teaplz

This is the best Earl Grey I’ve ever tasted.

Okay, let’s back up for a second. How did I acquire this EG? takgoti sent me a ridiculously huge tea swap box. And I mean, ridiculously huge. The box is wider than me. And bigger than my head. There were 29 teas in there. 29! CRAZY. All beautifully wrapped and numbered and perfect. It’s enough to make you swoon. I nearly did. In fact, I teared up a little bit at the generosity, but that’s besides the point.

So, takgoti is always pimping Samovar. It’s like she’s their poster girl, or something! I say this with all the affection in the world, but if you don’t know that Samovar is takgoti’s absolute favorite tea company, you haven’t been on Steepster long enough.

After being dazed and confused for the wonderfulness for a day or so, I decided to dive right in and start with what she labeled #1: Earl Grey. Now, I have a very stormy relationship with the Earl. We’ve had… issues in the past, needless to say. But takgoti said that this is her favorite, so I went right along with it!

The leaves are definitely a lot longer and thicker than what I’ve seen of EGs. Normally the tea tends to be an afterthought of the bergamot, and in most EGs, the bergamot is so overpowering it’s ridiculous. Let me tell you though, the smell of Samovar’s blend is mouth-watering. Even more delicious-smelling than EGB by Adagio. In fact, a lot more interesting, because I can just smell the black tea underneath it. Flowery citrus mixed with… hints of cocoa? That’s what I’m getting.

Anyway, I steeped this up (and was surprised at the low water temperature and short steep time, but I wasn’t about to deviate), and the resulting cup was a pretty dark, coppery color. The wet leaves actually smell more like tea than bergamot! Super-surprised on that front. And the cup itself? A pleasant mix of the two.

On first sip, I sighed and gave the tea a mental thumbs-up. Then I gave it a literal thumbs-up when I took a picture of myself drinking it and sent it to takgoti. For once, I can actually taste BLACK TEA. And it’s delicious and yummy black tea, with all sorts of subtleties and hints of something more. The base here is really very good. I’m getting some cocoa, and some tart notes.

The bergamot here is phenomenal. It’s the perfect pitch of citrus and floral, refreshing but not overpowering. FINALLY. I don’t feel like I’m drinking perfume straight from a bottle! It tastes fresh and satisfying. I’m not gagging after each and every sip!

I still don’t think I’m an EG convert. I don’t think I could ever drink EG once a day, or even maybe once a week. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m never going to absolutely love it. It’ll always be middle-of-the-road for me, and that’s okay.

But I’d never, ever refuse a cup of Samovar’s blend. It’s delicious. Is it the strongest EG? No. If you’re into stronger stuff, try Adagio’s Earl Grey Bravo. Which frankly, the taste of makes me want to vomit a little. But if you like subtle Earl Grey that actually tastes like tea and has an authentic, refreshing and delicious bergamot note, then buy Samovar’s creation.

Seriously, I cannot thank takgoti enough for showing me that yes, Earl Grey CAN taste good. It just has to be super-awesome EG from a great company. Let’s hope that the rest of Samovar’s catalog is just as impressive as this, and I LOVE TAKGOTI SHE IS AMAZING.

That is all.

My stomach has been unhappy-making (probably due to the stuff I’m eating to try and gain weight), so I needed some mint to help it ease up.

I almost smacked myself in the forehead after I poured the water into this because I could have tried takgoti’s Moorish Mint. I’m an idiot.

I’ve never had Moroccan Mint, but I have had peppermint tea and gunpowder. The sample is pretty and dark green, with lots of peppermint leaves (complete with static cling), and rolled green tea. All very visually appealing.

The smell… well, it actually smells like exactly what it is. The mint overpowers the smell of the green tea overall (but I’ve never found Chinese greens to be that fragrant anyway), but it has a nice, rounded aroma.

The cup is similar in color to a gunpowder – not green, but a honey color. The smell coming off of it doesn’t have any of the smokiness of the gunpowder, and the mint hits you full force in the face.

I actually really enjoyed the taste of this. It’s uncomplicated, but interesting. Definitely a nice change of pace from the normal peppermint that I tend to drink. The green tea peeks through with a hint of verdant sweetness, but it really isn’t the main player here. The mint is fresh, and it almost, but not quite, drowns out the tea. Its herbal edge is definitely cut by the green tea, which is nice. No astringency… and no smoke, surprisingly.

I’ll probably have some Moorish Mint later, because those flavor combinations seem absolutely delicious.

I AM OVERWHELMED.

I have tea coming out of my ears. Tea tea tea tea tea tea tea. SO MUCH TEA. I literally spent 20 minutes this morning, wringing my hands, pacing the floor like an animal, trying to figure out WHAT exactly I should drink. I’m worried about it going bad, about it getting stale, about it losing flavor. I’m like a woman undone.

Finally, in frustration, I just dunked my hand into the GM sample basket and I pulled this out. There we go! Darjeeling. Okay, fine, I’ll take it, let’s steep this.

So, Darjeeling. I’ve never actually had it. It gets touted regularly as the “champagne of teas” with “muscatel” flavors. Okay, so it’s really good and tastes like wine and grapes. Simple enough.

The leaves on this one are really wiry and long. I wasn’t picking up anything special on the scent. Maybe a bit more fruity than normal? But it pretty much smelled like a basic black. The leaves are really pretty to watch unfurl here; some are quite long.

Finally I had some tea juice in my hands and I was ready to drink. I stuck my nose in the steam of the light infusion (much lighter than I thought it was going to be) and inhaled. Hrm. I feel like I should be one of those snobbish wine connoisseurs and make up stuff. Like, “Oooh, this one smells like freshly tanned leather and pipe tobacco with a hint of animal dung.”

I am probably over-caffeinated right now.

But no, it doesn’t smell like any of those things. In fact, I was just a fairly default black taste. So I was actually pleasantly surprised when I took my first sip of it piping hot. It tasted… different. A bit musky, maybe? Subtle, but deceivingly so, because there seems to be a lot of depth.

I actually liked this a lot better as it cooled a little. Then that infamous “muscatel” flavor came creeping in. I’m not a big drinker of wine (and I like white over red), but this tea had a similar fruity composition. Almost grape-y. There were some basic floral notes, but overall, it was very smooth and sometimes sweet with no astringency. I think I would have preferred it to be a bit more full-bodied. This Darjeeling was actually lighter than I thought it was going to be.

Does it taste like any other black tea I’ve tasted? No. It tastes… like a Darjeeling. I don’t know if this is the best Darjeeling ever, and I don’t have anything to compare it against, but I enjoyed savoring that special fruity component.

DRAGONHELL. (Time to play some obligatory Dragonforce to get you in the mood for the epicness of the following review, and just cause it sounds cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc9_U-RBSuk)

I have heard terrifying things about Dragonwell. Salty water. Bitter. Astringent. BLECH.

I was joking around the other day about this particular tea, and apparently the universe was listening to me, because it dumped it in my lap! One of my sister’s friends gave this to her for Christmas, and my sister shoved it onto me. A 4.3 oz tin of Dragonwell of unknown origins. Probably from Chinatown, since the entire package is almost all in Chinese. No steeping parameters, no… nothing. Just pure terror.

So I bit the bullet and tried this, expecting a really bad tea experience. Before I dive into all the awesome tea in my house, I might as well have something mediocre, right? This tin was actually a lot less ghetto than I thought it would be. It’s double-lidded! Yay!

I asked some informed people, and did 2 tsps per cup (I made some for my boyfriend as well). I used the awesome digital thermometer that takgoti sent me (!!!) and waited for the water to drop down to 160. The dry leaf on this smells, as the boyfriend said, “Like all green tea – like a fish tank.” This amused me, but only made me more worried for what I was about to try. He only made it worse when he said, “It’s drink or die time!”

The resulting brew is a pale infusion, a gentle yellow. I took the first sip… and you know what? It really wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Not salty at all. More like the second steep of a gunpowder. I guess this is Chinese green tea! It’s not really sweet at all… a bit briny, but nothing awful and tongue-curling. I found it pretty easy to sip on as I set up the Roku I bought for my parents.

Really not terrifying as it could have been! I’m pleasantly surprised, actually. I mean, this is definitely not something that I’d want to drink all the time. At all. It’s very…. blah, in a lot of ways. But it’s way better than bagged green tea, and it was drinkable. I finished my cup.

I LOVE TAKGOTI AND AUGGY. LOVE THEM LOVE THEM. This must be known, to everyone. Sorry if this is coming off as a bit incoherent but takgoti just sent me the hugest box of tea known to man. And I’m all weepy and excited and happy and wonderific.

So, how do you rate a tea when you don’t like the main flavoring agent?

I hate melons. Like, really really hate them. The taste of them makes me want to gag, actually. I don’t like their texture. Honeydew? Nope. Cantaloupe? EW. Watermelon? Gross! (Yeah I know, I dislike watermelon, I’m weird, blahblahblah).

So when I opened the GM sample of this, I immediately smelled melon. Ripe, fresh melon. Mixed in with a sweetness that must’ve been the white tea base. Very pretty, but very…melon. I wasn’t that happy, but I dumped the entire sample into my pot and got it cooking. Or steeping, rather.

The resulting tea was a beautiful color. A darker white tea than most, like a very light copper. And the fragrance must be mouth-watering for a melon-lover, but for me… I just wrinkled my nose.

The first sip was a bit… interesting, to say the least. It’s pretty much straight melon, with a nice white tea base. It tastes like a hybrid version of a cantaloupe and honeydew, but actually comes closer to Midori in taste than either. I can actually stomach Midori in small doses, but yeah. I finished the cup, but I can’t say I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t order it again, but it was extremely high-quality! And tasted just like melon! So if you love melon, I’m sure you’ll love this.

My mom kept sipping it, smiling, and going, “Mmmmmm” over and over again.

This one was so difficult to rate. But there it is!

And OMG TAKGOTI AND AUGGY LOVE FOR REAL.

So. Pretty!

I’m finding that I really love the way teas with golden tips look. The black and gold just look so amazing and beautiful together… it really makes the experience all the more worthwhile.

Anyway, when I opened this little packet by GM this morning, I was hit with a lot of different and complex yummy notes. Earthy, fruity, dark, complex. Even some sweetness thrown in there for good measure.

The wiry leaves are very pretty; the whole thing just looks high-quality. So I steeped up a teaspoon of this in the IngenuiTEA. The leaves didn’t expand all that much, but they did unfurl a bit, and the resulting cup was a deep copper. Not as dark as some Irish Breakfasts I’ve seen, but still fairly dark.

On first sip I was in happyland. There’s actually a lot of complexity in this cup. It’s fairly smooth at the forefront of the sip, with lots of notes of fruit, and a slight subtle sweetness. As you swallow, a subtle maltiness presents itself, with just a bit of astringency. There’s a lot of the earthy flavors that are present in most blacks. I have no idea what prunes taste like, so I couldn’t find that in my tea. But I could see the cherry, and even perhaps some honey as an aftertaste. There is a mild sweet component to this tea, which I liked. It’s a fairly complex and subtle black by itself, so I don’t think this is one IB that you’d want to put milk into immediately.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more of a malty “kick” that I associate strongly with a good Irish Breakfast, but the interesting flavors that kept peeking out of this cup more than made up for that lack. It tastes like it’s high quality, and I think it could function on two levels: as a daily drinker, and as a fun, tasting journey as you try to nail all of those components that are highlighted in each sip.

I got home from Christmas at my aunt’s house not too long ago, and I really wanted to tear into some of the tea I got for Christmas. But it was soooo late, that I definitely couldn’t have anything with caffeine. So I opened up this sample that TeaGschwendner gave me, complimentary with my order from them (and they included a personalized note and it was signed, by a real person). I figured, what the heck, it’s Christmas, and this is an Eggnog tea, and eggnog is pretty much THE Christmas beverage.

When I opened up the little resealable package, I was immediately hit with the scent of eggnog. Like, real, honest-to-goodness eggnog. If you had blindfolded me and put this under my nose, I would have thought there was a glass of eggnog near my face. It’s rich and creamy smelling.

This is the first time that I saw rooibos up close and personal, loose-leaf style. The only other rooibos I’ve ever had was that ROT Dream by the Fire blend, which I really didn’t enjoy. I could smell something similar in this bag to the ROT bag, so I figure that’s what rooibos smells like! Woodsy sweet.

Anyway, I steeped this up, and the resulting infusion was a beautiful sunset burnt orange. The smell coming off the liquod had a rooibos slant, but the eggnog was the dominant aroma. I’m not the hugest fan of eggnog, but I really do like Silk’s rendition of it.

On my first sip, I was quite surprised. It’s mild and smooth, and almost creamy-like. The eggnog doesn’t hit you until the tail end of the sip, and it tastes very convincing and natural. Like someone poured some eggnog into my rooibos. The effect was a bit uncanny and disconcerting. It’s a fairly sweet flavored tea, so I wouldn’t add any additional sugar (not that I ever add any to begin with). The eggnog flavoring definitely doesn’t overpower the taste of the rooibos, which I think I’m starting to get a feeling for on its own. I think I’m actually enjoying the taste. It’s fairly mild and sweet, even though it sort of looks like pencil sharpener shavings.

I sipped this with the boyfriend as we chatted about Christmas, and it just felt very snuggly and homey. I don’t think that I’d be able to drink this on a daily basis, for sure. It’s extremely seasonal. But it’s a really fun substitute for eggnog. One of those teas you curl up next to a fire on a cold winter’s night. And a perfect cap to this dreary Christmas evening!

Christmas day, w00t! Merry Christmas, Steepster (even though it’s nearly 1 am here and that’d make it December 26th, but who’s counting?!)!

LOTS of tea given to me as presents today! My TeaGschwendner order and Harney & Sons order were sitting under my tree, wrapped by my mom. And the boyfriend suprised me with a bunch of stuff, including the Art of Tea Dessert sampler I was eyeing in the Steepster Select a few days ago! YAY! Can I say yay again? YAY! Super-over-abundance of tea.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to drink a lot today at all, since I was out for most of the day. But I did manage to have some of this peppermint during dessert time at my aunt’s house. Honestly, this tasted pretty much like nothing. No flavor whatsoever. I could have cared less, though, because I was eating my mom’s famous apricot tarts and my aunt’s walnut tarts, so it really didn’t make a difference WHAT I was drinking.

But much Christmas happiness overall!

Christmas Eve dessert time at my grandmother’s house, and this was the only tea she had in the cupboard. Since everyone else was drinking coffee (and I hate coffee), I steeped this up to join in on the hot beverage fun.

And let me tell you, this really didn’t taste like anything. At all. I kept steeping it and steeping it, worried that it was going to get bitter (as bagged tea really does if you keep it in the water too long), but that NEVER happened. I kept tasting it and tasting it, and the flavor was not there. By the 6 minute mark, I just pulled the bag and drank it. It’s hard to even have an opinion on this, since it’s pretty flavorless and inoffensive. It’s so flavorless and inoffensive that I kind of dislike it, a lot.

But the tea was NOT important at all. Being with my family on Christmas Eve was the important thing. The bad tea was inconsequential!

DUN DUN DUN….

Pu-erh. The dreaded tea with the reputation that would make you want to run for the hills. Fishy tastes and smells. Bird feathers/droppings, nail clippings. Earth and dirt.

Needless to say, I was terrified to try this one. But I mustered up the courage and cut open that packet from GM. Then I hesitantly, very carefully, took a little sniff. You know what? This doesn’t smell bad at all! I thought to myself. It’s very earthy and rich and deep, with an almost bake-y smell. It’s very difficult to describe. The overall smell is similar to a black tea, but it smelled… aged. In a good way. Like an old, leather-bound book. Friendly, almost.

So I began to feel a bit more confident about the cup that awaited me. The leaves don’t do all that much in the pot, and they’re pretty plain looking, but a bit thicker-looking than most blacks (and they are jet black with some brown intertwined). The cup that this steeps up to be is DARK. A deep, deep amber, that you can only see as transparent if you stick it in direct sunlight. Otherwise, it looks like your spoon as disappeared into the black lagoon.

With lots of trepidation, I look the sip, and I was shocked at how inoffensive this was! Then I took another sip, and I thought, mmmmm. Boy is this tea complex. Infinitely smooth, with no astringency, and ridiculously sippable. Now onto the taste, which is so layered, I’m loving it. There’s a taste of earthiness. But we’re talking about more of a savory earthiness, like you’d get from mushrooms. Not dirt outside your house. There’s a level of smokiness. In fact, it’s the smokiness that I thought lapsang souchong was going to taste like. And then, the aftertaste… it’s earthy and deliciously sweet. I mean, as sweet as a green tea tastes on the aftertaste. I was thoroughly shocked at that flavor coming through. It almost has a thick mouthfeel, but is still so smooth and wonderful. I’m still boggled at that sweet component, because it is downright addictive. It’s savory and amazing. Ricky, the resident pu-erh king, really liked this cup as well.

If you’re really afraid of pu-erh, I suggest trying this one. It has its own unique flavor, but really isn’t that frightening. No fish components, and it’s loose, so you don’t have to worry about picking foreign objects out of the cake! Yay! I’m still marveling at the depth of flavors and wonderful savory elements. And that sweetness! MMMMM.

Second Steep
It’s a bit sweeter this time around, with less nuances and complexity. It’s probably the best second steep I’ve had of any tea, ever, but it still pales in comparison to the glorious first time around. I also find myself tiring of a tea and its flavors after one cup. Maybe multiple steeping and I aren’t made to be friends.

“COOKIES!”

So I had a really awful day yesterday. Really, really awful. I attended a wake/funeral in the morning for a man who passed away at 48 after suffering 3 long years from terminal cancer. He left behind two little girls. So I was pretty much an emotional wreck.

Then I went for last-minute Christmas shopping, and I wanted to kick myself in the pants for doing so. I went to the huge Macy’s in Herald Square (the largest department store in the world), and could barely move. I’m short, so I couldn’t see anything. I nearly started crying from the frustration (tears in the eyes and everything). I managed to stop at Whole Foods and buy a tin of tea to make myself feel better (Rishi Ancient Emerald Lily, yay!), and at night, my boyfriend stopped by to make me feel better.

Anyway, I went without tea until 10:00 pm last night, when I decided to brew up a cup of this special tea that Auggy sent me. I shared the cup with the boyfriend, which was a wonderful experience. I felt connected to Auggy and to him in that moment, with a lot of the love just going around and flowing.

Of course, the cup smelled AMAZING again. Buttery and wonderful and bake-y. I found this time that I was equally impressed with how much this tastes like tea, but also manages to taste like cinnamon and almond and cookies! After each sip, the boyfriend and I were exclaiming in baby-like voices, “Cookies!” He couldn’t believe how realistically cookie the aftertaste is. “I feel like I just ate a cookie, except I didn’t eat a cookie, I drank some tea, and it tasted like tea, which is weird, but COOKIES!” That’s an exact quote from him.

So this cup warmed me up after an absolutely miserable day with its gentle flavors and deliciousness. The boyfriend said he’d rate it a 95, and suggested that they bake cookies under the tea and then the essence of cookie seeps into the tea leaves. I suggested it’s probably some sort of flavoring. You can pick which you like better.

But I have to thank Auggy a thousand times over for sending me this little package of love. Seriously, it made my night after a long and miserable day of crying and frustration and sadness. LOVE.

Well, this one is actually really interesting, and I’m sitting here puzzled, scratching my head.

When I opened up the Golden Moon packet, it instantly smelled of gunpowder. That earthy, smokey, Rome-burning smell that I absolutely adore. I believe that Temple of Heaven is a higher grade of gunpowder, and let me tell you, the dry leaf was absolutely beautiful. Tiny little blue-green pearls. Way tinier than Adagio’s, and smooth and silky to the touch. So pretty!

So I dumped a level teaspoon into my IngenuiTEA and watched as the fireworks happen. This one’s pretty bombastic in the pot. It start with little bubbles, and then, within a matter of seconds after the hot water hitting the leaves, they start unfurling and writhing and wriggling like they’re dirty dancing.

In the cup, this one’s a honey hue, with a smell that can only be described as smokey gunpowder. So I lift my mouth to the cup and.. hrm. The smoke on this one is definitely lighter than Adagio’s blend. It actually is more seamlessly “one” with the tea flavors than a simple overlay of flavor. And while I enjoy that aspect of it, I wanted the smoke to come out a bit more assertive.

Then the oddity began. I’m picking up that mineral-like flavor and mouthfeel that I got from Rishi’s Jade Fire! The astringency is leaving my mouth dry, and there’s almost a briny component that I didn’t expect. As the cup cooled down, this element faded into the background (although there was still a high component of astringency), and the delicate smoke flavors became the prime focus. There’s a sweet green aftertaste that is really pleasant, but it’s almost a bit too mild.

In fact, I think overall the cup is too delicate for my tastes, and it falls into this bizarre crack. Gunpowder really isn’t a delicate flavor, so it’s strange to have it come across as a wisp of smoke instead of a cloud. Add to that the mineral/brine/weird taste that came with Rishi’s Jade Fire (which is another rolled tea, by the way, but it doesn’t have the smoke of a gunpowder) and you have me perplexed. It’s like if Adagio’s Gunpowder and Rishi’s Jade Fire decided to have a baby and the genetics got mixed up along the way.

Okay, you know what? No. Just… no.

I was in the middle of watching The Sing-Off, and wanted a quick cup of decaf to go with my TV watching. So I dunked this one in and… BLECH.

There’s no way in hell this remotely tastes like green tea. In fact, it pretty much tastes like nothing. There’s almost a stale flavor to it, a “bagged” flavor, if you will. This one just reminds me of what I disliked about tea when I hated it just a few months ago. Dirty dishwater.

At points I do taste somewhat of a sweetness, but really, this just tastes like a weak black. I’m not really getting “green” in the flavor at all. So yeah, I won’t be having more of this in the near future. Sorry Bigelow, but I’ve moved on to way bigger and better things than this one-note debacle.

Today I was in a happiness mood because the cramps have finally alleviated! Yay! Thanks so much to everyone for the well wishes. :)

I figured that I could finally have something caffeinated again, so I figured I’d get jiggy with it (LAME). Something nice, basic, black, and tasty for my morning cup. I actually had forgotten how absolutely pretty the leaves are! When I opened the tin, I was pretty surprised by the golden and delicate twists of this Jig.

I steeped it up with a bit more leaf than usual, to make up for the wiryness than won’t fit into my teaspoon. The resulting cup was definitely more powerful and bold, but not bitter. It actually smelled like toasty cocoa, if that makes any sense. Warm and deep and delicious.

Because of the extra leaf, I actually think that I might have tasted a bit of the peppery taste that has been eluding me the entire time I’ve been drinking this. It was extremely faint, but I think I finally might have caught a taste of it!

Wrapping Christmas presents and sipping this was pretty much bliss. And happiness. Add onto that the fact that I’m not curled up in the fetal position, or rocking back and forth in pain, Paranormal Activity-style, this is turning out to be a fairly good morning indeed.

Since I’m still a crampy mess, and I don’t really want to go crazy with the caffeine intake for the next day or so, I’m drinking decaf.

I think I have a tea addiction. And I don’t mean that I’m addicted to caffeine. No, I just crave the taste of tea. Any tea, really. It’s just a sippable beverage. And with all of the snow on the ground (around 10-11 inches here), it’s really nice to have something warm in your belly.

I’m knocking this one down a few numbers, just because I’ve had a lot of stuff that tastes way better than this now. This one tastes like upgraded Lipton. Not the highest grade of its type, but entirely drinkable and tea-tasting. Again, I’m going to have to resort to using the word “default,” because that’s what it is. If I gave it to a tea novice, they’d be like, “Is this Liptons?” Because my mom thinks it tastes like a better-quality version of the infamous bagged tea. And I’m inclined to agree.

So yeah, nothing special, but it kills the tea craving… for now!

Backlogging from this morning. I’ve been feeling completely like garbage. I probably have some of the worst end-of-the-sentence related problems out of anyone I know (although I’m sure people have it far worse). So I was huddled up today, barely able to move after throwing up and being sick and such, so I cuddled up with some easy-to-make chamomile. I’m not even sure what this tasted like, but chamomile is supposed to soothe cramps, and it did.

I was busy making Decaf Ceylon by Adagio for both the mom and the boyfriend (who both lurves it, by the way!) to really concentrate on my own cup. So in went the bag of peppermint… and it just sat there. And sat there.

Today this pretty much tastes like nothing. Which is okay, because I shared the gift of loose leaf with others. YAY.

Oh my god. I think I’m in LOVE.

I’ve been wanting to try chai, but I didn’t know how, and frankly, the process can seem somewhat intimidating. But takgoti and Auggy really broke it down for me, and I ended up using takgoti’s super-long chai special process (which I think is really close to Samovar’s, but what do I know?). Anyway, when I opened the packet of Kashmiri, my nose did a dance and then died from happiness. It’s so rich and spicy-smelling and warm and inviting. I can smell the cloves and cinnamon and cardamom. And it all smells like a heavenly mixture of wonderful.

I used the entire packet for this one, and followed takgoti’s brewing instructions, which I will type out for one serving right here:
1 cup of water, 1 cup of milk/milk equivalent (I used vanilla soy, as I’m lactose intolerant), 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of chai (I used the entire GM packet).

Boil water and sugar together in a saucepan until sugar dissolves into water. Into a syrup.
Add the chai, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the milk, simmering and stirring.
When it comes to a boil (be careful that it doesn’t boil over!), turn the heat off and let it sit for a long time. Like 7-10 minutes long. I let it sit for around 8-9 or so.
Strain and serve.

OH MY GOD. The mixture smelled AMAZING cooking. Seriously. It was like this fragrant warm beverage. Everything you ever think of when you think the word “chai.” It’s got a light brown color, and it smells delicious. And the taste is nothing short of amazing. I can taste all the spices individually, but they meld together. And amazingly enough, I am tasting a tea flavor as well. I can’t pick out green and black and whatnot, but I don’t think that’s the point of chai. It’s supposed to just be a nice and spicy and warn and delicious milky beverage. And that’s what I have right here. This would probably taste better without the nuttiness of the soy, but it does add an interesting dimension. I would definitely want to try this with my Very Vanilla Silk, which tastes like a vanilla milkshake. Mmmm.

I did get more than 8 oz. of chai… it was more like 12. So I have about a half-cup that’s going into the fridge to chill. And I bet that’ll taste amazing when it comes out.

Seriously, I’m so happy that I bit the bullet and actually made this a more proper and authentic way instead of steeping it normally and then just dumping milk into it. It tastes much deeper and well-rounded as a result. Full of flavor and deliciousness. I’m having a tea-gasm here. Can I tell you how it compares to other chais? Absolutely not. I think this one overall isn’t very aggressive with its spices. It’s more mellow and comforting. The only thing I regret is that I don’t have more of this GM blend to use!

Feeling really lazy this morning, so I did the standard bagged tea. I know, shame on me, but I still have some of it and I need to drink it before it gets more stale-tasting than it already does.

So it was Twinings Lady Grey this morning, and I have to say, it still sort of holds its own against the loose leaf I’ve tasted. It’s still probably the best Earl Grey I’ve had so far (and I’ve really hated quite a few), and it has a somewhat smooth but floral and citrus flavor. I was somewhat on autopilot this morning, drinking without thinking. So is it a complete knock-out? No. But I wouldn’t be disappointed if someone served me a steaming hot cup of this.

Okay, so can I say this was an absolutely DELICIOUS tea experience. Seriously. Auggy, you just brightened my day by twofold just by allowing me to taste the amazingness that is this cup of tea.

First off, the try tea is gorgeous. All sorts of browns and russets, mixed in with the eye-catching orange-red safflower blossoms. Nice slivers of almonds and a smell to die for. Seriously. I’ve actually been saving this tea since Auggy sent it to me, because I had a feeling that I would fall in love with it. And I’m one of those save-the-best-for-last kind of girls.

The leaves did a little dance (but not by much, really, since they’re kinda tiny), and I had a cup of absolutely amazing smelling tea in front of me. Seriously. This smells buttery and bake-y and almond-y and cookie-like. There’s the cinnamon mingling with a tea smell and the entire thing really does smell like an ALMOND COOKIE. Well, that would explain the name, then, right?

First sip gave me a little shiver of happiness. MMMMMM. You get the tang of the tea, followed by the sweetness of the cinnamon, which then mingles into the almonds. And somehow, on the swallow, this produces an amazing likeness to almond cookies. I don’t know if any of you shop at Italian bakeries, but if you do, try the pignoli nut cookies. They’re made with pine nuts (aka pignoli in Italian) and the cookie itself is made with almond paste. They’re soft and chewy and delicious. Sweeter than marzipan and sugary, with the absolutely amazing taste of pine nuts. I grew up eating them. They’re the epitome of an awesome almond cookie, and this tea really just brings all those feelings to the surface.

The flavor dynamics and balance here are absolute perfection. I really couldn’t ask for a better-tasting cup, especially after my very bizarre experience with lapsang souchong this morning. Yay for delicious dessert tea! And yay for Auggy and her wonderful samples!

So, I… er… hrm.

This one difficult. Really difficult. It’s my first experience with lapsang souchong, and… I. Wow, I’m just flabbergasted.

Well, let’s start with the basics, shall we? I was actually really looking forward to lapsang souwhatever because I really liked the smokiness of gunpowder, and figured that this was the black tea equivalent. And let me tell you, from the get go, Golden Moon’s blend smells fantastic! It smells like BACON. I was practically skipping around my kitchen, sniffing the little package and smiling. Bacon! Bacon tea! MMMMM. The smell is like hickory BBQ, savory and sweet and a bit ashy. I was entranced. I kept thinking of foods to pair with it. “I bet this would be AWESOME with eggs!”

So anyway, I steeped this one up, and that’s when I ran into the first sign of trouble. The leaves smell like ashes. Wet ashes from a cigarette. I’m not a fan of cigarettes at all; in fact, I pretty much loathe the smell of them. So now I’m wrinkling my nose and dumping those leaves, stat. The liquid still has a smoky smell, but there’s really a wet ash smell down in the pit of it. And now I’m not so sure anymore about how I feel about this one… The infusion was a really pretty dark copper, by the way.

So I brace myself and take my first sip. And I’m utterly confused and perplexed. It’s just… weird. Very savory, and very deep and dark. Ultra-smokey. Like I just inhaled a bunch of smoke from a campfire and somehow it’s in liquid form and now it’s in my tummy. I think I’m tasting hints of pine, and touches of the black tea base, but I’m just getting really weirded out by the entire experience.

I almost feel like I’m drinking carcinogens in a mug. Seriously. I keep thinking to myself, is this good for me? As it’s cooling down, the upfront ashy taste is mellowing out, but I’m sipping this one slowly. Very, very slowly. I’m actually not really sure if I like this or not. If I’m just so weirded out by the entire sensory experience and can’t process it properly. If it tastes awesome or just plain horrible. I’m actually leaning more towards the horrible side with this.

And I’m actually sort of tremendously disappointing. My entire family is now complaining that my kitchen smells like smoke. Hell, I’m pretty sure I smell like smoke. This is just very, very strange. I can’t get over how WEIRD this is. Okay, I know I’m babbling though, but… it’s weird. WEIRD.

I think I’m done now.

Auggy and I just busted open our packets of GM’s Rose Tea together, and had a little e-tea party! So I bet her review is forthcoming as well, as we’ve been discussing the tea throughout our entire sipping process. Good times!

When I opened the package, the immediate smell of rose hit my nose. This really is rose. I can’t describe it any other way. If you’ve stuck your face in a rose and taken a deep breath, this is that smell in its most concentrated form. And let me tell you, it’s an absolutely gorgeous smell. Fresh and inviting and glowing. Floral, yes, but not overwhelming to the point of throw-uppy-ness. And not fake rose at all, because that’d be disgusting. The tea itself is some black. It looks like a Ceylon, and the smell of it does come across.

The resulting tea-and-flower juice was actually a bit darker than I expected, but still somewhere around the copper color of the Ceylons. In the smell of the liquid, the rose was a bit more muted than the dry, but it was still there. And now it was mingling deliciously with a black tea smell.

Let me tell you, this is another winner by Golden Moon. At my first sip, I could just taste the quality of the flavoring. The rose is very much a present and dominant force, but it’s neither overpowering nor domineering. It tastes rich but light, and definitely floral but not overwhelmingly so. This one has a lovely sweetness that’ll creep up on you after multiple sips in a row, and lingers on the tongue well after the tea is all gone and in your tummy.

The only criticism I could have of this tea is not with the flavor of the rose, but with the black tea itself. It’s fairly weak. I can definitely taste that it’s something of quality, as it doesn’t have bitterness or astringency, but it definitely plays second fiddle to the rose. Not that that’s a bad thing, per se, but it would be nice if the black brought something a little stronger to the flavor profile. I feel like the tea would be better rounded out if that was the case. The black did start to make an appearance as the cup began to cool, but by that point I was already at the bottom and nearly finished.

That being said, this was still really tasty and yummy, and I finished the cup pretty quickly. Could I drink this every day? Absolutely not. I’d get tired of it immediately. I probably couldn’t drink another cup today. But this one is another testament to the wonderfulness that is Golden Moon!

<3 to Auggy for sharing tea-time with me!

I had a feeling that I wanted straight, unadulterated tea this morning. So I rooted through the glorious Golden Moon sampler and came out with this French Breakfast. From what the packaging says, it’s an estate Ceylon, which I found quite interesting. I like Ceylon, but I usually think it’s better suited for blending instead of as a stand-alone.

The dry leaves smell like… black tea. That earthy aroma that just screams “default!” to me. They’re fairly small and wiry, so if you’re expecting a show in your teapot, don’t put this one in. This one brews up to be a very pretty red/copper color, quite typical of the Ceylon varietal but still very yummy looking. I can detect a slight sweetness in the smell, but other than that, it smells like… Ceylon. As do the wet leaves.

I have a fairly difficult time describing Ceylon. The word I usually use is “smooth.” I think if you want to start someone out on black teas and don’t know where to begin, Ceylon would be an excellent choice. It’s familiar, in that it tastes like a WAY higher quality Lipton (and I’m pretty sure their normal teabags are Ceylon dust/fannings). It’s pretty much a baseline tea. As a result, I’m never completely blown away by it – it’s not surprising, but it is comfortingly familiar. Like that old sweater you don’t wear as often, but still keep around just because on cold winter days it feels good to snuggle down with.

I actually found that when I stopped sipping the tea and went off to do something else, the flavor actually subtly expanded to include that elusive honey-like note Golden Moon describes in their tasting notes. It’s a sweetness that doesn’t usually come out particularly strong in black teas, so that was a welcome surprise.

Something like this French Breakfast would be a great daily drinker. While I definitely prefer something with a bit more complexity and oomph to it, this one is smooth and entirely sippable.

I seriously love the fact that Auggy sent me this tea. Seriously. LOVE.

I’m busy reading and writing and doing all sorts of work, and this tea was the perfect thing to cozy up with while I’m keeping myself busy. It’s fragrant and delicious and calming. The vanilla works perfectly with the unique flavor of the Vietnamese black, and the two produce a remarkable pairing. I love the subtlety of this, the rich cocoa and the smooth vanilla. And the color is so gorgeous too. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. It tastes so natural and organic and just… LOVELY.

How awesome flavored tea can be when it’s done right! And when it’s done wrong, it’s close to one of the most disgusting things to drink ever.

Back to my work now, but I’m really happy that I was just able to luxuriate with a cup of this. If I was a cat, I’d be purring with content right now.