New Tasting Notes
This tea is much better iced than hot. I had it hot the other day and the berry flavor was too strong. It is also less bitter when cold.
I purchased this tea primarily for my husband. Although it is good, I prefer camellia sinensis or anything that tastes good hot (hot cocoa, good coffee…) Gosh, I haven’t had any hot cocoa in forever! It’s summer now though, my least-liked season and not good with cocoa, which in turn really isn’t good for my health anyway, so it all works out. I do miss being a kid, when I could care less. I should be grateful that I had a health-nut father who wouldn’t let me have any sweet cereals but once a week and even then I was only allowed to sprinkle some on top of something healthy. If it wasn’t for him, I would have had no restraint. Brownies and hot cocoa and fruit loops everyday. Ick, Fruit Loops, I can’t stand the thought anymore. Ok, yeah, I’m seriously rambling now. But I’m done :)
It’s been a busy day!
First, I actually left my house at 8:30 in the morning to meet with the new principal of the Visual & Performing Arts (VPA) middle school in St. Louis’ Magnet school system. For about 12 years I worked there part time teaching Harp. I had 10 students per class, with 3 classes (6th, 7th, & 8th grade). During the time I was there I had some really awesome kids, some of whom still keep in touch with me from time to time, & some who continued their studies with me at the VPA high school, & are currently studying Harp in college (Ball State, Webster University, Lincoln U). Sadly, the program began to fall apart, as we got a new principal who had no interest in the arts & set out to remove the “smart through the arts” emphasis. I quit, as it was a miserable environment. So now there is a new principal, who attended the VPA program years ago, & his big goal is to get the school back on track. He would like to start my Harp program up again, among other things. We had a nice visit.
Then I played at the nursing home, then at another event. I knew I’d be out & about for awhile, so I brewed up a strong batch of Tardis & then iced it down. I carried it around with me all afternoon in my venti sized double walled starbucks cup with a straw. It stayed nice & cold, & it is delicious as an ice tea, SO good. Leif agrees, he had some too.
Sounds like exciting stuff in the works! Music is essential!
School without the arts should be a crime! I try to work in art and music as much as I can with my first graders, but there is no formal curriculum. Sad!
St. Louis’ VPA program was really awesome at it’s highest point, with 2 elementary schools, a middle school, & a high school that all included a wide array of arts. At the elementary everyone learned to play an instrument, & got a chance to try out various other arts. At the middle school they could choose 2 arts: music (vocal, string, band, harp, piano), dance, theater, audio visual, 2 different art approaches (one more focused on sculptural mediums like clay, the other more focused on drawing, painting). We had the top jazz band, flags & stuff like that in the district. The high school included all that, plus a fashion design program & who knows what else. All the music teachers were top notch musicians, performing locally on the jazz scene, or as soloists, or as part of some ensemble or other. I won’t go into the many reasons the programs have gone downhill, but it is a shadow of itself & a shame.
I had a very long day at work and am stressing about a project still. I wanted to have this tonight for comfort, but it’s making me a bit more anxious due to the caffeine. Sigh might have to switch to herbals in a bit. At least it tastes good, lots of blueberry with a cream cheese aftertaste. See previous notes on this tea.
Preparation
This has been stored well it has no sharpness left in it. Very nice and almost sweet on the sides of the tongue. Pale light green brew,very nice to just sit and inhale the aroma. Not an overpowering one by far. Very nice and easy to drink. I think this will just get better and better with age.
Preparation
figured i might as well try this one again tonight after having the zen tea version last night. Ill stick to this version thanks! could be the same supplier for all i know but this version seems so much creamier and raspberrier for me. I’m really enjoying this as an end to the evening. I didn’t get as much tea drinking in, but what i’ve had tonight has been delicious!
I finished off the last of this tonight (233) as it was only a “normal” person’s cup left. I may need to order my own of this one if i ever get around to placing a harney’s order…though i suspect there may be others from harney that wind up taking a front seat to this one if i have to limit my choices lol still though…like the black + mango in this one. thanks fiddling
sipdown! had a cup of this tonight while working on a failed recipe…was trying to make salted caramel brownies and my caramel refused to harden. oh well. At least i tried? still waiting on the final verdict of the sloppy mess i was left with though lol this tea? still relatively enjoyable :) thanks kittenna!
Backlog from last night.
So. You know how you’re supposed to be really, really careful when you steep white teas because they’re so easy to overdo? Yeah, well. I did mine last night while I was washing strawberries at 11:15 at night, because that’s what every cool, responsible grown-up does. And I poured the tea over the leaves, forgot, and then had an OH SH— moment ten minutes later. I braced myself for the taste of horridly rotted turkey – but it tasted fine. A bit duller than the first time I tried it, even. But fine.
I have no idea what happened.
Preparation
I’ve had this many times hot, but this is the first time I cold -steeped it. I like it better this way. It cuts down on that menthol-like taste I find in a lot rooibos and brought out the creamier aspect of the tea. Also the blackberry flavor seemed much stronger. I will have to make it again soon .
This tea came my way from an amazing swap with Dexter3657…thank you!
In my limited tea experience, I am finding that I really like these spicy chai tea’s, and this one is no exception.
The dry leaf smells strongly of ginger (in a good way). The brewed scent doesn’t have the strong ginger scent, but it comes through in taste. The ginger isn’t overpowering, but I definitely get the spicy ginger flavour from this tea. It is very tasty with a perfect balance of spicy ginger.
I so did not dig this tea. I didn’t even write a note because other than “bleah” I couldn’t articulate much. I decided to give it a few days, maybe I wasn’t in the mood, an go again,
I can see why this tea might not be suited to everyone’s taste. There is something that I can’t pinpoint interacting with the ginger.
This was “weird” for me too. I just thought that “weird” was the tulsi, I didn’t hate it, but it’s not my favorite chai blend.
Got this freebie teabag last time I went into Lupicia. Dry, it smells like applesauce. It steeps up to a nice golden color, but doesn’t really carry through with that apple flavor. It’s more like drinking a savory green tea base with a slight hint of apple joining the party. The berries might have RSVP’d but they certainly didn’t show up.
