momo

I didn’t fall asleep till late and my boyfriend of course wakes up at 8:30 and makes me eat breakfast. Then I discover the world juniors gold medal game is on. I fall asleep during the end, but wake up in time to hear bad anthem singing. USA!

And now I am still not awake. This was the only mate I brought over with me I think, and it is a teabag, so I cannot remember who gave me this because I never put them in my spreadsheet if there’s just one.

I put milk in the mug first then added enough hot water for a cup total, and let it steep probably 10 minutes.

This definitely isn’t how I thought it would taste. I was expecting just chocolate but there’s spices in here that make it seem more like chai. It’s also disgustingly sweet, and I see on their website that is thanks to stevia. Glad they could make that clear anywhere, I was looking all over the place and finally realized the ingredients are in a fake looking nutritional facts chart.

I’d probably really like this if it wasn’t for that stevia. It just ruins it. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove wouldn’t be something I’d match with chocolate, but it seems to work until the sweetness hits.

I had this iced earlier. I finally went through nearly all my tea, there’s still a ton with no place. But I went to Lowes tonight and loaded up on organizing stuff (but mainly for my lip balm stuff) so maybe that’ll be better!

I’ve also started plans for my patio garden this year. I’m starting pretty much everything from seeds, except strawberries (unless I can find a container blueberry plant around here, all the ones online can’t be shipped to Georgia). So far I have arugula, mixed greens, spearmint, rosemary, basil, jalapenos, dwarf snapdragons, a variety of poppies called California twisted (they look so neat – http://www.burpee.com/images/product/prod000344/prod000344_lg.jpg), and dill. Then I am thinking baby carrots for containers!, beets, eggplant or tomatoes, cucumbers, and lavender.

I saw that to make the most of space, plant lettuces around the perimeter of a pot and then plant something else in the middle later! So is what I am going to try.

Anyway, I haven’t had this tea in awhile. I completely mixed up what I was doing but managed to save this tea. I really should try it hot one day, but I really think this is only the second time I’ve had this one.

It wasn’t as flavorful as last time but that’s because I completely forgot I only should have put 4 oz of water in the jar. Instead I filled it, so I doubled the tea but I probably should have made it 2.5×. Oh well. Still tasted like guava overall.

Finishing up this sample…about to move on to organizing the big cart of tea.

I meant to drink this last night but it smelled horribly like burning plastic/a candle just burned out in my apartment, and I swear it was smoky to the point my eyes itched. It was probably someone using their fireplace but it was like 12:30am so it was not appreciated.

I don’t really like this. It’s mostly blueberry but the ocean water-ish tinge just doesn’t match blueberries to me.

I guess I drank it cold before. Welp, I don’t get salt water, just like the way the beach smells has been turned into a taste.

I accidentally oversteeped this just slightly because I was distracted by some weird scratch on a tin of oolong.

Really exciting, I finished my sample of this too! I was about to pour it into a tiny bag when I realized it said 2-3 tsp per 8 oz of water, so I used the rest up for my 12 oz mug, yay!

Today to me this tastes like lemon and jasmine, and almost tastes more like a white tea than it does a black tea. If it wasn’t for that end note that screams Darjeeling black tea, I’d be fooled.

It’s nice but like I’ve probably said 283759 other times on notes, second flushes are my thing.

I am currently going through all my tea trying to figure out where all of it is. Right now I have no idea where a $20 bag of oolong is so that’s fun. But I haven’t gone to my rolly drawer cart yet so I’m thinking it’s in there. Yay.

Yaaaaaay finishing this up.

I made a loaf of “Russian” rye bread in my bread maker and I can’t stop eating it. You put in a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and I swear this seriously did something, because I made rye bread before and it was a recipe with honey and this is like, incredible.

I’m also trying to organize my tea so I can find what more of containers I need (like I have a place for them), because I am nearly done cleaning up my kitchen today! So now I’m finding things that I could easily finish, I just wish I started this earlier because it’s almost 10 now.

I am so cold so I am just sipping this down. It’s definitely lost flavor, but it’s still pretty pineapple-y.

I’ve had this over a year, sealed away. But it still tastes terrible. Then again, it might have tasted terrible to begin with since I never actually wrote a note on it, but did log it.

Oh well I still would feel like a jerk trying to swap it away so I guess it’s time to let it go.

I think I’ll make it like a potpourri thing because dry, it smells good. But other than that, bleh.

From last night but I was too lazy to post.

Ok so the first time I’d ordered this for myself, I was not really a fan because it tasted mostly like cinnamon. But I got some again now from KeenTeaThyme and I think the problem was not using enough tea. BECAUSE THIS IS SO GOOD.

It’s really sweet, which I think I’d expect with strawberry pie (also honeybush). The strawberry flavor I can actually get this time, almost like a strawberry jam flavor. It’s creamy and the spices are more under control. I need to remind myself to use 2 tsp for honeybush.

This has to be the weakest blooming tea I’ve ever had, on multiple levels.

It has less flavor than the jasmine green ones I have from Teavivre. They make me feel like this is a tea I can drink and not just look at. You’d think with adding pineapple flavoring, there might be something here.

And the second weak note, this isn’t even a flowering tea I want to look at. It was very unimpressive. And this comes from someone who absolutely loves lilies, that’s the reason I picked this up (beyond that it was on sale).

I steeped it for far longer than they suggest. It’s faintly pineapple, but that’s it. Four different flowers in here, including jasmine, and I got nothing.

I can’t believe they sell you 7 of these for $18 normally. Good god.

Are you only supposed to use 8 oz of water for theirs for some reason? I have no idea since not a single blooming tea is on the website anymore. The back of the package indicates that…what a waste.

Resteeped with just 8 oz of water it isn’t any better.
Well at least they have lilies.

No just kidding this is a waste of lilies >:[

I actually got distracted drinking this because someone was interested in buying my Keurig brewer from me. I listed it last night around 9 and had it gone at 7 tonight. Only got $90 with all the cups I had but whatever, COUNTER SPACE!!!!

Even now when it’s cold, it smells like cinnamon raisin bagels in the cup. I don’t want to dump it just because of that.

This is really cinnamony, that’s what I taste overall. There’s a hint of sweetness that I suppose is raisin, not strongly, and it keeps the cinnamon from being too spicy.

Actually I’m still drinking it even though it’s cold. I can taste the toast, cold toast might be weird but it’s working for me! And it’s pretty buttery too.

Next time I won’t get distracted. I think I’m done selling stuff for the time being.

I think I converted a Facebook friend to a tea drinker last night LOL

Thank you for this tea, Jackie T! I think I should have stuck with my initial thought to steep it for 3 minutes because 3 1/2 was a bit astringent.

This is definitely banana, not really cakey at all but still definitely feels like a caffeinated kick. It does have yerba mate in there too so that’ll help.

The banana flavor is pretty subtle, and a little sweet. I left a bit in my cup and now it’s cooled off. At first it diddn’t taste like banana at all but it’s very sweet in the aftertaste, and almost tastes more like pancakes this way.

I meant to take this one with me to Tennessee for Christmas but I completely forgot it. I’ve been thinking about it since then especially because I thought maybe there might be coconut milk nog still at the grocery store…nope :(

The first steep kind of got ruined by me eating super spicy salsa right before making this tea but I couldn’t resist. I added agave to this cup and it became really vanilla tasting.

So I had to make a second steep! But I don’t think it worked at all because it tastes like hot water. Well crap. I’m sorry for not doing you justice today, Creamy Eggnog.

First tea of 2013…woooo.

I’m still afraid of being food poisoned, I can’t tell what’s due to last night’s champagne or what could be a result of the bad fajitas so I am erring on the side of caution and not drinking any caffeine.

Spearmint seemed like the obvious herbal to go to. Hasn’t really helped but it’s something that isn’t gatorade.

Also I diluted a little bit and offered it up to Sebastian. He didn’t drink any at first but I did get a drop on his beak, which he ended up tasting. His reaction to that was to close his eyes and make sure he got all of it in his little beak, so I offered it to him again and he drank a bit himself then. I don’t think I have many good bird-friendly herbals but hey, if he likes spearmint then we’re set.

My precioussssss.

We decided we’d try a new-to-us place for lunch today, and got fajitas there. I did not realize until I was nearly done eating that some of my chicken was massively undercooked. They comped it and apologized profusely but my stomach really, really hurts. So if this doesn’t take care of it, I’m going to cry because we have my favorite “champagne” for tonight and I got the awesome avocado kale salad Whole Foods has and I WANT TO EAT IT.

Well if there was any further sign that I should try eating mostly ovo-vegetarian like I was thinking about in the new year, being served undercooked chicken did it for me. BLEH.

This one will always and forever be my favorite flavor. I considered getting the new earth one but when watermelon and blueberry are involved I really can’t change.

I wish they had this one on tap at my Whole Foods but then I’d probably drink the entire growler in a day.

Tried once more, just not a fan of this one.

Thanks for the sample, Azzrian! Forgot that before.

I think I am just weird about plum flavors. Though I believe I steeped this for less time today, so I am actually kind of getting black currant too, but the plum and grape is not suitable for my tastes.

Starting to like this a bit better, though for some reason it’s almost too sweet to me. And I love love love marshmallows so that’s kind of silly.

I’m not sure what to continue to adjust to get it to taste better to me. At 3 1/2 min, that melted down the marshmallows entirely so it did taste more of marshmallow, but I wasn’t really getting caramel and that almost creme brûlée flavor from last time. I like 200 instead of boiling water for sure for the tea itself. Just not sure if I should go to 4 minutes or what.

My electric kettle is still set up next to my bed from the shu nuggets the other day. I almost don’t want to move it to the kitchen because Sebastian loves the thing. When the kettle starts to make that “whoooooosh” kind of noise, he starts chirping. Every time. Sorry, Sebastian, you can’t have chocolate or caffeine.

I started on my gingerbread house (yeah I know) and so this is my cup of tea while it dries, as I get together all my Black Bear Lab orders from the past couple of days (almost $40! yay)

So this is from last year’s 12 teas of Christmas and it’s still pretty cashew and caramel tasting, not so much chocolate. I possibly should have added a bit more tea to it, but I’m quite impressed with the flavor anyway since it hasn’t been kept in the best container.

It’s still pretty good but it also wasn’t really a favorite to begin with. I’ll finish everything I have of it though!

Awww yiss, sipdown!

Yesterday I drank far less tea than I thought I would. My friend came over to my boyfriend’s cause her car’s sunroof has a leaky spot and it ended up taking way longer because she partially opened it and it would not close again. In the midst of all this, I have my laptop off the charger and at 28% battery I decide it’s time to recharge…but the wires inside have completely snapped off so there’s no power. COOL.

Thankfully my mom flat out bought the new one because she had $25 in gift certificates to Best Buy, but buying a new charger for a Macbook is a scam. The thing only lasted 16 1/2 months. And I am still kind of irritated even today because that came out of NOWHERE.

I did have a bubble tea so that’s something.

Since I just had this earlier this week, I have nothing remarkable to add. I believe this ended up with closer to 2 tsp of tea than 1 1/2 for 12 oz, so it’s a bit more astringent, but totally drinkable still without adding milk.

Probably wouldn’t buy it in the future, but it’s not a bad choice for an English Breakfast.

Teaopia Strawberry Fields + Whispering Pines Coconut White

I only had 1 tsp of the Teaopia tea, and 8 oz requires 1.5 tsp…and I was using a 12 oz perfect tea mug. What’s close to the top of this shoebox that I can add? Coconut!

I love coconut and strawberry together. I was worried this coconut tea might be too old to really be really coconutty because I completely forgot about it (this is the first time I’m drinking it) but it’s very balanced with the strawberry flavor.

It’s very sweet, almost like frosting. And I finished a sample of a tea!!!! Amazing.

I can’t believe I’ve just been hoarding this one. I’ve set up my kettle and gaiwan on my nightstand because today has been OBNOXIOUS. It took me over 2 1/2 hours to get home because of a major accident. I got off the interstate about 15 miles from the accident, because the sign back there was mentioning the accident I figured get out quick. So this US highway parallels the interstate…but of course, halfway there everyone else has found out the secret and so the 45mph highway crawled to 20-25mph. And then I got home and some jerk had their U-haul truck completely blocking 5 parking spaces and the stupid office wouldn’t help me out and ask this jerk to move it out of the way. The entire time I was getting my stuff to my apartment, nobody was putting stuff in the truck. As I’m bringing the last of my stuff in, someone comes and shuts the back. SERIOUSLY??? Good riddance.

So I didn’t feel like tea. I felt like taking a nap. And now it is finally tea time. Sebastian agrees, as the water started bubbling, he started chirping and now he’s sitting on one foot, which I’ve never seen him do at home before (he does it while at my parents’ house constantly for some reason though).

I did the usual two rinses on this one…I also dumped part of the third because it went on way too long, I don’t entirely get this kettle so I wanted it to turn off and it was being difficult, so only part of it made it to my cup. And then I steeped again.

This issue is making this very hay tasting instead immediately instead of in later steepings like I noticed before. As it cools, there’s more of the semolina flour notes though.

I have no idea what to call the next steep then. Threeve? Now the vanilla and cinnamon are coming out a bit. Not sweet enough for angel food cake, but a bit like all the components for baking in a new, weird combination.

Next steep: definitely getting sweeter. More cinnamon too!

Actual fifth steep – even sweeter, definitely has that rock sugar taste to it again like it did at the beginning. This puerh is so much fun. I can’t believe how sweet it is, it’s definitely more like cake after I let it cool a bit again.

I kept telling myself only one more steep, but I think I have steeped this now a total of ten times. I can’t stop because it tastes so sweet and cinnamony, but also because my bird seriously chirps while the kettle heats up and it’s hilarious. I would have thought it’d scare him!
I think 10 steeps is fair for a day with this one. I would like to sleep at some point today so it is time to stop, even if it tastes amazing.

I’ll update this when Dryad’s shop is back up from vacation mode.

I totally did not realize the owner of the shop is part of this band called Pandora Celtica and that some of the teas in the Dryad Tea shop are based on their music. How cool! Admittedly I probably should have caught that from the shop banner but you know what, all the teas had my attention.

This one is okay, I don’t taste much apple. It tastes more like a sweet mint tea rather than apple mint with a hint of floral notes.

I think I may like it better iced, so I will save the rest of my sample for that purpose.

Trying to finish up this sample, looks like I have one cup left after this one!

Still tasty, steeped it for 3 minutes this time around and definitely had no need to add any milk! This is pretty sweet and malty by itself. But sadly not enough to keep me awake, I had to take a nap already (thanks brother’s girlfriend for being a nutcase).

Would I get more of this? Not anytime soon after I added up all my teas and samples. Jeeeeeez.

6 oz water, 6 oz milk, and a heaping tablespoon of this tea, simmered on the stove for about 10 minutes. Melt that chocolate! Definitely reminiscent of hot chocolate but less like drinking sugar. MUCH better this way than just made with water…it needs a heavier liquid to hold up to all the stuff in here.

Tried this with 195* water like Kusmi suggests and I have to say I like it much better with boiling water. It doesn’t have that same violet candy taste to it.

It just feels like the violet isn’t as sweet with the lower temperature, and maybe it’s better for the flavor of the black tea. Everything seems less pronounced this way, at least for me.

Yesssss 200 degrees makes Assam so good. Four minutes and 200 degree water, so sweet and tasty! Every other Assam I’ve had so far, I’ve had to only steep it for 3 minutes, add milk, or wait for it to cool way down. This is life changing.

So this is sweet, and malty, and actually helping me to wake up with its big burst of flavor. I am finishing it then for some reason going to Target, mostly because I got a stamping kit for my nails yesterday and really want to use it…but I only brought one bottle of nail polish with me. Oh well.