teabird

Cold-brewed this overnight, and it turned out pretty well. Teas like this are why I bought a glass waterbottle; it’s delicate enough to be overwhelmed by plastic or aluminum.sweet and refreshing, though- a good tea for a summer morning.

This tea also has the most gorgeous leaves I’ve ever seen, wet or dry: green, and maroon, and sparkly from the “silver” hairs on the needles.

I just placed an order with Rishi (last day for 20% off with their mother’s day code!) So I’m trying to finish off some of my last round from them. I was looking forward to this one, but tragically didn’t rinse my filter well enough after washing it, so lost a whole mug to soap :(

More rinsing and a fresh batch of leaves makes a better cup, but now I’m paranoid and keep thinking I taste soap. Arg! It is being a little bitter, but I probably just used too much leaf…

Backlogging: I picked up a tin of this a couple of weeks ago from Cardullo’s, being too overwhelmed by the awesomeness to decide on anything else. (They carry Golden Moon! And Kusmi! I have never seen so many great teas in one store O_O)

I’ll add a rating later, since the slider doesn’t want to cooperate with my phone. This was a little too tart/rooibos-y plain, but tasty with a bit of sugar. Also good chilled! I haven’t decided yet whether it’s better with or without milk.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Mixed this with a bit of LeafSpa’s Irish Breakfast today (so sad they’re gone); it was a good blending choice, since the IB already has hints of chocolate and vanilla on it’s own. Very rich and tasty with milk.

Finally got around to drinking this again, at work a few days ago. I keep trying to wait until I have time to pay attention to the brewing, but at that rate I’ll never drink it. So: I used enough leaves to thinly cover the bottom of my mug, and water slightly below boiling. I left the leaves in the mug, drank it when it was cool enough, and added more hot water when it was mostly empty. I probably steeped the leaves 3 or 4 times.

It was really good! Sweet, and nutty, and roasted. A little fruity. Very smooth. It went surprisingly well with the cashews I was snacking on at the time!

Stovetop chai day! Also catching-up-on-backlogged-tea day :) but this one is current. And delicious, and warm; it’s 12˚F out here with a windchill of zero – sweet and spicy tea is definitely called for!

Got my clearance order from SpecialTeas today – quite happy with it so far. This Winter Blend is distinctive – slightly spicy, slightly fruity, well balanced. I like that I can pick out the flavors of orange, coriander, and pistachio, not just cinnamon. It is similar to Harney and Sons Holiday flavored tea, but I think this is less fruity. An absolute steal at $2.63 for 4oz.

The pistachio came out especially strong on a second steep (~5 minutes).

1tsp/6oz, taken with cream.

This has become my breakfast tea of choice lately, because 1) It’s a good, flavorful, hearty black 2) I can drink it with or without milk, and 3) I don’t feel bad for not taking the time to resteep it.

Treating myself to a stovetop chai this evening. It’s been hard to find time to log teas lately, but I am still drinking them! I love all the spices in this one (the picture is quite accurate, there are huge chunks of cinnamon and maple sugar).

No notes yet.

Remember that job I got, like, two months ago? Well, it finally started. Hence, lack of posting. Also hence: tea for de-stressing!

This is really lovely to look at while it steeps – there are big chamomile buds and a chrysanthemum floating on top, lemongrass on the bottom with some pink curls I think are rosehips (not purple enough to be hibiscus, though that’s apparently in here somewhere) and I definitely see a sprig of tarragon floating near the bottom there too.

The flavor is pretty mild. I wouldn’t have liked this two years ago, but I find it pleasantly soothing now. I’m still not a huge fan of chamomile, but it blends well here with the tangy citrus-esque flavors.

Mmm… another lovely one from the SororiTEA Sisters. If I hadn’t already tried Florence this would be my favorite chocolate tea. Strongly chocolatey, like dark chocolate, but still tea. A little bitter for me straight-up, but rich and sweet with milk.

No notes yet.

Smells very spicy (that would be the peppercorn, cumin, and coriander) and a little nutty/sweet. The taste oddly both watery and full. I can identify black tea on the front, kind of bitter really, but then the aftertaste is sweet and spicy and lovely. I prefer my tea unsweetened, but this could do with a bit of sugar or honey.

A dash of milk improves it enormously: fuller body, less harshness, more caramel flavors.
I steeped 1tsp in 8oz boiling water for 2:15 (recommendation is 2-3 minutes); a longer steep or more leaf would be better. A second steep at 4 minutes was about as good as the first. And, impressively, two subsequent steeps (6 and 8 minutes) were also good.

Points for uniqueness and resteepability.

This was probably the most exciting sample out of my SororiTEA Sisters prize package – I hadn’t gotten to try any of LiberTEAS’ creations before! And it’s lovely. Smells like a cinnamon roll, but the light pastry kind, not the heavy buttery side. I wouldn’t have guessed that rose, cinnamon, and vanilla would go so well together but they really do.

This is light, sweet, and delicious without anything added.

Juicy! I’d say the cherry in this is as strong as the rose. It reminds me of Enjoying Tea’s Rooibos Provence (both have rooibos, rose, and red fruit flavors), but that one is more floral where this is more fruity. I’m not a huge cherry fan, but if I were this is one I’d likely keep in stock – the cherry flavor is rich, sincere (G identified it without being told), and not overpowering. Very tasty!

Will update with resteep info.

Another from the SororiTEA Sisters’ prize package!

2g, 8oz

I feel so accomplished when I correctly guess which teas are in a blend! I knew there was Keemun in this one from the scent of the dry leaf, and the smell of the brewed tea has that honey note you get from Assam sometimes and the pure “black tea” flavor I get from Ceylon.

This isn’t quite smooth enough to drink plain, but it makes a very full-flavored classic English Breakfast with a bit of milk (sugar would go well too, I’m sure). I like it, but I think I’ve been spoiled by the complexity of my recent morning staple, Rishi’s China Breakfast. This is a more straightforward black tea blend, but nice and strong.

This is another from the SororiTEA Sisters’ Prize Package! Thanks ladies! You should see the little tins they came in, too ^_

2g, 8oz, steeps at 3:15, 4:30 (a little weak)

Ooh, this smells nice. It’s an Earl Grey, but there’s something distinctly floral in the aroma. Jasmine, I think. (The official description concurs – jasmine). It seems to go well with the bergamot though. It’s a bit strong to drink plain, but there’s also a lingering sweetness – from the jasmine and the Chinese black, I would guess. Adding milk made this taste more like a traditional EG to me; I can still smell the jasmine, and it dominates the aftertaste, but it tastes like bergamot and black tea.

I would drink this in the morning, when I want a slightly sweet kick to start the day.

Thank you to LiberTEAS and TeaEqualsBliss! This is from a prize I won over at their SororiTEA Sisters’ blog!

2.6g, 8oz, 2 steeps at 3:15, 5:15

Oh this is interesting – very mild, very well blended. Brewed exactly according to Rishi’s instructions, the sencha is barely noticeable, but the Yuzu (a citrus fruit I’d never tasted before) isn’t overpowering, either. I’m not quite sure how that works. I’m going to wait a little while to try to rate this numerically.

It’s a very light citrus flavor, and very authentic. Like smelling just the outside of a fresh orange, or what I imagine a citrus orchard would taste like. I’m not getting roses or gardenia’s (as they suggest) but there is something floral there.

It is a little bitter, on the first steep, but it’s citrus-rind-bitter not oversteeped-green-bitter. I like the second steep better, I think. I can taste more of the sencha and matcha, though the yuzu is still very much present.

This is very refreshing, between the citrus and the matcha caffeine kick; it might be good iced, though I think I’d be tempted to sweeten it.

_{1 heaping tsp, 4oz water, 2nd steep 1 minute}

Backlogging – my aunt had a box of this in her cupboard, and no idea how to steep it, so she pulled it out when I was visiting. I used 2 bags for ~8oz water, heated on the stovetop so I could see when bubbles were just starting to form.

The color is a bright yellow/amber, rather like I get from mint tea. The taste does have the sweet/umami/smooth characteristics I expect from white tea, but there weren’t any other flavors to distinguish it. It’s not bad, but it’s certainly not great. I would accept it if offered, but not recommend or offer it myself.

A very pleasant, well-blended vanilla tea (though I confess, I can’t really taste the Chrysanthemum). The Assam base means there’s a bit of astringency to this if drunk plain. I thought it was fine with just a bit of honey, but G found it a little too harsh, so added some milk.

I find that good vanilla teas have a very different character with milk than without. Without, they’re fruity and complex, making me think of the tropics vanilla comes from. With, they become sweet, creamy, and dessert-y (even with no extra sugar).

This is very tasty. It reminds me of Dragonwater’s White Chocolate Toffee rooibos – the same peculiar alcoholic note. It smells like a mug of Amaretto, but fortunately the taste is more nuanced. Sweet, nutty, and a little sharp. I like it better with a dash of cream. A pleasant after-dinner tea, decadent enough to be dessert and caffeine-free. Although, as I get through this mug I’m noticing more of the coffee flavor, especially in the aftertaste, and I think that there are actual coffee beans in the mix, so… maybe not quite caffeine-free.