JoonSusanna

Just so you know, this really does go very well with mexican food when iced. In case you were curious or anything. :)

So, I think I want to name my gaiwan Midori. It means green in japanese and I am apparently unable to muster up anything more creative. But I think it looks like a Midori. I do have a problem with anthropomorphizing inanimate objects, actually. Can you tell? :)

Anyway, after doing the initial rinse, the leaf smelled SO. GOOD. Chocolate and the blackened potato note I recall from having this before.

1st steep = 15 seconds. Now the leaf smells less like chocolate and more like char. The liquor smells similar. It reminds me of the Anxi, actually. The taste however is cocoa powder and honey, with just a little of the burned note hovering on the periphery. This is much more complex than the Anxi ever got for me.

2nd steep = 25 seconds. I am working on being faster with this but I can’t seem to just add an extra 3 seconds on per steep – it takes that long for me to get the lid on the cup sometimes, since I get easily distracted watching the color seep into the water. The liquor smells and tastes predominately cocoa now, and is honey colored. This is really encouraging! I’m still really hoping for some cinnamony notes to come out because that cinnamon + chocolate combination was the thing I loved about my initial Lao Shan black experience, and what was missing from this batch the first time around. Fingers crossed!

3rd steep = 45 seconds. THERE IT IS. OMG happy happy. Cinnamon brownie I missed you! I’m probably going to go even slower than normal drinking this steeping because it’s my favorite. This is the whole reason I bought Lao Shan black. The leaf has gone back to smelling like just cocoa powder, and the liquor is lighter than

4th steep = 1 minute. Mmm. The liquor is even lighter in color but this is all baking chocolate. The cinnamon is gone, but that’s okay – it’s kind of fun knowing that I’ll only get to have it for that one small steep – that makes it even more valuable of an experience.

Sigh. I took so long to write this that my Breville’s turned off and I don’t have enough in it to start it boiling again. I’m being lazy – too lazy to refill it apparently. So I’ll keep the leaves and probably try for a few remaining steeps later tonight.

Yay for more playtime with Midori!

Latte style tonight! I put this in a small empty Upton tin to store it and had a brief moment of panic that I wouldn’t be able to get it open without spilling it EVERYWHERE. It was stressful but ultimately no matcha was wasted!

This one is so good. The cocoa powder and tang of the cheese, and the ladyfingers are all pretty evident in the taste. It is the essence of tiramisu, really, and sweet enough without sugar. I love matcha lattes but I have to be in a special mood to take the time to put one together – sifting and heating and whisking and frothing dirties up a lot of dishes for the 5 minutes I manage to keep it in my cup!

But tonight it was absolutely worth the effort – tornado watches and bad weather and tv with the boyfriend. Yay for nights off!

I am debating whether I should go to sleep now or not – I’m pretty awake despite the fact that I worked all night..

I figure if anything can keep me going though, it’ll be a strong breakfast tea. I love strong breakfast teas. Bold malty chocolate teas. The leaves look like an oolong, spindly and unbroken. Really they remind me a lot of dan congs but the smell of them is much heavier – very earthy.

Chocolate chocolate chocolate. That’s mostly what I get. Occasionally a breadiness, interspersed with something a little brighter that I can’t quite describe. I think it’s what most are calling fruity and if I’m hard pressed I could say its raisins, but I still feel like there’s something else there that I’m not putting into words. It’s definitely a perfectly chewy, full bodied tea.

It reminds me most strongly of my favorite East Frissy, except with bonus cocoa notes.

I’ll have to resteep this and see how it does….

I’m still amazed with how much I like this one – I just don’t do mint teas normally.

But I took a teabag of this to work and even in a styrofoam cup, with inexact steeping times and water that was most likely too hot – even with all that, it was just the recharge that I needed.

I think it must be the vanilla. Regardless, if the boyfriend likes this as much as I do we may need to do something about it..

This is a combination of long, unbroken leaf with some smaller broken pieces. A few of the pieces have slipped through into my cup with each brewing. Not really a positive or negative, and really just a result of each 5 gram sample being individually packaged more than anything else I think. The dry leaf smells VERY heavily of unsweetened dark chocolate/cocoa powder. It really is reminiscent of the Lao Shan Black.

Steeped gong fu style with boiling water and my (precious, as-yet unnamed) gaiwan.

1st steep – 10 seconds.
Smell strongly reminds me of LaoShan black – roasted, baking chocolate/cocoa powder. Very toasty and bready. The liquor is very dark for a 10 second steep. This is a heavy, earthy tea. Just the way I like it!

2nd steep – 12 seconds.
There is more of a charred taste to this. Like the bread has been toasted to the point of blackened. The liquor is even darker. Not really smoky, but definitely burnt tasting. For someone who typically doesn’t like that sort of thing, this is surprisingly tolerable.

3rd steep – 15 seconds.
Now the color of the leaves are slightly lighter than the previous steep. The charred note is receding to more of the quality of the first steep, which is preferable. I can only do burnt for so long!

4th steep – 25 seconds.
The roasted note is even fainter, and if I think about it I can maybe get some cocoa. Now that its cooling I get a honeyed taste as well. Yay! Up until now this has been a largely one note tea for me so I’m glad to see it starting to evolve a bit! It’s even starting to smell sweeter!

5th steep – at least 30 seconds.
Predominantly honey and chocolate. I was thinking I’d be tired of this by now but it’s just getting good! WOW. Well, guess I’ll be refilling the Breville!

6th steep – 1 minute.
Now I’m back to the roasted quality again, though the base is discernible through it, unlike in the first few steeps where it was like drinking straight char – maybe Angrboda’s description of ‘ash’ would be more apt? I need to stop reading her notes because I’m quite suggestible, it seems. :)

7th steep – 2 minutes 30 seconds.
This is officially the longest I’ve resteeped any tea. I’m loving my new gaiwan so much! I do think I’ll probably only be able to get one more steep out of this, though. Right now I get a burnt sugar honey, but it is somewhat muted compared to earlier steepings. The color is lighter, too.

8th steep – 10 minutes.
Whoops, got caught up in chores and let this go twice as long as I wanted. The flavor is kind of weak though, anyway. An echo of its earlier bread-ish self with some faint dustings of cocoa. I have exhausted the leaves (for my palate, anyway) and I’m pretty proud of myself for being able to do it!

Overall, I feel like this was similar to Lao Shan black initially, but a less complex, less sweet version of it. I had high hopes for the chocolate and honey elements judging by smell alone, but they didn’t quite manifest as strongly as I would have liked. I will have to see what it does Western style, but I did really enjoy the whole process of gong fu with this. I just think that between this and Lao Shan, if I had to choose, it’d be the latter over the former.

I love mexican food. Like, it’s my favorite food on earth and I could live off of tacos. Or refried beans. Or cheese dip and guacamole and salsa. Cilantro, consequently, is one of my favorite flavors. Being that pineapple is one of my favorite fruits, this tea is combination of things I love and therefore could not be passed by.

The only thing I’m not sure about is the Bai Mu Dan base. White teas are so gentle that it seems like I miss a lot of their nuances. They are usually just weakly flavored water. I’m hoping that this will be different.

Steep notes: 2.5 g tea, 500 ml water, below parameters in the Breville.

The dry leaf smells FUNKY. There’s pineapple but it smells unnatural somehow. Maybe like candies or dried? Who knows, it may be the cilantro. But someone else mentioned the weird smell and the tea went on to be okay so I’m hoping that will be the case with me.

And it is! The hot water has made the leaf smell much more natural. I mostly get pineapple but there is some cilantro note hovering in the background. Mostly it’s a kind of generic clean herby smell, rather than specifically cilantro.

The flavor is much the same – light and clean. Sweet pineapple, fresh herbs and a light base that I don’t really taste. Thats good though – it doesn’t overwhelm the herb or fruit flavor this way. As it cools more of a creaminess is evident in both the scent and taste, and the cilantro comes to the forefront while the pineapple recedes a bit.

Amazing. A white tea that I really like, and a nice light tea that I could see myself drinking hot in summer, even. I’ll try it iced too, but this really is light enough that it’s cooling even when served warm, if that makes any sense. I have a feeling this one will go fast!

I FINALLY (after like 2+ years on here) got a gaiwan! I was making a Butiki order and they had a spouted one (the safest choice for my clumsy self) so I sprung for it. It is absolutely perfect for me – I love that it’s stoneware instead of porcelain and I love the way it pours, and that it is about 4 oz. Now I can finally do some gongfu and really get the most out of my leaves!

Verdant’s teas are all perfect for gaiwans, so I decided to start with Golden Fleece since I haven’t had it in a while. I was weighing out the leaves (per Verdant’s instructions, so 4 grams) and really, just holding it in your hands is a sensory experience in itself. They are so soft and feathery/fuzzy, and also super fragile looking. I want to keep them long and spindly so I’m fighting the urge to handle them too much.

1st steep= maybe 10 seconds? The predominant smell of the steeped leaves is peppery and kind of burnt – like very crispy potatoes. It was super hot so at first I didn’t get much taste. Just that smooth silky texture on my tongue. There was a pepper note after I swallowed and as the cup cooled down I could pick up honey and pepper together. Sweet and savory and silky. This steep seemed kind of delicate and light in flavor.

2nd steep = 15 seconds. The leaf smells sweeter now – honey, vanilla, cinnamon. The tea is darker, but still as smooth. This is mostly sweet – all honey but there is an umami-like bite at the end of the sip. Now that I’ve thought about it as umami, all I can think is that the liquor itself smells brothy. It’s as if somehow this manages to do everything at the same time – the only thing that changes is what flavor you choose to pay attention to.

3rd steep = 25 seconds. The leaf is back to smelling like potatoes and the taste is all umami + pepper. There is quite a bite at the end of these sips! I am starting to specifically identify the broad “umami” taste as more mushroom. Well, wait – the liquor smells like vanilla and honey, now. And tastes like it too, since its cooled.

4th steep = 45 seconds. Now it tastes like potatoes. Starchy but still amazingly smooth. This has plenty of flavor left in it but I think I’ll give it a rest for right now. Yay for gaiwans! I can’t wait to put these leaves through all of their paces!

I didn’t rate this numerically the first time I had it, but I feel like since I’ve tried it both ways I can do so now. Unsurprisingly it’s going to be pretty high. A very yummy Yunnan, for sure!

Had this a few days ago at work.

It was perfectly fine on the mouthfeel but I realized that my thermos had one of those rubber o rings in it and that might be why stuff was starting to taste…off. Don’t get me wrong, my Della Terra stuff still was too thin but there probably was an added yuck to the taste that was out of its control.

So that is currently soaking in tea stain remover after being soaked overnight in soapy water and then it will be aired out so hopefully I can use that thermos for work tomorrow. I’ve gotten to really love my nightly thermos of tea!

What is the deal with me and texture and Della Terra Teas lately? This did just what Eight Candles did and was unpleasantly thin, even with milk (WHOLE milk) added in. Sigh. This one only has a few cups left though so I’ll just wait a bit and see if I’m just in a funk taste-wise. I really liked this at one time..

30 g. of this in a gallon for iced tea at below steeping parameters before letting it cool and go in the fridge. 1/4 cup sugar to sweeten. I make my iced tea by the gallon and really should do this more often as I suck down about 2x more tea when its iced. I’d clear out my inventory so fast this way.

Once its cold the tea loses the authentic lime flavor and becomes more limeade-esque. Not bad, and still making me want this with a plate of tacos (who am I kidding I always want tacos). I wonder if there’s any more lime flavored blacks out there? I shall have to see…

Butiki had a sale and they were on all the teas I wanted to try. AND they had the exact gaiwan I’ve been wanting – the earthen one with a spout (me and hot water are just SUCH a bad idea without a spout), AND it was payday.

So, bye bye monies.

But at least I work the next three days so the package will be like a reward for me being a productive citizen. :)

I wanted something buttery tonight (I love that my tea collection is that varied that I can want something “buttery” and actually have an option that fits) and coconut and vanilla are always among my favorite flavors so this worked well. I used about 1.5-2 tsp. to 10 oz water and added some sugar, but no milk. It didn’t need any extra creaminess – the butter note was very prominent on its own. The dry leaf has that tang of alcohol in the sent but luckily it isn’t evident at all in the brewed tea.

Just what I wanted. Yay!

2 tsp. tea to 12 oz. water, below parameters.

I found this in my sample drawer when I was cleaning it out and it sounded like the perfect tea right now. It has such positive reviews but I remember (and my tasting note confirms) that I found it kind of smoky in the smell. It doesn’t taste smoky but I have to hold my breath a bit while drinking so that it doesn’t negatively impact the taste.

The tea itself is amazing, though. Bright and bold, quite reminiscent of a Ceylon really. With a verrry gentle fruity note (I think stone fruit, maybe dried apricots) beneath. It has a starchy mouthfeel with a vague sweetness to it that I love. This is a black tea that is easy to drink without additives. If only it didn’t have that hint of smoke! Admittedly, it does go away as you get deeper into the cup but that’s only because I’ve gotten used to it I think.

Still, I’ll raise it a few points because it does have a wonderfully complex nature. I’ll put up with the smell temporarily if I get such a lovely tea in return.

This was a sample from momo!

I am making most of this iced but I wanted to have the first cup hot just to see how it changes in flavor from hot to cold. It certainly smells like it would be the perfect iced tea ever, with a strong citrus/lime note immediately upon sticking your nose near the bag. My favorite mexican restaurant actually uses limes instead of lemons in their iced tea so that’s another reason I’m kind of excited to try it – I know from experience I prefer the lime over lemon addition.

Lots of leaf fragments in the last 1.5 tsp. I’m using for the hot cup – probably just from transit more than anything but there are tons of leaf crumbs floating in my tea, which, boo. :( It doesn’t bother me to drink it, I just don’t like seeing the tea all muddled. It’s a gorgeous mahogany color otherwise with the same limey smell. I bet this would taste like a mojito with some spearmint…. and it’s a black tea base to boot, which most mojito blend teas aren’t. Grr for thinking of this too late!

But OH MAN I’m not even complaining. This is pretty darn good hot – like I said, it definitely reminds me of that lime iced tea I’ve had before. The lime tastes perfectly natural and the black tea is smooth and strong, not bitter in the least. I’ll put just a tad bit of sugar in it when iced (like, 1/4 cup to a gallon, so less than a tsp. overall) but this has made me very happy indeed. I haven’t ordered from Teas Etc before but depending on how fast I go through this gallon that may be changing soon!

I think I have enough leaf for one more cup after this, and then it looks like its gone from the Compass Teas website. Makes sense, I guess, as even the name is seasonal. Well, I take that back – it’s present in sample size quantities, but I can’t see myself placing an order consisting of like, 3 sample size bags and that’s it.

It’s quite a shame, because this is a great marshmallow tea. It’s not toasted marshmallow, which would probably be the only thing I’d add to this blend – but it is equal parts marshmallow and black tea. The base reminds me of my beloved East Frisian blend, only it’s as if someone treated it like a hot chocolate and put a marshmallow on top. With milk and sugar (not a lot of either, and not necessary at that) I am absolutely in heaven.

I wish there was a way to add a toasted flavor without burny/smoke flavoring. I can’t do the lapsang. Maybe some toasted rice from a genmaicha? Or maybe… my LAOSHAN BLACK CHOCOLATE GENMAICHA. OMG. I think all of the lightbulbs in the world just went off inside my head – that is a blend that will be happening the next (last?!) time I make this tea.

If it’s good I may just find a way to place an order of only sample sizes. The things I’ll do for my tastebuds. :)

i like this one less and less each time I drink it. :(

I’ve finally more or less got a routine started at work where I bring my 16 oz thermos filled with prepared tea and let it cool to drinking temperature (because I’m too busy to sit down most days) for a few hours. Last night I sat down to this, and…ugh. Smelled great, even tasted caramelly and marshmallowy, but it was just so thin and watery that I couldn’t enjoy it.

I’d like to give it away to a good home if anyone’s interested…

This was another sample from momo!

This one smells and looks a lot like the Pumpkin chai from DAVID’s. It is super heavy on the spices of the pie rather than pumpkin itself. I get a whole lot of cinnamon, and maybe clove/nutmeg.

I used 1.5 tsp. leaf for a 10 oz. cup and drank it straight. I think it would benefit from cream and sugar mostly because it had a thinner texture and taste. Once steeped the spices were still very present in the smell but the taste was pretty watery until it started to cool down some. Even once it cooled the pumpkin note was barely there – drowned out by the spice.

I think in terms of pumpkin flavor the Pumpkin Creme Brulee by Butiki was more authentic so if you want to actually taste pumpkin I would go with that. But if you like the whole pumpkin pie experience then this one is certainly not a bad option. Then again, it is April so I’m pretty sure no one’s REALLY thinking about pumpkin pie right now anyway – I’m just that weird that I can stand it all year round!

So I’m super nerd when it comes to DNA and nature/nurture all of that stuff. And then I found 23andme.com (bear with me, I promise I’m not advertising for them!) which is basically an outlet to learn things about my genetics, health risks, drug sensitivities and ancestry and all of that. Fun fact: I’m approximately 2.8% Neanderthal. :)

Today I finally got the email notification that the health part was ready, and one of the things they test you for is caffeine metabolism/tolerance. Apparently I’m the fast metabolizer, meaning that I can drink a lot and it doesn’t do much to me. I had a feeling as much, at least as far as tea is concerned, given that I drank this at 2:30 AM yesterday and was immediately tired afterwards. Coffee affects me a little stronger, but then, that’s why I don’t like to drink it. :)

I just really, really like this. I like that I can get two steeps out of it, which is rare for a 52Teas blend for me. The seconds steep is mostly just the fruit part, but blueberry tea is still just as wonderful. I am killing my first pouch – it’s a little less than half full. Luckily I have one more left but after its gone I’m going to need to really think about getting a pound made. Maybe by then we’ll get a strawberry version too so I can has ALL THE DANISHES. Seriously, I am dying to know what a strawberry or cherry or peach version of this would taste like (anything but raspberry, which of course is the ONLY other varietal there was).

Welp, I’m going to go rustle up another cup of tea and stick my nose back into my chromosomes for the night…

This was a sample from Kittenna. Thank you so much for passing it along!

Okay, oolong – it’s been a while since I’ve played with the greener counterparts. Normally I’m a huge fan of darker (e.g. dan cong) varieties, but I love coconut so much I will pretty much try it in everything. I’ve never had pouchong but it seems to look like a Ti Kwan Yin so I’m guessing this will yield a vegetal, buttery flavor. Looking forward to it!

The dry leaf smell is just, WOW. It smells like toasted coconut, like macaroons. These are not new descriptors (they are in a lot of the other tasting notes) but I’m still surprised to smell them myself. And it makes me realize that of all the other coconut blends I’ve tried, none has had this exact toasted coconut smell. I didn’t know what I was missing. Seriously. This gets 90 of its possible 100 points just for the smell alone.

The whole sample was 3 tsp. so I put it in my Breville with 500 ml. water at the below parameters. I won’t be adding any sugar or milk to this because I just can’t seem to make myself do that to any green-ish teas. But the smell emanating from the Breville isn’t worrying me – I’m pretty sure no additives will be needed.

I was right – I still get the amazing toasted coconut smell once steeped. The taste is the same as it smells! Except with an added bonus of buttery oolong to round out the mouthfeel. This is simple and complex, sweet and savory at once.

Since I used the entire sample on this batch, I’m probably going to put it through its paces today and get some resteeps going. I am curious to see how the flavor changes and how many steepings I can eke out of the leaves. Even if it’s just one, though, it has been SO worth it.

This ones going on my shopping list for sure. And if anyone knows of any other teas with this kind of coconut flavoring, I am all ears!

ETA: The second steep (at 6 minutes) retains most of the coconut (yay!) and loses alot of the brightness from the oolong (maybe that was what people thought of as floral?). In general this cup is heavier and less buttery. I’m surprised at how strong the coconut still is really. I’m sure I could actually get at least one more steep out of it, even. Will have to give it a try!

I’ve had Lao Shan black before – a sample, which was silly because it was amazing and only made me want more. So when I was placing an order for that, and this popped up I figured I’d just play the “get to free shipping game” since I’d rather get tea than packaging for my money.

Smelling this dry was exactly what I’d hoped it would be – toasted chocolate rice crispy treats, kind of like a grown up version of Cocoa Pebbles (which is not something I’ve ever actually eaten, so I don’t know why I know what it smells like).

For the first steep I followed Verdants general instructions: 3 minutes, 2 heaping teaspoons and about 10 ounces of water. Its result was a lot like the pure Lao Shan- roasted and nutty, unsweetened cocoa powder. Couldn’t really tell if the genmaicha or the Lao Shan itself was giving me the toasty flavor, likely it was a combination of both but this more of an afterthought than a central flavor. I didn’t add milk or sugar because something in me really balks at that if it’s not a breakfast/dessert tea. This is smooth enough that I’m not really needing the additions anyway.

The second steep is lighter in texture and flavor. I used a bit less water and went for 6 minutes but I think that’s the most I’ll get out of these leaves. I get a LOT more chocolate than roasted flavoring, which I remember from past second steepings of the Lao Shan. I was hoping for cinnamon, too, but nope. Not cinnamon brownie. More like chocolate rice crispies. Not the treat part, just literally chocolate crispy rice. I think sugar would pull it together, but I am holding strong for next time. That, and I don’t want to move off the couch. :)

This is definitely a high quality tea and the blend was really well done, but my taste buds might still be playing tricks on me (darn allergies) so I’ll make something familiar to me for the next cup and hold off on the ratings for now. Sigh – it is so frustrating when your tastebuds are a stranger to you!

Another one from momo. This weekend really would have been a bust without those samples! I had this at breakfast this morning.

This is the year I officially know I have seasonal allergies. Specifically to tree pollen because my symptoms plotted agains the allergy forecasts are dead on. Meh. Maybe I just need to live somewhere where there’s no oak trees? I’m not game for anything that destroys my sense of taste/smell like this on a yearly basis.

That’s the main reason why I can’t rate this tea – I could actually smell it fine, when I put my nose way down in the cup. Hazelnuts and chocolate – nutella in tea. I added some milk but no sugar because if it smelled so much like hot chocolate I wanted the texture to match. And it did become creamy and smooth, but it also lost any chocolate/hazelnut flavor and I was left with black tea and milk. I could still smell it in all it’s glory, and I knew it wasn’t astringent or bitter or anything, but there was NO chocolate/hazelnut in my mouth. :(

I still have enough for another cup or two so I’ll be trying it when I’m back to normal. I can’t wait to complete the whole puzzle – it was the weirdest experience ever to get everything BUT an actual flavor from a tea.

Enjoyed this last night with my mom.

Not really sure what happened, though, as it wasn’t as good as I remembered. The first steep was very starchy and roasted, like I remember, but I was really hoping for that second steep – chocolate and cinnamon – to emerge as wonderfully as it had before. I did the same steep times and everything, and after six minutes it was weak so I added the bag back in, but it still just never approached the yumminess that was before. The only thing I think I did wrong was not using the brew basket on the Breville, so maybe the leaf to water ratio just was a little more dilute this time around?

Eh – I have 4 oz. to play around with (thanks to my highly suggestive nature and that thread on the discussion page, gah!) so I’ll get it right and my mother will really know how amazing this tea can be!

Another one off the shopping list courtesy of momo!

This one certainly smelled like a buttery caramel dry, which is funny because all the different components (coconut, red peppercorns) making up the leaf wouldn’t seem to yield that result. Steeped it develops that greasy film that flavored teas sometimes do, which I really wish could be avoided. It kind of looks like chicken broth which is hard to stomach when you’re smelling caramel.

The tea itself was not worth drinking plan. It was caramel without the sugar, with an extra bonus of a slick, thicker texture. The addition of milk and sugar turned this into a more accurate representation of salted caramel. In fact, I think it’s probably the most accurate salted caramel tea that I’ve had (which makes what, two total? So that’s not saying much haha).

Still, the David’s tea salted caramel was more toffee than anything, so I have to rate this semi decent for at least matching it’s description. I’m glad I got to try it without buying the full two ounces, too!

This is a sample from momo – one I’ve had on my shopping list forever so I am beyond excited for it! Thank you!

This one’s been on my shopping list for so long that I forgot part of the reason I wanted it was the mystique in the description. I took a huge whiff of the dry leaf and came on here to see what I was smelling (bad me, for not forming my own opinions) only to realize that nope – gonna have to use my brain cells on a Saturday morning.

The answer, if you’re wondering, is strawberries and cream. Juicy spring strawberries, and whipped cream with vanilla. 2/3 of a strawberry shortcake that’s heavier on the strawberry without additives, and heavier on the whipped cream with some milk and sugar. The black tea is smooth and plays well with the strawberry. Even though it’s a black tea it still manages to have a delicate balance to it – this isn’t a “bold” tea like I consider most blacks to be.

One thing I’m not getting is any florality, but I am not very attuned to floral notes anyway, given that I don’t particularly care for them.

Overall, this is going back on my shopping list for once I’ve pared down my cupboard. It is perfection and the mystery behind it makes it that much more fun – I imagine this would be a blast to serve to guests!