JoonSusanna

My tea of the morning…though really the french vanilla part feels more coffee than tea.

I can’t even believe the tea of the week this week. Almond Joy in a darn cup. They’re my favorite candies, too. I’m trying to hold out in case the Blueberry Cream Cheese danish comes back so I can just buy everything at once…and I shouldn’t even do this because I’m trying to abstain until 2/26.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO STOP MYSELF FROM BUYING TEA???

I love that the dry leaf smells warm – like cinnamon apples steaming inside a freshly baked crust.

But I think that the dried apple bits that are in the dry leaf almost have a hibiscus effect here – they make the tea very tart even at the 3 minute mark. It’s a balancing act though because I like the strength of the base at 3 minutes – just not the extra astringence from the fruit. In other words, I need sugar to help bring the two flavors together.

Once the sugar gets added it is perfect – apple cider-esque with a cinnamon pastry feel on the end. I love apple pie, and this is a great way to have it without going through the prep work of the real thing. Yay for instant gratification!

Made this with milk and sugar yesterday morning to celebrate having a week off from work. Yay for random vacations!

I’ve been making an Excel spreadsheet for my tea collection to keep things in some semblance of order (since no matter how organized my actual stash is, the mishmash of tins always makes it seem sloppy). This one has it’s own tin, and will be kept in constant supply. I really think I enjoy it more than actual s’mores!

Argh! I broke my David’s Tea mug (the pretty clear one with the branches) yesterday before work. It didn’t shatter so much as just split cleanly into 3 large pieces. It’s like the world is determined for me to break my no tea-related purchases ban…

Anyway, before I hit the sack I wanted some Earl Grey. The steeped tea is always so dingy looking to me – it has an unattractive grayish hue that I just don’t really understand. It has no bearing on the taste though, fortunately!

Mmm. Creamy orange, orangey cream. I love this with milk and sugar…good thing I have a lot of it!

Had this as a latte at the Zen tea bar today with my mom. It’s the first time I’ve been there – or any tea room, for that matter. Mom tried the herbal Pitta blend (which was a nice combination of lemon and mint), but I wanted something decadent.

Steep notes: I don’t know, for a change! There’s something both awesome and unnerving (because I’m a control freak) about having tea made for me!

I didn’t really know what to think about it, though. I feel like there was an artificial caramel note that I could pick up on on some sips, and then not on others. And sometimes the texture would be nice and chocolatey rich, but then others – it seemed like it might have been made with skim milk and was therefore too thin for me. And then sometimes it tasted sweetened, but sometimes it didn’t…so weird, now that I think about it.

But I love that I got to try it, and that my mom and I got to just sit somewhere and relax with a pot/mug of tea and not feel rushed to go anywhere. Since mom teaches yoga and they offer classes I will probably go back with her one of these days to try it out. So fun!

This poor tea…

I killed it with both steeping time and hot water. My mom still loved it, but I thought it was too astringent for me. She said “it tastes like spinach water” and, as she is someone who totally drinks spinach water on occasion, I guess that’s not a bad thing. :)

Before it cooled and became too astringent, though, I thought the thick brothy texture was tasty. The dry leaf looked like grass clippings and it reminded me of spring. I can’t wait until it actually is spring again!

My mom bought some tea from Teavana’s heavenly sale this year and brought it up to my grandparents so we could try it. I also gave her an unopened pouch of their Dan Cong that I got from last year’s heavenly sale, since I’m still working through the other 6 oz. of it I got then, too!

This one had huge chunks of what looked like raspberries in there, but I couldn’t find raspberries in the ingredients themselves. Maybe those were the yumberries? I could also see the dried chunks of kiwi and strawberry. The oolong used was rolled in tight little balls – it was a greener oolong, maybe formosa? It smelled like vanilla/cream and fruit, but I don’t know why the vanilla was present because that’s not in the ingredients either!

Anyway – steeped this up at the below parameters, using a pretty sizable tsp. and a half. I figured it would be weak otherwise. The liquor was a very pale pink, and it retained the dry leaf smell. Tastewise, it was still quite delicate, but with a green oolong as the base that’s not too surprising. I really like it, actually. I used way too much leaf for it to be economical at its full price (well, back before it was discontinued!) but the slightly vegetal, creamy fruitiness would be fantastic iced.

This was one of four I made up today to have a mini tasting session with my grandparents and mom – it was so much fun to teach them about tea!

Woo hoo! This morning I woke up and the sun was out, and the sky was blue! It feels like so long since that’s happened, since it’s been raining for most of the week.

To celebrate the beautiful day and the fact that I’ve got an open schedule, I went for pancakes in a cup. I went gluten free as an experiment a few months ago, and recently tested the necessity of it by reintroducing wheat back in my system. Turns out – yeah, I have a definite sensitivity to gluten and need to keep it out of my diet. :(

So this will probably be the closest I get to actual, buttery mapley pancakes for the time being. That’s not really a bad thing though because this is really does mimic pancakes pretty darn good! I had two cups of it with some milk and sugar and I think I’m finally ready to get some things done today.

Happy weekend everyone!

So. I love black tea, and I love dan congs. Far and away they make me the happiest of any other teas out there. And when I saw this – a combination of dan cong AND a black tea – on Verdants website, well…. let’s just say that it didn’t take much to make me decide to add this to my cart when I finally placed an order.

I went with their western style brewing recommendations mostly because I don’t have a gaiwan but I do want to try it that way in the future as well. So – I guesstimated about 4 g. of tea and started with a 35 second infusion.

It smells strangely like a roasted green once steeped – like genmaicha or hojicha, maybe. But the texture is buttery smooth. I see avocado because of the texture alone, but combined with the ‘green’ smell I really think it becomes the prominent note. Once cooled honeyed flavors emerge as well. But I’m definitely not getting the salty/peachy dan cong elements I love so much. Maybe in a steep or two I will?

Steep two: 45 seconds – 1 minute. Even more avocado! This is absolutely amazing. Its the texture mostly. As it cools a maltier, cocoa note peeks through. Chocolate avocados. Who knew that would be so perfect?? Now that it’s cooled off completely the peachy aftertaste that is indicative of my beloved dan cong oolong is shining through, only it’s more of a grilled peach, which I’m assuming comes from the fact that the tea base is a black rather than oolong. I would say there are no words….but this small novel seems to show otherwise.

Steep three: One minute. Hmmm… hot I don’t get anything, strangely. Like – hot water, nothing. I’ll wait until this guy cools a bit….and once it’s cooled I only get the fainted notes of…genmaicha?! I’m going to let this steep a bit more to see if I can eke out any more flavor, but I love how mercurial this tea is. Green and black and oolong and fruity and honey and roasty all together and separate at the same time. An extra minute or two of steeping time brings the genmaicha-esque flavor out more but also adds a smidge of astringence. Not bad, just…I can tell it’s reaching it’s peak, you know?

I think I’ll just finish this infusion and call it good, but it was quite the adventure while it lasted! What a fun tea that was well worth the splurge!

What. a. week. It started with a light tap on my car bumper, and pretty much ended with calling a code on my floor at work. I’m glad it’s Friday, and I’ve got today and tomorrow (and most of Sunday) off.

My schedule is really wonky since I work nights now, but I was up to greet my boyfriend as he left for work and decided to make a latte out of my first time with this tea. It was definitely a good decision!

Steep notes: 2 tsp. leaf, 1 cup milk, 1 cup water, and 1.5 tsp. sugar.

This reminded me very strongly of the pumpkin chai from David’s Tea, in terms of spices and pumpkin flavor. This didn’t have any real ginger or cardamom, though – I mostly got cinnamon. There was also a custardy note (probably really helped by the milk and sugar) and it did kind of remind me of creme brulee! I went ahead and steeped the tea for the length of the cup and there wasn’t any astringence, either.

I will say that though 2013 is shaping up to be and has already been a rough year so far, I at least have discovered good tea to help guide me through it. The little things, right? Between Butiki and Della Terra I think it’s a good thing I’ve got some extra income on my hands….

You know that thread on the discussion page about what your all time favorite, last tea on earth would be?

This one’s mine.

I had some this morning when I had to wake up early for a staff meeting. This was before I got in the stupid minor fender bender that kind of screwed up my mood for the rest of the day. But at least while I had it, I was happy and relaxed.

Ugh. Other people on the road and rainy dark mornings. If ever that was a sign I should have just stayed in bed….

This sample was generously provided to me by Angel from Teavivre. Thank you so much!

I love dan congs, but I don’t love how every single one has had different steeping parameters. It’s so strange because theoretically these are all leaves from the same tree, you know?

Anyway, the recommendation for this one was boiling water, and I’ll try that next time, but it just seemed like that would be too tough on these leaves so I went with thePuritea’s recommended parameters, which are below.

Dry leaf was long and spindly, and had that trademark seaweed/salt air scent that I love. Reminds me of Tybee Island – which was where I grew up. My childhood summers were pretty much spent sunburned and water logged, and I loved every second of it. I don’t really miss the community down there, but oh, I miss the ocean. It’s been hard being landlocked these past few years and I hope to eventually have a coastline near me soon!

The main reason I’m going to try the recommended parameters is that the cooler water yielded a surprisingly thin steeping. Not as nectary, or as peachy as my other dan cong experiences. I didn’t get much of the lingering fruity aftertaste, either. It wasn’t overly bitter or astringent, it just…wasn’t what I’ve gotten used to a dan cong being. So I’m going to hold off on rating for now until I try it with boiling water.

But even while it wasn’t in top form, it was still fabulously relaxing and nostalgic…and I bet once I actually follow directions it will be perfect!

Pecans are fantastic! I saw a recipe the other day that used maple syrup to candy them, and I’m thinking, based on this tea, that that would be a pretty darn good idea.

This tea balances maple and pecan right from the smell of the dry leaf. I kind of feel like I should find a way to infuse it into syrup and serve it on pancakes or waffles (gluten free, of course). But then, that would mean I couldn’t drink it and that would be sad.

Steep notes: 1.5 tsp. leaf, 8 oz. water, sugar as an additive.

The liquor brews up a much darker color (a light brown) than the green (strawberry) oolong I had earlier, so yay for roasted oolongs! I’ve had a nilgiri black before and loved it, so I’m thinking this bodes well for a nilgiri oolong? (The two could be unrelated though – I don’t know very much about nilgiri teas in general.)

The sip starts with heavy pecan overtones, that then fades into a maple flavor towards the end. The maple flavor is interesting, because it’s not that straight sweetness you’d expect – it’s like maple with all the sugar removed. The base on this one works beautifully with both the maple and pecan, though! It has a nice texture and everything.

As it cools the pecan starts to let it’s astringent qualities be known, so I went ahead and added some raw cane sugar to help with that. The mouthfeel also thins out a bit, but now with the sugar I definitely feel like I’m drinking a pie so I don’t mind at all!

I like this one! So glad I have an ounce of it to play with!

Given the smashing success I’ve had with Hot Cinnamon Spice at work, I decided to order one more Harney blend to see if I could have a little more of a selection. Because I need variety everywhere, even places where there’s no way to brew loose tea. High maintenance tea-phile is high maintenance!

I’ve wanted to try this one for forever because well – the idea of a Mounds bar meeting a black tea was tantalizing. I looooove coconut….coconut cream pie from 52Teas is one of my most favorite teas and for sure in my staple collection, so I was eager to compare this one to it.

Steep notes: 1 bag, 8 oz. water, milk and sugar added.

The smell of this dry was not as awesome as I’d hoped. I think it’s the chocolate note, to be honest – something was cheap/off about it. I could get coconut, but any chance of smelling the tea was lost because of that overwhelming weird chocolate smell. Once brewed, it becomes a little less fakey smelling and the coconut comes out more. The coconut is creamy and very reminiscent of 52Teas, which makes me happy.

The taste of the chocolate is surprisingly authentic, and it balances the coconut well! But – the texture is disappointingly thin. Maybe a little less water next time? Eh – I added milk and sugar to help.

The milk and sugar round out both the texture and add enough sweetness to really make the mounds bar aspect pop. It’s quite palatable like this – unfortunately, it’s a little more involved than I wanted it to be, since this requires having both sweetener and creamer on hand to prepare it. I suppose I’ll leave it at home, but even so, there are both other chocolate teas and coconut teas that I prefer, so I won’t be replacing this one once it’s gone.

My other free sample from the Butiki order!

The dry leaf is strongly floral when you smell it. I can only liken it to Tie Guan Yin because I haven’t had much experience with green oolongs. I get a hint of strawberry in there somewhere but mostly it is that strong florality – I’m not good with flowers so sadly I can’t even tell you what kind it is. :(

After steeping those leaves massively increased in volume, but the steeped liquor is a pale yellow. The scent has become a tad fruitier, though, so that’s a good thing. The taste is buttery flowers that becomes a brief flash of strawberry before transforming back into the floral oolong again. Very well balanced, and the strawberry itself is a very natural, sweet flavor.

I think green oolongs just aren’t my thing, though. And I think that’s because flowers just aren’t my thing. Why drink something you can’t even eat, you know? Me and my quirky palate…

Nonetheless, I can definitely appreciate how well done this blend is. And I would certainly not refuse it if it were offered to me! I just don’t think I would seek it out on my own. Doesn’t mean I’m going to have any trouble finishing up the cup, though….

Yay! A free sample from my Butiki order!

I am pretty unfamiliar with tamarind but given the descriptions others have written of this tea, I was also pretty sure I’d like it. Still, I was hesitant to take the plunge and order a whole ounce. Luckily, Stacy asked if she could include any samples with all the other teas I ordered and it didn’t take me two seconds to jot down this one and the strawberry oolong as my choices. :)

Steep notes: below parameters, one sample packet, 8 oz. of water. No additives.

I know that everyone has said sugar makes a world of difference, but. It really, really REALLY didn’t need it. Maybe it stopped me from getting the authentic taste. As it was though I got a cream soda (think vanilla/caramel) with a tannic bite at the end to remind me this was still tea…though it could have been accentuated by a sour note most are attributing to the tamarind itself.

And, by not adding sugar to the sample I’ve pretty much made it mandatory to get an additional ounce of this when I place my next Butiki order – you know, all in the name of experimentation!

Finally got around to getting my Teavivre order from the post office and this was the first tea that the boyfriend wanted to try. I think that the name, and the rolled leaves, had a huge part in his choice. :) Oh, and this is the 3rd round of tea samples from Angel – who I can’t thank enough for her generosity and the education I’m getting!

I really need to learn more about Chinese black teas. Luckily I got a ton of Barnes and Noble gift cards for Christmas so I ordered a few books, but mostly I’m confused about the tea names/places. Clearly I need to research more of Chinese geography to get a better understanding of a teas’ origins, so I’m going to try and make that a goal for all of my pure samples from now on.

Okay, so Fengqing is in western Yunnan, which is a southern province according to the maps. I’ll have to go back and specifically read any Yunnan tasting notes to compare, but what I get from this dry is a very chocolatey, malty smell. It definitely seems like more of a delicate black – what I mean is that it’s not quite as heavy or earthy as an Assam is, which the brewing parameters seem to confirm.

I went for 2 minutes on the steeping because I do like a strong tea, and that was enough time to give it a pretty honeyed brown liquor. I say honeyed specifically because I really think this had a sweet nectary note in the taste and texture. There was the chocolate also, which was more noticeable as the tea cooled. And whenever I get a malty note in the scent I get a chewy texture, so that was wonderful!

This is a solid tea- not super heavy but not as delicate/fussy as a Darjeeling, which are usually a little too light for my tastes. It is quite unassuming, but it grows on you so that when you get to the bottom of your cup you find yourself wanting more.

I’m on a self-imposed tea buying moratorium until February 24 (1.5 months from today, gah!) but once I get through it, and try all of these samples I’ll be making a huge TeaVivre order, I expect!

I feel like as a rule I have very definite tastes that very rarely deviate. Tea-wise I’ve mostly learned what those are, but occasionally something sounds SO GOOD that I’ll just go for it anyway. That was the case with this tea: orange isn’t my thing, so much, but marshmallow and chocolate really, really are. So, into the cart it went. :)

The dry leaf reminds me of Earl Grey Creme, just with chocolate. This is starting out pretty awesome, I must say. I gave it to my boyfriend to smell and he couldn’t tell what it was, just that it smelled sweet and kind of citrusy. I like when he volunteers to smell things without knowing what they are because it’s like a single blind study for me. :)

Anyway, following Butiki’s parameters I did 1 tbsp. leaf to the 500 ml. in my Breville. It brewed up a light brownish orange, and smelled the same as it was when dry – creamy orange dark chocolate. And it tastes just the same! Dark chocolate and orange are equally present throughout the sip, with that creamy undertone rounding out and supporting those two flavors rather than standing out in its own right. Yeah – this doesn’t need anything added to it.

This was blended SO WELL, you guys. I mean, I’m relatively late on the Butiki bandwagon but I cannot stress enough how if there’s ever a blend that Stacy makes in the future that sounds good, I’m going to have to get it because it WILL taste just like it’s supposed to. Man I’m so excited to tear into the rest of my order from her!

I should definitely be sleeping after my shift but…I got my Butiki order and my Teavivre one so I couldn’t just NOT try something.

And I am not going to lie, I bought this based on someone’s description of this being like stewed prunes. I love stewed prunes – my mom used lemon instead of orange slices, and no cinnamon (though when I told her about a cinnamon stick addition she was intrigued), but it was always so good!

I don’t think I get prunes here, though, but that’s okay. I get more of the plum, followed by a sweet cakey note, which makes sense because that’s what this tea is named for. The smoothness of the oolong base runs along the bottom of the sip, reminding me that this is, in fact, a tea. A really great one, too!

As it cools it stays predominately fruity – I get kind of a tang moreso than a distinct citrus flavor. And it does reveal some astringence, but I’m too impressed with the flavor to care. This was my first Butiki tea and I am soooo impressed – I can’t wait to try some more!

I’ve been wanting to try this forever and thanks to a swap with momo I am lucky enough to be able to! Thank you so much for this!

Okay, I love love LOVE doughnuts, but I’d never heard of a long john before – maybe it’s more of a Northern/MidWestern thing? Anyway, custard filled doughnuts are my favorite, and I like maple flavoring, so I figured there was no way this wouldn’t be awesome.

Steep notes: 3 tsp. leaf, 500 ml. water in the Breville, below parameters.

The dry leaf reminds me of a combination of DAVIDsTEA’s Oh Canada! and Frank’s Coconut cheesecake honeybush. So more honeybush/maple notes than doughnut so far. The first sip is ALL maple. Definitely Oh Canada! – right down to the cloying sweetness-without-being-sweet on your tongue. It almost seems to leave a residue behind on your tongue, too…not too fond of that. The steeped smell is predominately honeybush…so again, almost saccharine sweet.

Maybe it’s the fact that this is an older blend of Frank’s, or that its too hot to pick out anything but the strongest flavors, but I’m not getting much pastry from this. I’ll wait til it cools and see if that helps….

Nope. Still no doughnuts. Guess I’ll try adding milk and see if that helps.

Weird – the milk actually kind of made it seem thinner in texture, but I think I might get a tiny hint of pastry now? Something cakey just barely peeking through the maple. Yep, there it is!

Okay, that’s phase one for this blend – I think I’ll give this a shot latte style, though without sugar because it would definitely be waaay too sweet that way. I think it would improve texture to steep some of the leaf in the milk rather than adding it later. Then after that I’ll give it a shot iced.

I’m also thinking more doughnut teas would be awesome. Maybe like a chocolate eclair? OMG someone should totally try that!

I can’t believe I missed posting on my 2 year anniversary….but more than that, I can’t believe it’s been 2 years! 2 years, some $800 (I keep track, because I’m a nerd) and a whole bunch of fun.

Steep notes for this: 4 tsp. leaf, 8 oz. milk, 8 oz. water, 1.5 tsp. honey, below parameters.

I went ahead and followed normal chai preparation for this instead of verdant’s recommendations, mostly because of Bonnie’s (and others) notes. I’m sure I’ll give it a try plain, since dan cong is my most favorite oolong, but first I wanted to test out the chai part of the name.

Dry I have no problem getting the spices and dan cong notes, and the combination is really unusual. I can’t decide if it works or not, so I’ll steep it up and see, I guess! If I didn’t know to look for the chocolate I’m not sure I would have been able to get it – as it was I kind of had to hold the bag at just the right angle to get a hint of it in the smell.

Despite the steep time, the leaves imparted almost no color into the milk/water. Just a light tan, which surprised me given the amount of leaf I used. The taste was unmistakably dan cong, though – and pretty fantastic, at that!

Before I added the honey (when it was just milk and tea) was the only time the chocolate showed up in the taste, and it was mostly a bitter dark note, that I didn’t really like with the honeyed notes of the dan cong. I think adding the honey to sweeten worked out well in my case because it managed to both overwhelm that chocolate and bring out the base even more.

The spice in this is very mild and balanced. I normally like my chai with more bite, but I think the honey, peachy dan cong makes up for the gentle spiciness. I thought it worked out well, honey to complement the base, milk to complement the chai. A very unusual combination that works really well!

FINALLY got to pick up my Verdant order- and I have all weekend to enjoy it! Actually yesterday was a pretty awesome tea day in general – got this, met up with momo to swap a few teas with (side note: sorry about acting like a squirrel on amphetamines – I’m not always like that, I was just excited about making a tea-friend!), and the ever-lovely post office left the pink note meaning my TeaVivre order is stateside!

I was super excited to try all of the teas I got, and the boyfriend, knowing that these were all pure teas, was totally on board with this. I let him choose which one to start off with and this was what he picked.

Steep notes: western style (need to get a gaiwan at some point…). 4 tsp. leaf, 500 ml. water, breville at the below parameters for the first steep, then 4 minutes, then 8 minutes for the second and third steeps.

The dry leaf is so beautifully distinctive – and fuzzy! The scent was sweet potato – starchy and lightly sugared. It reminded me of Teavivre’s Yunnan dan hong, but I think those leaves were smaller, and I don’t quite remember that downy covering on them.

I am someone who really likes bold black tea. I’m working on appreciating and detecting more of the subtleties in flavors, but as a rule, the louder, the better. Texture is another thing I’m really sensitive to – I like the thick, chewy feel of stronger black teas. If it’s watery/thin it just isn’t as good.

Steep one: Taste-wise, this is verrry delicate and subtle. I’m not getting any of the sweet potato in this. If I think about it – maybe earthy, maybe a bit sweet, but it kind of seems like one minute wasn’t long enough for me. The texture of this is AMAZING, though – very silky and honeyed, it just kind of coats your mouth. And it is VERY smooth – no astringence at all.

Steep two: 4 minutes – since one minute didn’t seem enough for me, I went ahead and jumped to a four minute steep to see what would happen. I do feel like I got more of a black tea taste this way – still light, still smooth, and also still not astringent. This time there is a little more of that earthy black tea taste. Possibly a hint of spice (cinnamon, mostly, though pepper is also there, and that is surprisingly a good combination.)

Steep three: I can’t believe how smooth this still is, especially after an 8 minute steep! It is a pretty mahogany color, has even more of a peppery touch at the finish, and it’s starting to bite back at the end of the steep. But still cinnamon sweetness with some malt/wood in there, and quite strong, too. I could easily get another infusion out of this, but I may have to save it because I am kind of waterlogged right now!

I can’t rate this numerically. It isn’t really in a league with anything else that I have. This probably doesn’t make sense, but it’s not really a beverage so much as an experience, something akin to meditation or yoga in its ability to make you focus inward and relax. It’s also not something you could drink every day, or really in any other scenario but one that will allow you plenty of time to explore it in it’s many forms.

Bottom line, though it’s an amazing tea – and definitely worthy of the novel I just wrote singing its’ praises!

Pretty sure this tea saved my sanity today. I was kind of out of it after work so made this latte style on the stove with a bit of sugar.

Last summer I went on vacation with my family and boyfriend up to Asheville and we stayed in this mountain cabin where you couldn’t get cell phone service. There was a fire pit out back and we sat around it on our last night there, making s’mores. You really can’t eat more than one of those but it was so fun making them. Even if I did have to wash my jacket because it absorbed that gross smoky smell.

After a what seemed like a night full of people not understanding/listening to me, the idea of being back there – with only the sounds of the fire, and the forest and people who DO listen/understand me – was just what I needed. I love this – even moreso because of the nostalgia factor now.

This is definitely always a tea I’ll have on hand.

I’ve officially moved this tea to my work since it is one of the hardiest teas I own. I have it in the sachets, and it will steep the length of the cup, and be good without sweetener or milk. It’s so wonderful to drink at 1:00 AM for my lunch break.

Since I’m the one drinking it I tend to not notice how fragrant it is (probably because I’m too busy tasting it!) but a few of my co-workers have asked what it is, and one tried a sachet last night and LOVED it, especially the part about no sweetener needed.

So I guess I’ll just go ahead and order a bunch of sachets, as I’ll probably be sharing this one a bunch. Yay for fabulous tea!