest fire down low this evening and having this little pleasure is such a treat after being cooped up indoors for the past 3 days.

Movie Night it is (I told myself)! Popcorn and fresh air!

Instead of watching movies, I watch the next Food Network Star and that sort of thing that I save on my DVR.

The scent of the tea steeping was hard to resist. I wanted to stop and drink the tea before it was ready…that’s just how good it smelled. Like walking past a hot caramel corn stand. Irresistible!
I suppose you COULD drink this without sweetening. Why, I have no idea? Adding a little bit of sweet to the slightly salty tea created the best caramely, salty sweet popcorn flavor… full of childhood memories and guilt free. Free I say…free…free…free! What a beautiful word!
One of the greatest gifts that tea has given me is a way to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings without packing on calories.
I knew this wasn’t exactly caramel popcorn flavored. But being a tea…to get this much flavor this close to that movie memory in a blend …well…I think it was tasting pretty cool.

I’ll share a little secret with you…
My first date in my whole life was to the movies in Los Gatos,CA.
I was a Freshman in High School and went with a Senior (big deal) to see Goldfinger with Sean Connery. We held hands. That’s all! (thankful about that too). Love the movies!

http://youtu.be/Fy_PJODH3p0 Goldfinger Theme 1964

Second Review

The first time I tried this interesting looking tea I was a bit timid. I had never seen tea cigars before. Little hand rolled tea leaves several inches long and gorgeous. I wanted to steep exactly as the instructions specified so I was watching the unfolding as much as I was tasting the tea.

This time, I completely ignored the look of the leaves and went straight for favor.
I steeped this tea a little longer and ended up with a rich honey colored liquor.
Everything about the artichokey, vegital flavors listed as typical for this tea went…zip… out the window.

What I tasted was malt and fruit. Whoa…wait…hold on! Is that possible?

I tasted the smoothest honied malt with a hint of smoke at the end and a bite of astringency on the tongue-tip.
Did someone mix darjeeling, assam or black tea with this green tea? How can this be a green tea? It has to be some kind of crossover mutant tea!

If you have any of this tea, steep some a little longer and tell me what you think!

Unbelievable!

Second review

After a tasting disaster with an icky puerh..(yuck)…I ran to the cupboard for a completely opposite kind of tea to cleanse my palate.
Organic Spring Twist is THE perfect clean and fresh tasting tea!!!

This was delicious! I don’t have many green tea’s in my cupboard other than samples that I’ve been sent. I’m learning little by little which ones appeal to me. It appears that the creamy, less astringent ones and the nutty greens are my favorites…so far.
Drinking Spring Twist was all about creamed corn with sweet peas so fresh just the way I love my green tea. And there was no astringency. I could have sipped this juicy tea all day. It was so, so, good! Yum!

Second review. :(

Today this flavored puerh just didn’t work!
I steeped it the same length of time as before, same amount of tea and everything and it was weak and insipid. A limp orangy, hibiscusy, barely puerhy flavored brackish drink. Blech! You’d have thunk that I used tepid water and a 1 minute steep time.
Oh No I deh ent! I used boiling H2o and 6 minute steep! Right!

I couldn’t hack drinking the swill!

Some other time I’ll try again. So sad. So sad. So sad. Sigh……

Down goes the rating until it deserves to raise again!
Naughty Puerh! :(

Thank you TheTeaFairy for this Sample

TheTeaFairy wrote a note on this sample that said “very good and refreshing iced”, so I did just that!
I made a strong brew…and when finished I put my nose to the brew basket and loved the scent so much that the lightbulbs in my head started to activate…bing…bing…bing…in the creative cooking section.
I ignored the lightbulbs.
All of them extinguished…but one.
The “heat up some coconut milk and infuse the tea in it” lightbulb stayed on and I couldn’t resist the urge and gave in. I did what it commanded me to do.
Back to my original plan, the brewed tea that was ready to pour over ice…was now plopped and in the frig.
I heated coconut milk, put the brew basket in and let it sit for awhile to steep. 10 minutes later, done.

30 minutes later…here is the review!

Iced Tea:
This is indeed delicious! There is a creaminess and natural sweetness from coconut and honey. The spices are pretty tame but lend an air of exotic (as the name implies) richness that makes me think “Indian Food” and of “Curry”. I almost want to add curry powder to this or steep rice in the tea! Which leads me on to why I had the lightbulbs going ping in my head!
Heated Infused Coconut Milk:
The steeped hot version is fabulous! I took a sip and am saving the rest to cook with later. I think that this tea would be best used by me as an addion to my Indian Spice Box. Steeping Coconut Milk for Rice Desserts and Curry would be sooo good. Even a bread pudding with regular milk would be fantastic! OK!
There isn’t an overwhelming amount of lemongrass flavor to me. Even the cardamon is not strong. The bite comes from cloves.

I really like this soooo much! Getting some for myself!

P.S.
I ended up using the infused coconut milk for a tasty curry risotto that was so good alongside a cold curried pea salad with smoked almonds. Must be curry day!

Second Review

My favorite tea’s become jewels that I drink when I want to celebrate, or as a way to beat the blues.
Last night the local wild fire smoke came down as a fog again with ash and grit. I got a huge migraine and couldn’t sleep until the wee hours. I awoke at 6 AM…too early. Four hours of sleep was not enough for me! I went back to bed, and woke up at 10:30 ready for a PU’ER! I went for this Verdant Pu’er which is one of my best tea jewels!

My mood was not fussy. I really had no patience for Gaiwans or teapots!
(Thank you David Duckler for making plain old cups and brew baskets cool to use!)

All I had to do was boil water, put the Pu’er Shu Nuggets in the Finum brew basket, rinse the Pu’er Nuggets 20 seconds(once), pour and steep 20 seconds (it’s what I did) and drink! Duh! So easy! You do this over and over and over (18 times).

My love of this Pu’er…let me count the ways…
You can’t get more smooth and mellow than this Shu. It’s so clean and cinnamon tingly on the tongue. Every steep is juicy and flavorful, rich with vanilla and pastry delight. The earthiness is in the light maltiness. (You can transform the malt into a bit of caramel if you prefer a morning latte with a bit of cream). I like the saltiness of this Pu’er and added a little sweet to add contrast. That’s the way I love my Pu’er!

Like a big footed Bengal Tiger the flavor meanders slowly along steep after steep…looking back at you now and then, keeping you aware that there is excitement along this path and you want to keep going. 18 steepings is a journey.

Now why would I liken drinking tea to a Bengal Tiger walking down a path? What a dumb thing to say!

But wait!

If you take time with tea for 5, 10, 18 steepings… it will open you up more to yourself. It’s beautiful and dangerous like a Bengal Tiger.
Worth the small effort if you’ve never tried this before!

Second Review

Feeling in a blue mood today and one of the best remedies is going through my big stash of tea’s to find just the right cure. What I’m looking for has to be at the top of my list of all time favorites, somewhere in the top 10!

Frankly, I don’t have many white tea’s but this Laoshan White is something unique. Something really special. This is the one!

I would advise not to drink white tea on an empty stomach because it has caffeine. But, you might feel a sense of centerdness which a high quality tea can provide and is a pleasant feeling.

I used a Gaiwan and kept my steeping time at 20 seconds which gave me a rich tea broth and very fragrant light green liquor that smelled like salty buttered green beans and spinach mash. It was a wonderful smell.

When I brought the liquor up to my mouth to drink I inhaled deeply and my sinus’s almost seized up…like an old vehicle…clanging “Wha’z this Bonnie?”..clunk clunk…! “Ouch!” The scent was soooo intense that it hurt! I have to be more careful!(It did smell good though and opened everything up for the tasting session ahead!) Wow!

I took a single sip. Water, like drinking hot tea over ice crystals and the melting ice slippery like little daggers then gone.
The flavor was young, sweet (but still vegital enough) snap pea’s and green beans.

Ah, Grandma’s pole beans. (Did you really think I could get through a review without a STORY?!…OH NO!)
WHEN I was a little girl my family lived so close to the San Francisco Airport (in Milbrae,CA) that when Jet Planes were NEW and flew over our house the TV would go out. AND we had a lot of SONIC BOOMS! You can imagine. I’d be looking for frogs or building a fort and BOOM!, then on my bike BOOM! Mikey Mouse Club, BOOM! NO TV!
My rich grandmother would come to our house every Spring and plant pole beans in the backyard. For some wierd reason her name was LOLITA (not a common Scots name)! (My middle name is LO. Just LO and no more because of her). Anyway, we had beans growing everywhere in long rows filling the whole yard instead of lawn. When I wasn’t busy digging a hole to China (and trying to avoid wherever the devil was), I was picking pole beans or eating the sweet young ones raw..snap…crunch. So good!

My second steeping was better than the first. Sweet. There was something floral…but not…then I thought there was a strawberry fruitiness…but no…ah some honey in the snow peas. Yes, a little honey! Clover honey! And saltiness.
Even though this is such a juicy tea it’s not really creamy. I don’t mind. Everything is so fresh and clean.
There is a draw, some sort of mystery that comes from drinking this Laoshan White. I feel the addictive longing for more. EEKS!

Finally, the third steeping while I am still fairly sane, is like walking through fields, row after row of tended beans along the Watsonville, Santa Cruz Coast in the early evening… right after late watering is done. The fog is about to roll in from the Pacific and I have picked a handful of dripping crisp beans. Snap. I pop several into my mouth to crunch. There is nothing fresher or sweeter.

This last drink reminds me of this coolness and juiciness. Fresh. Sparkling.

I can sit for hours in a beach chair sipping this tea, observing nature and enjoying how the tea makes me feel. So relaxed and centered.

This tea is not to be missed! I’ve upgraded my rating!

Thank you Stacy for this sample of the new Tamarind Pop Tea!

It’s going to be 102 in Fort Collins, Colorado today! Happy Summer!

I’m not even going to venture out to the pool…my air conditioner is staying on and after reviewing hot tea…I’m going to start brewing
some iced!

Tamarind
Pods of Tamarind are common in most markets in the S.F. Bay Area where I grew up, and tamarind drinks are also super common in restaurants.(You people in the Western State’s know what I’m talking about!)
Open up a lumpy tamarind pod and there are seeds and sticky dark fruit that is sour when unripened, and sweet enough for flavoring juices or using in pastries much like apricot or peach pulp when ripe. The fruit is good for the stomach and an antibacterial. The origin of the Tamarind Tree is in Africa. Today Mexico and Southeast Asia are the biggest users of this fruit in every day cooking and for beverages. It’s something I have used for sauces when I want a sweet but tangy ‘pop’ in my Thai main dishes but I’ve also had it tucked in a sweet pastry as filling, as a sweet iced drink and as candy!

Review!
The steep time was 3 minutes at 212F in a brew basket/mug which produced a maple syrup colored liquor.

Interestingly, the first sip tasted like a light vanilla maple pancake syrup! Not thick and not syrupy sweet but a little sweet…and delicious, warm and fragrant! The base is black tea but was not dark, malty or cocoa tasting. I did feel a splash of tannin at the finish which was just fine with me.

I took another bigger drink…and again there was the vanilla flavor
which was very smooth. The flavor puzzled me. I was expecting something sharper and more acidic instead of this smooth vanilla syrup tea with tannin.

(Stacy often says that some tea’s benefit from adding a little bit of raw brown sugar crystals…and I had purchased some from her…so…)

I added the sweetening at this point in my tasting.
The improvement was evident. The tannin receeded and the fruitiness began to wriggle free.
My tastebuds grabbed for the newly detected dry fruit flavors. A mix of membrillo (quince paste) with peach and apricot leather and one little tangy ping. This ping was the sour fruit that says TAMARIND and can be nothing else in the World. All of this fruit flavor was followed by the vanilla that lingered for some time afterward.
The cup made sense at this point. The fruit was ripe tamarind. The addition of just a bit of sweet was the unifier that was needed for the tea to be at it’s best.

I let my cup cool all the way down. Still Good! This tea will be great iced!

Another ‘Sabroso’(tasty) naturally flavored and unique tea from Butiki!

Thank you Stacy for this Tea!

This is the first review of one of Stacy’s new tea’s.

About a month or so ago, I was chatting (PM) with Stacy and told her that I thought Butiki should/could create a Pineapple Oolong Tea. I noticed that many people on Steepster enjoy pineapple but seemed to have a hard time finding that taste in a tea that they really liked. I tried to buy a highly reguarded pineapple tea myself but it was always unavailable. I pushed poor Stacy a little, she thought it over, did her amazing flavor magic, and here is the result…Flowery Pineapple Oolong!

I was waiting for the Post all this morning…where’s that Butiki Box?!
Watered the plants, cleaned house…and finally…the Post arrived!
Ripping open the package, then beginning the brewing of my pot of tea was one fluid movement. (There should be a program called ‘Dancing with your Tea’ because I would win!) I had fresh spring water in my electric kettle…so swoop, heat, pour water in the teapot…done.

It was a long 4 minute steeping! ‘bing’

The liquor was pale yellow and steaming with the scent of orchids and tropical fruit.

I took a sip…and Oh Stacy! The flavor was the softest pillow of pineapple resting on a bed of sweet fragrant white orchids. The tip of my tongue tasted some pineapple tang. That tangy taste was from the perfect blending of natural pineapple bits and Oolong tea leaves.
This was super juicy and super creamy…even…yes… an exotic experience that transported me to a cool Island Beach lined with Palm Trees. Relaxing! Ahhhh! (Where is that Old Spice commercial guy?)

There was a little temptation that I gave in to.

Reaching into the steeping basket…I picked out a piece of pineapple and chewed on that one piece slowly… while sipping my tea. It was almost sinful…(but not)… it tasted so good!

I added sweetening, and my cup came alive with pineapple goodness. (Stacy suggests raw brown sugar crystals).

You could almost make this a cocktail worthy of Rum and a decorative umbrella! Chilled this tea doesn’t get bitter! OH…the possibilities are endless!!!

Another little thing I do with melon or acidic fruit tea’s (like pineapple) is place some sea salt in the palm of my hand (just a little), taste the salt…then drink some tea. The flavor of the fruit POPS.

My 2 cents worth:
It’s important to let tea companies know what we, the consumers, are interested in drinking. They often listen. Butiki is one of the companies that is customer oriented and listens to us. There are others that do the same. Hooray for them!!!!

Great job creating a fabulous tea again Stacy! Stupendous!

http://youtu.be/-MRMqsP9Kb0 The Pineapple Song

Yesterday I cleaned out my closet and purged it of old clothes and shoes. Today, my daughter and granddaughter (who is 5’9 like I ‘was’) came over to ‘shop’ from my closet before I haul everything away. (We’re at different stages of weight loss)
We inevitably get the giggles. I have no idea what sets us off…but I end up crying with laughter, they laugh…and pretty soon we can’t stop. Every little thing is hilarious. There were clothes scattered about while we trapsed in front of the mirror like proud teenagers posing outragiously. We had no shame! The women in my family have fun together, and act crazy!

I really am a Blessed woman.

After my laughing and silliness was over and I was alone again, I chose this silky Coconut Oolong for my evening tea. It had been some time since I last tasted a fragrant, tropical coconut tea.

I let the steeping time go about 3 minutes before pouring. The flavor was exactly as I wished, floral and very coconuty. It reminded me of a creamy coconut milk. There was juiciness with very little tannin.
I added sweetening, prefering a coconut cream pie dessert tea to add the finishing touch to a good evening. I tried adding some cream then coconut milk but prefered the tea with sweetening only.

This tea is a naturally flavored Coconut Tea,…one of the things that is becoming important to me. I can taste the difference. There isn’t any sour aftertaste from chemicals. The flavors that linger are delicate, pleasant and authentic.

A Really Good Coconut Oolong!

I’ve been reading all the Fabulous matcha reviews and a few recipes the last few days. I remembered the lonely bag in my cupboard and decided to give the green magic another try. My first experience was dull and pretty tasteless. This time, I was going to really create a Matcha Masterpiece!

Ingredients: 2TB Matcha, 1/2 cup frozen chopped strawberries that I cut up the night before, a few ice cubes, 1tsp splenda (no comment) and 2 cups (no comment here either) low fat buttermilk.
Blend on the ice setting to milkshake/smoothie consistency!

This is a super tangy, sweet, green and berry smoothie that’s really good. Blueberries work just as well with buttermilk (I don’t like buttermilk unless it’s like this or in ranch dressing!).

I found my way to enjoy what had been icky before. Good tasting blended with something else! Because of this, I upped the rating!

Thank you FONG MONG TEA for this lovely sample tea!

This is the last of the generous samples to review from FONG MONG TEA. I must comment on the high quality of the tea and supurb experience with the shipping, and packaging. I know that I am not alone in thanking this company for introducing so many of us to their fine tea’s.

This morning I selected this tea to fit the dappled sunshine coming through my window. Sparkling morning light reminds me of reflective light bouncing off water or peeking through the trees. I often pick a tea to fit the weather like setting a scene.

I brewed the tea in a ceramic vessel, used half the sample packet for a 6 minute steep.

The liquor was sunny yellow gold and clear.

My first sip was the flavor of juicy white asparagas…vegital but not too ‘green’ tasting. There was a sweet candied violet background flavor under the asparagas…unique.
My mouth began to tingle a little and I recognized the splay of tannin on my tongue just at the end of the tasting.
As the tea cooled, there was no additional tannin and little change in texture (a little creamier).
I sweetened the tea which flipped the floral flavor to dominant and the vegital to secondary in taste order. An interesting way to customize the experience to suit individual taste preference. Vegital…straight and for Floral…add sweetening.

Second steeping:
This steeping holds up well. The flavor profile remains unchanged.

An additional note…on how addicted I am to tea. :^(
While writing away, I had a small pot of HONEY on the STOVE on low with some LAPSANG SOUCHONG in the pot to infuse it for use as a drizzle on chicken or fruit/cheese. WELL I FORGOT ABOUT IT! I ended up with a nice smelling house and HONEY/LS TAFFY! GARRRR!
(No I refuse to chalk it up to old age or disability! It’s tea addiction! I get so engrossed in these tea tastings and reviews that the end of ages could come on Dec. 12th and I’d still be on Steepster!)

Oh great, now my mouse is sticky!

Thank you IndigoBloom for this tasty tea sample!

Happy First Day of Summer!
(Anyone reading this in the Winter will growl and offer a curse on me…well you’d better NOT!)

I had a small packet of tea left from IndigoBloom which was labled “Masala…don’t know from who” and today…the mystery of “who” was solved when she did a review mentioning her Masala from Teopia. Ha! Gotcha!
I read a caution not to brew the Chai too strong “it has a punch”…so I obeyed! I played it smart at 3 minutes, sweetened my cup and added cream. Turned on some smooth Sinatra (oh yes, croon on Frankie) and
took a drink throwing my head back like a lady with a cocktail at the end of a hard day.

Ahhhh,yessss…the perfect strength. Not too strong, not too spicy. Smooth. Just right!

I tasted some apple first, no standout spice… but I could feel the cinnamon heat. All of the spices were blended together in harmony. There was a bit of a honey-malt sweetness from the underlying Black Tea.
(Soooo glad the Tea was not completely covered up with a blanket of spice!)
I believe this is one of the mildest Chai’s I’ve ever enjoyed. Quite good and better than I thought it was going to be! (Ya’ll tricked me with your warnings!)

Next time, maybe I’ll take the steeping a little longer, although why should or would I? This tastes really good as is!

Summer, Swimming!
I have a pool…come on over! http://youtu.be/bTcmCxqOE_s Sinatra

Second Review of this fruit tea.

I didn’t review as much tea as usual yesterday or today because I needed to accomplish a few tasks that I’ve put off for too long.

Yesterday I was learning to ride the bus to Old Town which will cost $20 A YEAR for a pass. The bus stop is half block from my front door. It took 20 minutes to get to town. Not too bad. I rewarded my effort with Curry at Rasta Pasta under the watchful eye of Bob Marley and drank cold lemongrass tea.(Check that off the list)
Today, I cleaned out my huge walk-in closet! (My closet is the same size as my kitchen!) ICK! I lost 55 pounds so lots of clothes need to go to Goodwill! By the time I finished at 4:30 I was spent! Needed tea! (Check another task off the list)

Instead of reaching for caffeine, I remembered this sweet little darling of a blueberry fruit tea, just the ahhhh blend perfect as a reward. (I’d like chocolate, money and a massage too…oh well)

This tea is full to overflowing with plump syrupy fruit! You can’t look at your cup and see through the dense liquor…oh no. This is thick tea. If you hate hibiscus have no fear. The roselle (which is in the hibiscus family) is tame and not too tart or overwhelming. You taste juicy berry which is the point of wanting this blurple tea in the first place.
I can think of all sorts of creative culinary things to do with this blissful blueberry liquor. Infuse honey in the tea or steep some in vinegar for a great beginning to a salad dressing. Iced would be perfect.
I soak apples in acid loaded fruit tea to prevent them from browning, then chill and drain before adding to a fruit salad. The flavor and texture is fantastic.

There is no skimping on fruit or flavor. This is a quality Fruit Blend!

Second Review.

I love this Black Tea! It’s a tie… Laoshan Black and Zhu Rong for my #1 favorite Black Tea. I can’t choose between the two. I love them both!

“Remember Bonnie”…’a whisper in my ear….“this tea has a shorter than usual steep time”….
I followed the Verdant directions for my pot of tea and poured the most beautiful clear, deep chestnut brown liquor into my cup.

The taste was a velvety dark, almost bitter sweet chocolate.
Clean in the mouth and not acidic.
The Cocoa flavor was like chocolate nib with a sweet, bright, jammy Paso Robles Zinfandel flavor or Ruby Sonoma Port.
I absolutely tasted kettle cooked potato chips. What fun!
I decided to sweeten my cup a little which just enhanced the contrast between the potato, chocolate and fruit a little bit.

I resteeped 4 times, realizing 64oz. from 1.5 TB.tea. It makes the most wonderful iced tea when you are very full and still have leaves ready to give you more lovely tea!

I still am in love…tastes blissful! Bravo!

Thank you IndigoBloom for this nice CANADIAN sample!

Ice Wine Tea seems to be something you can only get in Canada. Don’t exactly know why. Maybe Canada has special ice or snow or a load of grapes from New York or California froze one year and someone like Krystaleyn studing grapes and drinking tea at the time had a brilliant idea.

Whatever the case was, voila…ya got Ice Wine Tea.

I kept pestering Indigo-B for some “Please”, when we did a tea swap and I was delighted to see some tea bags (don’t say that often) to satisfy my Ice Wine Tea curiosity.

I was careful not to over-steep the teabag…and once the hot tea cooled a bit the flavor unfolded.
There was a ruby red, seedless grape flavor at the correct stage of ripeness without too much sugar and a bit on the dry side. The type I buy and plop into the freezer to eat like popsicles on a hot day in August or September.
Although I’ve become used to loose leaf tea with big flavor, the scent and taste was mild and pleasing, fruity and not astringent. The wine flavor was not overpowering to the base ceylon tea.
I let my cup cool, added stevia and ice cubes and it was really good! The tea became creamier and was better than hot in my opinion.

Thanks again Stacy for this sample tea!

Last night I was so bad! I had such a sugar craving that I put cherry jam in my tea! It was verry good!
Naughty me!
This little sample packet from Butiki caught my eye this evening and I had a hunch that it would be luxurious and exotic enough to satisfy my sweet tooth!

After a 4 minute steep, I poured the pale yellow liquor into a tasting bowl and inhaled.
Ummmm, fruit like warm pears…..and smelled like paperwhites.
The flavor was sparkling and pearlike also, with plenty of floral sweetness and cream to make the taste fat in my mouth. The fat flavor rolled around over and over. It just would not quit until the tannin kicked in like a door stop!
I sweetened my cup a bit. I did like the dripping nectar, gooey flavor of Lychee fruit. It made me think of Kauai.
Most people go to Hawaii and lounge on the beach, drink, go to clubs.
I go to the beach, snorkle then find a local Farmers Market. I buy exotic fruit, veggies and seafood…go back to the condo and cook! Kauai was Lychee, Pineapple and Rambutan! Nice and juicy fruit! Yummy fruit ready to eat right away. No cold storage fruit from the store. Heavy with natural sugar fruit!

This Lychee Oolong takes you on a vacation! It’s so ripe with flavor and so juicy!

http://youtu.be/mlCiDEXuxxA You can’t get much more retro than Don Ho and Tiny Bubbles 1967

Second review

I slept in today…had to…stayed up with the other late night Steepsters until 2am chatting away. It happens sometimes.
The luxury for me is that I don’t have to work ever again! Tap dance!
My idea of spoiling myself in the A.M. is a fantastic Black Tea or Puerh by the Pot. Not a cup full of tea…a WHOLE POT all to myself on a tray.
I take my tray to the couch and have a paper and pen ready to jot my tasting notes. That is how my morning begins. What could be better?
(I can think of some better things too…but this is dang good!) ;)

The last time I enjoyed this Puerh I had a different experience compared to today. It goes to show that it is important to revisit and retaste tea. You never know what can change due to mood, awareness, brewing method,etc.
This time I steeped 5 minutes (shorter than last time) after a quick 20 second rinse. The liquor was dark brown and smelled bready.
The flavor was salty and had the taste of a Trisket Cracker but without the rough mouthfeel. This was not an earthy, dirty Puerh. It was smooth and mild but still rich and full bodied.
On my first review, I was not inclined to add sugar and cream for a latte. Now, since I could taste saltiness I thought it would be worth a try.
These additions were wonderful. The Puerh became a salted caramel delight that had depth of flavor. The caramel and salt with the classic (though mild) Puerh flavor reaching well into the nose at the finish.

Really good!

My first review was not incorrect but based on that day and a different steeping time and method.
This second review using a Western brew method and shorter steeping time produced a completely different experience.

Up goes my rating from 87….to 93!

Tonight I had a killer sweet-tooth that would not go away!

I thought about drinking a sweet flavored tea to curb the urge to completely blow it and dig around in the cupboard for my hidden small stash of Godiva Chocolate Gems. However, I knew that if I found them I would eat them all!

What to do?

I remembered the Sour Cherry Jam in the frig that I opened for my grandson to have in his Russian Tea recently.
Aha!
A few tablespoons would be a tasty dessert at the bottom of my teacup.

The next step was picking the right tea.
Russian tea would have been the logical selection. Being the Bonnie that I am, I passed by that suggestion and soon remembered that I had some Marco Polo out intended for the morning. That tea and the jam would go well together.

I prepared the teapot: Poured the tea…
The Marco Polo Tea was fruity but floral and a little smoky. This combination was perfect with my Sour Cherry Jam melting at the bottom of the cup…swirled with my spoon, scooped up into my mouth bit by yummy bit. I drank 2 mugs of this sweet jammy tea, slurping and swirling and gnoshing the scoops of cherry bits.

Very satisfying to my sweet-tooth.

I’m so bad!

Thank you Fong Mong Tea for this Generous Sample!

This fine Oolong is baked and required a 6 minute steeping time for the type of pot I was preparing. Even dry, the leaves were fragrantly floral and held the promise of delight inside.

When ready, the liquor was very clear and light gold with a tinge of green. The scent was lilac but not strong. Somewhere there was a vegital scent peaking out.

The taste was silky with a floral presence more like a warm breeze than a bouquet of flowers. Towards the end of the floral taste I caught the scent of apple and cinnamon. There was a vegital flavor so tiny that it reminded me of having had buttered green beans for dinner then drinking tea for dessert.

I stopped to consider this tea. I waited for the tea to comment.

I was now aware again with the juicy tea suddenly becoming active. Then the tingling began. My whole mouth and my lips began to tingle and burn lightly with a tannin that had no bitterness. It was as if a rope was pulling me back to the tea and I had to drink more. I wanted the creamy sweet goodness again.

I noticed later that using a glass cup, as the tea cooled when I took a sip the tea coated the glass in a way that wine does. I’ve never noticed a tea doing that before.

Another thing I noticed with this tea is the nose effect.

Jim Marks commented on how much we taste with our nose. That might sound funny to some people, but it’s true. I think that’s what has helped me charge ahead with learning about tea’s the most. Working in 2 Wineries, I had to learn to taste with my nose and talk about levels of flavor in wine. When you do it 8 hrs a day you learn! Tea is the same.
Example:
I put my nose into this cup of Oolong and inhaled/exhaled… in and out making lots of steam. I found the scent of a trunk in an attic with pressed flowers and a little bitty hint of moth ball.
It’s a good thing to really get in and experience as much as you can with tea. Drink, smell…consider.

Thank you Stacy for this sample of a new tea soon to be available!

It seems that Stacy is busy gathering a large number of new tea’s to release very soon on the Butiki website. In her excitment to share with us Steepsters, some of the new tea’s have been leaking out early as samples. These are the kinds of leaks I like!

This morning I noticed the Dragon Tip among my recent sample stash and decided to skip my normal dark blends and jump to Green Tea.

The leaves were half inch spears ready for a 2 minute steep. Wet the leaves are grass green and surprisingly whole, smelling gently vegital.
The liquor was lightest green and faintly fragrant.

When I poured my first cup and took a drink (I did not sip, I drank) my mouth was filled with more creaminess than usual followed by a remarkably soft pea/bean puree taste. The flavor was smooth. Delicate. There was an astringency for a second in my cheeks…way in the lower back then a burst of juice right at the finish. What a fantastic gulp!
The creaminess is what impressed me the most. Such silkiness right from the beginning.
This was the reverse of many other tea tastings. Cream-flavor-astringency-juice!

I can understand why Stacy is adding this Dragon Tip to her offerings. It does stand on it’s own as a very tasty tea.