potatowedges

I steeped this a second time and put it in my travel mug just like the first one…then I headed to class. I spilled some nasty citrus-sage essential oil all over my laptop and other possessions last week, my travel mug included, and the top of the mug, which is plastic and not stainless steel like the rest of it, has absorbed that smell. I’ve been trying and trying to wash it out—dish soap, baking soda, Dr. Bronner’s soap—and the latter one, which I used this morning, has lent a distinct minty smell to the top of the mug.

I’m mentioning this because my second steeping, which, unlike the first one in the travel mug, actually came in contact with the lid, tasted completely like weird mint. I am almost 100% sure that this is no fault of the tea!

…mrenhh. I need to get a new lid.

Picked some up at TeaSource when I had first expressed a curiosity for dark tea. At something like $1.50 for four mini tuochas, who could refuse?

Brewing…should’ve known to put it in my brew basket. As soon as the water hit it, it started dissolving, sending cool bubbles up everywhere…pretty awesome to watch. I dumped off this steep after about 30 sec and salvaged the leaves, putting them in the basket. Here we go!

Steeped for probably 4 min, because the smell was so strong that I wanted to try it step by step. The aroma is of a fire, more specifically our cooking fires up in the Boundary Waters. Imagine this: it’s cold, misty, and gray, with the rain spitting down on you and your inadequate rain gear. You can feel all the twigs and pebbles sloshing around in the three inches of water that refuse to leave your boots. Your fingers are starting to do that thing where they get all pale and spotty from the cold, and you’re huddled up as close as you can get to your two new best friends while you try and try and try to build a decent fire. Someone went into the woods to find dry kindling, and the flame finally takes, while you watch, awestruck, like the first humans to ever see fire. Set the pot of lake water on…and soon we’ll have rice and beans. Feel the char and smoke envelop you as you get as close as you can to those life-giving flames, thanking them each moment for their existence.

Can you feel it?

That’s what this tastes like.

No notes yet.

My professor had a Christmas party in class today and ordered cupcakes, coffee, and tea, and one of the teas in the box was this one. Sounded great! Smelled kind of charred, somehow, but not in a bad way. Probably just the spices. The tea base seemed pretty decent, and I really liked the coconut. This would have been better with some soymilk, but since none was available, I drank it plain. The pepper notes stuck out kind of jarringly, but overall it was decent. The pepper would’ve been calmed with some soymilk, so I’ll try it chai-style next time and it’ll probably be lots better.

I’ve had two cups of this today, and every time I make it, I’m reminded of how perfect this tea is. Full-bodied from the rooibos, roasty from the rice, subtly sweet like caramel popcorn, with a little bit of green tea for a flourish…this really is perfect. If all the rooibos-dislikers tried this, I’m pretty sure they’d feel differently after just a sip.

Yum.

Made some in our school’s dining hall before art this morning, because I hadn’t had this in a while. Forgot to watch the clock for a few minutes—it may have steeped 7 minutes. You’d never guess I oversteeped it though, and after adding a splash of soymilk I was off. Opened it up and…man. The best aroma. I’ve said this before, but this takes me back to about this time last year, and the memories are incredibly sweet. Tasty, smooth, sweet, excellent body, a little thickness with the soymilk, and a fantastic scent. I’ve generally left bagged tea by the wayside since being turned on to loose leaf, but this, along with a host of Celestial Seasonings varieties, will always remain. It’s perfect in its own beautiful way.

So I got what seems to be a mild concussion Sunday night (while sledding on my birthday, no less) and I’ve been rather out of sorts for the past day and a half. I’m feeling so much better now…thanks in part to the perfect mug of this that I brewed on my way to class this afternoon. It really tastes like a candy cane…smells amazing…sweet and minty…refreshing and calmed my stomach…perfect. Thank you, tea, for helping my recovery.

The second tea I’m trying from Verdant.
Dry: grassy and zesty, with a hint of fruit juiciness. Normally the whole “grassy” description freaks me out, but I really like this…when I put it in my brew basket in my rinsed mug, I smelled it and got something creamy.
1st steeping: while steeping, I’m sticking my nose over the mug (which I do pretty invariably.) I’m getting a scent that I can’t really place, but it reminds me of one of my favorite fragrances…it was essential-oil based, a little dusty but with a zinging fruity note. That’s exactly what this smells like. Mmmm. Can’t wait!
Sipping…a very evident green taste on the first sip. This is my first oolong, too, by the way. The green taste recedes into the others after the first few sips, and the rest of the mug has a crisp mouthfeel with a little tartness and more characteristics of a black tea. At the bottom of the mug, I’m starting to get the taste of whatever that delicious essential-oilish aroma was…I’m really excited to keep uncovering the flavors in this tea. I also really really want an yixing for oolongs now…

2nd steeping: again, I’m getting that lovely essential-oil smell that I can’t place. Mmm, this is a bit creamier than the last time. Very subtly so. I still have a crisp, green mouthfeel and sort of a bright-tasting note. Now I’m tasting a light floral note that goes to the back of my tongue. The aftertaste is dusky and vegetal.

3rd steeping: Ooh. Nutty, floral, smooth. Kind of creamy. I’m getting a twiggy undertone…edging on roasty. Hey, I can taste the Kaffir lime! I haven’t ever had one before but this is a limey taste…right at the end of the sip, on the back of my tongue and roof of my mouth. Wow. This is fascinating.

4th steeping: aaa! Knocked over my empty mug and spilled the brew basket onto the floor. I picked up the leaves that had fallen on the floor and put them back in. The floor is pretty clean—who knows? Maybe some flavor notes will come in because of that…heehee. This made me really appreciate how high-quality this tea is—the leaves are so big and whole that I didn’t have to pick up much! Anyway, aroma: greeny and juicy. Taste is milder now, but still retains the green freshness of before.

This was very tasty, exciting, and unusual. I don’t want to give it a rating just yet; it deserves another session in which I brew it gongfu style—I think that will bring out the flavor better. Like I said before, I’d love to get an yixing teapot for oolongs as well!

Honey. Clover. (Maybe clover honey?) As it steeps, I’m getting something that reminds me of skiing in Steamboat Springs, CO. It’s mouthwatering…

1st steeping (4 min, boiling water): Honey. Slightly creamy. Now I’m getting a wave of cocoa—this IS like chocolate milk! Also, the clover is coming through. Still gives me the taste of skiing in Steamboat, and because that’s kind of confusing, I’ll explain: Every year around spring break, my family and another family that we’re all best friends with (the family we choose) go skiing in Steamboat, CO. Every year except for one we get completely dumped on with an out-of-the-blue late-season blizzard, and we get to ski in 3 foot deep powder to our hearts’ content. Pretty lucky. There’s this sunscreen/anti-windburn stick we always put on our faces when we’re out there, and the smell of it—whatever essential oils are in it—takes me back to bright shiny morning, riding up the gondola, wrapped up in base layers, coats, mittens, pants, gaiters, helmets, goggles, clipping into bindings and launching off into another adventure that gives meaning to life. It’s one of the sweetest memories I have.

Now does that make sense?

2nd steeping (4 min 45 sec, boiling water): Something I forgot to mention in the first steeping—the cocoa taste reminds me of the chocolate milk I would get at a diner I went to on some special mornings with my mom when I was little. I never got chocolate milk pre-made anywhere else (I claimed it tasted like cardboard), but I got it here and it was delicious.
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Same mouthwatering aroma while it’s steeping…I’m probably going to use my coupon to get more of this…upon sipping, the cocoa taste is predominant, still with the delicious clover honey note, and wow, this is fantastic.

3rd steeping (~6 min, boiling water): The cocoa has receded a little and the clover honey’s coming back. Mmmm. This is a more subtle sweetness. I’m getting a bit of tingly cinnamon warmth on the back of my tongue, too.

4th steeping (~8 min, boiling water): Put this in my travel mug. Prior steepings have used up much of the flavor, but it retains the slightest hint of cocoa. It’s comforting nevertheless.

Overall: Sweet mercy, this is amazing. I love black tea, and this is one of the most comforting, tasty, unique ones I’ve ever tried. This has made it into my hall of fame—I’m going to always have some of this on hand.

No notes yet.

I went for this one first after my birthday package of tea came…from my tasting note card (which was kindly provided):
Dry: subtly spicy aroma—is that cinnamon? Blankety and warm.
1st steeping: Toasty in the front of the tongue, a little bright and sweet in a blankety, caramel way (yes, blankety is totally a word) along to the back of the palate. Silky, smooth mouthfeel, with absolutely no astringency or bitterness (woohoo!).

So I’m on my fifth infusion now, which I let go for 8 minutes…this tea is magnificent. Roasty, sweet, smooth, and dusky all at the same time. The note that I was trying to name for quite some time was raisin—there is definitely a cinnamon-raisin feel to this tea, and it’s fantastic. This is probably the most unusual black tea I’ve ever tried, and come to think of it, I think it might be the first or second unflavored black tea, too. This is paradise, and I keep detecting more delightful undertones in it. Can’t wait to explore it even more. Thanks, David! Can’t wait to try all the others I got, and to order some more (maybe a pu’erh?) with my nifty coupon code!

This kept me alive this summer when the bitter cold swept through our field station. (Temperature, not sickness…) It reminded me of the Aveda comforting tea that I make when I’m at home, and I had a particular affinity for this one in the dining hall (our cook noticed and made sure to get some more for me). Memories of this tea are particularly vivid, as I had some after a panic attack. Tasty, pretty strong, and sweet. Impressive bagged tea.

Made a cup of this tonight…it’d been a while and I needed something cozy. It’s quite nice—I appreciated that the cinnamon didn’t burn my mouth like with some other ones (Bengal Spice if you let it go too long). It’s sweet, but not as sweet as some other cinnamon teas (once again, I’m looking at you, Bengal Spice). I’m going to try to resteep this to see if I can get good results like others have. Mmmm.

Brewed some of this up for class this afternoon…during most of the class it was too hot to drink because it was in my double-walled mug (which is uber great, by the way), so I spent most of the class time holding the open mug under my nose, alternately blowing on the tea and deeply inhaling. I started to realize that this smells like Thin Mints (my mom’s favorite Girl Scout cookie), and as I sipped the delicious peppermintiness I thought about combining it with some Azteca Fire. So I scampered back to my room and did just that. Boiling water for the Azteca Fire, steeped it 10 min, adding the bag of Candy Cane Lane when it was about 175 F. Each tea steeped about 10 min each.

Still too hot to drink, but I’m saving it for dessert in the aforementioned mug. I tasted a teeny bit and…omgomgomg. I never type like that, so this is notable…this is the most heavenlydelicioussweettasticamazing thing I have ever tasted. aaaahhhhhhhh. Candy Cane Lane is still on sale for 2/$5 at the co-op…

I think I’ll get some more to hoard.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Got this with my Green Sampler from TeaSource when I decided to try a bunch of greens on a whim. Since green tea has never been my favorite, I thought I should work on acquiring the taste! I really enjoy TeaSource’s Popped Rooibos, which has toasted rice in it (as well as almond brittle, which makes it all taste caramely), and the girl working there, one of my favorite people, recommended I try Genmaicha. She gave me a sample of it too—now, in addition to my sample from the pack, I have another one. Yay! Anyway, the actual tea…

Smells like popcorn dry. (As a college student, I’ve smelled a lot of popcorn…) Roasty, a tad burnt in a nice way, blended together with a fresh green-smelling note from the tea. I like how one smell doesn’t overpower the other dry. When it starts steeping, the roasty smell takes over, and upon sipping, I feel the roastiness all over my mouth, followed by a fresh, slightly sweet green tea taste. It’s delicious and savory, and it’s just what I was looking for this morning. Can’t wait to steep it a second time!

It’s that time of year…got excited when I saw the holiday CS display at the co-op and picked some of this up to try. Opened up the box—got a heady whiff of gingery spices, something that smelled, somehow, like Asian food (maybe it’s the mix of the ginger and the barley?), and cookies. I was intrigued. I’ve had good spiced teas from Celestial Seasonings that smelled a little odd dry, so I continued on. While the tea was steeping, I scanned the comments on Steepster, and after doing so I was kind of prepared to not like this for all of the reasons people posted—weird barley taste, watery tasting, etc. Also, I tried an herbal this summer that was just plain roasted barley and was disgusted. (I may have to give it another try. That, or cook the barley.) I started to sip and was very very pleasantly surprised! This is a nice blend of spices, not overpowered by the taste of cinnamon red hots like some other spiced teas, has a very true gingerbread cookie aroma (just sniffed the empty mug…mmmm), and has a lingering sweetness that remains between sips. I can still taste it…and that quality is one of the most important to me in a tea—that I can taste it even when I’m not drinking it. This is a nice, light, sweetly spicy blend…a lovely holiday excursion in a cup.

I just tried mixing this with plain Greek yogurt and granola…ohhhhh my. I love this. I kept forgetting to make matcha, and blending it into random things is saving it from languishing in my cupboard. Yum!

Finishing a paper, so I busted out the black tea (that seems to be a pattern). I love the smell of this…it swirls around me with coziness and makes me feel like it’s Christmas from last year (which was the best Christmas of my life so far, by the way). Just sipping it now, so many memories come flooding back. Tasty. I love this tea.

Don’t steep this too long, kids! I steeped it 6 min instead of 4 and it had gotten to the point where I didn’t really want to drink it. Popped Rooibos it is!

This was part of my TeaSource Green Sampler. I decided on a green this morning, and I had smelled this one far more often than was necessary, so I decided to finally try it. What a fantastic, fruity, tangy aroma…this needs no sweetener, by the way; it’s perfect as it is. I was a little concerned the “tartness” it advertises would be more like the super-super-sour feeling that I get when I try teas that claim to be tart. But no—this was just nice, fruity goodness, and the smooth, tasty green really comes through here. A perfectly flavored green tea—which I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before. A great way to start my day—I’ll be getting this again.

Oh, and this re-steeps like a pro.

I had a Chem test this morning, so I steeped some of this up with some leftover Azteca Fire leaves, and man, this tea is delicious. Sweet, almondy, strong, and not even a whisper of bitterness. The Azteca Fire rounds it out and gives it a chocolatey note. Was equally good as a second steeping. I’m so glad I stocked up on this before it got discontinued.

I’ve seen this quite a bit, since I go to St. Olaf, where choir occupies a good portion of many of my friends’ lives. I tried the lemon echinacea last year and don’t really remember what it was like, but when I stumbled into Health Services with a nasty cold and a persistent sore throat, the nurse gave me a bag to try. And try I did. I steeped it for 10 minutes and had some before a midday nap; it felt so good on my scratchy throat…when I woke up it felt much better! I liked the taste too…yes it’s a bit mediciney but I like that. It’s reminiscent of my “Aveda” comforting tea (which I make myself now, heehee) but with more of an anise taste. Mmmm. This is just what I needed.