Tawny Kira

I said previously that I planned on using this tea in steaming some veggies (as suggested by Bonnie!) and I did, so I thought it would be a good idea to post a tasting note about the outcome!

I made up some packets with carrots, squash, zucchini, potatoes, and cut up ears of corn to put on the grill. I added in a little melted butter, sage, salt/pepper, garlic, red pepper & just a touch of LS (in the tea packets Bonnie sent). I steamed the packets on the grill for 30 minutes.

The smell while it was grilling was amazing. But once I opened the foil packets my mouth really started to water! The tea added a smokey flavor to the veggies that wasn’t overpowering at all, but still quite present. It was divine. I didn’t tell my husband that I’d steamed the veggies with tea until he mentioned the smokiness- he was pretty impressed that just a little bit of tea could bring that much flavor!

I would have never thought to use tea in my cooking, but I’m so glad I did!

When I opened the bag of this tea that Bonnie sent me, I was hit with the smell of bonfires. I immediately knew that this was the tea I wanted to drink.

The smokey aroma lingered as it steeped, and remained as I poured it although it was not quite as powerful as when I first opened the bag. It tastes just like I imagined it would. If you could drink a bonfire, this is exactly what it would be like. I really don’t know how else to describe it, the words have left me!

This tea would be great on a summer night as well as an autumn night. It brings a comforting warmth with its smokiness and I feel that it would be a good tea with which to blend your own custom flavors with. I’ve got a couple pairings in mind to try out actually :)

Bonnie mentioned steaming vegetables with a little of this tea & I already know that I’m going to try it out tonight! We’re having company over and grilling out and I think some smokey vegetables would pair perfectly with the meal! I’ll make sure to let you know how it turns out! :)

It’s a nice sleepy afternoon here in Northern Alabama, and with nothing to do but wait on the laundry to finish & read a book I thought this tea seemed quite appropriate.

Upon opening the little sample packet sent to me by the lovely Bonnie, it smelled fruity and sweet. The sweet aroma lingered on as it steeped away and as I poured it into my cup.

I added just the slightest touch of honey and this cup is all that I hoped it would be. Light, sweet, refreshing and fruity. I’ve had greens before that were overpowered by the fruit flavors they were blended with, but that is not the case with this tea at all. There is just the perfect amount of mango and the guava lingering in the background is quite refreshing.

A perfectly pleasant cup for a quiet afternoon! I’m wondering if I can get another steep out of it, not sure but I’m sure going to try!

This note is for the 2nd steeping of this tea. I was too tired last night to type it up (first day of a rigorous exercise regimen!) so I am doing it now :)

The first steeping was crisp and autumny, bright and malty. With the second steep however I found to be smoother, richer even. The malty quality comes forward ever so slightly as the roasted grain notes are more subdued. It’s warm, complex and flavorful. A comforting cup that helped me to unwind and relax

After a long night of being woken up multiple times by Danny (3) who climbed into bed with us late last night, and muscle soreness from my exercise yesterday I woke up feeling pretty lethargic. But it’s Friday which means it’s time to clean the apartment, so I made myself some of this- the name just called out to me! Good Morning Sunshine!

Throughout the steeping process the tea smelled crisp, fresh, and lemony. Danny said it smelled “sunny” which I thought was a very accurate description! The flavor of this tea was just as lovely as the aroma. Delicate, lemony, refreshing! Plus it’s caffeinated so it had me perked up in no time!

The second steeping was light and even more delicate than the first- but just as flavorful.

The perfect pick me up for a sluggish morning :)

I was pleasantly surprised by a knock on the door from our postman today. He had a package for me from Bonnie that was a TON of teas to sample! It was like Christmas on the 14th of June! Thank you so much for the package Bonnie, I cannot wait to try all of the teas you sent!

I found myself unable to decide on what tea to make first, so I sniffed around and finally picked this one. I’m reading a riveting book right now & I thought the aroma suited my mood. Complex. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I breathed in this tea.

After steeping it in my little white teapot, the aroma was bright and roasted, warm & autumny. Like going outside as the hot air turns cooler and breathing in the last of summer. The taste was just the same. Notes of roasted grains, bright and ever so lightly malted.

I was right to choose this tea as it perfectly suited my mood and I look forward to the second steep as I am finishing up my cup now. I will most certainly be purchasing some more of this! Thank you so much (again) to Bonnie for sending this!

Another tea from the box that my grandmother sent me.

This one is immensely better than the raspberry, but still not something I’d buy on my own. I don’t really do teabags in the first place, but that’s not really the point.

When I opened the box the smell of spice is the primary aroma- not specifically cinnamon, but spice. The same is true once the tea is brewed, although you can smell a hint of citrus as well.

Unlike the blackberry spice variety from Gevalia that I tried before, this one is less artificial in taste. The flavoring is actually quite subtle- a hint of orange with the cinnamon coming through ever so lightly. Not bad.

Like I said, I don’t ever buy bagged teas like this unless I’m completely out of anything else (god forbid, but the postal service does have a tendency to be slow about things!) but this wasn’t all that horrible. It had quite a warming effect and I actually finished the cup which was a surprise in itself!

All in all it was okay I suppose.

I decided to give this tea a second shot & steep it for a shorter amount of time than I did the first time. I’m glad I did because it changed my opinion of this tea entirely!

The first time around, I clearly must have steeped it for too long because it came out much sharper than it has this time. Don’t get me wrong, I like a touch of bitter to my tea as long as it’s the right kind of bitter (if that makes sense haha). The first time I tried this tea there was just something ‘off’ to me about it.

This time however I found this tea to be much smoother, more refreshing and much more flavorful. I still get that slightly drying feeling in my mouth after I drink it, but it’s much less noticeable this time around. I think this will come to be a staple in my cabinet now that I’ve found how to brew it to my tastes!

My grandmother saw on Facebook that I’d recently purchased a decent tea kettle, and took it upon herself to send me a box of different kinds of tea that she likes. So, you will see me reviewing some teas that I otherwise would not have purchased on my own. She’s a big fan of flavored tea bags, so that’s of course what I received.

This tea smelled rather medicinal when I pulled out my tea bag & the medicinal smell continued through the steeping process. The tea produced was a dark chocolatey color, quite pretty really, but the resulting flavors were not nearly as lovely. Without sweetening the tea retained the medicinal quality that the aroma had, though with a little honey it was better. You do get a slight spiciness in the aroma, which gave me some hope that the tea wouldn’t be all that bad.

I’ve found that most berry teas I’ve had (raspberry/blackberry, I’ve yet to try any strawberry teas) tend to taste artificial and this was no exception. With some milk added in, you notice less of the artificial flavor notes and more of the spice flavors which made it better. Not great, but not bad. I love blackberries, but I really don’t get much of a blackberry flavor from this which was kind of disappointing. The spice is what salvaged this tea and earned it a better rating.

While I won’t be purchasing any more of this tea for myself, I won’t be tossing it out either. If I ever find myself out of my regular teas, I suppose I’ll be pulling this one out of the back of the cabinet

Earl Grey Lavender has always been one my favorite teas & this was just perfect. The bag upon opening had the most divinely sweet floral scent. It was full of little lavender buds and I couldn’t wait to make myself a cup.

It is sweet, smooth, creamy and delicious. While this variety of tea is something I always want to have on hand, Adagio’s version is definitely going to be my go-to from now on. Even my 3 year old loves when I brew this up- he always asks me to smell it and says “mmm that’s a really good smelling teak!” (can’t convince him that there’s no K at the end of the word tea :P)

A nice tea, but there was something about it that I didn’t quite like. It was slightly drying to the mouth & there was a note to it that I just can’t put my finger on. While not displeasing, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea (pun completely intentional :P)

When I first opened the bag it smelled like a combination of fish and horse stables. Very earthy/peaty. While some may think of the aroma as unpleasant, I thought it was quite lovely and knew that the tea would have a wonderful earthiness to it. I rinsed the tea first as was recommended & then steeped my tea at 4min with boiling water. The “fishy” smell was lightened quite a bit, and a kind of mossy foresty smell took the forefront.

Drinking this tea was a dream. It was rich, earthy, smooth. With a light addition of milk and honey I found myself quite smitten with this tea. I infused the leaves a couple more times and each infusion was lovely as well. I will definitely be buying more of this tea in a larger quantity.