momo

I used the rest of this from the 12 Teas of Christmas to make a quart of cold steeped tea. Still delicious. Sadly, I have now broken my tea buying moratorium 3 times (But if you buy tea twice in one mall, does it only count as one time, so I can say 2 times instead? No?) so I am fully banning myself from even looking at more tea…but I reeeeeally want more of this D:

Okay I just left this steeping for far longer than intended..and it actually made me like it a lot more. It still has that weird, artificial scent but it tastes way more chocolatey after that long steep. It was probably around 8 minutes before I remembered it was steeping. I was expecting it to have gotten bitter but it was all good!

Though the distraction…I was talking on the phone to my mom about tea (because I never shut up about tea) she didn’t believe me that tea could have a creamy taste without milk. Oh boy when she come back to visit is she going to be in for more tea than she wants.

It might require hiding half of what I have.

I stopped at a Teavana today because I wanted some large paper filters to cold steep in a pitcher..and I saw Ninavampi’s post on this and thought it sounded interesting, so I asked to smell it.

Except that it smelled so good I bought it. And it’s so pretty! Filled with flower petals and bright dried fruit.

I like it! It’s fruity, really tropical, with a hint of lemongrass and the aftertaste of green tea, and more papaya. The peach hits first followed by papaya when you first sip. I don’t know where rooibos plays in here because it seems pretty devoid of it, but that’s okay. Green tea and rooibos seems like an odd duo to put in one tea.

I can’t wait to cold steep this!

I was curious as to how this would taste with milk and sugar added.

Answer: straight up like frosting with a black tea aftertaste.

I like it better without the additions, but I thought it would be worth a try.

I have been angry with myself for months because I did not buy this tea. I went all the way to the Mariage Freres tea room, freaked out, and left. The tin I did purchase I got at La Grande Epicerie De Paris, and while I stared at all of them for a good 10 minutes, I didn’t know the whole story of Marco Polo.

So for months I have wanted it and wished I had gotten it. At least it’s easy to acquire in the United States, so thanks Williams Sonoma. And thankfully this is the only tea they stock at the one by me, so there wasn’t a chance to buy more.

Oh I am so glad to finally have it. With milk and sugar it is so fruity and creamy, it really is like strawberry shortcake. Nothing tastes fake about it. I figured this would be good since Vanille des Iles is the best tasting vanilla tea I’ve ever had.

I am so cold. Shivering even though my heat is set to 70. Time to bust out the fluffy comforter once again!

But until I wrap myself up to sleep, this tea is keeping me warm. And it tastes like early summer, which is interesting because the leaves look like frosted pine needles. It’s grassy and sweet, and really nice. There’s like a touch of fruit, and a touch of flowers in here too.

I have really enjoyed these white teas from Teavivre because they have helped me realize how white tea should be: subtle, yet flavorful. I will definitely keep drinking them.

Man I’m really starting to find out how much the men who live in my apartment complex suck. This month alone I’ve nearly had one hit my car while I was clearly halfway out of a space, and today this guy decided to fly past me once I finally got my gate clicker to work. Needless to say I pushed my way in. Do not mess with a girl in an owl hat.

This is really good. Most honeybush teas I’ve had thus far have not involved much fruit, and in any case nothing citrusy. This is a nice change. It’s extra tangy thanks to the cheesecake factor. I get more lemon in the scent of the tea, and more lime when I taste it.

And it is sooooo creamy, this has to be the creamiest tasting of the cheesecake teas I have had so far. I can’t wait to try it cold steeped when it’s not cold outside…which is apparently Wednesday, so that’s soon enough.

When I saw this was added to the inventory last week I got the last/only one…I had to. Sorry to anyone who saw Frank’s update somewhere and was greeted with SOLD OUT!
M I N E. As above: do not mess with a girl in an owl hat.

It’s too cold outside. Of course I won tickets to an outdoor event taking place today so I have to spend the hours leading up to it drinking this tea.

I’ve never had a Tie Guan Yin before, and I don’t know why it’s taken this long for me to have one. I like it! It has a really full flavor, creamy and floral at the same time. It’s like a green tea with a really good punch.

I’m not at my own apartment right now and I hate that I’m having to use a T-sac instead to steep, but it’s kind of hard to carry a teapot with you when you’ve got to take a bulky winter jacket and boots to prepare for the next day. I’ve got plenty more so I can watch as the leaves unfurl as soon as I am back home!

I will still probably steep this again if I have time before having to go freeze. It’s reeeeeally good!

This is the last sample from my order that I hadn’t tried. I don’t know why it took me so long!

It hardly tastes like green tea, it’s hard to even find green tea in here. It’s almost more like an herbal cinnamon apple tea. It’s good, but I’m not sure if I like it that much. Glad to have gotten to try it though, and I have enough for another cup!

Oof. Adagio needs a social media makeover….whoever’s on their Facebook page thought it’d be great to call Teavana the “Enron of tea” and this is so beyond tacky it amazes me someone tried to defend the comparison. Swindling billions out of your employees via fraud is so like people choosing to work in a high pressure sales position, right.

Anyway. This tea relates to neither companies obviously but that is seriously bothering me right now.

Typically I am not a big fan of Earl Grey because I think it smells like cleaning solutions, but this smelled a bit different from the lavender, so I figured I might like it.

Without milk, no, it’s too much bergamot for my liking. With some coconut milk added, it’s much, much better. (And seriously I love using this stuff, no coconut flavor detected!) I do like the floral note added by the lavender, it makes it a bit different, but I still don’t care too much for Earl Grey.

Since I had $10 off at ZenTea I decided to pick up 4 teas…and with one of those, return to the tea that got me hooked.

It feels like it’s been forever since I had this tea, I have missed it. I realize now why I never really could taste a medicinal type flavor with rooibos because I always thought of this one. It smells like it, but it doesn’t taste like it. It tastes like a savory hot chocolate almost. It’s not super chocolatey but it’s enough to be a good tea.

I have too much tea now. Way back I was so excited that I had purchased TWO!

So after my immediate love of Golden Moon’s Coconut Pouchong, I really wanted an unflavored one. I always thought it was more like a green-oolong hybrid but ZenTea’s site says black-oolong…hm.
The leaves look really oxidized, like a black, so I was confused because I’ve always seen pouchong being the least oxidized oolong. But they turned pretty green upon use, and the tea infuses to a nice peachy color.
So I made this tea a photo album because it was that confusing for me, the comparison picture is it next to the Coconut Pouchong: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethrillstheyyield/sets/72157629252803537/with/6849744731/

I did 4 or 5 infusions in my gaiwan and I still have no idea how to describe this. (Yeah you’d think I counted but I am on the verge of freaking out in joy at all moments right now so counting didn’t happen.)

It was interesting. There was almost a sort of tangy flavor to it on the first two. Like beyond that I really have no idea how to even describe what I just tasted because it was like combining oolong, black, and green teas all in one.

But I liked it so that’s what matters.

I love love love this tea cold brewed. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was cold brewing last night until after I put this one in the fridge, so I saved it for later (now) so that it would get to steep more than 10 hours. I figured since the four seasons oolong was so good cold, and the more oxidized orange blossom one was good, this would be perfect.

And it is, it’s a bit like combining a light oolong with just a bit of juicy peach. I usually don’t guzzle down even iced tea but I couldn’t help it with this.

Also I may have bought 8 oz of tea today because I had a 50% off coupon expiring at a local shop…oops. Well it was only $10.30 so it’s okay right?

It would figure that when I come to love this, it gets discontinued. I have like 12 ounces of it in a tin now so I’m not too worried.

I have no idea why I love this because generally I hate hibiscus.

This is really like a hibiscus tea with citrus. And yet I love it. Probably because hibiscus just seems to be well complimented by blood orange, and I love blood orange. I’ve had other blood orange herbals and there’s something about this that just isn’t overly tart, although you’d think it would be (other reviewers mention it). It’s tart and sweet, but it’s not overwhelmingly tart for me.

It just makes me laugh because there are Teavana teas I hate for the hibiscus, and yet in one where it’s so dominant, I love it.

No notes yet.

Ahhh pancake breakfast….we have been apart far too long.

I have 3 exams in the next 2 days, one of which for a class I have been ignoring…I mean it covers landforms and I can see the slides from home. When one slide says rocks are solid I know I am not making a huge error in staying home.

So, while re-reading everything about rocks and volcanos and the earth’s layers and watching hockey, I decided I’d return to dear beloved Pancake Breakfast, especially given its recent permanent status. My mom got me a bag for Christmas so I was pretty well stocked, but now there are no worries!

Still delicious as ever, and as always, making me want pancakes to eat too. This tea is maple, buttery, cakey goodness.

Cold steeped this, it’s really refreshing. There are nice big fruit bits, but they don’t take up the majority of the package. I bet this would be good hot too.

So I’ve FINALLY gotten around to trying this again with milk. Actually I am thinking milk is the reason my stomach hates me so much, so it’s some unsweetened coconut milk for me.

The coolest part of this coconut milk is that since it’s meant as a milk substitute, it isn’t strongly coconut flavored, and so a bit in this tea doesn’t affect the flavor. It also does its job, effectively cutting that bitter flavor this tea has, making it far more enjoyable.

I added barely any sugar…like I would hesitate to say I even added 1/8 a teaspoon. Honestly, it tastes fine with just a splash of milk. I don’t think you need to sweeten it unless you want it to really pop. But it still tastes like a cookie that might be slightly good for you instead.

This is so much better cold brewed. That pesky Sevenberry Sangria just keeps improving with every new thing I try. I will have to try not to drink it all so that I have some when it’s really hot outside, because this would be so refreshing after spending 5 minutes outside in July.

I had been wanting another one of these bottles for storing cold brewed tea, so I grabbed this one at Fresh Market…I hadn’t seen it before so even better.

I haven’t liked rooibos when I cold brew it, but I like this…probably because it’s sweetened. It’s got a good amount of pomegranate juice in it, because it looks more like juice than tea. It’s a nice refreshing flavor.

I think they are kind of overpriced to buy regularly at $2.39 but now I can keep 2 bottles at home and 1 at my boyfriend’s place and have cold brewed tea ready all the time. It’s also not bad if you really want tea and you’re out somewhere without any…like me.

No notes yet.

I am extremely annoyed and each sip takes away the annoyances. Too bad it’s not permanently.

This is still a nice, subtle and sweet green tea. When I stop banning myself from more tea purchases, I think Teavivre is first to break the ban.

When I first saw the name of this, I was kind of like mehhhh I don’t know. But my stomach has been really mad at me. Like, if my stomach was a cat it’s one that doesn’t know when to just stop meowing. I don’t know why I am using a cat metaphor here.

So I remembered I had this tea and thought it would probably be really comforting. Just the smell of the leaves made me feel better.

The lemon flavor is stronger than the cinnamon, and I still taste the floral flavors of the base. It’s really light and refreshing, despite having these flavors. I can’t believe how fast I am drinking it.

So really, don’t let the name mislead you. This is a nice blend of flavors, sweet and citrusy, with just a little tasty kick of cinnamon.

No notes yet.