Art of Tea

This is a bit much.

I can’t believe they say to use a tablespoon per cup. I used 2 tsp TOPS and it was impossible to drink.

The cranberry flavor was completely lost underneath all the spice and licorice, which is really disappointing when there are these big rehydrated cranberries floating around the infuser.

Like, I’ve had Gran Marnier in some drinks but not by itself and I don’t think it has nearly this much spice to it? I don’t understand what they’re going for here. I don’t get orange at all.

I have a little sample tin so I’ll try it again with only a teaspoon next time.

Finished off this sample! Still as delicious as I remember.

Well hopefully I can post this without getting kicked out or power going out. Between all the errors of Steepster (coming back 2 hours later and seeing the dashboard is busted — WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED?) and how absolutely hopeless I feel regarding one of the traveling tea boxes, I’m pretty much going on a steepster hiatus. I’ll probably come post notes every so often just for brand new stuff I’m trying, like this.

Let’s be real here, the draw of this one is the white tea stars. I’m not sure what they really add to the tea other than the possibility of feeling like you messed it up.

The vanilla isn’t bad, but this tea is not that good once it starts to cool. The vanilla starts to taste artificial, and the base starts to become bitter. When it’s still hot though, it’s delicious. It wouldn’t ever replace Vanille des Iles for me as a favorite vanilla tea. I may have to try it with milk and sugar to see if it gets that vanilla frosting taste too.

just a little thing to add, please keep Adairsville, GA, in your thoughts. A tornado rolled through there earlier and one person died. Their poor dog was outside and he was rescued but gosh the picture I saw of him still in his dog house, poor baby. There were cars just absolutely flipped and crushed on the highway and 18 wheelers overturned. Scary stuff.

yum yum
This is a mighty tasty tea, it’s been taking me a while to finish off these little tins I got from the Art of Tea. I really like this with both soymilk and sugar. It’s…. zesty!

Meditation for this afternoon: I will not accept anyone dumping their shame and contempt on me. I was not put on this Earth to feel bad about myself.

I finished off the sample tin of this tea and I have enjoyed it very much!

I decided earlier today that I am not going to allow anyone in the future to dump all their toxic guilt and shame on me. I am not going to let anyone else define my reality. In the future I will detach myself from people who try and break me down with their criticism and bad attitudes.

how’s that for a plan?

Oh yeah and more tea!

Very nice Earl Grey. Pleasant aroma, good flavor, sweet aftertaste.

Very light color, looks like a white tea.

Nose is sweet, honeysuckle.

Flavor is very light — would brew it 5 min next time. Small bite aftertaste.

I started my day with this one! It was nice…see other notes…

Nose: Honey… sweetness

Taste: Mild, grassy notes. Little to no aftertaste.

This tea has to be the most beautiful tea I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. On top of the aesthetic appeal of it, the taste is delicately floral and fruity. Perfectly blended. I think it would be wonderful iced too.

If I’m ever blessed to marry, I’ll want to have this as a favor on the tables.

Thank you to KeenTeaTime for sending me so much of this! WOW this was really unusual!
Here are the snippits from my review that will be up on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 19th of December

Organic Silver Needle from Art of Tea surprised me! I am not a huge fan of white teas. Well I suppose a more accurate statement would be that there are few white teas I have found that really wow me. I have found a few though! This white tea sort of wow’d me, it more so surprised me, confused me a little, and has made me want to drink a lot more of it to really understand it. Why all the confusion you may ask? Well to begin with the dry leaf is stunning, white, downey, soft, cuddly, lol yes, cuddly. It makes me wish I could buy enough to just pour all over my bed and lay upon it at night. Its so dreamy! But that is not what got me. What “got” me, is that the initial aroma of this tea is of cucumber! And that is exactly what it tastes like to me as well. Fresh, watery, cucumber! Yet, wait for it, its not watery at all! Its rather quite creamy! Creamy, fresh, mouthwatering cucumber!

I had this before bedtime, and I could not stop thinking about it as I fell asleep. I woke up this morning to my spent leaves, as I had several steepings, and just wanted to wake up enough to make another cup, have another session with this perplexing tea.

Time to make that other cup I was talking about … discovery ongoing….

SIPDOWN!

Also another from the travelling tea box if i recall correctly. While I can appreciate a great cup of coffee, this tea is just kinda blech. This brews up into a tea that’s pretty much the colour of a good thick black coffee. It’s not a pleasant cup of tea either. I tried to add a bit of milk to this to see if it improved the taste but it’s really just kind of burnt and icky. Maybe i can’t drink coffee anymore, but this…just sucks lol I supposed someone looking for a gradual switch from coffee to tea might enjoy this, but i’d rather jump to beautiful blacks that have wonderful flavours.

A very caramelly, creamy Oolong with hints of citrus and floral tones. If I didn’t know it, I’d almost think it was a coconut Oolong. It smells divine dry and steeped, and tastes as good as it smells.

This tea is so well-balanced, it’s difficult to identify any particular flavor. Sure, the mint and cacao can be noted in the dry blend, but when steeped, it’s hard to distinguish. I guess that may mean it’s not a complex cup of tea, and yet it’s delicious. Like that very drinkable wine one sips at a party while mingling, this is a nice dessert tea, and it gets tastier and more interesting with the addition of cream and/or sugar. Yum, yum… yum. I actually will probably never drink it because I don’t like the mouth feel of cream and sugar after I’ve had altered tea, but my friends and guests will adore it; I will keep it stocked for them.

This Lemon Meringue tea didn’t smell like lemon when I opened the package. It smells of orange. I steeped it anyway, and couldn’t taste lemon. So I read the ingredients and discovered that there is none. True, there is also no meringue, so while I understand these names can’t always be taken literally, I must admit that I missed there being lemon in my Lemon Meringue. I did taste something a little green, a little floral, but nothing too significant. All in all, I found this tea to be a touch indecisive. American Tea Room’s Lemoncello is also mild, but is perfectly creamy, warm and lemony, while California Tea House’s Lemon Meringue is fully fruity and zingy. Art of Tea’s lemon offering? Well, they may want to rethink this tea’s name? …or perhaps, add lemon…

Shu pu-erh of the afternoon. I am almost done with the little tin of this but probably won’t be buying anymore with all of the pu-erh I have already. Plus nothing about this really stands out to me, although it isn’t bad at all.

On another topic, has anyone noticed that a watched tea order seems to take forever to arrive??

We just got this tea in our tea lounge and I love, love, love it!!! The combination of the mint and apple, totally set off the cacao nibs, chocolate and vanilla for a very unique flavor.

Sipdown…
all done with my sample size of this tea. I decided to mix some of it along with the smoky Scottish Breakfast tea I have from Peet’s.

It wasn’t an unabashed success but I am still high on a cloud from seeing the Roy Hargrove Quintet last night at Yoshi’s… enjoy this song if you like jazz. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxeb0cwjE8U

Ah, more goodies from my big sis.

If a good tea is a marriage of fine ingredients, rooibos is like a favorite bachelor friend. I hope he finds a worthy mate someday, but regardless of who he hooks up with, no matter how good an idea it seems, it’s never quite a match. This one looked promising, though. I like apricots, I like rooibos, and it sounds like a good idea to put them together. How nice too, that somebody came up with a blend with something other than vanilla. Don’t get me wrong, I like that combo in moderation, but have been steadily collecting vanilla-rooibos blends and getting a little frustrated with their similarities. It was nice to encounter something different for a change.
Following my sisters advice, I used a whole tablespoon of tea in my strainer, added hot water and set the timer for a full five minutes. Then I got busy with the housework and forgot completely for another 5 minutes or so. Rooibos is generally pretty forgiving of long steeps, so no big deal, and I figured it would give the flavors a chance to develop.

It was … ok. I wanted to like it. I even added a little sweetener to “bring out” the apricot flavor. Sadly, it just didn’t float my boat. I could taste the apricot and the rooibos, but they were just not getting on. It wasn’t BAD, but there was no chemistry, no spark. I was very disappointed.

“It’s better iced,” said my big sis. I resolved to try again, but wasn’t expecting much the second time around. Fortunately, a day came in which I looked at the snow falling outside and out of pure contrariness decided to make some into iced tea. Surprise, Surprise! Cold brewed, the apricot was refreshing in more than one sense and managed to harmonize with and not be overpowered by the rooibos. I didn’t need to add anything this time. Good stuff.

In conclusion, Apricot Escape is aptly named. It certainly is an escape from my other rooibos combos, which were all starting to taste the same to me. And it’s really good cold. Just not hot. I think I’ll label the rest of this sample “Iced only.”

My first cup of tea in the year 2013! I thought that this would be a special tea to try… black tea, vanilla and pretty little white tea stars. The stars are truly adorable — not too many crowding the black tea, but I manage to find a few by digging around in the blend.

I’m surprised at how creamy this tea is! The vanilla is light, but still very present. The white tea blends seamlessly with the black tea and the vanilla. It actually adds a bit of an astringent note in the background. How interesting.

Oh, this is so yummy! This tea has an airy, fluffy, creamy quality that I adore. There is a little bit of an astringent finish to the cup (beyond the white tea’s addition).. so I would be careful not to forget about this tea when steeping.

I think this tea has quickly bounced to my very favorite vanilla black tea spot. What a way to start the tea-drinking new year!

I’m sitting here with a candle burning and a nice cup of tea beside me after my Christmas dinner. I had such a nice time tonight with my family. I thought that this would be a great time to sit and write a tasting note.

This tea looks so beautiful in the bag. It’s bright and speckled with beautiful petals. It’s probably the prettiest blend I’ve seen so far! For the past few weeks, this tea has been my bedtime tea. I love the citrus flavor which turns into a bit of a sugared dessert crust. It’s not too sweet and not too tart — just right. This is my favorite lemony dessert tea.

I am excited to see the snow fall tomorrow on Christmas! I hope that it will be the perfect day to spend with family & drink lots of hot tea. Hope everyone is having a nice holiday!

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Just wanted to mention I did cold brew my leaves last night to make iced tea with this and I like it this way. :)