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Looks like Riimu and I are the only two brave enough to give this a go on Steepster. It is my first glass almost every morning. Today was different though. Started with my usual frappe – 1 tsp green tea powder, 12 oz of 2% milk, and a small splash each of vanilla and caramel sugar free syrup. Then I toasted a bagel and smeared cream cheese. Here is where it turns different. Looking at the bagel, I thought I’d rather have had my usual wheat toast and honey, but since it was fixed, I just squeezed the little plastic bear over the cream cheese. I kind of thought, this can’t turn out well. I thought wrong. The strange combination brought the green tea powder to life. It tasted the most like fresh green leaves of any time I have made this before. One morning I should try dissolving the honey directly in the frappe and see what happens.

Steepster is behaving badly today.

Dark Tea! I haven’t had dark tea in a long time. This one dry has an aroma of old damp logs decaying on the forest floor. It is like the log was partially on fire the day before and the rain put out the fire and washed away the smoky ash before I stumbled upon it. Brewed up Western mug style this is orange tinted. The cup smells musty/dusty but not off in any way. The taste is old damp cedar with spicy undertones. I catch some sense of charcoal as I exhale. The earthy aftertaste lingers. I hope to try multiple steeps next time but today I a lucky I finally got to have one cup. Rather enjoyed it.

Remember me telling you about the ‘total tea girl’ server at our Saturday breakfast? As I crossed the river this morning, I remembered I did not pack tea as I promised. D’oh! Anyway our server today (a guy) brought my extremely preheated mug and a pot of already brewing tea to my table. I told him I was impressed. As he walked away I said to my wife, Steph must be rubbing off on the other servers. I took a sip and went Mmmmmm. Later total tea girl stopped by the table, I mentioned the morning cup. She told me when she saw us come in she started heating the mug. She added the other server asked her how come she made better tips than him. She told him it is because she goes the extra mile. When the guy came back to check on us, I explained to him how it really did make a difference. Progress has been made. Let’s see if it sticks. Now I need to pack up some teas and set it with the Saturday coupons. For cheap tea, when prepared going the extra mile, this stuff is pretty darn tasty.

Thanksgiving with family was much easier than I expected. I think my brother actually was able to enjoy his day. We all ate too much. This morning I had pumpkin pie for breakfast because I could.

I decided to have an herbal in the middle of the day as this one is billed as restoring the digestive system. Seemed like a good idea. I often have peppermint tea at night (Candy Cane Lane!) and sometimes chamomile, I like it, I just like other stuff better. This one combines peppermint and chamomile and it works. It does have fennel and licorice root but before you go, “Eeeewwww”, they are very light background flavors and are muted by the lemon balm and peppermint. At first this is peppermint. Icy cheek tingling peppermint. Then you notice the apple like chamomile late in the sip. Below it is the mellow fennel/licorice root. At first I thought the lemon balm only served to mute the last two ingredients, then I realized I was catching it in the aroma all along. To me it says a lot when an herbal can bring this many layers to the cup. Very much liked this one.

Wheat toast drizzled with clover honey and my morning glass of green tea powder in 2% milk, with caramel and vanilla syrup. It sounds healthy, and whether it is or not, it sure was satisfying. We had our thanksgiving meal at home last night. My wife does some kind of spice rub on the turkey and it is delicious. Later today we will be at my niece’s were most of the family gathers for thanksgiving. It will be a rough one this year as we buried my brother’s wife and soul mate Monday. I don’t mention that for sympathy. I’m reminding you to be thankful for those who are with you – even if they occasionally drive you nuts. Be thankful for the memories of those who have gone on ahead. In all things rejoice. I say it again rejoice!

Not what I was expecting. Dry it has a light scent of bergamot. Brewed it has a rooibos scent. Hot this is rooibos but rooibos mellowed. It does not have the typical overwhelming scratchy rooibos taste. Absent from my perspective is the citrus. I am certain that is what tames the herbal leaf. I just don’t taste it. Once the cup cools the bergamot comes out to play and it is pleasant enough. I liked this best at room temperature. If you are looking for a way to learn to like rooibos, this might do it for you. If you want a stout cup of herbal Earl Grey this is not it. As its own thing, I did enjoy this one.

A beautiful cup of tea on a day when it was needed beyond words. Thank you ashmanra.

Our usual tradition is to go out for breakfast on Saturdays. Always the same place where I always order hot tea. Because of my wife’s craft shows we haven’t gone for a month. I was happy to see our server today is the same that told me she was a total tea fan girl. When I ordered she warned, “You know it will take a while because I have to warm up the mug.” When she brought it out the tea was already in the steaming mug and she placed a saucer on top as a lid after setting it down. Awesome. I told her how cool it was to be served by someone who ‘gets it’. She was busy so I waited for a slow moment and asked if she ever drank loose leaf. She does. I told her I would bring her a thank you package next time. She said her favorite is chai but she would try about anything. I might still have some white chai. That made her eyes light up. Now if she can just get the other servers trained in the ways of tea, this corner of the world will be better for it.

Even lowly tea-bag tea actually can be pretty decent if prepared correctly especially when served with a meal.

Oh Poo! My teapot skills are terrible. I wanted to share this with my son this morning, so I made a pot full. A pretty insignificant pot full. Yesterday’s mug was so wonderful. I thought I added enough leaf today, but obviously not. I should have just brewed individual mugs. I know how to do that. Next time. Then he stomped me in Mario Kart 8. Finally, as he walked out the door he pocketed my Periwinkle tea. Hmmph! :)

I think I just fixed a mug of tea with bergamot that even Sil would enjoy (Yes, I believe in miracles). I personally don’t think of this as an Earl Grey. Yeah, it starts with Ceylon black tea and a very light hand on the bergamot, but it transcends from there. The addition of orange pieces and honey granules makes this smell so good I wanted to eat it. The taste is very similar to the aroma. The Ceylon adds something sort of an almost chocolate to the orange and honey. It has a vanilla feel and taste. I don’t know where the vanilla comes from but I enjoyed it more than any Earl Grey Cream I have tried. It accomplishes this with solid flavors that do not go over the top and heavy. Did I mention how good this smells?