Bethany

Lighter than I thought it would be, with very little malt and a slight aftertaste of bittersweet cocoa. Good way to start off the day.

A tea swap tea. Not as strong as I expected it would be, or would like it to be, but it’s really good. It’s so nice to drink an herbal tisane that isn’t totally tart from hibiscus. Might buy a bigger size of this; I have such a hard time finding caffeine free blends I like.

Just spent two hours in meetings with this. Very tasty! A great basic oolong with a taste of almost syrupy, juicy peach.

Yum!

Tea Embassy, one of the shops I visited in Austin, had four or five different Earl Grey blends, including a berry version that had almost no smell of bergamot. I’d had a version of most of them – I would never betray my beloved SpecialTeas Earl Grey de la Creme – but had never tried a lavender Earl Grey. (By the way, did anyone else notice that Adagio now has an Earl Grey and cream blend called Earl Grey Moonlight? I placed an order for more filters today and saw that.. I’m scared to try it based on my terrible experience with their Earl Grey Bravo.)

The lavender is definitely most apparent in the smell, not the taste of this, which is fine. This has a nice strong bergamot taste without being soapy.

This is kind of an odd duck. Greenbelt is a mix of green yerba mate, green tea (unspecified kind), coconuts, cherry, and some flowers including cornflower blossoms and roses. I swear that at the store or on one of their websites, marzipan was listed as an ingredient, but I guess I’m wrong. There is definitely a strong smell of marzipan in the dry leaves, though.

This brews up to an almost radioactive yellow, I guess from the green yerba mate. I can definitely taste an almondy/coconut flavor similar to marzipan, but not as syrupy or sweet. Then the cherry, and a slight floral finish. I can barely taste any green tea; this tastes more like an herbal than anything else.

It’s soothing and relaxing. It’s definitely a tea to think on.

Prepared this in the takgoti chai style (recipe in my Chai thread on the discussion board), and it turned out.. okay. I really need to buy a tea strainer. I tried straining this in my Bodum Assam teapot, but there wasn’t enough tea for it to strain correctly. So it has more bits of coconut in it than I would like.

Either way, the chai is good – not too sweet, not bitter at all, and not too spicy. I’m curious to see how this tastes prepared with just water.

A weak, but pleasant tea. This says to steep for only 3 minutes, which has kept the bitterness that I often experience with Assams away. The vanilla is creamy but not too sweet; unfortunately I can’t taste much in the way of roses, but I do get a slight floral smell from my cup. I’d try steeping longer but I’d be scared it would get bitter.

Didn’t feel like doing a note of this last night..

This is kind of odd. By the end of the pot, I was enjoying it, but I don’t get apple butter at all. It has a unique taste that combines apple with some heartier fruit flavors like raisin. Good herbal for nighttime (I need those desperately), but weird.

More wireless mooching.. last day in Austin. Sad. But at least I’m leaving with a ton of new tea..

Got this at a coffee shop where I’m mooching free wi-fi. Meh.

I’m in Austin for the weekend and it’s absolutely miserable here. Rainy and cold at 55 degrees. Well, by Austin standards – it’s downright balmy compared to Chicago’s 30 degrees.

I found out about this place, Koriente, in my search for awesome restaurants on Austin’s Yelp site. They feature fresh Korean foods as well as a pretty big tea selection, mostly furnished by Harney & Sons (was so tempted to finally try that Pomegranate Oolong). They also have a big menu of bubble teas. I was going to go for the almond milk when I saw matcha as an option and just about jumped up and down with joy. I LOVE matcha, but I hate how expensive it is and how much preparation it requires. So this was my choice.

It was SO. GOOD. I think I’ll have to go back before my trip is over, as Koriente isn’t too far from my hotel. It was sweet and creamy and the tapioca balls had more flavor than I’m used to in bubble tea. So, Austin and I are off to a good start.

Backlogging – shared a pot of this with the boy last night. Put me right to sleep, as it always does. Him, not so much. But he was amused by the dragon on the box, and said it tastes pretty good.

Today was simultaneously terrific and awful. I got word that my organization received a $15,000 grant (from a proposal that I wrote) for a program that is near and dear to my heart. I also got a call from my doctor with some potentially very troubling news.

So to celebrate/pity myself, I brewed up one of my “special teas,” Milk Oolong. It’s not as sweet as I remembered. Definitely more grassy this time, but that’s alright. It’s still smooth as silk and hits the spot.

Another wombatgirl tea. This is kind of an odd one; the smell of the dry leaves is hard to place, and the taste isn’t all plum. I taste a lot of tartness from the hibiscus, which has become one of my all-time least favorite tea ingredients. Do taste a bit of honey and nougat at the end, though, as they say. Was just expecting a lot more from this.

The last of my sample of this – I’ve seriously had it for about a year, which is odd, because I really like this tea. It’s definitley one of my favorite oolongs that I’ve tried. May reorder the larger size, especially since this is such a good deal.

I taste absolutely no pu-erh in this, but perhaps that’s not a bad thing. This tastes straight up like strawberries and cream. Actually, it tastes a lot like SpecialTeas’ Strawberry Cream, which is delicious.

Thanks for the sample, wombatgirl!

Meh. Just meh. Can only barely taste coconut and green tea; can’t taste any lime. This is like tropical water.

Man, this stuff is so good. I’ve decided it tastes like a macaroon in a cup.

Another JacquelineM tea..

This is very unique, especially as an Assam. There’s absolutely no bitterness as I’ve found with many Assams; instead, there’s a strange almost-sweetness that does have a hint of that cooked honey flavor that Harney & Sons advertises. I’m not getting much malt at all. This is really hard to describe, but I like it.

It’s very rare that I’ll brew a cup of tea after 4pm at work, but I had a bag of this sitting in my drawer and it was just calling to me. Today has been a day of old staples (this, Orchid Oolong) and new favorites (Organic Black with Coconut).

It’s a coconut kind of day.

And another JacquelineM tea.

Wow.

This is heads and shoulders above the only other coconut black tea that I’ve tried, Adagio’s. I like the idea of combining coconut with Nilgiri tea instead of Adagio’s Ceylon. The taste is improved tenfold. And this has more of a toasted coconut taste than Adagio’s version – not sure if that’s due to the Nilgiri, or if it actually uses toasted coconut.

Either way, it’s really, really good. I may have to order a full size. Yummmm.

Another JacquelineM tea. This is a bold breakfast blend featuring Assam and Ceylon. The Assam is definitely more prevalent, and I’m coming to discover that Assams just aren’t my favorite black teas. They taste too bitter to me. Still, this is a good morning pick-me-up.