Michelle

Last night I steeped up a cup of this in my fancy Bodum Pavina glass – seriously, I love it. And it’s 8oz, so I feel like I can do a semi-gong-fu sitting with it and have two or three cups)

I had two cups last night, and then began my day with another two. It’s sweet and vegetal and really really good.

Sipdown. I’ve been doing a lot of stashbusting lately, and it feels good. I’m ready to move on to autumn teas and rotate out some of the old ones.

I still can’t believe I haven’t rated this yet though – definitely thought I had.

The leaves are long and dark and twisty, and they sort of shine a little bit. It’s not just like a piece of dried leaf. They’re very unique.

The smell in the tin is very smoky. Good.

I’m actually a huge fan of cold-brewed Lapsang, so that’s what I did with this.

The smoke is the predominant flavor, as I would expect, but it’s not as strong as when I brew it by traditional hot methods. There’s a really unique charcoal flavor in there too, like I’m not drinking the smell of smoke but rather the taste of the burnt logs. I really like it.

(In the process of writing this review, I get a knock on my door. As I’m going over to open it, the key turns in the lock and our prankster friend RS is there. He goes “Well, this is awkward. E – my roommate – forgot her keys, so I’m playing a prank on her. You were never here. You saw nothing.” Okay, RS, I saw nothing. So now half of our room is a mess. He’s going to get it back, though, because I’m HORRID at keeping a straight face!)

Back to the tea. There’s a lingering sort of mineral sweetness that washes over my tongue at the end of the sip. I think there’s a lot more character and depth to this when cold-brewed than there is hot, although it’s great both ways. A delicious tea that will be missed!

Okay…

This tea is best in latte form, where the milk gives it a bit of richness and creaminess. Without that, it just tastes a bit bitter (probably my own fault) and artificial. It’s decent, but it needs a lot of milk, which is unfortunate. It is, however, really good mixed with hazelnut.

Oh, hello my sweet. We’re reunited, I see. It’s good to have you. I’ve been lonely.

Thanks to my friend Aisha for swapping me some of this tea!

Today is one of those days where the thunderstorm’s been building all day long, and now it’s a bit darker than it should be at 4:30 pm, and the air is cool and damp, and it smells like rain. I’m so excited. I love rain and thunder and lightning.

The leaf of this smells like buttered, movie theater popcorn. It’s great. It’s mostly green leaves, and they’re flat and hard-edged and sort of artichoke colored, and then there are some twisty black leaves in there as well.

I steeped according to my general Adagio green parameters – 180, 2 minutes.

Okay.

The smell is still sort of caramelly, but the flavor is first buttery green tea (green tea + caramel?) and then vanilla. I taste a tiny bit of the pu’erh in the background, but it’s not enough to overwhelm the flavors.

If I had tried this tea before placing my last Adagio order (it should get here on Wednesday, hopefully!) I’d definitely have added some of this. It’s creamy and mellow without tasting too artificial.

Thanks to The Tea Merchant for this sample!

Hm. It’s a really pretty peachy orange color. I cold-brewed it overnight. The dry smell is really fruity and great. The tea liquor definitely smells like apricots. But I’m not sure it tastes like them. I mean, I’d definitely go with fruit, but I’m not sure I want to jump straight to apricot – blood orange and nectarine, maybe?

It’s good, though, I’ll grant it that. It’s been crazy hot here in NY, so I’ve been drinking iced almost nonstop!

Ooh, I do love this one. I forgot I still had a sample tin, and I made up a big mug to drink while playing UNO out on the hill. It’s really smooth and sweet, as long as you treat it right. No boiling water here!

I got this as a free sample in the last order I placed with Adagio. When I ordered it I thought at first that it was actual hibiscus, not a flavored black. When I learned it was the latter, I got really afraid. I don’t mind hib… it can just get SO tart. So I’ve waited to try this for a few weeks.

Yesterday I steeped a pot of it hot, but left it on just a bit too long (Adagio’s flavored blacks are sooo sensitive) and it started to get bitter, so I didn’t have more than a sip or two of the pot.

Later that day, it was really awfully hot out. I wanted tea but didn’t want to drink anything hot, so I filled a T-sac of this and some cold water and decided I’d let it cold-steep in the hour or so I had before class.

It’s REALLY GOOD. Which surprises me immensely! I admit, the flavor was a bit light, but even still. The black base was a bright, solid black, and the hibiscus gave it just a little bit of floral fruitiness without being sour. I’m not sure how it’d fare in other circumstances, but I for one really like it in this context. I’m really interested to try it with some rose and rosehip mixed in.

After this morning’s Lipton Mint fiasco, I wanted a “real” tea for my reading. I love my classes to pieces, but I’m in three lit classes and a psych, on top of my Education seminars, so there’s a ton of reading.

Right now I’m sitting out in the grass right behind my window with a pot of this and Oedipus the King.

I’m raising the rating a bit because I think I appreciate it a bit more now, maybe in comparison to that Mint tea! I don’t see how you can rate teas objectively, really, since it can be SO subjective.

There’s something deliciously nutty about this. It tastes a little bit roasted, but I’m not sure I’d call it a roasted oolong. It’s naturally sweet, so I didn’t put any sugar or anything in it. Yum!

Mint. Riiiight. The Cafe at my school offers a few kinds of Lipton tea. I didn’t have time to make up a baggie of my own tea before running to class this morning (with the Education program, I now have extra classes at 7:30 am), and the Pub (which serves Tazo tea) is way out of the way. So if I need tea in between education and creative writing, which, to be honest, is always – I’m stuck with Lipton.

Okay, fine. I don’t have anything against the fact that it’s Lipton, really, only that it just doesn’t taste very good. This is no exception. I guess it’s vaguely minty… sort of… and there’s a sort of licorice or tarragon kind of flavor in there too. I left the teabag in for the whole hour and a half of class, and to be honest, I could hardly taste it. It was probably an old teabag, but still. Ick. I need to remember to bring my own tea and just get water.

Noms. I steeped a cup of this this morning, only to forget it as I was running out of the door. At least I forgot it in favor of my phone, ID and keys, as my dorm has a physical lock this year and not a keypad.

So I came home and made another cup. It’s kind of a standard, solid black tea, only the cinnamon in it gives it something new! That’s the best part of it. I don’t often find cinnamon in teas other than in chais, and usually they’re too spicy for me to enjoy without a lot of milk. But this is very well-balanced.

And I’m kind of dipping Nilla wafers into it, so that’s fun too.

I’m taking advantage of the fact that my roommate is in class to write my essay on Yeats – I’m SO excited to be starting my creative writing class off with some of the best Yeats (or at least some of my favorites), only I fangirl a bit too much over him. I was having trouble not squealing last night. He’s just SO GOOD. And Irish lit is one of my specialties. But oh my goodness. Good tea, good poet, happy Shell.

The first time I had this, I was underwhelmed by the comparison to Teavivre’s.

This one is better brewed Western-style, I think.

And as I’m sitting here printing out literally hundreds of papers for my Creative Writing class (no text, just 20 odd PDFs of poems and stories that we have to print out) I figured it was a good time to give this one another go.

Steeped with water a little bit hotter than Teavana recommends – I used just-off-boiling instead of 195. But it’s still good. It’s rich and thick, and it’s not overly astringent the way it was the first time I had it. It reminds me a bit of late winter, when the leaves have all fallen off he trees and the sky is dark and grey – it feel s like it would fit in there pretty well. Good tea.

Woohoo, I like this one. Maybe I’m also in a super good mood. Both of those are true.

I’m sitting here, and I’m supposed to be doing photo work, but instead I’m chairdancing to uptempo Billy Joel.

Yayyy.

But a really good cup! Dark and malty without being too strong. It tastes authentic to me. Ireland was where I first started drinking tea seriously, and I know I’ll get back there one day. But for now I feel like I’m sitting in a tiny little pub in Doolin, a tiny little drop of a town that has as many pubs as houses and is basically comprised of farms and cows and sheep. (bo and caora in Irish!)

Thanks to Kiaharii for this! It got here a wee bit late, but safe and sound, and due to my mistake, not hers! :)

I worked a 13 hour day yesterday because one of our cashiers called out, and I’m the best cashier in the store. (And I’m not bragging – all of my managers and every competent – read adult – employee in the store have told me this. I’m the only one apart from Liz, our Customer Service Lead who’s allowed to train newbies)

Came home exhausted, spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch cradling a cup of tea and sobbing about all the things I was supposed to do but couldn’t.

And then I was in work today to buy school supplies, and my boss talks me into working today too. It’s the height of Back to School and the cashier they had scheduled is painfully slow at the best of times, never mind during BTS. So after she got me in, she actually texted him and said not to bother coming in because she’s got me.

I’m gonna miss this store.

But there are holes worn in my working shoes and I can feel my arches collapsing where I stand.

So I was very excited to come hone and see this on the table.

I went for the TARDIS because I’ve heard fantastic things about it and also I wanted a fruity something tonight, not anything serious.

It’s good. The ratio of the blackberry to the black tea is good, although there’s a little too much bergamot for me. It’s not me steeping it wrong, since I steeped it at 2 minutes with 180deg water (the latter part by accident). No milk or sugar, but I don’t think this should need it. I didn’t taste much of the vanilla and found myself wishing that it was an EGC base instead of a straight EG.

Still, it’s really good. The blackberry is just right. A satisfying cuppa after work!

I got this in the 12oz size because it was all they had at Crate & Barrel, aside from the 2.5oz espresso size, and that was a bit small for what I wanted it for.

This is perfect. The outer wall gets warm but not hot, which is great because I don’t like drinking out of vessels where the heat retention is so good that the outside can get cold while the inside is so hot. It’s a more sensory experience this way.

It feels very delicate, especially empty, like an egg that’s been blown out. I feel as though I’m holding a shell. It’s such a strange feeling. It’s no more strong when tea is in it then when tea is not; yet it feel much sturdier when full. It’s very light. But it’s shaped perfectly for a hand size, and it’s beautiful. The rim isn’t too wide or too thin. Fantastic mug.

No notes yet.

Thanks so much to The Tea Merchant for the sample of this!

Yesterday, my friend came over about an hour early to prep for our tea party together. While she was there, I got two packages of tea! One I had expected – the tins from Epi to photograph (beautiful tins, by the way) and this one came as a total surprise.

Ariana was a bit surprised that I wasn’t more surprised… tea just shows up every once in awhile. What can I say, except that I love it!

We have a friend who’s… not a hippy, that’s the wrong word, but who’s very open to other cultures. That in itself is a poor description. He’s a wonderful guy, and he just loves learning as much as he can. To the last tea party Ariana and I hosted, he wore a full Scottish kilt, including a “ceremonial knife-shaped object,” as he called it. I called it a knife, but, you know, semantics.

He calls about a half hour before the tea party’s scheduled to start, inquiring about the dress code. I tell him to wear “Whatever you’re most comfortable in.”

He shows up about twenty minutes late… in full Japanese regalia. He had a kimono tucked into a pair of (very billowy) pants which I think were called hikama. Continuing the trend, he brought a “ceremonial sword-shaped object.” I called it a sword. It was really cool to watch him sheath and unsheath it – I had no idea there was so much tradition and skill and art housed in just that one simple movement!

I hadn’t thought up a tea plan for this party – I figured we’d just drink whatever I felt like! Ha. We started with a Chinese black, and then, in honor of Cam, I broke out this sencha which had just arrived.

It might be the largest sample size I’ve ever received. I didn’t know how big our teapot was, so I followed the British rule of “one teaspoon per person plus one for the pot” which might not be totally accurate, but it worked out fine. And there’s still what I would call a typical sample-size of tea left in the pouch. Fantastic! I get to brew it now, and then sit down with it later.

The instructions on the package say 3-4 minutes. Without a temperature guide, and never having tasted this tea before, I went on the conservative side. It took me a little while to like sencha, because I had to figure out how to brew it right. I didn’t want to be hosting a tea party and feeding my guests tea that I liked but they didn’t! So I went for ~175F for 2 minutes.

Even with not so specific steeping parameters, it’s still pretty good. The liquor is bright, bright green – Kate compared it to “hot Powerade,” and Cam called it “buttergrass water.”

It’s a very bright tasting tea. It’s vegetal, but not heavy like that flavor profile can be. It’s sort of like lettuce and – I’m blanking on the name, but it’s a little weed that looks like clover, only it’s heart-shaped, and you can eat them. There’s a little bit of buttery sweetness at supporting the flavor.

I’m going to rate this now because even the way I brewed it, I still really really liked it, and I can’t wait to sit down and try it for real!

This is so much better than I’d ever dreamed. I think it’s the fastest I’ve ever finished a tea. I bought three ounces about a week or two ago, and it’s almost gone. I know I’ve been swapping and sharing, but still! I can’t decide if I want more of this or if I want to try some new ones. Probably an order of both :)

Decupboarding this now because I’ve only got about a teaspoon left, so if I don’t do it now, I’ll forget to :)

Last night I coldbrewed this in the fridge. I don’t think I’ve ever done that with an EG before. This one has a history of tasting artificial to me, but I figured why not, what the hey.

It’s really good coldbrewed. I did about 18 hours, I think, about 3tsp for maybe 24oz of water.

The liquor is a really pale, light gold. It’s strikingly beautiful for a black tea, and not at all what I expect an Earl Grey to be. I have to save the rest of this pitcher – I want to take photos tomorrow. (In other news, my photographic lightbox came in, along with a couple studio lights. I’m so excited to start playing with them!)

But yeah. Actually a really good tea like this. I wouldn’t buy it again, but I’m glad I figured out how to drink it (although how come I always figure out how to make it good just as I’m running out? Not fair.).

The more I drink this, the more I like it. I’m putting this on the shopping list!

It’s a creamy, rich taste. Made this into a latte. No sugar needed! Burned myself on the ingenuiTEA (it’s stuck open and I didn’t realize) so I emailed Adagio – hopefully they’ll be able to replace it with a working one! If not, I suppose I’ll just buy a new one :)

Yum.

Received this in a swap from someone, I think, and I’m pretty sure they’re not on Steepster.

I was feeling lazy tonight, and I know I like this tea, it’s just not good enough for me to keep around all the time.

It’s mostly apple-y with chamomile (which has a kind of flowery apple flavor anyway) and then the cinnamon is behind that. It’s good and relaxing. Which I needed trying to schedule my classes.

I was in three that I wanted / needed, and one I registered for just so I’d have a fourth class, and it sounded interesting. But then the book list came out and suddenly a class on Baroque-Classical Music with a $200+ book list that didn’t count for any of my majors? No thank you.

But now I’m in Psych, Shakespeare’s Tragedies (those two are back-to-back MWF in the same classroom!), American Drama (with my amazing advisor as my professor – he’s wonderful) and Creative Writing (which I tried to get back during regular scheduling but couldn’t).

So basically I’m free between 11-3 MWF and free after 10 on TuTh, which is great. And the book list is fairly affordable now, which I was kind of panicking over.

And I’m in classes that I like and all of them go towards my majors/minor, and I was accepted into the Education Program, which is also cool.

So not much of a tasting note but mostly I just wanted to share. :)

Thanks to Teavivre and Angel especially for the sample of this!

Steeped for awhile – probably about 4 minutes, so it’s a bit more grassy than I’d ordinarily like. But it’s a credit to this tea that it’s still perfectly drinkable, just different.

It has such a unique, pure flavor that I’m struggling to describe it with any words other than “Strong Dragonwell.”

Dragonwell is my favorite kind of green tea, though. I haven’t been drinking looseleaf for very long, so most of my teas have been come-and-go. Dragonwell (Teavana variety) is the only one I’ve repurchased over and over.

I trained a girl at work today, because I’m apparently the star cashier. It’s not because I’m particularly good at my job; I’ve just been there longer and I actually do my job, as opposed to some of the boys / high school kids who just kind of stand up there and text the whole time. Training is lovely, but exhausting. We’re busy for BTS anyway, and when I’m training I don’t even have the lull in between customers to myself. But she’s good, and she’s sweet, and I’m hoping she’ll learn quickly and well.

So this tea is really good to just curl up in bed with and watch old DW episodes :)

Going through my cupboard and deleting a ton of teas I’ve sipped down but not removed yet. I haven’t updated it to the ones I still have in the cupboard, but at least it’s a bit more accurate now.

This is a really old tasting note – I ordered this tea some time around February or March, and haven’t had it in months.

I remember that it smelled like strawberries and chocolate and cream. The taste was very, very light. It was pretty, but didn’t taste like much at all. And what it did taste like was artificial.

I’m leaving the rating off because it’s been so long, but it’s definitely not a tea I really want to try again.