I missed you, Steepster.
And really, I’m not back yet. I’m still down south, where I’ve been since the 22nd (and somehow it’s still absolutely freezing outside…why do I feel cheated?). I was totally incommunicado for the holidays, which were lovely, mellow, and full of accidentally oversteeped cups of tea brewed at random temperatures…and then I was tea free for the last week, because I had my wisdom teeth out, and hot liquids were a no-no (to say nothing of the fact that caffeine and vicodin make poor bedpartners).
Today I actually got to brew myself a half-cup of chai. It was as though the pill-filled universe I’ve been existing in flickered for a moment on a faulty circuit, and normalcy was briefly restored. I may escape the matrix yet! With a flight home Monday to look forward to, things are looking up (though I may very well be shredded into a thousand tiny pieces by two very angry, lonely cats when I walk through that front door. The possibility exists that I may not survive how glad they will be to see me).
Despite my inability to drink any tea, I did get to buy some tea the day before my extractions. There’s a Teavana nearby. I loaded upon Samurai mate and splurged on a little bit of their Golden Monkey, as I sort of like Adagio’s, and I’m a huge fan of the Golden Spring. Why not, right? Fujian tea and I seem to get along pretty well.
Take this with not just one but several grains of salt: my mouth is not completely normal right now, for one thing, and for another I have no ability to gauge temperature here, but…
I’m just not that excited about this tea. Malty, yes. Bitter? Yeah. Not just bitter but a bit sour on the aftertaste. I’m sure I can lessen this by backing the temperature off, so this rating is just tentative. It certainly seems to have the thick, brothy mouthfeel that I liked so much in my Golden Spring, but the flavor seems so forward. There are elements of that prune/raisin sweetness in there, but they’re outdone by the bitter malty flavor. I guess I’ll have to try it again another time. Glad I only bought a small amount, though.
Hopefully it at least fuels me through reading the insane amount of updates from you guys that I now have to parse through! I’m excited to see what everybody was trying over the holidays, and I cannot wait to get home…home, where my Samovar and Teafrog orders from pre-Christmas are patiently waiting for me to pick them up from the front desk…
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Awww… you had your wisdom teeth pulled on vacation, sad!:,( I hope you feel better and are back to your tea drinking self soon!:)
Welcome back (sort of, seeing as you aren’t completely back home yet). Can’t wait to read your reviews.
Missed you, and welcome back! I hope you feel much better with the wisdom teeth thing. Mine have to come out soon, and I’m mildly terrified! Rest up, play some games, and drink tea when you can!
Glad to see you back on Steepster! I was beginning to wonder where you’d gotten to. Also glad to hear you had an enjoyable holiday.
When I got my wisdom teeth out, I was overly terrified to drink pretty much ANYTHING since they told me about dry suction and even though that is only related to straw-drinking, I think I only sipped on some water while I was still recovering.
Oh, and durr, YAY SAMOVAR! I hope you like them! [And the Teafrog.]
Thank you all for the well-wishings! And the welcome-backs. :)
Teaplz — don’t worry too much! It’s definitely unpleasant, but assuredly not unbearable. Worst bit for me was the bit right after coming out of twilight sedation, but thankfully it seems pretty easy to sleep through most of that…or it was for me, anyway, and usually I have a lot of trouble sleeping.
Tak — dry socket! I read about that when I was researching online to make sure I can fly safely this soon. D: I didn’t know anything about that before I got them extracted. I knew I could unclot things with straws or suction but not what would result…eugh. I’m almost glad I didn’t know. Safe to say I’ll probably be skipping painkillers this weekend and just taking them on the day I fly. x.x
Hey it’s good to have you back. I hope your mouth will feel better soon.
I didn’t get any bitterness in this tea, and I hate bitter teas. I’m no expert, but maybe using boiling water is too hot? I thought black teas were typically brewed at around 195 or so.
Awww… you had your wisdom teeth pulled on vacation, sad!:,( I hope you feel better and are back to your tea drinking self soon!:)
Welcome back (sort of, seeing as you aren’t completely back home yet). Can’t wait to read your reviews.
Missed you, and welcome back! I hope you feel much better with the wisdom teeth thing. Mine have to come out soon, and I’m mildly terrified! Rest up, play some games, and drink tea when you can!
Glad to see you back on Steepster! I was beginning to wonder where you’d gotten to. Also glad to hear you had an enjoyable holiday.
When I got my wisdom teeth out, I was overly terrified to drink pretty much ANYTHING since they told me about dry suction and even though that is only related to straw-drinking, I think I only sipped on some water while I was still recovering.
Oh, and durr, YAY SAMOVAR! I hope you like them! [And the Teafrog.]
Thank you all for the well-wishings! And the welcome-backs. :)
Teaplz — don’t worry too much! It’s definitely unpleasant, but assuredly not unbearable. Worst bit for me was the bit right after coming out of twilight sedation, but thankfully it seems pretty easy to sleep through most of that…or it was for me, anyway, and usually I have a lot of trouble sleeping.
Tak — dry socket! I read about that when I was researching online to make sure I can fly safely this soon. D: I didn’t know anything about that before I got them extracted. I knew I could unclot things with straws or suction but not what would result…eugh. I’m almost glad I didn’t know. Safe to say I’ll probably be skipping painkillers this weekend and just taking them on the day I fly. x.x
Hey it’s good to have you back. I hope your mouth will feel better soon.
I didn’t get any bitterness in this tea, and I hate bitter teas. I’m no expert, but maybe using boiling water is too hot? I thought black teas were typically brewed at around 195 or so.