451 Tasting Notes
There’s been a lot of painting this weekend. Between me, my husband, and my friend and her boyfriend, the dining area, entry, and office of our new place have been painted. Just two rooms (one with scary high ceilings) to go! The old paint colors were very dark and had a ton of stains, so it’s nice to see bright, clean colors on the walls. I think the condo is happy, too, but it hasn’t totally decided how it feels about hubby and I yet. Cautiously optimistic, perhaps? (Yeah, I’m a weird person that anthropomorphizes everything.)
It’s been a hot few days and I’m seriously dehydrated so what could be better than iced tea? I brewed this double strong and poured it over ice for a quick cup of cold tea. SO GOOD. I’m not normally an iced tea person at all – I love my hot tea way too much for that – but this really hit the spot. I’m on glass number 3 and contemplating a fourth – gotta resteep, right?
Preparation
So, for anyone interested in a life update, my husband and I closed on our condo just over a week ago and we’ve been slowly moving in and getting things settled! The kitchen is about 95% done, including a tea cabinet that was the first thing to be set up. Okay, maybe my husband set up his computer first, but the tea cabinet was a close second. Priorities are priorities, right?
We had some friends over to help us paint this weekend. The previous owners were … well, they didn’t know how to house. Or clean. Or have much common sense. This week has been extremely frustrating for getting anything done because everything is filthy, nonsensical, or both. I was so happy to have people over who actually helped us make progress on settling in. We still don’t have most of our furniture here, but our office is set up and I have a desk (!!!) for the first time in years.
And now for the tea…
This is the one my friend requested when I offered to make her tea. She got the first steep and I took the second, only I massively oversteeped my cup. With a splash of flavored creamer to sweeten things up, you’d never know I oversteeped. Seriously. Whistling Kettle’s black teas tend to be very bitter to me, but this one was smooth, creamy, sweet, and absolutely lived up to its name. I’m very impressed … and very sad that I only have a sample of this … and Whistling Kettle is now several hours away from me. Booooo!
Flavors: Cream, Vanilla
Preparation
This one has been kicking around since before I joined Steepster … wow!
I’ve had this a couple different ways. The best is steeped in hot, lactose-free milk — sweet and spicy, rich and thick. I did not have lactose-free milk, so I had this with some cinnamon bun coffee creamer. It’s spicy, it’s creamy, it’s a generic chai. Maybe a little weak from using cooler water and not steeping as long. Or maybe it’s the age, ‘cause this tea is one of the oldest I have. Not bad at all, but I’m really excited to have sipped this one down.
Preparation
I don’t even feel bad for adding a ton of creamer to this one.
I’ve had this straight before and couldn’t taste anything past the bitterness. Just foul. I thought about dumping the tea bags, but felt bad wasting them. Enter Cinnabon creamer and another week at my in-laws!
All I taste is the creamer and it’s sweet delicious cinnamon bun, maybe a little bit of frosted cookie. Oh yes yes yes. Plus, since I remembered by travel tumblers this week, I now have caffeine at work! YES!
Rating reflects the tea on its own and not with the creamer, since I didn’t think that would be fair.
(Only 11 more days until we close and get the keys to the house…)
Preparation
I got this in a sampler of teabags from my best friend a year ago. Dry, it smells fruity and sweet. I’m reminded of dark berries, not just generic fruit. Steeped, it tastes like the tea they serve you in Chinese restaurants, or at least the ones I went to as a kid. It’s bitter and would benefit from sugar, but I know sweetening this wouldn’t help the bitterness factor.
It’s okay as a nostalgic tea … but not something I want to drink much. Hooray for having one teabag left?
Preparation
Had this as my morning caffeine fix yesterday with a hefty splash of Cinnabon creamer. I was rushing trying to get out the door and needed to be able to chug my tea, and creamer seemed like the fastest way to cool it off. Next time, I’m bringing a travel mug. (Or three because my office is COLD and there is no coffee/tea setup in the office.)
The low steep temperature and addition of creamer destroyed any bitterness that is usually present. And bonus, the combination tasted like the icing on a cinnamon bun. Yum!
Preparation
This past month has seen a lot of upheaval. My fiance and I – after postponing what would have been our wedding back in December – got married in June. Not once, but twice – we had the little ceremony we planned on and his parents followed it up with another wedding (more like reception actually) for their friends. We’re also in the process of buying a place and I’ve changed jobs. Today was my first day and I’m completely wiped.
Since we haven’t closed on the new place yet, we’re staying with my in-laws and I’m taking the opportunity to use up some of my bagged teas and get my cupboard numbers down.
This tea is decent – nothing overly remarkable. It’s fruity with a weird bitter tang at the end – I think the chamomile is wreaking some havoc. Then again, I also steeped this at 175F so that it would actually have a shot at cooling off quick enough to drink at my in-laws … though I would think a lower steep temperature would mean less bitter … Eh! Maybe I’ll just add sugar next time.
Flavors: Fruity