JoonSusanna

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!

Note #400!

So, red velvet cake is basically just dyed chocolate cake, right? I mean that’s what I’ve always assumed – never got anything really super special about it. With this tea, I get a cake note but more of a caramel taste than actual chocolate. Although if I’m not thinking too hard about it that caramel will sometimes transform into a chocolate flavor -especially with milk. I definitely don’t get icing, though. Just the cake part. But honestly, I’m someone who likes my cake and icing separate so I’m okay with that.

I have a soft spot for cake tea of all kinds, it seems, so I’ll likely keep this one around for awhile!

First tea of the year!

Steep notes: 1 tbsp. leaf, 500 ml. water, a splash of milk and sugar.

I love love LOVE night shift. I know some people switch their sleeping habits back and forth to be in the land of the living when they’re off, but I feel like all that’s happened with me is I’m finally able to KEEP the way I sleep the same now, since I had to change my habits to fit in on days. Anyway, it’s awesome and I don’t ever feel sleep deprived and can just take my time without worrying about being late/traffic/etc. LOVE.

So now that it’s okay for me to stay awake until 3 or 4 am on non work days I spend alot of extra time reading/drinking tea/being on Steepster when I’m off. Like last night, when I practically made a spreadsheet out of my cupboard and what was tinned, what wasn’t, what I was almost out of, etc. I figure it was a virtual spring cleaning of sorts.

This one went into the category of ultimately not being replaced. It’s a limited blend anyway, so that works out. I like that you can taste everything – caramel, pumpkin, a hint of cheesecake at the end – but I can’t drink pumpkin all year round. I can enjoy it while I have it though, so that’s what I will make a point of doing.

Happy new year everyone!

I’m not normally a blender of teas, but tonight I wanted both of these and then brilliantly realized this could happen if I had them at the same time! Plus I really like each of these separately and they are complementary flavors so this couldn’t possibly turn out bad.

Steep notes: 1.5 tsp French Vanilla, 1.5 tsp Coconut Cream Pie, 500 ml. water, no additives.

Yup – this is a winner. It’s funny, though, I do taste them both individually – french vanilla first, then coconut pie. It’s very creamy and chewy in texture, and also sweet – no milk or sweetener needed. I have to sip slowly though otherwise I begin to get so acclimated to the flavor that I lose it.

Not a bad tea to end the year on, I think. :)

(FAIR WARNING: go ahead and skip this next paragraph if you aren’t in the mood for vitriol.)

The Universe is conspiring against me getting my Verdant Tea order. USPS delivered it up to my apartment office Saturday but didn’t bother to update their site telling me that until 8:00 PM. And then my apartment office is closed on Sundays. Apparently it’s also freaking closed on NYE, too. And tomorrow. So I’m probably not even going to get to try these teas until Friday at the earliest being that I work 12 hour shifts Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Even though I had PLENTY of time Sunday and today to enjoy the heck out of them.

(END RANT, deep cleansing breath)

Anyway. I keep meaning to have this but then for some reason another tea will swoop in and look more desirable at the last moment, so I set it aside. But not tonight – not when this is the closest thing to alcohol I’ll be drinking on an alcohol based holiday.

The dry leaf smell always makes me step back because for some reason it is super alcoholic smelling in the tin. I always have to sort of shake it around a bit to get whiffs of the tropical coconut that I much prefer.

Steep notes: 1 tbsp. leaf, 8 oz. milk, 8 oz. water, coconut nectar to sweeten. Made latte style on the stove.

Yum. I love the coconut vanilla taste in this. There is a tropical feel that must be rum-ish but it is not the strongest note. It’s vaguely pineappley, if I have to describe it as anything, but only the sweet part of the pineapple, not the tart. Kind of that pina colada taste that you get with pineapple and coconut together.

It’s gone already, boo. Maybe I’ll make the coconut cream pie tea next – this really put me in the mood for more coconut!

This was from the 2012 Happy Bag- I can’t believe it’s almost time for another one!

I saw the thread on here about the new happy bags this year, and the different price points, and I have to say, I do think the Happy Bag is a good value for the money. It was a super good introduction to Lupicia for me….but unfortunately I realized I’m far too picky to just go blindly into a tea grab bag. Oh well, live and learn.

This was one of the teas I really enjoyed from the lot, though. I got the bagged version which is very strongly bergamot when dry. Like, can’t get to close to the bag or you’ll get a headache strong. Even a year later, this is still the case.

Steep notes: 10 oz. water, below parameters, no additives.

This time around the Bergamot is WAY stronger than the base, which seems kind of weak tonight. I really wouldn’t have thought this was Keemun because there is no hint of smoke. Still, it’s very smooth if a bit unbalanced. And I only have a handful of these bags left, so I may take them into work because I’m sure if anything can get me through a night shift, this can.

P.S. Also it’s my Breville’s 2nd birthday today – can’t believe it’s been two years! I also can’t believe I devote so much brain space to tea that I remembered when I bought that sucker, but I digress. Happy birthday Brevy!

As I’ve rummaged through my tiny little tea drawer (that’s currently overflowing) lately I keep finding my tin of this that really only has a scant amount left in it. It’s SUPER old so every time I pull it out I have to think – should I throw it out?

It still smells so good, though! Even though smell and taste may not be the same, I went ahead and figured I’d make it today and if it tasted okay then I’d keep it, and if it didn’t – well, at least I’d know so it wouldn’t be staring me in the face EVERY TIME I reach for some tea to drink.

Also, decupboarding PROBABLY wouldn’t be a bad thing, considering I’ve got some Verdant on the way. (side note: should have ALREADY gotten here, stated as delievered yesterday by the USPS, but NOT in my mailbox and the apartment office isn’t open again til tomorrow. GRRR.)

I’m still amazed that this tastes really good! In fact, it’s almost like it’s gotten better with age. Definitely almond cookie, and even though I steeped it a while, with 1.5 tsp. leaf to 8 oz. water with a splash of milk, it is not astringent at all. Weird.

This is probably the last teavana tea I have in my cupboard, and since I’m not fond of going into their stores I wouldn’t buy it (or the newer iteration of it – I forget the name) again. But I have to say it has held up really well!

I am a genius!

So tonight I wanted tea and hot chocolate but couldn’t decide between the two. Suddenly I remember that I have this tea. I loooooove salted caramel anything, and I’ve had the Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate but it was way too sweet. So I figured I should maybe give this a shot at home, to see if I can tone down the sugar.

Steep notes: 1 tbsp. hot chocolate mix (from Penzey’s), 8 oz. milk, 4 oz. water, 0.5 tbsp. leaf. Steeped on the stove at the below parameters.

OMG this was unreal. The smell is milky caramel and cocoa. The Penzey’s mix has cinnamon and vanilla in it so I’m getting a more complex hot chocolate flavor with caramel mostly at the end of the sip. Definitely similar to Starbucks, without all the extra chemicals. Definitely amazing – this is by far my most favorite way of drinking this.

Now I know what the remainder of this tea will be allocated for – and I might have to get more of it (if I even can) just to recreate this at will.

So. Yummy!

AHH- I probably only have enough for one more cup! How did that even happen???

Sigh – got to get some more. I’m trying to wait patiently though because I really want to just do a bulk order with this (and the eventual pound of french vanilla assam, and other goodies). But I got two good steeps out of my 1.5 tsp. of leaf tonight, so I’m not complaining. It was the buttery goodness that it always is – just like eating a huge stack of pancakes and maple syrup.

Perfect for a cold bleary day!

Last night was a full moon at the hospital. Guess how it went?

Eh, I at least came home and slept for like 7 straight hours. So, in effect, it’s breakfast time and I could think of nothing that would simultaneously wake me up and relax me like this one would. Especially with milk and sugar – it’s like coming home!

One more night shift and I’m off ’til the new year!

Latte style. 1 cup milk, 1 cup water, 1 heaping tbsp. leaf, and a splash of coconut nectar to sweeten.

I didn’t really need the sweetener, and I was hoping the coconut would work better with the vanilla than it did. Still – it always disappears from my cup pretty fast, and it’s a great way to start my morning!

Steep notes: 3 heaping tsp. leaf, 750 ml. water, below parameters.

I had the first cup with milk and sugar, and the second straight – and both ways were pretty darn good. I don’t remember being so enamored with this last time I had it, but it is less smoky today and quite malty and chewy.

I’m really favoring more “pure” teas of late, so it’s a good thing I’ve got a Verdant order and a TeaVivre order coming my way – so many new black teas to try!

Backlog from Christmas day!

My mom happened to have a spare bag of this at the house and I really wanted a plain black so we fired up her new kettle (I bought her the Cuisinart variable one) and gave it a shot.

It was good for what it was – a bit bland, but I was glad to have something hot to drink. I remember a definite honeyed smell that did carry over slightly into the taste, but overall I really prefer a stronger, maltier black.

Ah well- it makes me happy to be back home with my regular cupboard!

Tried this as a latte, half milk, half water, no sweetener, below parameters.

I got a burnt sugar-ish smell, which made me thing I’d somehow singed the leaves (and which, incidentally, was not pleasant. But the taste was mostly creamy marshmallow, helped out enormously by the milk.

I like this but I still think it has nothing on the S’mores tea. I’ll finish what I’ve got easily but I’m not too sad over this being a seasonal blend.