The Tea Spot

This is unlike any chai that I have ever tasted. In fact, it spurred me to look up the definition of chai. Then I found out that “chai” is the Hindi word for “tea” and that “masala chai” refers to what we Westerners redundantly often refer to as “chai tea” (“tea tea”)—black tea with a mix of spices, usually starring cardamom and cinnamon.

There’s not a trace of cardamom in this one and the turmeric is the key player. I find it pretty darn delicious. It’s really making me want Indian food, though. Like I want to be drinking this with a big old plate of palak paneer.

I think this is only the second pu-erh tea I’ve ever tried and it’s both been in blends, so I’m not totally sure what the pu-erh tastes like in this mix, but overall I find it really nice. It’s a bold black tea that makes a good substitute for a black cup of coffee in the morning.

And a sipdown!
I may very well get this again, it was a really nice breakfast blend. Strong, with solid flavors, but it never felt like you were drinking something too bitter.
Farewell, Shagadelic!

I was really dragging yesterday, and wanted something solid to drink. Bingo!
This is a really nice breakfast blend- strong without being overwhelming, and that is just the ticket when I am feeling that worn out.
I’ve been fighting a bit of a cold, and had some trouble getting to sleep lately, a bad combination. So, nice tea to drink is absolutely essential.
I’m almost done with this! I’m absurdly pleased about that.

And that is the end of the play!
It’s always a relief and a bit sad, at the same time. I had fun, and it was really, really good to be acting again. I won’t let as much time go by until the next acting.
Now I can drink a leasurly pot of tea and get back to my regularly scheduled life.

So I live in a part of the world that is currently experiencing a lot of wildfires. I’m not in any immediete danger, but my town has been covered in smoke for days. Every time you go outside little piles of ash get kicked up.
Its bad, both because of the damage to nearby places, and also because no one feels well in all this smoke. Everybody is having some breathing problems and everyones head hurts.
I am no exception. Its hard to have any energy, as I’ve had this tiny headache for weeks. Plus its still 100 degrees.
Ugh. Strong tea is called for.
This is really nice stuff. Not overpowering, but a firm presence in the cup. Just what the doctor ordered.

Breakfast blends are the order of business.
Its Tech week, so the rehearsals run late, and I still have my day job, so I have to wake up early.
Uuugh. Help, tea!
This is a solid breakfast blend. Its not quite to the same level as Malachi in strenth and depth of flavor, but its a really good breakfast blend.
And I need all the help I can get today.

This is a really nice breakfast blend, which is very good news. I have an absolute ton of it!

Wait….. what do you mean I’ve reached my sipdown goal? Whhhhhhat?
Er, well, go me? To celebrate I shall have one of the teas that I have not yet tried.
So far so good! Its a nicely balanced breakfast bread, a good companion to toast, and generally pleasant.
I’m glad I feel that way, as I have an absolute ton of this.

And a sipdown!
This is, I think, a perfectly nice blend, but its not the blend for me.
Still, it was really nice to try!

So, I think this is a good blend. The base and the chocolate notes are actually really well blended, and I can tell that the general flavors are well balanced.
But I must say that I am not a big fan of either Pu-ehr or of chocolate teas, so this blend is never going to be a favorite.
But its doing very well as a work tea, where its getting sipped down quickly.

New tin on the work desk is this fella!
I picked it up in my Black Friday Frenzy, and I perhaps should have read the description a little more carefully. A puher, and a chocolate tea? Neither are really my thing, but hey, I’ll give it a shot.
It needs a light steep, or else the whole thing gets too earthy for my taste, and it smells more strongly of chocolate than it tastes…
Hmmm.

I immediately distrust anything that promises a “flat belly”, or tries to act as an appetite suppressor. Not good things, generally speaking.
But I got a sample of this with a Tea Spot order a while ago, and its leaf smelled alright, so I figured what the heck.
What the heck is right .This blend was a very weird, tart, unpleasant thing, but now its gone from my cupboard, so thats all good.
Eeesh.

A pretty tea to look at and to taste. I can taste the jasmine and rose. I steeped it too hot forgetting that it was a white tea, but after reading the reviews I was glad I did use hotter water than suggested. The taste is not overwhelming but is prevalent. I thoroughly enjoyed this tea, so glad to have a second steep of this coming.

This was okay, but I’m not the right audience for rose teas or white teas. I found I liked this better as it cooled down, there were sweeter notes in the tea leaves that came forward and make the florals feel more like dessert toppings rather than perfume or soap. A small thing, but I liked that the samples I received were loose leaf tea in little single-serve packets. Cute and travel friendly.

In general, I prefer my tea unadorned, but like all chai’s, I don’t care much for it unless I add a little maple syrup and some form of creamer/milk (in my case, coconut milk. It’s not pretty, but it tastes good). With these additions, this tea is mighty tasty, and definitely has an authentic pumpkin taste & enough spice to make it a chai. Some Chai’s have one overpowering spice or another, but this is a nicely balanced cup, maybe just a little heavy on the cinnamon, but I like that.

I don’t drink chai often, because I have a reaction to some of the spices: my cheeks turn red & blotchy, and my face gets a burning sensation, and if I drink too much it irritates my guts… Sadly, I have the same problem with curry, which is a real bummer, because I love a good curry! I feel that reaction coming on, So this is going into the box for Sil, and there is plenty to share with the Canadian Crew! Enjoy!

This was undrinkable for me. I usually don’t like pumpkin spice anyway so maybe that was it but had to throw it down the sink.

Bolder Breakfast was one of the first teas I tried in an effort to wean myself from coffee. This is a nice robust cup that stands up to a little sweetener and milk but is not bitter or astringent at all. The black and pu-erh teas compliment the chocolate and vanillaesque mallow petals but still retain their “teaishness”. The tea is quite nice black but a little sweetener and milk make it taste like a woodsy Yohoo drink. This is a yummy cup that even non-tea drinkers will enjoy.

This is a tea I’ve had laying around a long time. Don’t know when I got it. Might as well try it. The leaves in the bag don’t smell like anything special, just normal black tea. Brewing this in my gaiwan as usual.

1st Steep: I notice some flowers and mountain air in the flavor.

2nd Steep: A lot of astringency appears. Mountain air gets more intense. Lots of dry mouth left behind

Nothing changed beyond this. Not awful but can’t recommend. Lots of better options out there.

Tasty! A nice heaping amount of ginger and cinnamon in this bad boy, and surprisingly sweet on its own.

Day two of my tea advent has yielded this blend, which I’ve had before. I remember it as being heavy, and that’s what I got here again as well. I like all the flavor parts separately, but I feel it a bit unbalanced, too bold. But it was fun to try it again, like re-reading a book.

My final cup of this, and I have managed to over steep it.
Ugh.
Its a perfectly respectable spice blend, with a touch of orange to it, but I’ve found it a little too heavy to bring it back into cupboard rotation. And its decidedly a one season tea, and that tea is winter. It would feel wrong to drink it in the warm weather.
So, a sipdown! Wahoo!

Rain! Yaaay!
I have no idea how many more rainy mornings we have on the horizon, so its time for some spicy tea.
In my sipdown mania I am looking forward to having this particular blend done. Its nice, but it doesn’t move me, and I’d like to spend more time with the teas that move me.

Gack, I over steeped this today and it turned out bitter. Gack!