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It’s been bananas at work—as school ends, even the most levelheaded staff members start losing their minds—compounded by a horribly tense weather day; severe threats all around and torrential rains causing flash floods on main thoroughfares….I had trouble ungripping my hands from the steering wheel after crawling home in the deluge. Turkey Creek is in the across-the-street neighbors’ backyards.

So bring on the herbal tension taming compounds! I grabbed this little packet from our friend Nichole because it looked like a happy little envelope of confetti. After a full 7 minute steep as prescribed, I hoped that the fruity elements would take the lead. Instead, it’s just a gently generic herbal potpourri that’s more floral than fruit. Still, it’s warm, the mug is comfortingly solid in my hand, and the lavender and lemon balm is helping un-kink the knots in my neck.

Remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine couldn’t walk out of her office without somebody shoving a slab of cake in her hand and singing? It’s getting about that bad here with a slough (sloo? slew?) of spring milestone events and multiple coworkers whose love language is food. (Good people here. That’s a blessing that I don’t take for granted.)

Therefore, I am immensely grateful to yet another colleague who provided a tin of these teabags, which I am keeping on hand strictly for medicinal purposes. Discount outlet grade gift tea, but the bags smell great (ginger first, lemon next, green tea…um…er…well…let’s just assume it’s in there) and are efficient and efficacious when I have to try just one more homemade chocolate chip cookie in order to be polite.

Since we can’t get our act together for a day trip to the Ozarks (although I am aching for some mountain air), last month, my thoughtful husband placed a birthday order to our favorite tea stop from that direction. This little Ceylon breakfast tea isn’t on my Teamaze “A” list, but it is still tasty. It has that smooth “just tea” profile with a nice little sugar sprinkle at the end of each sip. Better for spring afternooners than first thing in the morning in the dead of winter.

After complaining to you about the daytime tea stash, I did something about it and brought a few loose leaf packets to finish up…among them, this very nice “just green” tea from Oliver Pluff. It meets my standards by tolerating abuse and absentminded steeping and is more toasty than it is vegetal. OP calls it buttery and plummy—that may be a little ambitious, or that may be because I’ve let my supply sit too long, but it is a very nice change of pace.

My work tea stash is kind of pathetic…refugee boxes and bags from home that I intend to drink up quickly and never do. This was in the stash, but still has a tiny bit of life left in it. Still smells nice and the cinnamon presence compensates for the decay of the black tea base.

Too bad Trader Joe’s discontinued this variety—was (formerly) a really nice wintertime pantry staple.

Happy, happy, joy, joy … there were two tins of this in my Mother’s Day bonanza, and loose leaf to boot! It’s the same blend as the gift-box tea bags I have enjoyed in the past: black tea, tangerine zest, and a little vanilla, but the black tea base is stronger and the zest a little zestier—no doubt due to better quality leaves. Pastry and citrus.

I opened the tin at “tea party” time at work and blethered in ecstasy because I had expected tea bags rather than leaves, then my work friend (derk, she’s my Kiki) brought me back to earth by whiffing it and chortling, “It smells like men’s cologne.” Hmph. All the more for me.

Hope you loved on your mom a little today. Moms leak if you don’t fill their buckets once in a while.

My bucket is brimming—between husband, son, and (ahem) cats (or so the gift tag says), I have a basketful of treats to paw through, including this dignified tin of black tea with the Royal Warrant. We’re huge “Keeping Up Appearances” fans, so Royal Warrant Tea holds a special place in my heart.

Other than the little niblet on Partridge’s website (East African, mountain grown), Partridge’s is a little sparse on information. I’ll take scent and flavor over information any day, and this is replete with both. It’s loose leaf rather than CTC, and smells like a bucket of buckwheat. The flavor is equally sweet and wheaty, smooth like velvet with a color like the dark cherry wood finish on my tea chest. Fine stuff.

Every time I drink and review a chocolate tea, I bellyache that it isn’t chocolate enough. Well, the Hershey bar stops here. Wow. Thick, rich carob and chicory—this definitely hits the “unsweet chocolate bar” mark. I’m drinking this unsweetened, and there’s enough coffee-like bitterness to open my eyes a little, even though it’s purely herbal. With a little milk or as a latte, this is going to be just flat delicious.

I couldn’t attend a bridal shower in TN thrown by a dear friend, so she sent a little bit of the shower to me in the form of a sample Hug In A Cup (she did a tea service featuring CuppaGeek blends with place cards including their descriptions).

I’ve read many reviews, including my own, that don’t get too excited about herbal chamomile blends. After all, it’s chamomile. But Nichole has added a very pleasant fruity-berry twist. The hibiscus and rose hips in my sample added color without a lot of tartness. A really nice nightcap if you’re tired of the usual chamomile-lemony-minty routine.

We’ve got Steepster listings for Unknown Oolong, Unknown Green, Unknown China, probably Unknown and Discovered In the Back of My Closet; I was tempted to add one more classification for what I’m drinking this evening: Unknown But Delicious.

Work friend went to Hawaii and brought me a little packet of pearls simply labeled “Lady M,” which is apparently a high-end cake-and-goodie shop, whose merchandise is sold at Waikiki Tea Room. All this is strictly Googling and conjecture, because we’ve crossed paths and I haven’t actually been able to chat with her.

Whatever these are, and wherever these are from, they are exquisite little jasmine pearls about the size of capers that relax in a warm bath just like your neck muscles do in a tub full of bubbles. The jasmine is milder and less floral than other versions I’ve tried over the years—it has a buttery, fruity personality. Pineapple? That may just be the power of geographic suggestion.

At any rate, it’s a perfect cup after a high-intensity work week and I’m looking forward to hearing more about this tea’s provenance.