K S

Yesterday I had one of, if not the darkest, cheapest, loose leaf in my collection. This morning (6:00 AM) in celebration, I chose the lightest, possibly most expensive tea I have and it is a beautiful thing. When I take the time to notice sipping tea is a deeply spiritual thing. It connects me with the universe. This morning in honor of the One who created the universe, I rejoice in this cup. To those of you who are followers of the way – He is risen! Rejoice I say again rejoice! Happy Easter All! I’m off to play some loud guitar. Woo Hoo!

This is my 666 tasting note. Yep, the number of the beast. So I thought about what I would be sipping for this note. The beast in my stash is this one. I bought a large tin (8 ounces I think) over two years ago. I don’t remember what I paid, but it was around $8. This was the nastiest stuff ever – It tasted like dead fish stored in a basement wrapped in wet newspaper. Mmmmm ;) I doused it heavily with chocolate mint just to make it drinkable. It actually tasted really good that way which makes me wonder how bad is the base used in a lot of flavored teas?

Moving on, not gonna dwell. Never willing to throw tea away, I kept it stored away in the nice looking tin. A year ago I tasted it straight. It was beginning to become civilized. So today, one day after Good Friday, and one day before Resurrection day, I am left alone with the beast (kind of needs heavy organ music, lightning flashes, and maybe a shriek). This demon still has a slightly bad aroma, but the taste is not bad at all. It is leather and earth. Kind of sweet. There is nothing off putting in the taste at all. Really, the only negative I can find to complain about is it lacks the depth of better shu I have tried. On the positive, for $8 and two years storage I have a solid everyday puerh that will resteep at least couple times.

Down to 111. This bag is also three years old and in a paper envelope. What are the odds this still has any flavor? Interesting, definitely deteriorated, but also better than I expected. Tastes a little more fake than I recall.

Well, I notice my last tasting note says three years ago. Have I been here that long? Oh, and holy cow is this bag that old? sip sip, Uhmm why yes, yes, it is. I loved this when it was fresh. Not so much now. sip down 112.

I had leftovers from Cheddars for lunch today. Country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and brocolli & cheese casserole. This is new in our area and my goodness is it good. My wife and I ate there for $21 and took some home. She had a mountain of chicken and shrimp. Maybe they raise the prices after they hook you or maybe not. Sure is good though. Their iced tea was very brisk.

I had this tea hot with it today. I could smell the fruit the whole time I was eating. It smells so good. This is my most viewed tea on my blog. If Lipton made a small variety pack I could buy or they had an email where I could contact them I would review a bunch of these – for a simple teabag tea this is very tasty.

First off, I thought I already used all this up. I found one bag this morning. This takes me down to 114. I am very hit or miss with rose tea. usually more miss. Too froofroo for me I guess. I really like Teaves Rose Berry as it has just enough strawberry to make an excellent sip. I also like this which surprises me. It is straight up rose in the scent – I would like to say rose always smells like a garden, but to me rose (when it is not perfumey) makes me think funeral. Maybe that is appropriate for Good Friday. Hold on – Sunday is coming. The taste remains true to rose but somehow the Twinings version works for me. It has that familiar Twinings black tea base that helps. Again I am really surprised I like this.

This morning I grabbed this because I only had one left and it was easy. The scent and flavor of this hit me today as fresh from the porch rosemary with cinnamon, clove, and ginger. Of course none of those are actually in this nice bagged tea. Good morning cup.

Today I ordered this skinny (low fat milk – sugar free syrup). The barista added extra ice because they said the low fat milk doesn’t thicken up like whole milk. I could not tell the difference in taste. It was a little thinner. My only experience with matcha and I like it.

This was last nights cup. It is a little strange, but apparently my favorite cup from Republic of Tea so far, is not a tea but an herbal or is it a tisane? What’s the difference? I don’t drink a lot of rooibos but this one I thought was really pretty good. The tiny bag just maybe did it a favor. The vanilla is not very strong but hits at the perfect amount to take the harsh edge off the late sip and add just enough flavor to be pleasing. If they would cut their prices in half I might be tempted to keep this around.

Asking seriously – how do you describe the taste of straight rooibos? To me it seems kind of spicy but sweet. The sip can have a harshness that makes me image tasting cedar sawdust (not that I ever have). I am at a loss to put it into words. My blog covers a lot of bagged tea for those looking for a review of grocery store teas along with my loose leaf journey. Help me out and if I use your description I will credit you on my review of this one.

Haven’t had time for tea the last couple days. Did manage to get this one in. I thought I would try something different when brewing. I heated the water to just below boiling and only steeped about one minute. Big bold black teas can attack my stomach in a hurry. This, short steeped was much more to my liking, and it didn’t hurt. I think this takes me down to only 118 teas (mostly samples) but fortunately I have maybe 7 on the way. Not bad for a guy with no job.

I am not going to have a lot of time for tea today and I am feeling lazy this morning. So I grabbed a bag of this. Apparently I haven’t logged it here before. Bash the lowly bag if you must but this is actually a tasty little Ceylon. Not bitter or drying. I’m diggin’ it. Now where are my Fig Newtons?

I am just getting started today with this tea from Nicole. Half a cup in and I can tell you I love this. A light oolong that is not, so far, heavily floral (though I don’t mind if it becomes more floral). It has a sweetness to it, there are citrus notes, and I taste cinnamon faintly. I am not getting the peach notes yet but I just started. Very good!

I cruised over to Mountain Teas website and found this in the clearance section. It is $10/5oz! I have no idea what shipping rates are as I can’t tell where this ships from and the site doesn’t allow me to check rates. Anyway for those interested this could be the deal of the week.

This morning was awesome. Our praise band rocked. There couldn’t possibly be any dust left on the rafters. Not bad for the former frozen chosen. lol

Came home and fixed bacon, egg, and smoked Gouda sandwiches. More awesome.

I needed tea so I brewed a cup of this. Then the power went out. It was white out conditions as the winter, I mean spring :( storm rolled in. I had to wait until the power came back on to say this was pretty tasty. Healthy dose of bergamot and floral notes. Not bad for a flowering tea I have had for two years!

Maybe the bag was old. I could not taste the Ceylon. The mango is pleasant. There just isn’t enough tea in the bag to make a real cup. That’s a shame as this isn’t bad and it could be good. One of the better RoT’s I’ve tried. Oh, and I could taste the paper :(

The ratings on this are kind of all over the place. Count me in the not a fan group. Can’t taste the tea. The hibiscus is just too strong (not a hater if well done – this isn’t). There is a paper taste halfway through the sip. To be fair this was an individual wrapped bagged version and it is hard to say how long it was on the store shelf. Not worthy of a rating.

Previously I tried this using a makeshift teacup gaiwan. I am now steeping this using my standard press method. I used about 3-4g of leaf, and a 2 1/2 minute steep. On the first cup the leaf only partially opens and smells minty. The taste is light roasted and vegetal. It is like pulling fresh green vines out of a fencerow and chewing on them.

Cup two is a little stronger, sweeter but otherwise similar to the first. The leaf is mostly open now. Two mugs in and it is equal to the six cups of tea I had with my earlier gaiwan experience. Like the gaiwan this still has more steeps in it.

What I can tell from this one time experience is the two methods do give subtle though different results. The gaiwan does seem to give more complex results. BUT the gaiwan method is more labor intensive. The extra effort can be part of the art and celebration of tea preparation or it may just be more work. I haven’t decided yet.

From Nicole’s inventory reduction. What an interesting tea. As others mentioned the leaf is extremely fine cut. I used a Finum basket as I think it would pass through the screen of my press. I only steeped two minutes and it was not the least bit bitter. It is slightly drying. The taste is kind of like an Assam. Kind of. It is a little fruity. I can taste cinnamon and clove like notes – they are very light. I don’t know if this is part of the flavor profile or cross contamination. I will say this was not stored with any cinnamon clove type teas. This is very good!

Much better than the Impra from this morning. Still an inexpensive bagged tea but the jasmine is very natural. The standard Chinese green base is nice and vegetal. A good bagged choice.

I am still on my Cheapster Steepster kick trying to thin the herd a bit. This is my first experience with Impra and a black based jasmine.

Ok, so that you don’t have to look it up – this was Brett’s review: Strong flowery perfumy Jasmine flavor, but it overpowered the taste of the Ceylon Black. Not bad if you like Jasmine.

I echo the review except for the last line. Having come to love jasmine recently, I can tell you in no uncertain terms, you can do a lot better. I don’t know if the jasmine is off or if it just doesn’t go well with a Ceylon base. It is not gross like a lot of cheap bagged jasmines but it isn’t satisfying either. I’d much rather have a Diet Mtn Dew.

It’s interesting, Brett tasted pineapple and banana in this. I tasted mango and passion fruit. The banana I kind of caught after the cup cooled but honestly, had I not seen the ingredient list I would have missed it. I didn’t taste pineapple at all which is fine by me.

Pickwick teas are pleasant teas where the flavors seem natural for the most part. With this one the flavors are natural tasting but subdued. It is not a big fake cup of candy. Not bad for a simple bagged tea.

I am not sure why this is called Forest Fruit. The ingredient list includes blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry. To my way of thinking that makes Field Fruit but what do I know. I have never seen this brand in the store. It is imported from Holland. If it is available in your area and cheap it is worthy of a try. A simple bagged tea with pretty natural tasting fruit flavors. I taste raspberry and strawberry. I can’t single out the tea base. A pleasant cup.

I started tasting this and quickly decided to read the Steepster reviews. This is NOT typical earl grey so don’t let the name confuse you. This is highly caramel and with the strong black base it comes off as kind of burnt caramel. Very nice. The fruity flavors stay way behind and add support to the cup. Like. Thanks Nicole.

Found this in my stash this evening. I came via Tea Equals Bliss a while back. My first honeybush and a very pleasant cup. Lightly lemon with orange coming in at mid sip. Smooth. Not rough like a rooibos. I like this.

I’m not sure I am listing this under the correct spot. I had the round bagged version. I was not impressed. There is not enough dust in the bag (1.6g). The tea is bitter at 2 1/2 minute steep. The bergamot is too light for my tastes. I think it tastes like it was stored in a plastic milk jug. A lot of people like this, I’m just not one of them.

Side note: My wife told me she had a cup of the Tazo chamomile she bought before I brought home some better quality stuff. She had become so accustomed to the good stuff that she was amazed at how flat the Tazo tasted. Progress!