Ewa

Well, I’ve basically overdosed myself with sweetness, what with all the lattes and biscotti tea, etc, etc, so for my afternoon tea it’s time for…smoky! Yay smoky!

This is pretty tame as smoky teas go, and has a light sweet note that I am, right now, kind of wishing wasn’t there. All in all, I’m kinda wanting something…more.

Trying out a matcha latte today, using up some of the HUGE amount of 52teas latte mix that I made up. I think I made the matcha a little too strong this time around because the kind of seaweedy flavor is dominating a bit more than I would have liked. I really like how the creamy texture of the matcha interacts with the creaminess of the milk so I’m definitely going to try this again. Damn my low tolerance for sweet things!

Mmm, such a nice morning tea when I’m not rushing around. I don’t really eat breakfast as such most days, and well, today I woke up at 11, so I may as well wait an hour and just have lunch. This tea screams “breakfast” so much, though, that I really feel as if I HAVE had some.

It’s a little more buttery today than the first time I tried it, which was freaking me out a bit at first, but I’ve gotten used it now. The raisin is stronger as well, I think. The only problem I have with this tea is that it does leave me feeling a bit thirsty – kind of like I need to rinse out the butter taste from my mouth, but I guess that’s just going to happen with a tea this substantial.

I am not gonna lie, the various notes/discussions/etc of the almond teas has intrigued me greatly. I am not a HUGE fan of almond, but I consider it to be an excellent addition to all manner of confectionary. Almond slivers on strawberry napoleons, for example, are what is referred to in technical circles as “the bomb.” So I was definitely interested. Then of course there’s the fact that Almond Cookie is one of the best rated teas on the site.

So today I was at Teavana looking for a matcha whisk, and I saw the almond biscotti and I basically couldn’t resist. I’m not a huge Teavana fan because one, I think they’re overpriced and two, the amount of sugar they shove into their samples completely kills the taste for me. BUT, I saw the almond biscotti sitting there and I asked to see it, and once I smelled it, I knew I was going home with it.

Needless to say, at this point I am just completely giving up on the whole “no caffeinated drinks” thing.

This tea smells like almond and I don’t even know, some sort of baked good and cinnamon and I don’t even know what else. It tastes pretty much identical, which is GREAT. Despite all the flavors though, it doesn’t feel over flavored, it works well with the tea and makes me want to actually try to ease off on the tea – possibly by adding some milk.

In any case, I dub this a HUGE success. Anyone know how it compares to the Almond Cookie?

YES. I have DONE it! MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The perfect balance of strength of tea flavor, milk, and sweetness is MINE, ALL MINE!

And now I will never be able to do it again.

Actually now I drink more of it, the flavor of the tea could be a bit stronger. But it IS the second steeping, so a slight weakness is to be expected.

And now, for your edification, a short skit:
“So, you’ve made a cup of Coconut Cream Pie that you are satisfied with?”
“Yep”
“And you like it and feel comfortable rating it?”
“Yep”
“But you’re rating it below your other 52teas teas?”
“Well, it’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t overwhelmed with its awesome like I was with the other two.”
“So…you realize you have just rated toast higher than pie, right?”
“…sometimes, the world works in strange ways.”

Looks like this tea and I have some wrangling to do. I tried the latte recipe from the 52teas website…too sweet! Waaaaaaaaay too sweet. (for me) Which means that I need to do some messing about with proportions. Fortunately, as noted on the site, the recipe makes enough latte mixture for me to experiment with this to my heart’s content. All I can say is: thank god for nonfat condensed milk, or I would be feeling SOOOOO guilty right now.

Once again, I can taste the potential! But mostly I just taste sugar.

Honestly, am I ever going to feel comfortable rating this tea?

Wewt! Got my tin (I was one of the 10 winners) today, and, of course, immediately had to try it despite saying I was going to avoid caffeine for the next few days. What I actually meant when I said that was “I am going to avoid caffeine unless something interesting and caffeinated shows up.” And it did! Hilariously, it came with a bamboo whisk and I had just gotten back home from buying one in anticipation of its arrival. Whoops!

For my first try, I just made it straight. Half a teaspoon, add water and make into a paste, add a bit more water and whiskity whisk whisk. Wow! This is REALLY good stuff. It’s so smooth and creamy – I don’t think I’ve had a matcha quite like it! It’s got just the right amount of vegetal undertone and it balances quite well with the creaminess. Yum! I could really get used to this.

I’m so glad I got the opportunity to try this – can’t wait to try the different variations on the DoMatcha site!

My morning tea for today. Actually got up at a normal hour but then got overconfident and ended up taking my time too much, meaning that it was a short steep (as usual).

This is still definitely lagging behind in the mini breakfast blend contest I’ve got going on.

Harney and Sons finally got the Florence sample back in stock, so I ordered a bunch (five) samples from them and I need MOAR ROOM in the my tea cupboard, so I am making an earnest effort to destroy this.

I also read at some point that caffeinated drinks can exacerbate cramps, so for the next couple of days it’s all herbal all the time, BAY-BEEEE. Except for my morning tea, obviously. Expecting me to get through the day without the morning wake up jolt is ludicrous, LUDICROUS.

I’m getting more and more meh on this tea. Oh foxtrot, why have you forsaken me?

Third steep! Mostly cinnamon at this point. Very light hint of butter.

I saved this to try last from my 52teas order, although I guess I shouldn’t really count the coconut cream pie as “trying it” since it not going so well was my own fault. I’m not sure why I saved it for last, contrariness probably since my first impulse was to tear it open first and I firmly believe that occasionally not letting my curiosity get what it wants is good for me.

Like most other people, I was pretty weirded out by the idea of this tea, but everyone’s expressions of horror when I told them about it only egged me on into getting it. (contrariness again!) Any tea that requires me to stop and think a moment to make sure I have the word order right cracks me up and therefore deserves a chance.

Opening it up, it mostly smelled like maple syrup, which was weird, because that is possibly the only non-breakfast related word that is NOT in the tea’s title. I’m gonna go ahead and chalk it up to the combination of the cinnamon and butter. I tried it and my first impression was just YUM. This is REALLY good! I like a tea that I can just immediately say that I like or not without actually analyzing the flavor. Of course, after the initial period of yum, I DID get down to analyzing. The maple syrup, as expected, resolved into a combination of cinnamon and buttery flavor, and there was a hint of smokiness that I am going to assume is the toast. I am somewhat at a loss as to the raisin bit, although…there’s something in the aftertaste that suggests a certain idiosyncratic fruitiness that I would, if pressed, associate with raisins. I am not that into raisins so I’m not particularly disappointed.

Second steeping: ok, those are DEFINITELY raisins. The impression is so strong that I keep trying to chew the tea. The cinnamon is still around, but the butter has receded a bit, as has the smoky toastness, although I think I agree with Cofftea that the texture of the tea itself is toasty on it’s own.

Man, I am just drinking this up. I REALLY like it. And it’s quite satisfying on its own, i.e. I am not left feeling the need to visit IHOP or something :D It also makes me really want to try the maple bacon from Man Teas.

Sigh, last of the sample. And I am still waffling between this and the Bond Street Blend…both have good points! Ugh, I hope I don’t finish up all of my breakfast blends before next month rolls around. I really can’t justify any more tea purchases this month.

Backlogging from last night:
I put the third steeping in the fridge to chill, but got impatient (not to mention thirsty) and ended up drinking it before it got really cold. This time, the white tea and the black currant had switched places. It’s still good this way, but I think I prefer it the other way around. Will have to wait on a true iced tea from this until next time, I think!

Edit: Turns out there was enough left in the pot to have like, a quarter of a cup, chilled this morning. OMG SO GOOD. The cool temperature really brings out the black currant nicely!

Whoo boy, first go at this did NOT go well. Got into a raid right after setting it to steep and was too busy killing dudes to go and pour it for…well, a while. Needless to say it ended up oversteeped and holy buckets was it ever astringent. I tried to tone it down by adding milk, but I think I added too much milk and it ended up somehow too mild but still astringent. Very weird.

I could tell that it had potential though, so I’m trying out a second steeping now, with a much lower milk to tea ratio. Naturally, since I oversteeped it the first time around, it came out a bit tasteless but I am also getting a better sense of the potential of this tea. I think it’s one that would definitely benefit from the addition of a vanilla milk substitute of some kind. I am thinking almond or rice milk. I also really want to try out the iced latte recipe that is on the 52teas website. By the time I got to the end of the my first cup, the tea had cooled significantly, and I could definitely see its potential.

So, I guess after all that, I am…intrigued. The tea is definitely quite coconutty, and the vanilla seems to be present around the edges of it. I don’t know. I definitely need to try it again without brewing it for twice as long as it is meant to be brewed.

Second steeping: Just as good as the first! Added a minute to the steeping time and nom nom nom. I’d say that the white tea retreated somewhat with the second steeping, which is not what I would have expected, but there you go.

I’m gonna try to third steeping iced. We’ll see how it goes!

Squeeeee! My 52teas order came in today, prompting squeals of joy, immediately followed by choice paralysis. Which do I try first!

I actually decided to go with this one first. (Decide? Not draw randomly? Moi? I know it’s weird, but I actually put some thought into it. Read on, true believers!) Reading people’s reviews of it is what basically put 52teas on the map for me, and made me realize that I would HAVE to order from them even though they do not do samples which is usually a huge turn off for me. >:|

I LOVE black currant, I have mentioned this before, but I’ve found black currant black teas to be largely disappointing. It just doesn’t fit properly, if that makes any sense. But white tea, white tea could be PERFECT. So, high hopes here!

I have to thank 52teas, because I don’t get to use the word redolent often, but when I opened the packet, that is the first thing I thought of. The leaves were redolent with the rich, overripe fragrance of currant. When I poured water over the tea, the fragrance intensified, but now I was smelling fresh currant. That’s right, this tea has power over TIME AND SPACE. Well, maybe just time.

So obviously, by the time I sit down to actually drink it, I am totally stoked. And you know what? This tea totally delivered. The black currant complements the white tea SO well, it’s like the two flavors were made to go together, and somehow even though the currant is very strong and present, it doesn’t overshadow the white tea. Instead, they work together to ROCK MY SOCKS OFF.

I have GOT to try this iced.

Second steep: note to self: do not assume I have rinsed out my tea mug. Especially if the last thing in it was chai.
That is all.

Addendum: Combining Bond Street English Breakfast Blend and Thai Chai = Fruit Compote! Makes no goddamn sense, but there you have it.

Yeah, so my alarm clock didn’t go off this morning. Good times! You can probably extrapolate what happened to the tea from there…

So I’ve been thinking that perhaps instead of a rude, slap me in the face breakfast tea, I should go with a (still strong) but nicer tea to help make me stop hating the world before noon rolls around. Therefore it’s back to this tea, which I still am really liking the taste of. Still nice and strong for the morning but much smoother than the scottish breakfast.

Bah, now I am waffling over which one to get, although the hilarious thing is that I may not be getting either of them any time soon since my graphics card died yesterday and not only do I have to get a new one (and better! if I’m getting a new card it may as well be an upgrade, amirite?) BUT apparently I was at the very edge of what sort of graphics card my power supply could support so now I have to get a new power supply as well. BAH! The end result is, I should probably hold off on more tea purchases until payday rolls around again. (it is a double shame because I really want to try the 52teas malted chocomate now that it’s back, too)

Well, back to mornings as usual at Chez Ewa. Let this steep for maybe a minute before running out the door. Ah mornings. You suck.

So, I’ve been letting this stuff air out in a shallow container in hopes of getting rid of the chai contamination, and I decided it was time to risk it again. The root beer taste IS gone, thank goodness. But there’s nothing to replace it. It just tastes kind of generic and slightly astringent. Maybe I should just give up on this stuff?

Made a giant pot of this to drink while writing an essay for class. (I needed something tasty and wakefulness inducing since it was for the Foucault class.) I thought this would be perfect because it adds the zing of lemongrass and the sweetness of coconut to the already spiciness of chai. It’s like chai for people who are not in the mood for chai. Or something. I have also recently felt more open to the concept of coconut (specifically after my experience with Golden Moon’s delicious coconut pouchong) so I wanted to see if it carried over.

Anyway, true to form, I forgot that it existed while writing and then drank it cold. I don’t really remember the last time I drank this stuff hot. I seem to always be having it in situations where I get involved in doing something else. Naturally it got a little stronger than I usually go for with this stuff, but that was all right because by the time that I remembered it existed I was feeling the encroachment of a post lunch coma, so it woke me up a bit. Also, I added milk to help tone down the sharpness, and that was good, but still, I think I’ll try to actually pay attention for the rest of the evening.

I got to bed a little late last night so I decided I needed some heavy duty breakfast tea to wake me up, so I grabbed this. Amazingly, I actually steeped this for the amount of time it is supposed to be steeped today and got an interesting smoky note out of it.

The second steep was really weak though. I guess breakfast blends front-load a lot of their taste. Or something.

I keep meaning to try this and then forgetting about it’s existence, so I had put it at the very front of my tea cupboard so I would remember it. Naturally, this mostly meant that it fell out every time I opened the cupboard, but today I finally noticed it before anything else.

The list of STUFF in this is a little insane. For a moment I couldn’t find the bit where it actually said “green tea leaves” and was all like “holy crap it’s just mint and spices that usually go in chai! and anise!” But yeah, then I saw it, so…crisis averted!

I was distracted while making this and used water that was too hot, which is kind of a bummer, but I’ll get it right next time! I’m not sure if it’s because of that, but the mint is TOTALLY dominating this tea. To the point where I’m like, is there REALLY other stuff in there? By really concentrating, I can sort of notice a spiciness and a vague sort of sweetness (could be the anise!) around the aftertaste but that is IT.

As the tea cools, I am starting to get more stuff. I’m not entirely sure that I am capable of telling ginger zing apart from mint zing and once you add pepper to the mix you can REALLY forget about it, but there is definitely zing going on, and I’m starting to get other spices as well. The cardamon definitely, and more sweetness. And, oh yes, there is definitely a peppery aftertaste here.

Well, in attempting to analyze the flavors in this cup, I have basically gone through the entire thing without figuring out whether I actually like it or not. (I mean, beyond just being a mint tea and therefore unlikely to be terrible) I know I am DEFINITELY gonna have to try this at the right temperature considering how much it changed as it cooled though. I shall tentatively give it a smiley, because it’s not like I DIDN’T like it.

Oversteeped this by accident and got it more bitter than I was really going for. But it is still my favorite!

This is the end of my sample, which saddens me. Although I guess really it just means I need to buy more. Anyway, after seeing Rabs’ log from a while back, I decided that I also have to try this iced. I had kind of a stupid amount left in the tin, enough for like, one and a half cups, so I decided to just dump it all into the teapot and dilute it a bit with ice water.

The first steep made me decide against continuing the dilution. It was just “all right.” Pleasant enough to drink, but not some sort of revalation. The second steep, though, I didn’t dilute at all, and HOLY BUCKETS is this good. I would never have guessed that this stuff would taste so good cold, but there’s this sweetness to it now that just goes perfect iced. I’m not getting very much in the way of maltiness, but, come to think of it, when is the last time that you saw sweetness and maltiness in the same room together?!?! Could it be….they are the SAME PERSON? and THEY, which is to say HE (it/she), STOLE DUCHESS MCSNOOTY’S DIAMOND NECKLACE!

Ahem, got a little carried away there at the end. Also, I am now getting malty notes in the aftertaste.