gmathis

Nice and delicate, and even when I didn’t take great care with it, didn’t go bitter. Even better was the encouraging note that came with it. (Thanks, ashmanra … encouraging words are keeping me propped up these days!)

Like it! Fresh bready aroma, nice and strong. Milk and sugar would be appropriate, but I needed it straight up this (yawn) morning.

Amazing what a decent night’s sleep will do to your taste buds.

I can actually TASTE. Interesting to read previous notes on this one; all are a little different. First thing that comes to my mind is “malty darjeeling.” Really good malty. Thinking this will be tasty iced a little later today.

Just after kind and loving tea friends helped to re-stock my pantry, we hit a hot weather stretch that makes hot cuppas a little less appealing. HOWEVER, this tumbler-full got neglected at work (our school district had seven buildings tornado-damaged, so it’s chaos professionally too) and after icing it down at lunchtime, I discovered a real treat! Almost milkshake flavor. SimplyJenW, thanks!

Was able to carve out a very few brief moments to enjoy this at my parents’ farm yesterday before a day full of packing, power washing, and insurance headaches. I think I may be getting my chops back - could really enjoy the dark, cocoa essence that I’ve been reading about.

In case you need to know, it is impossible to put one’s life completely back together from scratch in three weeks working 14-16 hour days. Therefore, since it’s a lost cause anyway, I am going to resolve to carve out a little time to restore with a cuppa and a good book (right now, I’m hanging on to my Good Book for dear life) every day. Life can wait.

Thanks again, Doulton, for providing this lovely respite-in-a-pouch.

A post-storm gift from SimplyJenW that was much appreciated on my new, hopefully very temporary, 40-mile commute. I don’t know if research can confirm that trauma messes with your taste buds, but I’ve been having trouble picking up subtleties in what I’ve been drinking. Can sure tell there’s some Assam in here, which was a real treat.

My tea hero Doulton sent this my way … had to make the morning cuppa with rural farm water (Hard. Blecch.) so mineral taste cancelled out a lot of the subtlety. Even so, I caught the sweet notes I’ve read about and am looking forward to a better cup on a better day.

Taking a break from household reconstruction to flit online and discovered this review is posted: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2213/tea-review-mark-t-wendell-hu-kwa-lapsang-souchong-2/

Incidentally, the cup in the profile picture survived the storm; it’s handle didn’t. :(

Another storm survivor; dirt and sawdust free. Drank a cup in an unchipped mug on the farm where we’re refugeeing with my feet put up on a Rubbermaid tub. Was a blessing, for just a few moments, to lay eyes on a landscape that was green and lush and had trees with leaves and bark.

YES, FRIENDS, THIS TEA CAN WITHSTAND AN F5 TORNADO. One rubbermaid tub contained some bits and pieces…I had some for breakfast. Amen and amen. Miracles continuing to happen in my family. Thanks for your prayers.

This may be the only tea I get to rate for a while—it’s in my mom’s kitchen, and because of the F4 tornado in Southwest Missouri, my collection … uh … may be steeping the entire Missippi River.

What really matters, is we are safe because of miracles. God’s protection is amazing. The first person to meet us at the door of the hotel where we refugeed said, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

Beware! This tea will give you an uncontrollable urge to read Little Women!

(Just kidding. Sorta. I’m itching to go blow dust off my copy right now.)

Thanks to SimplyJen, I have just been introduced to what could be one of my favorite fruit teas ever! I’m getting more of a blueberry scent and taste than blackberry, but the cream/vanilla punctuation makes this really outstanding.

Hoping I can muster up the self-control to ration enough of this to try a small batch chilled.

This one is waiting for a full review at itsallabouttheleaf.com, but quite tasty—made a pot big enough to ice down when weather gets warm this afternoon, but I don’t think it’s going to last that long.

Tea friend ashmanra sent me a cup’s worth so I could compare to my old-faithful Monk’s Blend from Culinary Teas (Metropolitan/Mlesna). First, this is several years fresher than my old-faithful, so all the flavors are stronger - but the floral/bergamot vibe comes through first. I’m not normally a floral fan, but the vanilla balances it enough I don’t feel like I’m swigging my Mother’s Day bouquet water.

Thanks for the treat!

OK, I haven’t tried this, but it seemed like a fair place to post the beginnings of a backyard experiment. We have honeysuckle in bloom. LOTS of it. Copious amounts of it. Husband did a little research about the appropriate way to harvest and dry, so we’re going to attempt a little home alchemy to see if we can make our own blend-in. I’ll let you know if it’s a disaster!

Still experimenting with coconut as an add-in. It’s a plausible complement to this one, but seems to cancel out some of the tangerine’s tang, which is really light in this blend anyway. But warm and light and pleasant all the same.

Better now that I backed off quantity and water temp. Very traditional oakey-smokey green, as advertised on the website. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Wasn’t being particularly careful and let this go a little bitter; think the water was too hot. Still smells nice and tangy, and is a plausible substitute for its caffeinated counterpart.

Following a hint from cofftea, I doctored this up with some unsweetened coconut chips. Need to work on the proportions a little more, but it was a nice combo! May have to back off on the lemongrass, because this is pretty strong.

“Surprising body” in the tea description must be a euphemism for “man, this stuff is strong!” Whatever I did, I did wrong because this is putting wrinkles in my tongue! (But I guess it’s doing it’s job if it’s waking me up, pleasantly or otherwise.) Do-overs pending.

My first taste of this one was on ice and thus, a little weak, but I was pleasantly surprised that the hibiscus didn’t make my eyes water. Appeared to be nicely balanced with the other ingredients. Have a full-strength bottle in the fridge for a second taste-test.

This still continues to be my favorite cheap-keep-the-canister-filled-at-all-times tea; someday I shall ask to see the bag so I can actually see the brand. (Yeah, I’m sure the store clerk will enjoy toting a 50-pound feed sack off the top shelf just to entertain the customer…)

In the meantime, I played a bit this morning and did 2 parts shaved unsweetened coconut chips to 1 part of these oolong leaves. I believe I’ve found a new favorite blend-in. Coconut and …. any suggestions?

I don’t know that I’ve ever done nine entire cups of tea in a day (would be up all night for more reasons than one, but that’s way TMI…sorry!) — but I’m going to, in small doses, see how this one lives up to its multi-steep claim. Steep #2 is as good and golden as the first, so we’re off…

Thanks to people in the neighborhood who decided to present a rock concert akin to Oompa Loompas playing AC/DC late, late, late last night (oops, early, early, early, early this morning)—and because I wrestled myself into a sleepless puddle attempting to call down blessings and not curses upon mine enemies—-I need a shot of coffee-kick energy this morning. Hoping that the mate induces a steady morning-long supply.