JoonSusanna

It’s like coming home, being back here.

I can’t believe it’s been 12 days! Most of that is because of stupid moving house, which is taking forever and still not completely done. My proudest moment is moving a couch, just my boyfriend and I, from one third story apartment to another. Still not sure how we managed that, actually. But it happened, and no one got hurt. :)

We’ve done some unpacking, but I just never managed to get around to unpacking my Breville until today. I waited until we got our little IKEA shelf (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80135298/#/60135299) over at the new apartment because I was promised carte blanche with a Tea Nook, and that sucker has long been what I wanted to use as the centerpiece.

Anyway, this tea was the first one I thought of to brew up at my new beverage station! It still needs a few refinements but for the most part all of my tea and supplies fit nicely, with Brevy hanging out on top. I wanted something desserty and rich, so this was perfect.

Mmm… with milk and sugar it is just the shot of energy I needed right before I leave to start my 3rd 12 hour shift in a row. Can’t wait for a day off to finish putting my tea obsession together!

Oh, March.

It was 60 degrees today and it’s 50 outside now, but it sounds much colder because of the wind. I guess it is officially spring, with all the crazy ups and downs of weather that it entails. Yay for warm weather – even if it does most likely mean that my seasonal Steepster-ing will be drawing to a close.

That wind outside is making me want something comforting and warm for the time being though. And I thought I was done with pumpkin, but suddenly this tea popped in my head and I couldn’t shake it. I’m glad of that – it is absolutely wonderful tonight!

This has a spicy undertone but really, when there’s milk and sugar involved, it tastes just like the creamy pumpkin filling in a pie. Pumpkin custard would be identical to the flavor in this, if such a thing existed.

Seriously, there is no reason to even look for any other pumpkin tea…this is as perfect as it gets!

This is a tea where the taste is better than the smell. I have to make a point to not smell the dry tea bag if I want to drink it, if I want to enjoy it. It just seems kind of musty and cheap to my nose.

Luckily it does taste good, especially with some milk and sugar to bring out the creaminess. Still, I don’t reach for it as much as I could due to the nose-wrinkling factor. Ah well, at least it doesn’t smell wonderful and taste gross!

I’m first to review this – feels kinds of strange being in uncharted territory, haha!

I don’t know that I really got the chance to say so, but my recent Compass Teas order included 12 random samples. 12! And they weren’t like, one cup samples, either. They were all about an ounce. I got a lot of rooibos, and some black teas and one gen mai cha, which works out good because herbals and black teas are more my thing than flavored greens/whites.

Anyway, so this was one of the 12 freebies, and one I REALLY was excited about because I love butter pecan. I don’t eat ice cream much but when I do, butter pecan is one of my top choices. Also, being southern, pecan pie is one of my Thanksgiving undertakings that I do because my dad is even more of a fan than me.

Being that this is new for me and I have no other tasting notes to go by, I followed all the recommended brewing instructions for this, which was 1 tsp. leaf per 8 oz, at the below parameters. Also being that nuts tend to be rather astringent in tea, I just added milk and a bit of sugar from the beginning.

The result was pretty yummy! I could definitely see this getting bitter if steeping went beyond the 2 minute mark, but as is, I got just what I was supposed to – this is definitely butter pecan and it is perfect as a black tea. I love that the flavor was captured so perfectly, and that I’ve got a few more cups of this to enjoy!

I can’t believe I didn’t write out more of the steeping parameters I used last time – you’d think that somewhere in the space of that small novel I would have done so. Anyway – 1 tsp. leaf per cup, milk and sugar to sweeten the first cup, just sugar on the second for this time around.

Had this today while we planned out our month over breakfast. Moving is all about logistics, but it looks like things are falling into place. Still, I can’t wait for it to be April 1st.
This is going to be an interesting couple of weeks, but at least I’ll have plenty of tea to relax on in whatever downtime I get. :)

The dry leaf smell of this is amazing. I’ve had the 52teas cinnamon roll honeybush but between the two, this one smelled far more like an actual cinnamon roll. So I was super excited to brew this one up!

Once brewed the scent of the leaf changes into a kind of citrusy note. It says there’s hibiscus in the ingredients so maybe that’s to blame? Regardless, think honey bun with orange marmalade. I added honey to it because without sweetener a kind of medicinal note was threatening to overtake everything else. With the honey in, it’s still there but I can ignore it at least.

I don’t mind that there’s orange in here, but I was hoping for more of a straight cinnamon bun taste. I will say that I am pleasantly surprised by the texture though – normally I find rooibos/honeybush teas to be a touch thin but this one is surprisingly full bodied. As it cools a tartness from the hibiscus is coming out more, making me like it even less. I’m still puzzled as to why this needed hibiscus in the first place, though…

Anyway, I’m glad I just ordered the try me size since the flavor wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. It was also a nice change from my sick tea – maybe I’m finally starting to pull out of this yuckiness after all!

Another few cups of this today, sigh.

It’s been a constant in the Breville since the boyfriend and I are presumably battling two versions of the same illness.

I like it and all, but I’m really ready to be done with feeling sick already.

I have the weirdest sickness ever – no sore throat, no congestion/runny nose, no affected taste. Just a strong, gross cough and some mild wheezing.

Even though I can taste okay I still wanted my “sick” tea – 3 tsp. of this, 3 tsp. spearmint, some honey and 16 oz. water, it’s quite soothing and making me want to go back to sleep, which is good- I may just do that.

Sigh. At least I had the day off anyway.

SIPDOWN! These are a cause for celebration for me, since I drink tea so slowly that I accrue much faster than I decupboard.

This sample was generously provided to me (a very long time ago, actually!) by Angel at Teavivre. I was in the mood for a white tea – actually I have been for a few days but I’ve taken my time getting around to it. I wanted something light and clean, probably to jump start my body into spring detoxification mode. I do less and less well with winter as I age.

I was worried that the flavor may have suffered in the year(!!) that I’ve had this, but it actually seems to be quite similar to how I remember it! Very sweet and straw-like, and quite mild.

This was perfect for right now – a fabulous Silver Needle!

3 minutes was a tad much to steep if I were going to have this plain. To be fair, the recommendation was for 2 minutes but I just can’t seem to fathom that would be enough with a black tea. I need to have more faith I suppose :).

Luckily, I wanted this with milk and sugar for breakfast so the fact that it was quite strong was not a problem – in fact it was probably a good thing because the flavor didn’t get overrun by the additives. I didn’t realize that this had some yerba mate in it until I was scooping the leaves into the Breville, though. I don’t think I’ve got a sensitivity to mate, but this will surely let me know one way or the other!

The smell is very much the same from dry to steeped leaf, and the subsequent liquor. There is mostly banana and kind of a hint of something bready underneath. It did remind me of the smell of 52Teas Pancake Breakfast, so I guess that association probably is due to some maple scent as well. I don’t get banana pancakes, but I do get banana, and then a stack of pancakes, if that makes sense?

Tastewise this reminds me of Hot Buttered Banana bread, from 52Teas – bread notes, banana, and honey. The honey note changes periodically to seem like it might want to be maple syrup – and when that happens it transitions from banana bread to syrup laden pancakes. I’m fine with whichever, honestly, and I like that it’s being so indecisive because that makes for an interesting cup!

Hands down the best part about this tea is that it’s going to be my substitute for the Hot Buttered Banana Bread I’ve been rationing. I’m so glad I was able to find something like this!!!

One of my various goals in life (shared with a lot of others, judging from the many discussion topics on Steepster) has been to find that elusive perfect Earl Grey for my palate. Given my preference for vanilla flavors in anything, I’m focusing my Earl Grey search on the cream variety.

I ordered this one as a part of my massive Compass Teas order recently, and the first thing I did was compare it with Upton’s version, which I’ve got a ton of still and which the boyfriend uses as his work tea. Ugh, I am so jealous he has the time to even steep and mess with loose leaf at work. The perks of an office job!

I’ve had a pretty limited experience with EGC so far – Teavana’s and Upton’s. The Teavana EGC was WAY too strong on the bergamot smell more than anything – it was really overdone. It gave me a headache to have any more than one cup, even though it tasted okay. The Upton pricepoint and non-headache inducing quality was what made me choose what I’ve been drinking ever since.

When comparing this to Upton, the Compass EGC was actually much more vanilla/cream heavy – I’d never noticed before but Upton’s Earl Grey has almost a lemony note mixed in with the bergamot. From smell alone, this is looking pretty good!

My biggest problem with Upton’s earl grey when steeped is how dingy it looks. It has a thin mouthfeel and when I add milk (whole milk, mind you) it turns greyish and still is really flimsy in texture. I was worried about whether this would be just a general characteristic of all Earls, because texture is a deal breaker for me. I can’t do a tea, no matter how nicely flavored, if the mouthfeel is flat. And from what I remember of the Teavana variety, it also seemed to be a bit weak on texture – though that could have been because there was SO MUCH flavoring it was overwhelming the base.

Luckily it doesn’t seem to be a problem here! There is no dishwater look to the tea when milk is added (I wonder if that was from the added flavoring used in the other one?) and it has a nicely full body! Cream is stronger than bergamot here, which is perfect for my preferences. It did well with sugar or without, and played nicely with milk. Yay for a well rounded tea!

And double yay for having several ounces of it to enjoy!

Sigh – I’m not sure what transit is going on overhead but it’s having a doozy of an effect on my emotional state. I’ve just been so blah lately… probably because it’s been cold and rainy too.

But whenever that happens, at least I know there’s tea to help.

I wanted something light and clean today – another sign my body is ready for a new season, I think. Luckily I had a ton of Teavivre samples at my disposal! I picked this one largely because I wanted something with similarities to teas I’d liked before, but not the exact same, you know? (Seriously – I’m usually not this ridiculous!)

But as fickle as I’m being, this managed to work out perfectly. The dry leaf looked like a mixture of sencha and dragonwell, my two favorite greens. It did smell grassy but not quite as vegetal as the senchas can sometimes be. Once steeped, the grassy note magnified in the smell and became brothy as well.

Given the savory smell, I was surprised to taste hints of plum/peach/walnuts. It was very astringent at first, not unpleasantly so, just noticeably drying on the tongue. Strangely enough that astringence has kind of gone away as it’s cooled. The fruity note is more prominent, followed by a dragonwell-esque grassy undertone. This has a slick buttery mouthfeel that really rounds out the complexity.

This is easily one of the most layered greens I’ve ever had – it somehow combines the fruit part of a dancong with the grassiness of a sencha. What an experience! I can’t wait to revisit it soon!

Mmm. This tea.

Based on my phenomenal obsession with Della Terra’s S’mores tea, I was hoping I would like this. Marshmallow is my favorite part of the S’more, after all.

The dried leaf smelled like a bag of marshmallows – not toasted, not melted/charred – just a newly opened bag of them. So sweet, fluffy sugary smelling. The steep time on the bag said 2 minutes, but that didn’t seem like it would be long enough, so I went for 3 minutes. I knew 4 would be way too long after what I did with the donut chai 2 days ago.

There’s no real mystery or complexity here: it tastes like black tea and marshmallow flavoring. It was perfect at 3 miniutes – sweet and creamy with no astringence. It didn’t need any additives, either, though I did add some milk to the second cup. I think I prefer it plain, though – it just held its own really well.

I really like this one – I feel like I’m not giving it enough fanfare, though. It delivers what it promises and there were no surprises, and I am looking forward to the rest of my sample!

I’m not going to lie, this tea was the catalyst for my Compass teas order.

I mean – DONUTS! Probably one of my favorite desserts! In TEA!!!

The smell of this dry is exactly what those cinnamon sugar apple cinnamon donuts smell like. I think you get them from Krispy Kreme? Anyway, even the boyfriend admitted it smelled amazing – though he followed that up with his trademark “but I wouldn’t want to drink it.” Flavored blends just aren’t his thing.

Sadly though I think I steeped this too long. I went by my standard black tea steeping time but plain this is SO astringent, even a touch medicinal. This needs milk and possibly sugar…and even with it that medicinal note is peeking through – maybe that’s the apple-y note gone bad?

Anyway. So next time I’ll try a shorter steep and hope that helps things…

This tea and I have a history wherein sometimes it plays well with my tastebuds, and other times it comes off as bitter.

This is one of the good days – I just added a splash of milk and I’m getting sweet strawberry vanilla yumminess. It’s so similar to the DAVID’sTEA strawberry shortcake that I’m constantly changing my mind over which one I prefer. Usually, it’s the one I’m drinking at the moment. :) But since Strawberry Shortcake is going away I’m glad this is here to be my go-to strawberry dessert tea.

PS: So am I missing something with changing avatars on Steepster? I have had the same one for multiple years now but can’t seem to figure out how to upload my new image. Anyone know how to do it? I’m usually so much better at technology than this…

I have a few days off now so it’s time to drink some tea!

This was in the same order as the S’mores tea but I preferr that one so have been drinking it more. But today I wanted this!

It’s very sweet even without sugar. And it tastes like carmelized/toasted marshmallow. I added a spot of milk and that made it super creamy, but it doesn’t actually need that either. Still, this is something that I just don’t reach for as much as I thought I would – so I likely won’t buy it again.

Doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy what I have, though. :)

The boyfriend and I made breakfast for dinner before starting the season finale of “The Hour” and at the last moment he asked for Frissy. It is his favorite, hands down, so of course I couldn’t refuse.

Perfect as always.

I’ve had the biggest sweet tooth lately.

Trolling through my notes for this tea I found my recipe for the salted caramel hot chocolate I made a month or so ago. Yay for me writing down EVERYTHING, because I was able to recreate it today!

It was just what I needed – something sweet and warm and cozy for the end of a Saturday afternoon. Yum!

Latte style while catching up on some TV.

The more I have this the less impressed I am. It gets a skin on top (maybe this is also from the milk, but still – ew), and it just doesn’t give me actual cake so much as a generic sweet flavor. I initially thought I would want it forever, but I’m thinking once I finish this I’ll probably be done.

It’s still good – just, not as mindblowing as I thought initially.

Latte style!

This appears to be one of the few teas DAVIDs has spared from their culling. It appears on their website still, anyway. So that means it’s in the clear, right?

If it wasn’t I’d probably have to buy some to hoard. This is sooooo good. Smell, taste, everything. My perfect strawberry dessert tea, because it’s like sponge cake and whipped cream with that natural strawberry taste. A perfect before work treat!

Nothing like a cup of this at 3AM when your energy is flagging.

I have a coworker who always perks up when she smells this. I usually always share because I have plenty and today she finally asked me where I got it. Is it wrong to feel so…victorious? :)

Anyway, good as always, though it’s only relegated to work now. I love it forever!

David generously provided this sample to me with my last Verdant order! I do so love a good black tea, so I was quite excited to give this a shot. Especially given how amazing every tea from Verdant has been so far!

Preparation notes: Entire sample in the Breville, 500 ml. water. According to the Western brewing parameters on the site, it was recommended to steep the tea initially for one minute (seemed a bit long but I’m trusting the powers that be with this one), pour it off and then steeped at the below parameters.

The smell of this dry – guh. Gives new meaning to the word cocoa, really. Very fresh cocoa powder with an undertone of fresh earth. That is a smell that never gets old.

The steep, at 4 minutes, is a little light on flavor, but I’m really betting its due to that one minute I poured off (kicking myself so darn hard for that now – ugh!). But I do get a thick oily texture – and it does have a sort of olive/peppery bite to it. And it’s kind of nutty toward the end of the sip as well – most like walnuts I think. For the darkness of the body itself, I was surprised that it wasn’t heavier really. But it is still quite smooth and full on the tongue. It has a brightness to it, too – like a Darjeeling or Ceylon. Maybe that is where people get grape? Given Darjeelings have that quality?

Hmm. I’m not as blown away with this one as the Laoshan black so far, but that is more to personal taste as I love bold, heavy blacks. I’m curious to see where the taste is going to go, though, so I will be trying a second steep tomorrow. I’ll update then!

EDIT: Second steep, 8 minutes. I actually ended up having this cold because I forgot about it before work yesterday :(. But it was not bad – just lighter on flavor. In general I think this just isn’t robust enough for my coarse palate. :) But I’m super glad I was given the chance to try it!

Tea of the morning this morning. In my beautiful mug that I promise I will shut up about forever after this sentence is finished.

I had to choke this down pretty quick to be out the door for a class but honestly that’s just what this tea is for – tea to drink on the run. Or maybe that’s just me. Earl Grey tends to come off a little thin in the body for my tastes, and if I take my time on it I focus on that aspect and it loses some of its charm.

Or maybe this just means I haven’t found the Earl Grey for me yet?

My most amazing tea mug has arrived! To christen it I went with my old faithful – milk and sugar, same old parameters. It’s practically my Breville’s default setting. :)

Has anyone else noticed that underneath the teacup/tasting note icon you can see the first time you’ve ever drank a particular tea? It’s written as “last logged” but I know that’s not right, because that would mean I haven’t had this since September 2011…which just isn’t possible.

Anyway – tonight I’m enjoying not being at work, relaxing and watching Top Gear. Yay for time off!