chrine

Backlogging. 6 days ago. Thursday morning.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

I tealogged this the first time I had it and gave it a good rating. I remember liking it as well and looking forward to having another cup. But this morning, I didn’t really enjoy it that much. I got mostly spice with the other flavors in the background some. Like a chai. The second steep was better. I’m holding off adjusting my rating until I have it again.

Backlogging. 6 days ago. Wednesday afternoon.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

It seems like all the black teas in the 52teas 12 days of xmas teas are not morning teas. So after my first cup of the day I reached for this. I thought I had already logged it the first time I drank it when I opened it, but I only did about half of them then.

It definitely tastes like cotton candy. Pink cotton candy. And black tea. And yes, I do think the pink and the blue cotton candy taste different. This teas is really good. The second steep was even better, I think. Rating a 75 (good range 70-80).

Backlogging. 6 days ago. Wednesday morning.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

First cup of the day. Used a bit more leaf than usual. First steep was strong and bracing. More black tea than berries, slightly astringent. Second steep was a perfect cup of this one.

Backlogging. 6 days ago. Tuesday morning.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

Two steeps. Think the first one was with honey.

Backlogging. 7 days ago. Monday afternoon.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

I don’t remember why I decided to drink this or what I was going while drinking, though it prolly involved some studying at some point. I remember the tea being more fruity less green tea at first.

2nd steep: 3 mins 30 secs
3rd steep: 4 mins

Backlogging. 8 days ago. Monday late night.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

I needed a less caffeinated tea for late night online time in bed at my parent’s. I found two bags of this when I was looking. (They do not have pretty much any non-caffiene/less caffeine options.) I wasn’t expecting this tea to be very good as I haven’t had good experiences with decaffeinated bagged black teas so far. Mostly, they’ve just tasted like whatever flavor they are supposed to be, overpoweringly so, and zero black tea taste.

This was a pleasantly good apricot, not overly strong, with a bit of black tea taste in the background. I would readily drink it again late at night and not in the ‘well, this is all I have so I suppose it will have to do’ way. I’m rating it a 60 (bagged tea nice range 50-60).

Backlogging. 8 days ago. Saturday evening.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

After dinner, I seriously needed more caffeine so I went with this one for a sweet dessert. I’ve definitely had this one before and thought I had logged it. It’s getting a 73 (good range 70-80). I remember it being a nice cherry chocolate the first few times I had it. Tasty and enjoyable. This time, however, I didn’t get that at all from the first steep. Second one, yes much better. I think it’s either old or that I’ve got it in the box with the smoke chocolate and mint chocolate and it’s robbing the taste.

Backlogging. 8 days ago. Saturday evening.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

I’ve drank this before already but not logged it. I’m giving it a 50 (nice bagged teas 50-60, drinkable 40-50). It’s fine when it’s still fairly hot, but as it cools, I don’t like it too much. It gets sour/bitter/overspiced tasting. I made it for an easy cup to drink while I was making dinner. I’m pretty sure I steeped it the full two minutes. So maybe a minute and a half or just a minute next time.

Backlogging. 8 days ago. Saturday morning.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

First cup of the day. Two steeps.

Backlogging. 9 days ago. Friday late night.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

Before bedtime cup. Prolly while online. Drank the second steep in the morning, I believe.

Backlogging. 2 days ago. Thursday late afternoon.

My second tea of the day. I drank this one while studying also.

Backlogging. 2 days ago. Thursday morning.

Drank this one at my parent’s late morning while online then studying.

Backlogging. 3 days ago. Late Wednesday night.

This one was my late night cup of tea at my parent’s while studying then doing Conquer Club. They have mostly black teas. This being one of the few less or no caffeine options. Generically green and orange. Nice enough for a hot cup to sip on.

I do not have a thermometer there so I watch the water for barely steaming/bubbling. Nor do I remember my steep time. I think it was about 2-3 minutes though.

I’m rating this one a 55 (nice bagged tea range is 50-60).

Backlogging. 2 days ago. Tuesday night.

2 mugs while studying. Thought drank half of the second steep cold the following morning. Even though I only have slightly less than half of this left, I’m already starting to hoard it a bit. It might be my fave 52teas blend, but I don’t think it’s one they’ll ever reblend.

Backlogging. 2 days ago. Tuesday morning.

I had been thinking the previous day about trying to make a cowboy earl grey again since I was starting to run low on Caravan. My previous attempts came out more smokey obscuring the bergamot. So this time, a normal amount of leaf of earl grey and a pinch of Caravan.

First steep came out like earl grey and a cigarette on some sips and I’m-just-not-sure-what-this-tastes-like on others. Second steep came out more like I thought/expected this combo to taste like. I will have to experiment more.

Backlogging. 3 days ago. Monday morning.

I remember that I wanted something strong to wake me up and this is what I picked. And that it was good and did the job suitably well. I steeped it a second time. But that’s all I remember.

Backlogging. 4 days ago. Late Sunday night.

I had a mug of this while taking my turns on Conquer Club before bed. I drank about half of it then put it down for too long and it cooled. I never ended up heating it up again and found it too sour for my tastes cold.

On a side note, I may just never have paid very much attention to them but did the little ratings smileys change? Or did the green one and red one always have tongues?

Backlogging. 4 days ago. Sunday morning.

This is also a tea I am hoarding. But I gave myself permission to go ahead and have it that morning for no special reason at all. I think I only have one serving left now. =(

It was extra rich, hearty, and delicious. Possibly because it’s nearly gone. The second steep was fulfilling as well.

Yesterday morning, I wanted a strong cup to kick me awake and was thinking A&D’s Holiday Blend. But I woke up coughing and with a stuffy nose. Not sick, don’t worry. It was really cold over night and even with the heat turns down, it ran a lot and I think really dried me out. So I wanted to add honey to my tea to sooth my throat/cough. This one goes better with honey I think. So I went with this. Though I think I remember the Holiday Blend being okay with honey too. But wasn’t in the mood to try it and be wrong. This hit the spot and I drank it all up.

I drank the second steep later on while studying.

This was the tea I was craving yesterday after Harney & Sons’ Peaches & Ginger black tea. To be fair, I was wanting it the day before too.

This tea, I crave at times. It tastes like dark rich chocolate and earth and I like it so! If I didn’t have only 4 bags left, I think I’d drink it more often. But I tend to do that hoarding thing when I get low on teas I like. I’ve told myself that I can buy it loose leaf once I’m out though. So I don’t know why I’m hoarding and I’m sure the loose leaf is even better. If I didn’t have so much tea, I’d prolly start trying other flavored (gateway) puerhs. I did not expect to like this one at all, let alone so much.

This one is getting bumped up to a 74 (great _{bagged tea} range 70-80).

I’ve found that due to The Great Unlogged Period I have a bunch of teas that I’ve either finished or drank more of and haven’t changed the ratings accordingly to align with how I ended up truly feeling about the day. So I’ve been changing them as I drink them again. I keep meaning to just go through my cupboard and do them all at once but never seem to have the time and sit down and do it.

Yesterday, after the Harney & Sons’ Peaches & Ginger black tea, I knew exactly which tea I wanted next (Numi’s Chocolate Puerh) but it was also time to cook dinner. Since I wanted to enjoy that cup and not mindlessly drink through it while cooking, I looked for something quick and easy to drink instead. I chose this one because none of my other bagged black teas were calling to me and I need to use it up. Plus I thought it sounded just fine with a touch of milk and honey.

So this tea, I’ve had an odd time with. At first, it was way way too strong. Then tastelessly weak. So I switched to two bags in a larger mug. Which was fine the first time or two. Then too strong that way. I can only assume it’s been me doing different steep times/water temperatures and not keeping track as well as I usually do of what worked. But I don’t know. I kind of think the tea is changing on me.

This time, I went one bag, standard size mug. I steeped it longer, knowing I was going to be adding milk to it and wanting it to come out on the stronger side. But after adding the honey, I sipped it and realized the milk would weaken it too much for my tastes so did not add it.

The cup was fine. Spiced with honey. But not all that enjoyable. Just something warm to sip on while I cooked. I’ll be glad once the box is done.

I’m actually bumping my rating down on this one to a 46 (drinkable range 40-50) because of the irregularity between mugs and because, while I don’t dislike it, it doesn’t really do much for me.

As promised, Peaches & Ginger black tea. This was my first tea of the day yesterday. I had a bagged ginger peach black tea at my parent’s on Tuesday. I knew I had this one and that it would be better but hadn’t tried it yet. So that was my inspiration to try this tea.

The peach was like a fresh just soften real peach. Not super ripe dripping juicy peach nor still quite firm peach. But that point in between the two. A nice sweet peach. The ginger is the warming type of ginger, not the spicy type of ginger. And the two pair well. If I had to say, I’d say the ginger was slightly more predominate. But it melds right into the peach. I can tell it’s a black tea base, but the base fades right into the background.

The second steep was weaker but fine.

My initial rating is a 74 (good range is 70-80). This tea is solid and enjoyable and I happily sipped through my two mugs of it.

Yesterday I picked this tea to drink because I hadn’t had it in awhile and it was a fave of mine before. I notice I’ve only logged it once, I think I was drinking during The Great Unlogged Period and I haven’t had it since. Wow.

So sometimes you remember really liking a tea then you don’t have it for awhile and when you do again, that isn’t the case. That is, you might still like but not as _{omg so good} much. That totally wasn’t the case with this tea. I thoroughly enjoyed my mugs of it yesterday as much I used to.

Coming up next: I had Harney & Sons’ Ginger Peach black tea for the first time this morning! Yum!

2nd steep: 20+ mins

The fourth and last bagged tea of the day yesterday. I pretty much always take a cup of tea upstairs with me when I’m staying at my parents and they go up to bed way earlier than I would go to bed and I take a laptop upstairs and game/chat online in bed. This was the only non-caffeinated kind of tea they had open so this is what I went with. I figured I’d had enough black tea for the day.

Overtime, I’ve found that I need to steep these Celestial Seasonings zinger-style teas at the lower end of the recommended steeping time. I don’t hate hibiscus because I like tart things. But I like to make it on the least tart side. So I’m upping my rating 5 points (decent bagged tea range is 40-50) on this one because it’s a lot better than before I figured that out. But this one still remains one of my least favorite zinger-style herbals because it has a bitter bite/sour bite/sharpness to it that I don’t get with the others. Which sucks because I like the peachiness and tartness of it just fine for a warm mug to idly sip at.