Claire

In one of life’s great strokes of irony, yesterday morning I tried to get a free flu shot, but the clinic ran out by the time I got out of class. Today I am definitely coming down with the flu.
I’m compensating for this by eating large quantities of dark chocolate and drinking delicious, floral-chocolate oolong. Is there anything better than a good oolong or green tea?

A couple nights ago my partner was feeling sickly, and to help him cheer up I said I loved him more than books. He smiled. Than I said I loved him more than tea. He smirked and said, “don’t go too far now”.

At any rate: oolong does a body (and mind) good, and even in my stuffy sicky state this still tastes fantastic.

Drank this delicious tea again this morning. On the third steep it has more pu’erh earthiness and a hint of mushroom flavor, but retains the flavors of sweet corn and hay. I love this tea and wish I had ordered more!

Wow, I love this. The liquid smells like really sweet corn or wet hay. It reminds me of living in northern California and driving by the farms in the spring and summer.
I didn’t have the heart to toss the first steep because it is so good. This has the earthiness of pu’erh without a strong musty or mushroom flavor. Instead it’s delightfully sweet. I feel like I’m drinking alfalfa (if that makes sense).

I have enough tea left for just one more steep after this, and of course now I have fallen in love. The flavor is so delightfully floral like an oolong, balanced by the pan-fired flavor of a good chinese green, and I think I taste sesame oil.

Oh maple! Yummy cup of tea on an afternoon, although it mostly tastes like maple and not rooibos (not that that’s a bad thing). It’s fleet week in San Francisco and I keep hearing airplanes and jets every few seconds.

Today I’m drinking the third steep of this amazing tea. Today I smell florals along with a hint of earthyness that almost reminds me of pu’erh.
The flavor is very complex at this point. I still taste creamy vanilla and cinnamon but there is another layer of earthy/smoky flavor that almost reminds me of pine.

I got home about an hour ago from a Florence + The Machine concert (amazing), and having a cup of this before I pass out asleep. More notes later, but for now: it tastes creamy, sweet, with a hint of spiciness. Love this.

Enjoying this on a (wonderful) lazy morning before I go to work. I love the spiciness of this blend along with the hint of chocolate and floral oolong. I didn’t notice this last time, but the aroma smells very chocolate to me along with a hint of vanilla and spice.

I’ve already drank two cups of this since I came home. I know there is a debate over how much caffeine is really in tea, but I always feel so calmed after I drink a good green tea or oolong. It’s the best thing after a really long day.

Today I HAD to try matcha in a water bottle. I’ve only drank matcha a couple of times before so I feel odd giving this a numerical rating, since I don’t think I have enough experience to know whether a matcha is good quality.
It was so easy to make in the water bottle that I was a bit shocked. I put about 1/2tsp in a 12oz bottle and shook it up, and behold, matcha! I then proceeded to sip on it through the next class and feel happily awake.
If my wallet can withstand it, I definitely want to get some of RedLeafTeas flavored matchas in the future.

I had the last of this in my to go mug this morning. Goodbye, delicious coffee pu’erh, I hardly knew ye.

Ok, so I actually knew it almost every morning for the last week. I love this stuff, but I must be strong and wait awhile before I get more tea…

Drinking this again today – I can taste and smell more orchid mingled with some intense florals. There’s also a bit of a savory flavor that reminds me of green tea. Nearly vegetal, but not quite there. Also faintly malty.

Today was a rough and long day, but I’m very happy to say that I got to pick up my Verdant Tea order! And I even nabbed it from the post office before school, which meant I got to brew some of this up in the morning (and then again when I got home, and again just now).
I love this tea. The choice of floral oolongs is absolutely perfect. The chai is delicately sweet which comes out more as it cools. I taste dark chocolate, vanilla, and spicy coriander, almost reminding me of peppercorns.
This is so delicious.

So I read last night that Bi Luo Chun benefits from a longer steep than most greens. I typically steep about 45 seconds, so tonight I tried letting this steep for 2 minutes, and WOW. While previously the first steeps were a bit weak and hinted at the floral and buttery notes that could be found in the subsequent steeps, they really pop out just by adding another minute. No burnt flavor, either. I wish I’d known to steep this longer a few weeks ago!

I’ve been bringing bags of this to school so I can drop a couple in my to go mug at lunch and fill it with (free) hot water. I like this – it doesn’t wow me and I still think the flavor is a bit on the weak side, but I like the coconut and banana flavors, they are not at all artificial-tasting. It’s a nice middle of the day tea when I don’t need caffeine!

Start of today’s backlog: I can’t stop drinking this tea! I made this for my to go mug again today and it was mmm mmm delicious. I’m almost to that point where I’m thinking, what will I do when this runs out?! Hopefully get addicted to another tea, because my Verdant order is waiting patiently for me at the post office, and I am picking it up tomorrow!

This is another tea I received for my birthday, and it’s absolutely delicious! Delicately floral with a hint of malty/chocolate flavor. A bit more understated than the green oolong with a spicy undertone.

Having a cup of this to celebrate the end of the week! I did add one teaspoon of straight black tea to cut the sweetness a bit, and it’s almost just right. Still a bit too sugary for my taste, but it’s a great treat at the end of my day! :)

Today was my first day at my work study job in the library, and it was AWESOME. The librarians I’m working for are so nice, and the collection (I’m in special collections and archives) they have is huge!

Back to tea! Cinnamon and toasted marshmallow, you make my day.

I’ve drank this the past 3 mornings now, and it’s so tasty! I love the caramel and coffee flavor along with that hint of woodsy pu’erh. I will definitely have to get more of this – maybe I will even be adventurous and head to the David’s store here in town. Any recommendations if I make a trip, fellow steepsterites?

Last tea of the day! I really like this. I’m not typically a rooibos fan, but if it’s dressed up right I’ll drink it, and this is delicious. Like eating a maple donut but not as sweet. As I’ve said before I’m not a big fan of sweetened tea, and this is just about right for me. A little sweetness without tasting like I just poured some sugar in my mouth.

My partner just tried a sip and said “I want pancakes”.

The amazing green oolong is now gone and I mourn its loss. This green is finally growing on me and I will miss it too when it is all gone!

I brewed this in my to go mug this morning, and I have to say that I loved it. I thought the dry leaf smell was really odd, but when I tasted it I went woah! Yummy! I didn’t get any fishy puerh flavor out of it, just warm and earthy with some caramel and coffee. I finished the whole mug in an hour, which is great until you are sitting in class realizing you just rapidly downed 14oz of tea…

I’m starting to be impressed by DavidsTea. I’ve liked the last few flavors I tried and might even be tempted to order more of this Coffee Pu’erh when it’s gone.

WOW this was so sweet! I’m not a sweetened tea person, and this was verging on the border of too sugary for me sans any added sweetener. That being said, it was delicious.
One of my favorite things in the world is going up to visit my friend Becky and her family in northwestern Oregon. They always feed me a lot of good food, and at night we make a big bonfire and toast giant marshmallows (I like lighting them on fire then blowing them out). Toasted marshmallows remind me of bliss and good people.
This tea tastes like toasted marshmallows and cinnamon. I might end up mixing it with a straight black tea to cut down on the sweetness, but the first cup made me smile for sure.

Another sample I got in my Davidstea order: holy sweet tea, batman!
Seriously though, this was a very sweet tea just on its own. I did think it tasted a bit like banana nut bread, but got more walnut flavor out of it than banana, possibly due to the sample size. And since I can’t eat gluten, I went mmm banana nut bread, how I miss it…