Happy Lucky's Tea House

Tea Discovery
One day, my timing was ‘just right’ when I went for tea at Happy Lucky’s. There was a line-up of tea’s and tasting going on from a new company in Denver (Nepali tea traders) and owner George was keen to carry some of their teas in the shop. But, which ones?

I took my seat at the bar and Andy placed what was left of 12 tasting sets in front of me for an opinion.

“Yes!”, I cheered internally! “I get to taste all this tea!”

I love Nepalese tea, and I picked 4 that I thought would be good for the shop to carry, which matched the tasters opinion.
Later, this Ruby Pu-er came in and when I tasted it, I said it should bump any of the other teas! An absolute must! Best of all the tea’s!

George was on the fence about it at first. Would a small town really respond well to a Pu-er like this one? (He only carried a handful of Pu-er’s in the shop) We talked about the new website which I knew would benefit from having a tea like this one and he agreed.(George is a smart man!)

Nepali Tea Traders donates all their profits to benefit the Nepali Youth Foundation and tea industry growth. (The owner’s parents worked in Nepal so there is a connection with a small area of tea farms)

Happy Luckys had a tasting at the shop which drew 45 people (a large crowd in our town), and the star of the show at that tasting and in the days to since has been this Nepal Ruby Pu-er Style Black Tea!

Taste
The flavor is warm and fruity. Cherries and brandied peaches, walnuts warmed in a skillet, wood and clover honey. All this might lead you to think of some dark and heavy tea but it’s not. The tea is light, almost like a wheat beer in color and smooth.

The second steep was sweet and buttery, a honey molasses stick of candy. No earthiness.

You’ll have to be careful not to over brew or the tea can become bitter. I added a little sugar (might add some honey next time) and the flavor was luxurious.
(If you like a little bitterness, it reminded me of some of the craft beers in town over at O’dells or New Belgium Breweries.)

Nepal is so close to Darjeeling that the tea can taste almost the same but fame has been out of reach for Nepal due to isolation and war.

Love, love, love this Pu-er style tea!

It is my understanding that this is the first Pu-er style black tea from Nepal

Quick Notes Thanks to Bonnie for sharing with me!
Dry – Hickory smoked salt rub, hints of orange and sweet.
Wet – Smoky and more citrusy, sweet and somewhat spicy.
Liquor – Light brown/caramel.

1st 3mins – Smoky, sweet with orange citrus hints up front. It goes down smoothly while retaining the citrus notes, it has a savory ‘back bone’ with the smoke that allows the rest of the other flavors to come up.

2nd 3 1/2mins – Smoky, sweet and tart orange up front. It is smooth and smoky with a full body, yet the citrus notes gives it a ‘juicy’ feel. At this point I can taste vanilla hints which I think most come from the jasmine since dried jasmine is subtly sweet but not perfumy at all.

3rd 4mins – Sweet, tart citrus with some smoke up front. The tea continues to be smooth while going down and has a more subtle smoke note, the orange is more present now and lingers a bit more in the mouth.

Final Notes
I loved this one! I usually avoid blends with tea, but this one is well done. (In case you are wondering why I usually avoid blends: it is because Herbals have completely different infusion times and sometimes temperatures from that of tea. Basically you end up having tea the first try, the second faded tea with some herbs and then over steeped tea with herbal tea.)

I liked this one. Thanks Bonnie!

Drinking this sample from Bonnie makes me wish that I could move back to Colorado. I lived there was a kid and I would be excited to have a tea house around the corner from me, although I am sure there are some in NJ. (Any recs would be awesome) I seem to like a nice strong black tea when I wake up. To be honest, I am not the friendliest person in the morning. NOT a morning person.

I organized my tea stash last night and I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to go through all of my samples, I have way too many. This one called out to me because it comes packaged in the cutest little pearls of tea. Bonnie’s instructions were to use 4 or 5 of them for one 8 oz glass of tea. I dutifully followed her instructions…and boy am I glad that I did!

A beautiful dark brown liquor with a little sugar and milk. Delicious! Has a hint of cocoa but is nice and smooth. Easy to drink and probably get addicted to. I would definitely buy this :)

Off to Boulder today to celebrate Scheys 19th birthday! I kept asking her to invite people,but she wanted to spend the day with me. What a sweet granddaughter! (Good thing she loves tea!) We have plans to stop at several tea houses.
OK…like many of you,I enjoy a strong cup of tea in the morning. I’m driving more than usual,so I made a pot of strong tea (steeped 7minutes) then added cream and splenda. Love the strong brew!Never makes me jittery either.

Off to a great day and photos.

With 4 inches of ‘New Snow’, I hunkered down yesterday, enjoying TV, and drinking a mini tuo cha and some Lapsang. I didn’t write a review, I just watched the snow. http://youtu.be/25mLJSC1oUQ Ray Charles ‘Winter Wonderland’

Today, my Winter Wonderland was safer to venture out into. Roads and sidewalks had been cleared, the sun was out and shining. It was cold, but at 3:00 PM it was 40 degrees.
Off I went with a Christmas Card for my favorite tea professionals at Happy Lucky’s Tea House.
Burr! It was beautiful but cold in the shadows, with the wind blowing frigid air off the pockets of icy snow. I had forgotten to walk on the sunny side of the street to keep warm!

Eric, Sam, Andy and Diane were working at Happy Lucky’s today and Owner George had a chat with me too. I often bring a sample of some tea to share, and today was no exception.
Eric set up a Gaiwan and cups for everyone, we had several steepings of my tea and discussed the flavor and sometime later, I ordered tea.

I was having a hard time deciding what to drink. After a fragrant and floral tasting, what would I drink? It should be something completely different!

At the end of the tea bar, was a large pot of hot Chai in a dispenser that keeps it hot and has an automatic blending arm that goes around and around, keeping the milk moving. A small sign invites customers to try a sample of Chai, or you can pick a mug and have a full cup.

Most of the Chai’s have ingredients that I’m allergic to. Rooibos is the one that’s the worse for me.
I wasn’t aware that there was a Black Chai on the tea menu that was Rooibos free!
Today, for some reason, I asked Eric if there was a Chai without ingredients that I’m allergic to. He said yes, India 500 Mile Chai!
Great news! I love Chai in the Winter!

Then he asked how I wanted my Chai prepared?
“Indian Style, traditional with whole milk, and honey,” I said.

He went to the espresso machine and ‘steam scalded’ my milk without frothing it, steeped the black Chai (which had no black pepper in it) then added a moderate amount of local honey.

Eric said, “Real Indian Chai should be made with scalded milk so always ask for it to be made this way.”

I took a sip and noticed how mellow the Chai was. Not too spicy and not bland either. Just a nice medium Chai, round and balanced.

Some of my own stock of Chai’s at home knock your socks off with cinnamon, cardamon, clove or chocolate and orange. I like the spicy Chai’s…but sometimes, I want a Chai like this one. I want to taste the milk and honey without having the spices nip at my my tongue.

I’ll have this again and again when I stop at my favorite tea house.

The rest of the Chai was poured into a large cup to go (I had already had a chocolate matcha latte…it’s a long story, but caffeine helps migraines for people like me who are temperature sensitive) and off I went.

I set my tea-to-go cup on the roof of my car, went to the end of the block with my camera, and took a few pictures of Old Town at night. http://flic.kr/p/dCU6ry

What a great way to spend time on a cold evening!

PS…you will see notes below from someone who does not know me
and began ranting…a troll that I’m going to ignore. He posted the
same information on another review of mine. Poor guy. I just feel sorry for him. OK he removed his comments so I’ll remove mine.

Backlog:

Friday: After the horrible news hit CNN, I had places to go like most people. First the Post Office and then other errands around town before stopping off to watch my grandson Ian in his school play. He had landed the starring roll in ‘A Christmas Carol’. Ian was Scrooge!

At Happy Lucky’s I ordered something ‘children would like’, a tea that a mom or dad or grandma would share with a 6 or 7 year old.
(I was thinking about the little ones killed in the Connecticut shooting, and contemplating that event.)

Peppermint Pat-Tea was my tea choice. It has mint and cocoa hulls with chamomile which makes a tea that is very yummy. However, tea server JOE told me that when you add another half measure of cocoa hulls and let the tea steep longer (7-9 minutes) it’s ‘super’ chocolaty.

I had server JOE fix me a pot of his ‘special blend’ and then I had some blended to take home for sharing with my grandchildren over the Holidays.
I like to sweeten and add a little milk to this cocoa minty tea. It’s almost like cool-mint hot chocolate! Creamy, warming without the need for artificial flavors to give a ‘Welcome to Winter’ taste that I look for when my mood needs a pick-up.
It’s hard to believe that this is an herbal blend! The cocoa hulls have a little kick…but otherwise you are warm and relaxed by the chamomile.

I left the shop with my tea for home, just as the sun set and the thousands of white lights in the trees downtown turned on. It was COLD! A few more stops and I was still too early for the play.
I stopped again, this time at ‘cough…’ Starbucks…and locked my keys in the car for the first time in my life.

UGH!

(Shortening the story) Daughter picked me up, saw play (Ian was great), called Insurance which sent towing to open my door…no charge, went home.

When I FINALLY got home, I didn’t want to be on my computer. I watched the news and drank more tea. I prayed and went to bed.

At my age, I’ve had news of many tragedies. A President, his brother and Dr. King killed by gunmen, Wars and more Wars from Korea and Vietnam on. Killings from Jim Jones, the Manson Murders to Columbine and Aurora now this latest horror. I thought of all those we don’t hear about. Children in Syria being killed…the children who are starving in many parts of the world, the missing children here in the U.S.

I’ve thought about this. Sadness, depression and Sadness again.

Long ago, I decided that the evil in the World is not going to steal my joy!
If you’ve ever had a pet dog, you know how they’re in the moment. They hug, jump…wanting attention and love. They give so much affection. In a way, (without the licking and jumping…ha) we need to be like that. In the ‘now’…hugging, oblivious to everything else but the joy of life and love.

Modeling this kind of love can change the people around us.

Ah…

I’m here again with my dear friends.

I love you guys!

Scotland!
http://flic.kr/p/dxCxWC
Wah? It’s St. Andrews Day, (Patron Saint of Scotland) and if you’re a Scot like me you’re supposed to be wearing plaid all day (which I’ve been doing!).

Last night was a Japanese Green Tea class at Happy Lucky’s taught by capable Joe. It was great! However….the amount of Green Tea I drank at 8PM kept me up until 1AM!
One of the tea’s we drank was a method of brewing Gyokuro called Shinobi-cha. (Putting the tea leaves over ice to extract the pure amino acids and flavor) Delicious and potent! http://youtu.be/4UEZcq1qVtw

So, I was up late and had to wake up early for the Blessing of the Tartan’s (Plaids) at St. Spyridon’s.
Of course, I was decked out in my Johnstone plaid and had my mothers Cameron plaid for my granddaughter to wear. I also had Earl Grey shortbread, oatmeal cookies and all my tea fixings for after the service to celebrate!

When you step into a Greek Orthodox Church, it’s supposed to say to you ‘Heaven and Earth are not separated’.
Look around…there are pictures of hero’s like Elijah, John the Baptist and Angels like Gabriel.

After the Blessing was over, I made Black Pearl Tea for all that wanted to have some.
It seemed right to have real, brewed tea today. I’ve been purchasing these pearls from Happy Luckys since the discovery that they taste just like the favorite brand I used to buy directly from China.

One lady sat down for some tea and told me how she was served tea in England at the British Embassy by Mr. Twinings himself!
Then, Fr. Evan came over and had some tea straight up before heading off to a meeting.
(I’m out to convert my Church to real deal tea one person at a time!)
My granddaughter and I had ours with cream and Butiki’s raw sugar crystals.

This was a luscious, rich and malty, cocoa tea without astringency.
Such a perfect tea with scones, shortbread and pasties.
Yes, someone made pasties (small pies) with potato, peas and mushroom broth.
Sipping tea, I was able to share some of the old family stories from Scotland, which is what a Grandmother is supposed to do.

You may think this is all a bit corny. I make no apologies because I am corny and becoming more so!

Good tea though with good company on a grand occasion!

http://youtu.be/PSH0eRKq1lE Scotland The Brave!

Yesterday, I had to run by Happy Lucky’s in the afternoon to sign up for two tea classes. One, for that evening (Gonfu Tea Ceremony with Eric) and tonight will be a Japanese Green Tea class with Joe.

I don’t step over the doorway without having a cuppa myself…so I ordered a pot of Irish Breakfast Tea and some dry leaf to take home.

Irish Breakfast gets you going when you have errands to run. I had to go to Whole Foods and read labels, traversing through the isles under fluorescent lights that make me woozy. Give Me Strong Tea!

Granddaughter Schey came to the class last night which was fun for me. Everyone had a chance to use a Yixing and Gaiwan to pour both Oolong and Pu’er for the small group. Eric is a Scientist and teacher which makes him interesting.

This morning, I took the Irish Breakfast Tea that I had purchased and made a pot to linger over while watching the morning news.

This is one of the best things about being retired.

If it’s too cold outside, I’m warm and comfy inside with my fresh pot of tea on a tray. I have a lovely, large quilted-dome tea cozy from April Cornell that keeps my pot of tea hot between pourings.
(I always have cream and sweetening on the tray just in case I want to add some.)

Ahhh. Dark, strong….strong….Irish tea!

This isn’t one of those wimpy Irish wanna-be tea’s. Without being astringent or dry, this delivers a warming cup that’s what you’d want in a thermos out on the peat fields when the wind has kicked up and a drizzle is beginning to threaten with a damp shiver.

I like my tea with milk.

Drinking one mug, two…then three was easy.
The whole pot gone in no time.

Sometimes I wonder what has happened to the tea in my pot. It seems to disappear without me drinking it.

No matter. It’s delicious!

I set a plan with my new tea energy to put up my Christmas Tree today.
Tonight is another Tea Class and Tomorrow is St. Andrews Day,
the Patron Saint of Scotland. All Scots are supposed to wear Plaid
tomorrow!

Here’s another bit of news I found out…

Looks like my daughter and son-in-law are going to adopt BOTH of the 2 year old Foster boys they have. The boys are 6 days apart in age.
I couldn’t be more pleased!!! One has special needs (Williams syndrome) so I’m happy he’ll be in such a loving family of 5 boys and 3 girls!

I went to the IRS today. (That should have made even the most cheerful among you shudder!)

There were taxes from my divorce that I didn’t know would be coming and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. One thing I’ve learned over the past few months is that I need someone to help me organize parts of my life. I don’t understand paperwork so I’ve got myself into a little (or big) tax mess.

Imagine being very competent mentally but waking up one day unable to understand what you’re reading. Like dyslexia. Information is scrambled and makes no sense. This is what’s been happening to me. I can understand if you show me how to do things, but not paperwork and sometimes I go blank on questions. (I don’t have dymentia, thankfully (I was tested for that).)

Anyway, I went to the IRS in the middle of a brain fog with some papers they asked me for. I was handed papers and asked questions and I just couldn’t understand anything. I told the person, “I have no idea what this means, it could be in a foreign language, I can’t explain anything, I don’t know what to say.”
I got a look and comment…“You need someone to help you.” “I’m not supposed to do this but go to the Senior Center and find help.”

Brother!!!

I left and made a ‘B’ line for Happy Lucky’s Tea House.
I looked 3 shades of pale puke…feeling sick and hurting all over from fybromyalgia (which has been a bear the past month!).

Andy (TEA GURU!) took one look at me and said…“Whatcha drinking Ms. Bonnie?”…then he said…“How about a Chocolate Matcha?!”

“Oh YES please!”

I sat at the bar watching the foaming and frothing, stirring in the specialty cocoa…A-n-t-i-c-p-a-t-i-o-n!

Finally a big mug of fluff was set in front of me with a tall tumbler of ice water next to it (thoughtful). Fireworks!

This was thick, thick, thick cocoa Matcha, so creamy and warm with an interesting, almost savory then sweet complex flavor. The foam was playful and wonderful like a puffy sigh of relief.

It didn’t take long for the caffeine and green tea L-theanine to work on my pain and foggy brain.
I’ve noticed for some time that tea helps me feel better. I don’t know how, and it’s not a tea high or anything…but my pain isn’t as bad when I drink certain tea’s, especially Pu-erh and Matcha. This is good! It might not be this way for everyone, but it works for me.

While tea doesn’t cure all my problems, it has given me a way to help with my physical discomfort without resorting to narcotics for pain.

By the time I finished my fine mug of chocolate Matcha, I was feeling so much better and the taste was fantastic!

Why would I post all this here on Steepster. Seems kind of private and personal and inappropriate doesn’t it.
It is personal. And real.
I want you to know that this part of Elder life is joyful, funny, and has challenges just like being young.

“Stand at the brink of despair, and when you see that you cannot bear it anymore, draw back a little, and have a cup of tea.”
― Elder Sophrony of Essex (A Monastery in England)

Tea makes everything better.

When I walked in the door of my favorite tea pub today, the first person I saw was Andy, all tan and refreshed looking…back from Cambodia and a long honeymoon!
He was wrapped with Christmas lights, tasked with decorating the shop for the Holiday’s. All the other servers were bustling about with an influx of tea patrons that had just about used up all the available teapots and tables.
I sat on my usual bar stool, waiting and watching. They all know that I don’t mind waiting when it’s busy.
Besides, I enjoy the show.

Today I came to see George (the H.L. owner). I was there to drop off two tea and spice rubs that I created with tea from Happy Lucky’s and some seasonings from Savory Spice Shop.

Eventually, the crowd in the shop thinned out and I was able to order a tea that I wanted to take to my daughter’s house for Thanksgiving Day. I already knew that Vanilla Black was pretty popular with flavored tea drinkers at Happy Lucky’s, so I gave it a try.

Joe had blended the tea with natural vanilla. This makes a big difference in the taste, and I remembered how we had discussed how even natural flavors are tricky. You have to add just the right amount of vanilla especially and not overdo it.

The base Black Tea wasn’t malty, but was a straightforward Black Tea. (I wish it was malty. This is a matter of my own taste though.) It had a full vanilla flavor. The vanilla wasn’t bitter and softened the stiffness of the Black Tea.

Without milk but sweetened, the tea was a bit brisk but good enough.
When I added some cream, I liked the tea better, creamier.

I’m sure my daughter and granddaughters will enjoy this tea on
Thanksgiving with the other tea’s I bring to share. Vanilla is, after all, comforting and enjoyed by most people.

This evening it’s COLD outside! Burr!

Last night one of my alarms began to beep. I thought it was the carbon monoxide alarm so I changed out all 3 batteries. Still, the beeping continued.
I kept fiddling with it for a few hours, charging batteries and trying them again until I discovered the beeping was coming from my smoke alarm on the 9 ft. high ceiling. That alarm was too tall to reach without a ladder. Beep, Beep, Beep!

Finally, hours later, the beeping went dead!

Today I called my son-in-law to come with a ladder to change the battery and he was in and gone in less than 5 minutes.

Beep, beep, beep.

Right away the beeping began again.
It appears that I need a new fire alarm, and I’ll have to put up with this stupid beeping until tomorrow afternoon when MR. son-in- law can return to disable the bleeping device.

I’m getting edgy!

I soothed my nerves and drank this beeping beautiful tea.
This was so good and roasty, a tasty fruity Darjeeling Oolong that’s a little peachy but not too sweet.
I really love Autumn tea’s (this tea reminds me of Autumn).
They’re comforting with the taste of the liquor left from baking peach or apple pie. I’ve made lots of pies for contests and when I bake an apple pie especially, I always add a little brandy which this tea reminds me of. It’s light but smooth and fruity.

No more beeps though, I’ve had enough!

This is a superb LS. Many thank yous to Bonnie, who supplied me with my fix. It is greatly appreciated. All my previous tasting notes still stand. It is everything good about an autumnal camping trip, the smoky fire, the barbecue flavour. All that and more. But, better yet, in addition to drinking it today, I made some LS chocolates this week and have been scoffing those alongside the pot of LS. Yum! The LS works well with dark chocolate, producing a smoky flavour that two friends thought was like smoked Bavarian cheese. They came back for more, so success then. This LS wins on yet another count.

Thank you to Bonnie for this awesome sample ;)

This is one of the finest Pu-erh’s that I have had so far!! After brewing this exquisitely aged tea, the flavors are composed beautifully, of smooth, silky, earthy (but not musty), nutty, with vanilla like components in later steepings. This tea reminds you that it deserves the respect to be sipped and savored like a fine wine..to gulp this tea would be disrespectful ;) I wouldn’t mind drinking this everyday. Where can I get More of this Tea Bonnie !

I love the Japanese green teas!there is rarely a day I go without a pot or 2 of whatever genmaicha I happen to have around! but its on rare days that I decide to break into my small stash of happy lucky’s gyokuro. this one I have had iced as a “shinobi” brew, in a ceramic pot, and a cast iron pot. and in case you have never heard of a shinobi brew its when place just ice cubes in a pot with the gyokuro and as it melts that will be your tea. its worth experimenting, but I personally love and prefer it hot! when brewed just right the green color is lovely, and there is not to much leafy bits in it either. its got a fresh grassy-ish flavor of a good japanese green. but beware! this tea will not tolerate anything less than perfection! leave it for a few to many seconds or not let the water cool enough it will let you know. this is one of my favorites, and it will be a sad day when I finally run out of happy lucky’s gyokuro, and will have to move on to another brand.

Tonight I made some pancakes with leftover pumpkin risotto. If this sounds odd to you, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GREAT THIS TASTES!

The risotto was creamy, nutty, sweet and spicy from seasonings and butter that I pared half and half with buttermilk pancake mix and a dash of Vietnamese Cinnamon. So good!
A little bacon and Maple Syrup and dinner was on!
(I love pancakes on a cool evening once in awhile)

What tea would compliment my pancakes?

I remembered the Strong Fire Tieguanyin that I picked up recently, with a haunting deep honey flavor, almost tasting like a peach liquor. I could imagine the woodiness I had tasted with the dash of cinnamon I added and how delicious the combined flavors would be.

It was easy to steep a small pot of tea to set on my dinner tray but hard to wait two minutes before beginning to devour the pancakes.

The savory-sweet, cinnamon-wood, bacon-butter and cakey-risotto flavors rocked! All my taste-buds thanked me.

What a fine tea to keep drinking with many meals over the cool months ahead.

By the way, I’m testing out http://www.teaandincense.com if you’d like to give me any feedback. thanks.

Backlog> (Can’t believe this is the first time I’ve used that word!)

Sunday is my day off from writing reviews but not my day off from drinking tea.
I decided several weeks ago that I needed to have time to visit tea houses, have tea outside my own 4 walls, take pictures for my blog or do other things that are enjoyable and feed my soul.

The point is that there should not be any pressure to produce a review. No words.

You might think that’s an easy task. Huh? I’m a talker, it’s not so easy for me to be quiet and to stay off Steepster.

I keep 3×5 cards in my purse so that I can jot down notes if I happen to drink tea when I’m out somewhere. Do you do that too?
So it’s no use. Having a day off means I’ll write a backlog the next day. It will just have to be done that way. I’m addicted.

At about 3:00 I stopped by my H.L. tea pub for a pot of one of the new tea’s added for the 3rd Anniversary Celebration this weekend.

The shop was FULL of people buying tea from ‘The Great Wall’ where about 350 or more tin bins of tea are stacked with samples in front for sniffing. People stand and sniff, pick a tea and buy some for home or have it brewed up.
Joe was manning the ‘behind the bar’ orders, Eric and several others were making pots of tea, setting timers, weighing tea and answering questions.
I just sat and waited for the dust to clear. It always does.

I had been to Church, visited with my granddaughter and forgot to eat lunch. I was in the mood for a hearty tea.
Joe told me that there was just enough Second Flush Assam left for 1 pot and then it would be gone until the next order came in.
“Let’s do it”, I said.

Joe brought me the tin box and a dry sample to smell.
The leaves were a mix of yellow gold and chocolate brown with a scent of hay and pepper.

The wet leaves were cocoa colored and malty sweet smelling with some honey in the aroma.

The liquor was golden honey in color and scent.
When I took a sip the tea was tangy, strong almost like a malty clover honey with horehound.

I drank the tea straight then added milk and raw sugar.
The improvement was dramatic.
I invited Joe and a mountain man that looked like ZZ Top to have some of the tea with/without milk and they agreed that milk was the best way to drink this tea, even if you don’t add sugar.

I dawdled over my last cup, took some pictures of my favorite place in town.
This Assam was one of the better ones I’ve ever had.

I asked, “How do you guys always stay so cheerful? I never see anyone who works here in a bad mood. No one’s ever cranky or complaining.”
Joe laughed, “That’s not an option, we’re professionals and there’s no place for that kind of thing here.” (He wasn’t joking, he said this with pride)

When I thought about what he said, and the fact that the whole staff is following this same work ethic and pride in what they do, that’s commendable and pretty rare.

Can you imagine if every business had employees who were cheerful, kind and helpful, gave great service without ever being cranky?

COMMENTS:
This is my first rooibos tea and settled on it on my first visit to Happy Lucky’s Tea House in Fort Collins, Colorado. While in aw to mass amounts of teas at my hand this was the choice of my girl friend and is now my favorite nighttime tea since there is no caffeine.
Rooibus Tea is made from the needle-like leaves of a caffeine-free bush that is native to the South African region. The major benefit to this tea is that it does not go bitter if you let it steep to long. This blend contains dried raspberry flakes.
This is a wonderful “desert” tea if you where to classify it do to its sweet taste and aroma. This makes a wonderful relaxing tea that is soothing and not overpowering to the pallet, even though the raspberry flavor cotes on thick to you pallet and slowly fades away revealing a slight wanderlust taste. This makes a great iced tea.

TEA:
- type: Rooibus
- place of origin: South Africa
- leaf-grade, if applicable: fine
- date purchased: September 30th 2012
- date brewed for these notes: October 15, 2012

DRY LEAF:
- color: deep red with light brown
- constituency: fine needle like leaves
- aroma: raspberry, sweet, pleasant

TEA-TO-WATER PROPORTIONS [grams to fl oz]:
1 tsp/8 oz

BREWING VESSEL [pot, gaiwan, etc]:
chinese ceramic pot

FIRST INF:
- time: 5 minutes
- temp: boiling water
- color: golden red with hint of light brown
- aroma: sweet rasberry
- taste: sweet, raspberry, slight hint of honey
- leaf appearance: dense needle like structure brownish color
- leaf aroma: raspberry, light hint of honey

Sipping this while seasoning my new Yixing travel tea tumbler. Thank you hugely to Bonnie on both counts. It’s sweet and very smoky. It makes me feel good. I love it. Thank you, Bonnie.

Bonnie sent this tea to me a while back, but I absolutely refused to make it until I could make an event of it. Tonight I asked hubby if he would join me for tea. That always means the two of us, at the tea table, and no laptops, no electronics, just us and tea. He said yes, so here we go!

I made a plate of some new cheese I bought to try – Drunken Goat, a 6 year aged cheddar, and an 8 year aged cheddar. These were served with Club crackers, the whole grain version.

I unwrapped the lovely wrapped pillow. I love the texture and weight of the paper so I saved for an “as yet unknown” project! The pillow of tea held together but was loosely packed, which was a surprise. I have only seen the tightly compressed puerhs so that is what I expected, but this pillow was so large it would never do to put that much tightly compressed leaf in a small pot. I love how unique this is!

We steeped five times, beginning with 90 seconds and increasing to 3 minutes by the last. Each steep was flavorful. My husband is not the biggest fan of green and oolong teas but he has a few he really likes. He enjoyed this one!

The liquor is somewhat pale, and I would call this a medium bodied tea. This is very smooth and has no drying effect at all. The flavor is vegetal with a floral note overlaying it.

So I got my wish! I got to try this tea, and it really was an event – a nice, mid-week date for hubby and me! Thank you, Bonnie!

Somewhere in Fort Collins, I’ve misplaced my CANE. Usually I leave it at Happy Lucky’s Tea House, so last night on the way home from giving grandson Donovan his birthday gift is where I went hunting for it.

It wasn’t there. Oh No!

I had some tea though (which always makes things better)!

Joe was minding the shop and it was pretty empty except for one other regular. We sat at the bar talking now and then about dancing (she’s a 20 year old dancer) and about tea. We got along well.

Joe and I were discussing the Kenyan tea that I reviewed and how it tasted a little like an Oolong. I mentioned how I enjoyed the roasted Oolongs in the Fall and Winter. He asked if I had tasted the Strong Fire Tieguangin?
“What?” I let him know that I hadn’t been informed about that tea.
Off he went to pull the metal canister for me to smell the leaves.

“Um, yes…very roasty smelling leaves and dark too”, I thought. I’d try this one.

Joe prepared a large clay pot and I waited 4 minutes until the timer went off and the leaves were pulled out.

Gracious! The leaves were Black-Brown and looked more like Pu-erh!
The scent was charcoal and french roast coffee with a little tea sweetness. (I could have spent all my time smelling the leaves if I wasn’t worried about the tea getting cold.)

The flavor was not as smoky as the scent. It was sweet and roasty, savory (not vegital), nutty with an unsweetened chocolate undertone.

The second pot was steeped 3 minutes and the leaves were woody and still half unfurled, with an aroma that was more meaty like a good roast chicken.

The flavor was not as sweet or charcoal, dryer in the mouth but never becoming bitter or astringent. This tea was easy to drink.
I talked to Joe about how I could drink pots of tea with roasted chicken or with a savory rice dish, even something buttery where you need to cut through the fat texture and wash it down like when you eat a pulled pork sandwich.

Yes, this tea could stand up to food without being too heavy on it’s
own.

I liked the roastiness very much with a hint of smoke, not too sweet but with character.

Still looking for my CANE….

Story (I have a review of tea for the morning)
I’ve had quite a long day. My ex-Husband, needed me to get some legal paperwork together so that he could sell his house (not mine anymore). I had to prep and fax 47 pages off to California along with notarized proof of my name as a favor.

What did I do to relax afterwards? Go to Happy Lucky’s for tea!

I always know that it’s dead quiet around dinner time, nice time to relax at the tea pub.
Sam was about to get off work and Joe (the cute guy in the picture that some of you ladies commented on) was minding the shop alone.

After a few minutes at the bar, my granddaughter Schey came in with Purple Hair…very cute on her…and joined me for tea.

We really had a great time until….the ghost tour arrived again. The line of ladies (no men) filed behind the bar, downstairs, then up again…grabbing iced tea and back out the door.

We drank our pot of yummy puerh (this is a great and reliable, smooth and rich puerh! I’ve reviewed it twice before and this is my really tasty every day kind of puerh. Not fussy, makes a good latte too.)
So we’re drinking puerh and then Schey had a meeting and left.

All of a sudden, 7 women came up from the basement with purple, pink, black and blond wigs on…all dolled up. Older women looking like they’ve been up to something (no idea what though).

I have no idea where they came from.
Joe said, “Didn’t you see them go downstairs before?”
“No I didn’t!”, I answered. Which was true. I never saw them go with the other people and why were they coming upstairs long after the others had left?
Strange. Don’t you think that’s peculiar?

I pointed out the firehouse poll and said something really stupid.

“That’s where the employees pole dance.”
(“OH shut up Bonnie! Whatever are you saying!!!”, I thought, exasperated with my bad habit of speaking without thinking first.)

The next thing that happened was that each woman had their picture taken in a sexy pose with the firehouse poll in the middle of Happy Lucky’s. Yes. Of course they did this. It was almost my idea!

Joe was laughing, I was hoping he wasn’t going to be mad at me later for my big mouth! (I did give him some news though.)

Hope the word doesn’t get out. I’d hate Happy Lucky’s to be the place in town for pole pictures!

Such is life. Never a dull moment.

Good Puerh and an interesting way to end the day!

Thanks to Bonnie for this lovely sample

First, the pagodas in this tea are SO cute! Hand tied, they are round & flat bottomed, then they rise to a point. They remind me of Hershey’s kisses, chocolate brown with streaks of gold. A mild smell of maltiness.

I brewed them in my little glass pot, so I could watch them come to life. (the package says 2 – 3, but I included 5, because they reminded me of Black Dragon Pearls, & I always use more then they say).
They floated, they swam a little, then they bloomed, like sea anemones, gradually sinking to the bottom.

I tasty, mildly chocolaty tea. I drank the first cup straight, 2nd steeping I added a little stevia. I’m gonna try for a 3rd cup.

Enjoy the morning!

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