Bonnie

Good Morning!

My grandsons, Ian (11) and Donovan (9) spent the night and this morning they asked for TEA before anything else! (Well trained boys!) (Mom is away with 15 year old daughter Kiah learning about sustainable living. The 6 other kids have been farmed out to friends because dad has to work weekends.)
When I picked the boys up from school yesterday,we went straight to Happy Lucky’s for tea. This is expected. Tea with Grandma!

This review will be a combined one. We are writing it together.

All the boys have their own gonfu tea sets, and a collection of tea’s at home. (They admit to drinking tea more in Winter than Summer)

The mood this morning was snowboarding competition (Red Bull Snow Scrapers) on a sports channel. (not a bad backdrop for drinking tea)

Both boys were in PJ’s on the couch with trays and mugs. I fixed a pot of this tea and poured some for each boy and myself. We smelled the wet leaves.
Ian said the leaves smelled like Chai.
Donovan agreed the leaves smelled like spice.

We all began drinking tea which was lightly sweetened, and then we added a little cream. (This was the request of the boys)

I thought the tea tasted a little perfumy. This might have been the honey flakes…not sure. I had noticed big flakes of pistachio nuts in the dry leaf. At first I thought the tea tasted odd but later, I began to like the taste. The flavors reminded me of Italian and Middle Eastern Pastries.

Ian and Donovan said they liked the tea. Ian said the tea tasted like coffee and Chai (flowery sweet). (Who’s coffee had he been dipping into at home?)
Donovan said the tea tasted like the Assam Strong Malt tea that I let him taste at Happy Lucky’s yesterday (good call).

True ‘drinkability’ test? The boys finished the pot of tea!

I’m not sure why, but this was a quirky tea. A different taste.
If you get a chance to try this tea, don’t judge too quickly.
Think about Baklava with pistachio’s and honey that you find in authentic Middle Eastern shops. This tea tastes more like those than Biscotti I think.

Gotta go watch TV with the boys!

I am surprised to be the first reviewer of this tea (and pleased at the same time since I have great respect for Stacy and Butiki Tea!)

I first noticed this Black Tea at the end of the list of on the Butiki Website and the notes describing floral,chocolate and pecan flavors were intriguing. I’d also learned that Stacy likes to steep her tea for a long time…really long. I sometimes do the same (although she wins) and I thought that if this tea tastes that good with a longer steep, I wanted to have some for my own cupboard.

The leaves were small, curly and a 50/50 mix of gold and black leaves from Yunnan, China.

The steep time was 5 minutes

The comments for this tea were correct when they said the tea is mildly malty. I wouldn’t have guessed that. Usually chocolaty tea’s have a hefty amount of malt as a supporting base but not here, and there was a definite cocoa taste.
Honey flavor was easy to pick up but the nutty and floral taste came in after the tea had cooled and lingered in my mouth.

This was a smooth and mild black tea but one that wasn’t flat. The flavors were rich and thick enough for adding milk and sweetening which I did for my morning cup.

This day marks a year since I traveled with my granddaughter Schey to Alaska, Canada and Washington State. Today was our last “Cruise” day before a week in Washington. We were heading to beautiful Victoria, B.C. (Wow did Victoria look beautiful at night!Lit up like Christmas in September!) and believe it or not, our two week trip was sunny!
What a wonderful time!
Every day there was a ‘tea’ on board ship. We went to a big Indonesian Tea one afternoon, and in Victoria we went to the Empress and bought more Tea. I bought some Canadian Maple Tea in another shop.
Now remember, I had never heard of Steepster. I had never tasted ‘loose leaf tea’. I was almost blind because I needed operations on both my eyes. EVERYTHING was different in my life a year ago!

This morning when I drink this Butiki Tea and discribe how it looks…I can SEE it! It’s beautiful. And I am writing a review on
Steepster with all my new friends! (Unbelievable!)
I am reviewing tea and enjoying it with a knowledge that makes me laugh…I mean…how can this be? It’s been less than a year since I’ve been on Steepster!

For me to say, “I think this is a grand Black Tea” with some knowledge about it is humbling. I’m fortunate that everyone on Steepster has taught me so much (including Stacy) and shared in swaps fine tea’s so that I know that this is indeed a fine tea.

Awesome!

Oh my? I’m the first to review this Mate!

Yesterday was the first real rain in 70+ days on the Frontrange. It’s about time! I can’t remember the last time the temperature dipped below 90 degrees.
The refreshing rain and dip to the high 60’s was similar to the feeling you get when you jump into a cool pool on a hot day.

Today the air was scrubbed clean and the sun was out, drying up the last little puddles of water. No forecast of heat to come (Amen to that!), but a real Fall cool-down in the 80’s then 70’s and next month 60’s and the big drop off to Winter and snow. Growing up in California there was no anticipation of Season’s. I enjoy my new life with the definition of time passing linked to weather like a seasonal quilt made by Currier and Ives.

I had one last Whispering Pines Tea from my order to review. One nice caffeinated Mate that I’d been waiting for the right morning to try. The tea matched the weather and my mood so I boiled the water and steeped the tea 5 minutes as directed.

I was impressed! I didn’t expect to enjoy this herbal tea as much
as I did!
The ginger wasn’t bitter, not too strong or too weak either. It tasted just right. The same with the lemon. Not overpowering or bitter.
There was a buttery creaminess that blended well with the lemony ginger flavor. It was very smooth and gentle. And of course (this being Whispering Pines Tea Company) there was the slightest hint of smoke.

When the Mate cooled, the ginger heat intensified which was nice. Other than that, I liked this blend and would drink it on many a chilly Fall or Winter morning!

A tasting note, wrapped in a story, wrapped in an event.
This may be my most difficult review to date. It will be off the cuff, unbridled and from my heart. If this is not to the liking of everyone, there are other reviews and no need to read mine. I’m not preaching my religion either, but it is who I am and I’m not ashamed.

How do I write a review when there has been another tragic death on a day when we are still mourning the losses of 9-11?
In my own lifetime the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Vietnam and Desert Storm, bombings and kidnappings of U.S. Citizens. I’ve learned that you can’t ever let the bad things that happen in life win by turning you into a hateful, bitter person.
Life goes on. There’s always good in the World even though good news doesn’t get much time in the Press.

This Tea and My Story

The Oolong tea leaves were so large (and almost black) that I held them in my hand, juggling an amount that was almost 1.5TB. That was just enough for the Finum tea basket and mug method of brewing.

The steepings are so short, 3-5 seconds and increasing 1 second each steep, making sure to control the timing.

I brought my electric kettle filled with spring water to the boil, rinsed the leaves once and began the first steep.
The aroma of the wet leaves were like roasted short ribs with caramelization on them and everything! (Now of course I wanted some ribs…they smelled so good!)

I put my nose down close to the liquor and inhaled.
The scent was like incense in an old Church when the wood has been permeated with candle soot and resinous incense.

Then I took a sip of tea, curious about how this incense scent would taste.
The flavor was sweet deep mango and floral incense (but not bitter), vibrating in my mouth with intensity. I was having a difficult time pinning down the floral notes because the complexity and power of the tea was distracting me. There was great robust flavor and smooth softness at the same time, then a cool camphor-like vapor, arriving after some time of contemplation.
The scent and flavor made me think of the All Night Vigil during Holy Week (Easter). I signed up to read a portion of the Psalms usually at 1 or 2AM.
I entered the Church which was completely dark other than 1 Vigil light on the Altar and 1 light on the Readers Stand. The whole Church was filled (even petals on the floor) with the scent of roses, gardenias, carnations, laurel and flowers from services held every day during Holy Week. And of course INCENSE! (All incense is natural such as the one this tea reminds me of, ancient Ethiopian Frankincense…which is in little light pinkish pellets.)

As I would stand reading the Psalms until the next person arrived, all was quiet and intensely fragrant. My mouth was reading out loud, but my heart was praying. It was tranquil and beautiful.

When I was drinking this tea through several additional steepings, and began to taste a little of the cinnamon flavor (not sweet cinnamon or bitter but the dry kind), fuzzy textured fruit and floral honey, I could not stop remembering standing in the church smelling the incense and flowers.

The Vigil wasn’t mournful. It was hopeful.
With every tragic event that has happened and will continue to happen in the world, the choice we each have is to be angry, seek revenge, be depressed or, be wise and love each other in the face of it all.

I pray that we are wise enough to love each other.

http://flic.kr/p/dadfAs (Here you can see some of the flowers and on the floor)
http://flic.kr/p/cqY2rG (the outside of the Church)
http://youtu.be/iCgIswP7jPY Music also

Thank you Dhart1214 for this sample tea!

Oh well now. I have tried all along to look for the good in every tea I drink.
Looking, Looking, Looking…

I won’t rate this tea. I can’t. For some reason the black tea makes my mouth feel like cat fur and the vanilla tastes strange.

I’m so sorry. I’ve failed to find anything good other than the temperature of the tea.

The last time I tasted a darjeeling at Happy Lucky’s it was the last picked darjeeling of Autumn, after the Monsoons. It was very rich and tasty.
While I was sitting at the bar tasting that tea, someone mentioned another one…this Monsoon Darjeeling that I hadn’t heard about, and I decided that it would be my next pot of tea on my next visit.

I hadn’t forgotten the name or season. I’d become aware through trial and error that the later darjeelings interest me more than the muscat, first flush ones that everyone else raves about.

I’m all for the gypsy darjeelings cloaked in wet leaves, saturated with a slight smokiness and dripping with the fruits of a golden Fall compote.

I call this gypsy for the brisk dryness that is not like linen but more like the top of your hand across velvet. The tea tastes almost peachy and nutty…then floral, changing to brown sugar toffee. No, this isn’t a darjeeling that is too sweet, but is pleasant.

I sat and cupped my hands looking at the honey liquor, bending over my cup and going back to the sweet fruity/floral aroma over and over again with great pleasure.
Surely, I thought, this tea would become astringent as it cools. It must. But, as I waited that prediction didn’t ring true, I was wrong and glad to be incorrect. No tannin or acid or turning into meh’ as we like to say here on Steepster.

I do like this Monsoon and the other late darjeeling tea’s. They appeal to me because of my love of darker tea’s with malt,smoke and rich complexity.

I remember that today is 9/11 and I will remember to serve others in memory of them and all those innocents who suffer in the World (I know I’m one of many who do the same)!

(I wrote this review a few weeks ago under the wrong heading…oops)

Oh I wanted to write a special story with this tea. I was going to take my time and sit thoughtfully, sipping and thinking and sipping and thinking.
First though, I had to take a final paper to the registration for my car. Then the Post Office to mail a Birthday Card. Then, well of course Happy Lucky’s Tea House was on the way, so I brought in some tea for the guys to try. Imperial Breakfast Summer Blend (Oh they really liked that one!) and Butiki’s Guranse Orange Pekoe (an interesting Nepalese tea), and this Diyi Cornfields Shu (another that everyone went Ooooh over!).
I had the best time sharing.
Sometimes I feel empty drinking tea all by myself. Out of gas…like something isn’t quite right.
Well, in fact it isn’t quite right.
Tea needs to be shared!

My day was hardly over.
My son-in-law Paul came by to install an MDA for my phone service
and my provider had sent the wrong equipment. I ran to the cable store, swapped it out for the correct item and he quickly did the install and left (with a Rootbeer and Reeses Peanut Butter Cup tip!).
My internet didn’t ever work. I had to figure this out (which I did and without me asking, and because the cable company screwed up, I got my current DVR service free for a year! Blessings Happen!)

Now I’m back to making more of this Cornfields Shu.

What has happened to my plans for a beautiful story? Everything got
ruined!

Life happens to us and we go on. What a chuckle.

I have to say that the bright places in my day have outweighed the tense ones. And the tea…well…I’ve had the best time sharing and sipping in hospitality with friends!

Oh this Shu is so different that it makes me want to celebrate and have a party…make snacks for a crowd…something like that!

The first thing I thought of was hot buttered corn on the cob off the grill. Dripping…and salty sweet.

I used my Gaiwan and the steepings are FAST! I was tempted to go past the recommended 5 seconds…but didn’t.
On the first steep the corn flavor and color were light, but on the second steep the liquor was browner and surprised me for such a short swoosh of water.

The aroma reminded me of the County Fair…. corn on the cob and kettle corn tempting me as I walk along trying to stay on my diet!

The flavor was sweet salted corn with a bite on the tip of my tongue and good enery tingling throughout my mouth.
I was interested in what a little raw sugar would do to this sweet corn tea and when I added a little the taste was like the caramel corn I loved at the San Francisco Zoo as a child. There was always fog, chattering black birds in the trees, the call of peacocks and the smell of salt air with the sea next to the Zoo. All my reviews on Steepster could be written about what I observed sitting on the bench at that Zoo and watching the people of San Francisco walk past me when I was a young girl. I was in love with all of them.

On second thought…(Maybe the second runner up would be warm Cracker Jacks with the nuttiness).

At any rate. Who would in their wildest dreams think this could be a SHU? Are you kidding me?

I could take a thermos of this SHU to the Circus, open the lid and everyone around me would think I had buttered popcorn!

This is hardly tea, this is my new snack food!

I’m a new Cornfields Shu Lover! And, this is a special one.

Thank you to Nuvola for this Oolong Black Tea sample!

I was suffering from the beginnings of a migraine today, the nausea felt like vertigo making me dizzy. In my bag was this sample which I had promised to share with Joe at Happy Lucky’s yesterday. I told him about the tea trees being at 9000 ft. in the mountains of Taiwan. What an adventure it would be to taste the tea and discuss the flavor together.

A stop to get a light for my refrigerator and another at the Post Office were challenging. Would I be able to make it to tea? (My car’s outdoor temperature gauge recorded 95 degrees, still hot and dry for September.)

“It’s just nausea, push through it. Caffeine will be good for the migraine anyway,” I told myself. So off I went to my tea pub.

When I arrived today, there was a buzz of people in front of the bar and behind it (including Joe). There was the owner George in his bermuda shorts, fiddling with some tea things…greeting me with a big “Hi Bonnie, how’re ya doin?”

I explained that I had a little migraine and needed caffeine, but that I had brought some Taiwan Oolong Black Tea grown at a high altitude that I wanted to share.

What happened next was Tea Theatre!

A flash of cups, a Gaiwan…six people lined up on barstools and several servers behind the bar as George deftly worked his magic. Pourings, scenting, tastings for everyone…steep after steep, after steep…on and on at least 6-7 times. I lost count.

The interesting thing was that from the beginning, the tea was potent. There was no need to work up to a 3rd or 4th steeping to gain the full flavor of this tea. The taste was assertive as though all the hard work the trees had to go through to produce the leaves at the high altitude was condensed and released like golden pearls. The flavor released easily from the leaves.

Comments flew around me…

“Dark Cherry”, “Malty”, Chocolate", Wonderful lingering flavor", “Rich and complex”.

My own notes were:
I felt a coolness on my tongue (which the others felt on the lingering finish also). There was a nuttiness and flavor somewhat like tutti frutti (brandy, sugar and many kinds of fruit placed in a crock and stirred…an old recipe for preserving fruit). A floral scent from a musky flower.

The color of the tea was honey from beginning to end and very fragrant. The leaves reminded me of smoky, malty Formosa Red (Red Blossom Tea) that I reviewed before (although this came up only when I was reminded of this tea by Joe).

And…my nausea…gone. The caffeine did what it is supposed to do and helped take the effects of the migraine away!

I can’t think of a better way to have experienced this tea than with this community of tea lovers.

I had a great time with a very lovely rich and flavorful tea!

Thank you Dhart1214 for this sample tea! Again!

#3in the tea taste trio challenge from Dhart1214!

Surely Swiss Chocolate Tea with chocolate chips in it would taste
completely different than Strawberry and Blueberry…I mean come on…it’s CHOCOLATE! I could SEE the big chocolate chips!

The aroma was cocoa (however that was a pretty light scent).

Just like the previous 2 tea’s, the taste was creamy smooth, a little sweet and very lightly cocoa but BITTER! More than BRISK!
WHEW!

Remembering (only a few minutes ago) the sweetening effect, I added a little which tempered the bitterness slightly. Then I added more which helped more. Then some more until the tea was drinkable but sweet.

I ended up with a tea that tasted odd. Not like cocoa but like frosting out of a pre-made container. Betty Crocker artificial Swiss Chocolate Frosting in a can!

These tea’s are not for people who want a tea straight without additions.

There you have it Dhart1214. No, they didn’t all taste the same.
What was the same is…they are SUGAR BANDITS!

Thanks Dhart1214 for this sample tea!

This is Tea #2 in the tea taste off!

The aroma of this tea was the best of the 3 I tasted. Definitely
Strawberry!
But, wah-wah….the flavor was again a sweetish nondescript berry with some creaminess.
“Let me see what happen’s when I sweeten this tea!”, I said to myself.

Just like the Blueberry Pie tea (which so far was similar but more pie crusty tasting) a little sweet didn’t help the flavor much.
So I added a little more and BAM! Strawberry!

Why?

Why should I have to add a ton of sweetening to get a strawberry flavor out of this tea? (Makes no sense to me!)

At least I’ve established that the Blueberry and Strawberry are not identical twins at this point and the Strawberry has inched ahead of the Blueberry in taste points.

Thank you Dhart1214 for this sample tea!

This is #1 of three tea’s to taste on Dhart1214’s challenge

I received 3 tea’s. Blueberry Pie, Strawberry Black and Swiss Chocolate Black with a note that said, “Please try these because they all taste the same to me!”

So today I set up 3 pots to brew with 3 mugs and 3 3×5 cards to jot my notes. I loaded the baskets with tea leaves, poured the water on and set the timers…game on!

This is the first of the 3 reviews:

The scent of the liquor was crusty pie…but not blueberry or any berry for that matter. It smelled yummy, like a bakery.

When I took a sip from my little glass cup, it was pretty bland but creamy, with a slight crust taste and nondescript berry flavor.

I sweetened the tea a very little bit which did not bring out any more berry flavor. Adding more sweetening again, and the berry was stronger. Odd. Who would make a tea that only tastes like the name if you mega sweeten it?

No blueberry here for me but there is a hint of pie and a light berry of some sort.

Thank you to Joe at Happy Lucky’s Tea House for this taste!

Today I went for my regular Sunday Tea. Almost immediately after perching myself on a high barstool, a special bag of tea was whipped out from behind the bar by my grinning tea professional, Joe.

“Here it is, the 1982 Wenshan Baozhong I told you about,” said Joe.
“Heh, chimed in Eric, none of us were born when this was produced.”
(Which made me groan!)
“Really? Thanks!” I said, pretty excited to try a tea that old!

Instead of me bringing a tea for my friends to try, they had a special tea to share with me! An Oolong 30 years old from Taiwan!

Joe made sure that I was presented with the tea in a formal way for viewing at every stage of the process.
First, I looked at the long dark twisty leaves, some with a little green on the edges. I smelled them but they had little fragrance since they were so very old and dry, but they were lovely.

Next the tea was brewed in a Gaiwan and then poured into cups and the leaves placed in front of me so that I could smell the aroma. Whiskey, apple, tobacco, honey.
The fragrance of the wet leaves was unbelievable. Everything about the leaves was a symphony of shifting melodies.

The flavor was so delicate that as soon as I decided on one flavor it was gone and another took it’s place. Again another one was also elusive and gone. The flavor’s were moving around like sheets of silk on a breeze.

Plum, light colored jujube, honeysuckle, apricot, yellow delicious apple, yellow raisin, and always back to a mystery flavor or flavors that I could not figure out at all.

Oh my.

My friends had as much of a laugh at my delight in drinking this special tea as I have when I bring one to them.

This is what hospitality is truly all about!

Thank you Joe! http://flic.kr/p/d8Zvvs (Here’s Joe!)

With a flourish of a teacup, I’m turning my attentions from the Highland Games of yesterday to the Greek Luncheon of today. And why not? One of the biggest joys of my life has been the blending of cultures that we can participate in so freely in North America. It wasn’t always so. When I was a little girl, this would never have happened the way it does today. So Hooray!

I had this Elderberry White waiting for me to try this morning before heading off to St. Spyridon’s. (If I fail to have some caffeine before Church, I’m more likely to get a migraine so White Tea was a good choice!)
I steeped the tea 3 minutes at a suggested temperature of 160F.
The resulting brew was too sour for drinking without sweetening for me. The elderberry added enough tang to support sugar but was just too much for me to enjoy plain.
Sweetened, there is a soft smokiness to the tea, an energy from the white tea and an elderberry flavor that is light and gentle.
As the tea cools there is a little creaminess and dry tanin on the tongue (nothing much though).

This was a smooth and soft cup even with the hint of smoke. A good cup before heading off to Church and my Greek Luncheon with the good people from St. Spyridon’s (although there won’t be any roast lamb or dancing at this one…too bad!)…I should bring some tea!

Have a wonderful day everyone!
http://youtu.be/M84us5Wvy2U (If you ever get to travel to a Greek Island, Santorini is wonderful…I was there 4 years ago.)

Slàinte!•[ slanj’-uh; often shortened to slanj ] (To your) Health!

I’ve been away for a couple of days at the Scottish Games in Estes Park, CO with my beloved daughter Annalisa and we had a great time!

Thank you to ashmanra for this tea sample!

The mountain air was refreshing the last few days. 70’s in the daytime and high 40’s at night with a drizzle late yesterday afternoon for a short time. I watched mist rise in wisps above the 14,000 ft mountain peaks, sweeping higher and higher like silken threads forming into clouds by force of nature.

How could I observe such beauty and stand.

When I hear the bagpipes play in such a setting as this, I feel as though all the breath inside of me goes out with the piper into the instrument and the cry goes forth…“Here we are, mere humans in the middle of this beauty and we give all our strength in this breath as a gift.”

Yes, I’m a sentimental Scot! I had my dram of whiskey too with the Clan Cameron Men looking fine in their Kilts!

On to today’s tea!

I was getting a bit sleepy this afternoon so I made a pot of tea. I followed the instructions for brewing temp. and time, then took a little sip. WOW, this was a STRONG cup of tea! I wasn’t expecting such an extremely potent brew!
Not only was the tea dark and strong, but it was on the bitter side.
“What’s this?”
“Maybe this is one of those tea’s very particularly suited to milk and/or sugar,” I said to myself.
Not wasting time, I added some milk and found the tea much more palatable. Then I added sweetening, then more and more until it was exactly to my liking. (This tea took more additions that any other tea in my memory).

The flavor was malty with a little raisin taste, and brisk. With no additions the tea is bitter like a strong espresso.
The wet leaves had the aroma of cinnamon bark (not sweet cinnamon) with a hint of vanilla.

I liked the heaviness of the brew for a morning cuppa. You could really go to town with any type of additions and not overdo it.

When the tea cools down, the malty flavor mellows and becomes more cocoa. You can leave your cup, let it cool, then come back and there is the cocoa taste you may have wanted in the beginning.

A h-uile la sona dhuibh
’s gun la idir dona dhuibh! May all your days be happy ones!

http://youtu.be/lVd_0-SXGBs

I’m surprised that this is the first tasting note on this Butiki
Organic Ceylon Green Tea

I was rustling through the latest order from Stacy for my morning tea and wanted a good cup before packing for an overnight with my daughter up in Estes Park.
A green tea for breakfast? I don’t drink green tea for breakfast, unless…it’s a Ceylon Green Tea. There’s something about the Ceylon Green’s that are almost like a darjeeling. It’s as if the tea bushes have intertwined the flavor of green and black tea’s.

I prepared a small 8oz pot for tea and steeped the leaves 2 minutes.
The leaves and liquor have none of the vegital aroma that I associate with most green tea’s. In fact, the aroma was very, faint. I almost thought I hadn’t steeped the tea properly, but when I reenacted the steeping, the outcome was the same.

The liquor was clear, very golden and beautiful.

When I took a sip of tea, I was surprised at the light flavor.
There was a smoothness to the tea but hardly a whisper of flavor.
I had to concentrate, finding the faint salad green, celery taste which were sweet and fresh.

As the tea cooled, there was an increase in the thickness of the mouthfeel. I added some raw sugar which was a very nice addition.

This morning tea was one that I would recommend especially for those who don’t care much for grassy green vegital tea’s. This was subtle and smooth. Very gentle.

I won’t be writing on Steepster until Saturday.
Today, my daughter Annalisa and I are off to the Highland Games and a Tattoo (all the Piper’s marching together) tonight at 7200 ft. surrounded by towering 14,000 ft mountain peaks. We’ll both cry. The bagpipes are wild and special to us, a reminder of persecution and survival. The fiddle and pipes are played at family events (mostly funerals now). Old Scot’s songs are passed from generation to generation and we Bless the Tartan’s on St. Andrews Day.

I’m bringing along tea of course. There’s a mountain river next to our condo and I’m going to sit there with my tea and soak in the beauty of the Colorado Highlands. (I’ll take pictures)

Have a bonny day!

http://youtu.be/P5P1M5qwBwo Not the best youtube but you get the idea of the pipers playing Amazing Grace
I’ve probably posted this before…Estes Park http://youtu.be/xWlwZA2PnxA (an hour away from my home it’s a great vacation destination for hikers and wildlife lovers).

Thank you Dhart1214 for this sample tea

La la la la la….

What does one do when one does not care for a tea? One has to look for something that is good about the tea like a detective!

I’ll become… Miss Marple …The BBC Detective!

Miss Marple is in the kitchen with her pot of tea, flowery rose china cup (totally not me) which she takes on a tray (along with cream and castor sugar) to a table by the garden window.

The first pour is a nose scrunching audible, “Really, oh no! Something has to be done about this!” (The black thick tea was so strong and bitter it could have disintegrated a discarded murder weapon!)
“I’ll add some cream and castor sugar. Surely that will make this tea drinkable.” But alas, the tea was still sour and without a chocolate, coconut flavor at all.
“Drat it all! Whatever is the matter with this tea? Has it been meddled with?” Looking into the cup for a bit, you could see the process of deduction…the sleuth at work.
“I’ll dilute the tea!”
This proved to be the best answer to drinkability but just barely.

Miss Marple’s deduction was as follows:

Either there was something that went terribly wrong with the Puerh base which made the tea have an odd taste. Or,the flavoring went berserk taking on a persona that has nothing to do with coconut or cocoa. (It could also be a sinister plot.)

The case had to go into the file of unsolved mysteries!

I like a good mystery, and I’ll assume that I am the only one that had an off packet of this tea and leave it at that.

This week’s trip to my Tea Pub was one where I order a
pot of tea (I’m always looking for a new tea to try and write about)
and then pull out a packet of one of my own treasured tea’s
for my tea server friends to try. (These employees are super mega educated about tea!)
I ordered this Darjeeling and sat at the tall bar watching several
of my friendly servers take the last of my sample packet of Summer Tieguanyin and gradually pour all 18 steepings.

It’s funny to watch the whole tea serving and drinking from a bar stool. The Gaiwan was ready and the pouring began.
Eyes rolled around and primordial sounds arose as my friends enjoyed
the exceptional Oolong tea. It was amusing (I know I laughed).

My tea was more interesting and delicious than I expected also.
Harvested after the monsoon season, this darjeeling is a ‘no flush’…because it’s at the very end of picking. It has no muscat flavor, no astringency or acidity.
For an hour or so, my tea friends and I chattered on about what was making this tea so sweet? We ended up talking about beer, then grains and grain sugars and the closest flavor to what we were tasting in the tea was Grape Nuts.
Yes Grape Nuts cereal, which has a barley sugar that tastes good. (One other person said there was some kind of stone fruit but we could never decide on that. INCONCLUSIVE!)

I drank a whole pot of tea. Then I asked for a refill.
(Looking for stone fruit)
An odd thing happened with the second pot.
The leaves smelled soapy. Not bad soap, not Irish Spring. More like the musky warm soap scent left on a man’s skin, very light and pleasant.
(Well OK then, who just woke up?!)

The tea didn’t taste like soap but like Bergamot. Strange.
As the tea cooled, the soapy scent and Bergamot flavor drifted away as if they were never there at all.

I am such a fortunate person to have a place like this to go and have a good time, taste tea and share the tea I have. What a blessing. Without this place, I would have far less contact with people face to face. This is why I hope the tea culture in North America grows. For the tea we all love…sure, but for more places like my tea pub (Happy Lucky’s and in Boulder Ku Cha) to exist for hospitality.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjBX1Mjf Finally found a picture of the place!

Thank you Dhart1214 for the big tea sample!

We all love Dragon Pearls (well most of us do)!

Even the few who don’t prefer black tea have to admit they’re pretty to look at.
All chocolate colored with golden strands rolled shape of a malted Whopper. (I popped one in my mouth once just to taste the malty leaves)

I’ve collected interesting shaped tea’s for when my young grandchildren come to visit. I have pillows of green tea, cigar shapes and pagoda’s. Tea’s with berries that plump up. AND, this
type of tea with their round shape which looks best in it’s jar like candy and scoop some into a glass pot for brewing.

Everyone loves a cocoa malty tea with some sugar and cream. It may as well be hot chocolate, but it’s better (and easier) to make.
Another infusion and there’s more in a hurry.

I had this tea by myself this morning.
The most cocoa of the Pearls I’ve tried has been Teavivre, but my local shop here in Fort Collins is so close to that standard that I’ll probably buy from them.
The Praise Tea Company Black Pearls are a extremely light cocoa.
I liked the maltiness and smooth richness of this tea, however. There was a baked bread comforting warmth to it.

Sometimes it’s hard to separate malt from cocoa so I carefully made a whole pot of tea, drinking it plain, then sweetening it, then adding cream and then going back to plain again.
I looked for the cocoa and just didn’t hardly, barely find it. (There was a potato chip aftertaste that I noticed after awhile)

I like this tea though. I am a fan of malty, homemade bread goodness in the morning. It’s all yummy to me.

Thank you Ashmanra for this lovely sample tea!

Cranberry and Almond flavors it says in the Harney & Son’s notes.
Fall is coming. In fact, this is the LAST DAY OF SUMMER!

Am I the only one who packed up the tank tops, shorts and white jeans this weekend? It’s a frigid 84 degrees out ;) so I thought I’d get ready for the cold weather with a splendid Fall tea.

Since this was my morning wake-up tea, I added cream and sweetening.
Some flavored tea’s speak to me. “Add a little something, Bonnie, you know you want to.” And I can’t resist.
(There are tea’s that I never add anything to ever, ever, ever!)

I liked the cranberry flavor which was just like chewing on the plump dry cranberry’s that I used to get from Trader Joe’s. Tart and sweet. The almond didn’t taste like almond in a distinct way. I couldn’t tell it was there as a nutty flavor, but it carried the cranberry along by giving depth to the tea so that it didn’t taste too fruity or thin. What I’m trying to say poorly is, the almond gave a cranberry chewy granola flavor to the tea. There.

Come on Fall! We’re ready for the display of color!

This is my 400th Review on Steepster!!!

First I want to thank Verdant for this sample that came with my last order. I saved it for this 400th review. (You like the red?!)

This tea is from the Fugian County of Anxi.

From the moment I snipped open the foil packet of tea, I knew I was going to be taken along on a fragrant journey. The tea leaves had a strong floral aroma that reminded me of having pancakes with berries and powdered sugar in a garden filled with flowers.

I chose a tasting bowl and cup set so that I could do small infusions. (My goal was to do the whole 18 rounds of Steepings!)

All through the rounds the color of the liquor changed very little. It was a pale yellow-green and faded slightly towards steep 16.
The fragrance of the leaves were very floral with a slight vegital tone in the beginning which began to reverse as the steepings continued. There was always a good floral scent.

So, how did this tea taste?

I’ve been sitting for hours thinking about this tea and the 16 steepings that I poured (all of which I will gladly repeat again).

I want to write about the flavor but the experience was more than a straight up flavor review with a list of steepings.

As I began the first few tastings, (which were the most floral) I was distracted, as is the case most times, by the newness of the tea. I ask myself, “What is this flavor here, is it juicy, creamy or astringent?”
It takes a few rounds before my brain and my mouth catch up to each other and I begin to hear the tea speaking. At that point, I have to step out of the way. The mind chatter has to calm down.

When I became quiet inside, I was able to enjoy the tea more, and remembered a time sitting on the beach in Half Moon Bay just listening to the waves crash on the beach. I always stopped to buy flowers from the growers along Highway 1. That area is known for flowers running all over the hills next to the Pacific Ocean. Star and Asian Lilies, Tulips and Mums. I bought flowers from that area at the Farmers Market every Friday by my job in Foster City.

This tea reminded me of those fragrant oceanside flowers rolled out like a carpet in the warm sunshine but cooled by the mist from the sea.
The same area was a growers haven for green beans and Asian vegetables. So, there it was. The flowers and sweet vegetables swirled together harmoniously like the flavor of the tea.

One more thing I must mention.

There was the most delightful creaminess, which I thought at first was butter because it was so thick. Then I changed my mind and said it was thick fresh cream. (I smacked my lips!)
The feeling isn’t the one you have after eating an ice cream, but the one you have after the first bite of a cooked pudding when it coats your mouth.

The tasting notes on the Verdant website are much more detailed than mine. Worth reading. Mine are simpler today.

I’m feeling a wee bit nostalgic. Eight months have gone by and I’ve made so many friends on Steepster. If you are like me, the little personal messages and encouragements that go on in the comments and behind the reviews are what floats this boat. This is all about tea and more isn’t it!

THANK YOU

Thank you Stacy for this juicy tea sample!

I can understand why Stacy stocks this tea so that she has plenty on hand for herself! It’s really good tea!

This morning, when I saw the words ‘Black Tea’ on the sample packet, I casually picked it up thinking, "OK, a nice Black Tea for my morning kick in Le derrière ".

The leaves were long and beautiful. Chocolate brown twisty fingers.
With such dark leaves the liquor was lighter than I expected,
very clear and fragrant, with a scent like apricots and honey.

Before tasting my tea I went to the freezer and took out a few of my prized dried California Apricots (the plump ones that are hard to get ) and cut them up to gather the aroma. ‘Sniff’
The scent was the same as the tea!

I took a sip and the black tea was honey apricot without any maltiness. The mouth feel was rich and full even though you would have imagined at first that the tea was light as a feather.
The smoothness hides the slightest tingle of astringency as the tea cools. There is plenty of juiciness and sweetness, but it’s really all about the golden apricot honey which is hypnotic and swishes you away.

Being raised in Northern California, Apricots were plentiful and never cold packed like the kind you find in the stores today.
My mom (Pat) canned them, grandma (Lolita) made jam, and I picked them off trees to eat fresh, made desserts, and froze them for my kids as popsicles.

Before Silicon Valley was ‘Silicon Valley’ it was agricultural and had orchards and Canneries. Sunkist, Del Monte, S&W, Hunts, Libby’s, and Marianni’s all were there, and in the Summer the teens from my High School worked cutting ‘Cots’.
(Yes, there were no McDonald’s jobs because in the earlier 1960’s there were almost NO fast food restaurants!)
You cut ‘Cots’ (apricots) and got blisters on your hands for minimum wage, and were glad for it! If you were frugal, you might earn enough in a Summer to buy a $100-$200 used car!

Years later, (1980’s) across from the Apple Computer World Headquarters in Cupertino, I noticed an acre of huge drying flats of apricots laying in the sun at Marianni’s Cannery. The old and the new were side by side (and now gone).
A last remnant of what was once a lush valley of 100,000 that had been replaced with concrete and a population of over a million people.

Some have never tasted an apricot fresh off the tree when the sun has ripened it with a blush of red on the skin. The sweetness at just the right moment is juicy and bursting with life.
Try to stop at a stand where they are fresh if you can.

This youtube is somewhat bizzare, shows a 1955 film of Silicon Valley agriculture (a silent movie with soundtrack). Makes me want to cry because it’s gone! I lived for 12 years across from a Prune orchard and vineyard which are part of a freeway now. http://youtu.be/-PacfbdTIms

This tea for me was one reminder of my childhood and I want pass this kind of flavor memory forward like my family did with me.
One of the reasons that I love the organic farms and buying local!

Thanks Stacy! (I know Stacy tastes PEACHES but I taste APRICOT)

Thank you Dhart1214 for this sample tea!

For some readers this will bring back memories, for some…‘Guys’ maybe not unless you were dragged along with mom and a sister as a kid or are a dad who enjoys these times with a daughter.

It’s ‘Back to school shopping time’ for 17 year old Megan!
And of course who do they call? GRANDMA! (I’m so proud!)

I am the Queen of shopping for the family. I know how to get the best deals. It’s a holiday weekend which means ‘sale’ so I went online and checked the store I wanted to go to and found 15% off on top of what’s on sale in the store. (50% becomes 65%, 70% becomes 85% and so on).

Off we went in my Grandma minivan to Macy’s.

My daughter Annalisa, Megan and I scooped up a huge pile of clothes from the sale racks, then grabbed the largest dressing room.

What happens when we women get together is always the same.

We started getting goofy and laughing.
Then I began laughing till I wheezed.
Then they laughed at me, and from that point on everything was funny.
Pretty soon Megan was laughing and calling ‘Grandma", while I was crying and wheezing, “Stop”, and my daughter couldn’t speak at all because she was on the floor doubled over giggling at both of us.

We exhausted ourselves with this nonsense.

We are a family of Laughing women!
In the car with the other two teenage girls it’s even worse.
At home and at Church…we can’t stop laughing and carrying on.

It’s wonderful!

I chose the Black-n-Blue tea for my nightcap because it just struck my fancy.
Most times I like blackberry tea because it reminds me of making jam and berry picking with my children when they were little.

After steeping the leaves in my Finum basket, I sweetened the tea and took a sip.
The tea tasted like a hot blackberry turnover.
There was a nice bakery flavor that I liked, with a jam quality that wasn’t too sweet like candy but was natural but not tart.
There was an aftertaste that reminded me of peach. It’s a full, round mouth-feel that gives the tea that crust buttery pastry flavor.

This was a good and tasty tea.
Perfect after laughs with the women who have my whole heart. These shopping trips are going to create some good memories don’t you think so too?!

Thank you Dhart 1214 for this Sample Tea!

Last night I was getting ready to meet up with my daughter’s big van for the 50 mile trek to St. Luke in Erie for Vesper’s with Bishop Basil. (It’s the eve of the beginning of the New Year on the Orthodox liturgical calendar which is celebrated with the Vespers and a picnic today.)
It can be a long drive with lots of grandkids bumping along calling requests from the back of the van to the front (although last night there were only 2 toddlers, 2 little boys, 2 teenagers and 2 mom/grandma’s).
I planned well, brewing a double tall insulated mug of this Chocolate Delight Tea. It would be my grandmother medicinal that could calm my nerves come what may. I would be prepared to sit in my seat and sip away, off in my own tea world while havoc reigned behind me.
For five minutes or so I tried to have a civil conversation with my daughter about how little sleep she was getting with the 18 month waking up at 3am ready to play.
Soon, a little voice over my left ear kept saying
“Is it pretty my precious?”, and other creepy phrases like that.
“Oh, I remarked, The Hobbit?” Ah yes.
The rest of the journey was quiet on my part, with little voices over my left ear and a big mug of tea to sip.

The tea was…PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE!

I picked the right tea for the right occasion. (Pat on back)
There had been no fooling around when I brewed the tea.
I didn’t taste the hot tea when I ran out the door…but I had sweetened it, steeped it a little long and added cream.
I’m so glad that I added both because it was soooo goood!
The chocolate flavor wasn’t sour or fake tasting but rich and deep like a chocolate Sacher Torte.
The barley adds a warm fullness to the tea and the apples are something I usually don’t like, but here I think they add sweetness without being detected as apple flavor. The cocoa flakes and beans…no complaints! Ha! The more the merrier!
(I especially love the barley in the tea…such a good move!)

I couldn’t resist giving my daughter a sip (and I’m a germ-a-phobe…I don’t share cups!!!) and she said she would buy this tea too because of the barley with the chocolate!

Very nice.

Thanks Ashmanra for this sample tea!

My experience with Harney & Son’s Tea is almost ‘0’. I think the only one I’ve had is Paris and that’s it. (Maybe one other that was a teabag…can’t remember.)

When Ashmanra wanted to send me some tea in exchange for the Lapsang Souchong (and some other tea’s) I was sending her, I took advantage of the Harney’s in her cupboard. “Now’s my chance!”, I said to myself!

In the beginning (tea bible), I drank lots of flavored tea’s, mostly from Davids and a few other brands. That was so much fun even though I had to wait for the shipments to arrive from Canada.
Then, I looked at the top of the Tea list on Steepster and noticed several companies that were repeatedly mentioned for quality and began trying them out. Pretty soon, I had more unflavored tea than flavored. What a switch!

This morning, instead of a Black tea or Assam or Pu-erh to charge me for the day, I picked up a flavored tea (something I haven’t done for awhile).

I was kind of excited about trying Tower of London, which seemed like having dessert for breakfast!

I didn’t even taste the tea without sweetening it first. Bah! I know what I like!
My first taste was creamy smooth and a bit like an Earl Grey, somewhat reminiscent of Paris with a splash of vanilla. The flavor was like French Pastry and I liked it.
I carefully added some cream which gave the tea an even more intense pastry aire.

What a lovely way to begin the day with the end of Summer just ahead. We’ll soon be putting away our whites and pastels until next year.
I had my light, sweet dessert tea along with a baguette, butter and some berries in a bowl. All perfect for beginning my day with a smile!