Chance Combinations

Yesterday, I cleaned and re-arranged my tea cupboard.
I came across and bit of Florence by Harney and Sons.
I remembered it wasn’t my favorite, but then I started thinking “What if…I mixed a bit of it with Almond Cookie by Simpson and Vail”
So, this morning that is what I am doing.
It smells lovely, like some sort of almond delight with a chocolate drizzle on it.
I used about a 2/3 Almond Cookie and a 1/3 Florence.
Taste wise, it is about perfect (for what I had in mind, anyhow)
Almond-y baked goods taste with a rich chocolate drizzle.
Tasty!

I awoke this morning feeling creative and wanting to eat one of those fruit filled danishes.You know the ones…with the little sliced almonds on top with a powdered sugar drizzle?
Instead of baking something I decided to create a fruit danish tea instead.
I grabbed Fruits d’Alsace by Harney and Sons and Almond Sugar Cookie by Simpson and Vail.
I went 2/3 Fruits and a 1/3 Almond Sugar Cookie.
Mmmmmmm! Certainly smells like a bakery in the early morn (I should know…I used to work in one;)
I nearly burnt my lip and tongue on this tea, its smelled so tasty that I was having problems waiting till it cooled.
Taste is not quite as “danish-y” as the smell, but still is quite good.
Fruity with almond sweetness on top.
Yummy!

Tea of the morning…..

I have an ongoing tin of Franken-Breakfast Blend that helps me use up odds and ends of teas that lend themselves well to such a blend. I am holding off rebuying my favorite breakfast tea until I use up some of the teas in my stash, (and a lover of unflavored black teas collects quite a bit of black tea over time…). Usually, Franken-Breakfast involves some kind of Keemun and Assam, perhaps with a little Yunnan or Ceylon thrown in for good measure. The blend I have going right now seems good, but it could still use a kick of something strong. Today, I added what I think is the strongest tea in my cupboard, Elyse’s Blend from Harney & Son’s. It is more of a sweet kick in the pants kind of tea, but a little of it does make the blend pop. Plus, it is definitely sweeter with the honey flavor just adding a hint of honey (rather than the strong honey flavor of Elyse on its own) to the blend. I think I will play some more with this….. Ratio for today was 2:1 Franken-Breakfast to Elyse. I think I could even go a little lighter on the Elyse….

Teapot method with a 3 minute steep.

Tea of the morning…..

All of the talk on Steepster about a “Cowboy” version of Earl Grey has me intrigued. I do have a tin of Earl of Harlem on order from Ambessa/Harney & Sons, but I was curious if I could put something similar together in my cupboard. This pot is a 1:2 blend of Upton Lapsang Souchong Black Dragon and Lupicia’s Earl Grey. Hmmm. Definitely need to play around with the ratios. It is smokey enough, but not ‘Early’ enough. Maybe we will go with a straight Lapsang next time and a ratio more like 1:5ish…. All that said, it makes me very happy that I have the Earl of Harlem coming my way.

Sorry that I have not been posting much here….I am not sure how interesting my staple teas are for posting as that has been mostly what I have been drinking. I send first born off to High School in about a week….I am all emotional. I am glad she is growing up, but mourning the fact that I wish I had done some things differently for her childhood. I guess perfection in childhood would not have made her the cool human she is now. Yes, I am over-thinking it! Plus, I am needing to do a bit of an overhaul on my stash/life in general. I definitely know what I like and need these days all around, and that makes it easier to simplify, even though it is a long road ahead.

I am sure I will be here often reading, though! I love this community.

Iced tea of the day……

This pitcher has 4 scoops of thepuriTea’s Earl Grey and one tea bag of Lupicia’s Sakurambo from my New Year’s Happy Bag brewed up in my usual method for iced tea. I was to the point where both were on my cut list, but it is hard to just dump/rehome over 5 ounces of the first and 9 tea bags of the second. Hence, this was born. I am trying to do some serious stash busting and was to the point where the Earl Grey did not really appeal much to me even iced, as I have so many others that I love. Since my first sample of the Sakurambo bag of 10 sachets, it really has not appealed to me at all.

However, the combination of the two is really pretty good! I get light notes of bergamot and the sweetness of Japanese cherry. The iced version is nice and smooth. And I will be doing this 8 more times for sure! So glad this worked out. I guess once the Sakurambo is gone, I can try another berry flavored tea to perk up this Earl!

Tea of the morning……

I think I would call this more of a Purposeful Combination. I have been wishing for a good jasmine black tea ever since sampling the Jasmine Golden Yunnan at thepuriTea. Kind of like Rosy Earl Grey from Teas Etc. without the rosy or Earl. I tried getting some at Harney, but they are out of stock with no immediate prospects because the recent offerings were not up to Michael Harney’s standard. I would order some from thepuriTea, but the thought of spending $16 for 4 ounces of tea and then another $7.50 for flat rate shipping is a little pricey for me when I know there will be a shipping sale sometime this year. (I did break down and order 100 grams from Dragon Tea House on ebay for about $12 shipped. I have ordered teaware from them before, but it just takes so long to get here….economy shipping from China.) Then I remembered that I likely had something close in my own cupboard.

Jen’s Jasmine Black

I started to prepare a mug (12ish oz.) of Zhi Gong Fu Black (Bailin Gong Fu from TeaVivre is a great sub if you have it), but I also added a scant tsp. of jasmine pearls. This time I used the ones from the Asian Market, but I am guessing any sweet jasmine tea would do. Then I steeped by my usual method for my mug, but at a slightly cooler temp than boiling. The result is very good! It is not as heavily jasmine flavored as the tea from thepuriTea, but it is still very enjoyable. I could probably add a full teaspoon of the jasmine pearls next time. This will be a habit. In a way, I almost like it better than the Jasmine Golden Yunnan, because I could pick my most chocolatey tasting unflavored tea and run with it. Yes, I do get more chocolate and lighter jasmine, but still reminiscent of Cadbury’s Mini-Eggs. I am also thinking the JGY will be taken off the shopping list….. I am so excited that I have three teas for the price of two, and the Frugal Fanny (tm JacquelineM) in me is loving this.

Usual mug method just a little cooler than boiling. Lightly sweetened.

Tea of the morning….

And attempt #2 for my Smokin’ Earl AKA Cowboy Grey. Today I used 5 parts Lupicia Earl Grey with one part of the Lapsang Souchong I got from Mountain Rose Herbs. Yep, this’ll do. Now I got a hankerin’ for some chili or stew….but on the finest of china with linen napkins….. Yes, my humor is a little off today, but I thought I would share what goes through this twisted mind of mine this morning.

Any recommendations for Murder Mystery games for Teens out there? My DD all of a sudden has the bug to host one, but many of them aren’t completely appropriate for her age (15). Thanks for the input!

Tea of the morning…..

Man, am I in a rut. I really only seem to be craving back tea of late. My lovely oolongs and greens are feeling very neglected, and I don’t have any cravings for them. There may be more of a stash reduction in the near future as it would be a shame for them to go to waste. I am really settling on just a few teas, and the ‘thirst’ to try new ones is nearly gone. I know what I like and still drink about two to three pots a day, but I guess some of the novelty has worn off. In a way it is sad, but I am thinking it will be better for my budget in the long run. I do have some fun ones coming…..some more Tan Yang Te Ji from TeaSpring, and a new-to-me Panyang Golden Tips from Upton with my restock of Rose Congou. The next big order will be a sizable amount of Goute Russe from Dammann Freres, but I am not in any hurry. And I am so stocked on the Harney teas that I drink the most, that it might be a while before I need more. I am not going to be sad, though….this is my chance to obsess about something else for a while….;)

Today’s blend is a 1:2 blend of Harney’s Anniversary Blend and Eight at the Fort. For me the first was a little strong for a breakfast tea, and the second was a little weak. Wow, what a meeting in the middle is doing for my morning…. These blends are fine, but I needed something other than what they could offer on their own. I love the tweakability of loose leaf. Yum!

Tea of the morning……

I really should just call this my Franken-BreakfastBlend. It started with a little Harney & Son’s English Breakfast and Teavivre Keemun #2. Then some Upton China Panyang Congou. Then a little of my Mystery Golden Tip Assam. Then a little of Adagio’s Assam Harmony and the end of my tin of Florence (which was only about 2tsp added to about 3 oz total tea). I am almost to the place where I can’t remember what all has been added.

But….it is really good. I should probably stop adding teas and just enjoy this while I have some. Then I can start all over on a new monster….. ;)

Tea of the morning……

I do think I am ready to add some Elyse to my Franken-Breakfast blend. A 1 part Elyse to 5 parts of a mix of all the black teas (Assam, Keemun, and I think Ceylon in this round…) works very well for my palate! It adds a little more of an Assam kick and a hint of honey. I do think the Elyse tea is meant to be strong enough to stand up to milk, but I am not a milk tea person.

Usual teapot method with a 3 minute steep.

Tea of the morning……

Today the task was to make Elyse’s Blend from Harney & Son’s just a little more subtle in the tea base. I did a 2:1 ratio of it and my Franken-Breakfast Blend and it worked. The honey notes were still there without the bite that is in Elyse’s tea base. I am sure Elyse’s Blend was made to go with milk, but I am not really a milk tea type. However, I love honey flavored teas. I think I will try my China Congou from Upton with this next. It just needs something to smooth it out a little for my taste.

Usual teapot method with a 3 minute steep.

Tea of the morning……

I am on to my second batch of Franken-Breakfast Tea. This one is about 1 part Golden Tip Assam (Mystery Assam from the hot sauce shop), 1 part Keemun Grade 2 (Teavivre), 2 parts Turkish Blend (Upton). This blend could be a little more smokey….it is surprisingly sweet, probably from the Ceylon tea in the Turkish Blend. I am thinking there should be more Keemun…..

Usual teapot method, except that I forgot my kettle was set for green……must try this blend again at the right temperature before adjusting the ratios….

Tea of the afternoon…..

I had a little English Breakfast from Harney left over (a good non-smokey, budget version of Keemun). Since I really wanted a Keemun somewhere between it and Teavivre’s Keemun Grade 2, I made a 1:1 ratio of the two of them. That was my tea of the morning. It was very good, but I decided to take it one step further. I added another equal part to the new whole of Upton’s Panyang Congou TP60. Now, I have smoothed it out just a little more and amped up the cocoa note just a little. What I have now is a smokier cocoa-noted tea. Yum! I really like this. If I had some inexpensive Yunnan on hand, I would have added some of that, too, to make a tea blend along the lines of Queen Catherine. I only have about 2 total ounces, but I will gladly drink them!

Tea of the morning…….

This is my first attempt at something similar to Harney’s Malachi McCormick (yes, I should just buy some, and I will, but I am trying to see what comes close and use up some of the tea I have in my cupboard to make space….). I used a 1:2 ratio of the Mystery Assam from Heather’s Heat & Flavor (the hot sauce store) and my Keemun Grade 2 from Teavivre. It was good, but I think it needs a little more Assam. Next trial is a 1:1. Tune in tomorrow…..

Tea of the morning……

This time it is a 1:1 blend of my Mystery Assam and a good basic Keemun. I think we have a winner. It is not quite as rich tasting as Malachi, but this will definitely get me through until I can buy black tea again.

Usual mug method for 3 minutes.

My Matcha of the Day… I do have five new Matcha that I’ve not yet tried, but, I also have quite a few opened Matcha that I want to use so that I do not have 513 containers of Matcha going at once. So I made myself a deal (or ultimatum) … finish off at least one opened Matcha before opening a new one. This will definitely put a bit of a halt on my Matcha purchasing, since I need to write reviews of new teas to get my gift certificate updated. This will probably ALL change once Read Leaf Tea puts up a new sale of a Matcha I’ve not yet tried. LOL

Anyway… today’s combination of flavors is fig and caramel. I loved the fig, I loved the caramel, so I was interested to see how well they went together. Answer: very well! I prepared this traditionally – that is, not as a latte, but with hot water, whisking in my new chawan – and it tastes really good. The Matcha stands out as the strongest flavor, but that’s alright. I’m drinking Matcha. I want to taste it.

The fig and caramel compliment each other nicely. Sweet, vegetative, and delicious. I love how the caramel goes with the fig, although, I do think I prefer these two flavors separate. Good, but, separately, these were even better. I’m thinking tomorrow, I’ll combine the fig and the boysenberry, and see how that goes.

Today’s Matcha was a combination of the banana and the caramel at a 1:1 ratio. I also used a ratio of 1:1 hot water to warmed milk to make this a latte. It was so yummy that I finished the bowl before I had a chance to sit down and write about it, so technically this is a backlog. This may be my favorite combination with the Matcha yet.

My bowl of Matcha for the day is a combination of Cinnamon Matcha from Red Leaf Tea and Peanut Matcha from Red Leaf Tea. I did a ratio of 2:1 with the Matcha (2 parts peanut Matcha and 1 part cinnamon) because I remembered how strong the cinnamon Matcha was. This is really tasty, it reminds me a bit of a cinnamon candied peanut. Sweet, cinnamony, but just enough peanut taste too. And a lovely Matcha taste coming through as well. I notice more Matcha taste here than I would with the cinnamon Matcha on it’s own, but less than I would have with the peanut matcha on its own.

Yummy… not my favorite combination, but it’s certainly tasty.

Today’s bowl of Matcha is a combination of caramel Matcha and Hazelnut Matcha, both from Red Leaf Tea. I combined these at a 1:1 ratio, whisked with hot water, and then added a tiny splash of half & half just to up the creaminess a bit. And after I put the half & half back into it’s spot in the fridge I realized that I still had some Holy Kakow! Sauce still left in there… so I added a drizzle of that in the bowl too. Now, I have a Caramel-y, Hazelnut-y, creamy, chocolate-y drink that is absolutely amazing. It tastes a bit like a Hazelnut Turtle. YUM!

Today’s Chance Combination/Operation Drink More Matcha blend is a combination of the newly acquired Bavarian Cream Matcha and the Strawberry Matcha, both from Red Leaf Tea, of course! I went with a 1:1 ratio here, and it is amazing. Creamy, vanilla custard and strawberries… need I say more?

Have I mentioned lately that I love Red Leaf Tea?

This chance combination comes courtesy of tattooed_tea, who, for their contribution to the 12 Days of Christmas swap had Day 6 – Six Geese a’Laying. This brought to mind “eggs,” which brought to mind “breakfast.” So, we were sent a bounty of tea samples today! This is a combination of Pancake Breakfast and Maple Bacon teas, both from 52Teas. I’ve been wanting to try these two teas together because I’ve been bugging Frank for a blend that is pancake, bacon, pecan and caramel. Yes, I realize that sounds crazy, but I think that Frank could pull it off. I have faith in him. But he hasn’t yet accepted the challenge. :(

So, I combined both the pancake and the bacon teas into my teapot, and now have a yummy pancake and bacon breakfast tea. I added a pinch of salt (this brings out the bacon-y taste) and a drizzle of maple syrup – because I had it in the cupboard and thought some maple is good, more maple is better – and I’m loving what I’m drinking. I have my new little mug cozy on my cup (thank you Em for this lovely and useful gift!) and even though it is almost 9 am on my daughter’s first day of winter break and I could be sleeping right now, I couldn’t sleep and sipping this tea is the next best thing.

Thank you tattooed_tea … I’m loving this!

Today’s Matcha combination is a revisiting of the Watermelon Boysenberry Matcha combination. But, today, instead of a 1:1 ratio, I went with a 2:1 ratio: 2 parts watermelon to 1 part boysenberry. And I like this bowlful (chawanful) so much better than I remember liking the first attempt. The first attempt was good, this is awesome!

And it’s already gone! ha! By increasing the watermelon, I’ve increased the sweeter fruit a bit, which gave it a little bit of boysenberry tartness to the sweet, delicious watermelon. The boysenberry was a little dominating last time, but now, there is a good balance between the fruits. So yummy!

Tomorrow, I think I’m going to try Watermelon and strawberry together and see how that goes. Or… I may actually open a new package of Matcha, since it’s Friday and Red Leaf Tea may have a tea on sale that I need. See how I use the word NEED in there. I don’t want this Matcha. I NEED it. Yeah. There we go.

My Matcha of the Day today is a combination of Bavarian Cream Matcha and Strawberry Matcha, both from Red Leaf Tea, of course! And the combination today just tastes stunning… the strawberry is deliciously fruity and sweet, and the bavarian cream is sweet and creamy. YUM! I think that the strawberry goes much better with the bavarian cream than the boysenberry does… maybe just because I love the boysenberry so much on its own.

Today’s Matcha: a 1:1 combination of Watermelon Matcha and Boysenberry Matcha (both from Red Leaf Teas).

This is one of my favorite Matcha blends thus far. I really liked the Caramel Cheesecake too, but as far as fruity combinations go, this one rocks. The boysenberry was a bit more like boysenberry, and the watermelon was a bit more like watermelon here… tastes very true to the fruit, and I loved the flavor of the matcha too.

Very good… my mouth is still all tingly from the tangy boysenberry. Love it!

I didn’t drink a lot of Matcha while I was sick … and I realize that it was probably the best thing I could have consumed while I was sick, but when I’m down and out like that, I was just too lazy to actually do the preparation. Sounds silly because there’s not a whole lot to it, but, there you have it. I wanted something as easy as possible, so thank goodness for my breville which is basically one step tea making. Measure the tea, push some buttons and walk away… a few minutes later, there is tea.

But, I’ve missed Matcha. I had some Matcha every now and then, mostly in smoothies … but, not as often as I probably should have while I was under the weather there, so this is almost like a welcome back Matcha for me.

I combined, in equal ratios, the Bavarian Cream Matcha and the Strawberry Matcha, and I also combined it with equal ratios of hot water and warmed milk to make a yummy, luscious, strawberry Bavarian Cream treat in my chawan. Love it!

My second bowl of Matcha for the day! But, I am justifying it this way (yes, I justify everything that I do): first of all, I have a lot of work to do, and I’m still not doing it. I’m hoping that more Matcha will motivate me to get some work done! second, I opened a new pouch of Matcha with the Cotton Candy Matcha, and I’m supposed to be trying to finish off the already opened Matcha… so I thought, if I am going to open a Matcha I need to at least have some of the already opened matcha. yeah. So there.

Today, I combined the Watermelon Matcha with the Strawberry Matcha in a 2:1 ratio (2 parts Watermelon to 1 part Strawberry) and I think that this may be my favorite watermelon combination yet! The strawberry and watermelon go together beautifully! Sweet, just a hint of strawberry tartness, and absolutely delicious. Nice vegetative tone and I like the way the watermelon and strawberry interact with the vegetative notes of the Matcha. Sweet, hints of bitter and a tart aftertaste, and a very smooth, rich texture. Nice… very nice!

I finally got my Red Leaf Tea order from Saturday. My previous orders from Red Leaf were much quicker, within a couple of days, three days max, but, this one was slower, but I don’t think Red Leaf is at fault with that… I think that it was held up in the postal system for whatever reason… just glad it arrived! Hooray for Bavarian Cream!

I’ve been putting together some sampler boxes over the last couple of days (I still have one available here: http://liberteas.teatra.de/store/products/petit-amuse-sampler-box-upcycling-a-box-sharing-some-tea/ ) and I had just a little bit left over of the Caramel Praline Delight from Ovation Teas so I combined it with a bit of my Blend of black teas. The result is really yummy… It still tastes quite a bit like the caramel praline delight but this might be even better because the blend of black teas seems to fill out the background even more.

Caramel and Peppermint matcha. Shaken bottle method. Not bad! not my fave, but that’s only because I’m looking forward to trying every single other combo out there ;P
For some reason this was buttery, more than with just caramel. In a good way!
Can’t wait til I have some time for latte makin

I’ve discovered the best iced tea in the world.

One part Steep City Tea’s Coconut Grove + one part Butiki’s Cantaloupe & Cream.

PERFECTION! The cantaloupe and coconut are perfect together, complemented by both cream and a soft hint of rose. I actually made this by mistake—I had half a cup of each in my fridge from past cold brews that I just hadn’t got around to finishing, and they were so similar in color that I mistook them for the same tea and poured them together. Thankfully the result is pure, delicious magic.

Apparently I am on a pumpkin kick today! Due to the cool weather, I decided to whip up a hot matcha latte with:

Pumpkin Pie + Chai + Maple Syrup

YUM! Pumpkin and Chai are a natural combo, but the Maple is what really makes it. It adds an amazing sweetness right at the end. This is the perfect tea for a day like today!

At the suggestion of Scott B I made a maple blueberry tea! I added a generous pinch of Tea Guys’ Wild Blueberry to my once-brewed Maple Sugar leaves and something magic happened. I was worried the flavors wouldn’t be fully balanced since there’s a LOT more maple, but the lower water temp worked in my favor. The blueberry is quite strong, but the fruitiness is balanced by maple goodness. Oh my, this is heavenly. I’m almost tempted to buy extra ounce or two of each just to mix together!

EDIT: Made a second glass of this iced with a bit of brown sugar, I didn’t think it would be that good cold but decided to experiment anyway. And OH MY it is delectable, the maple is even sweeter and more pronounced chilled and the blueberry pops as well.

I saved the leaves from the Element Tea chai last night, since it seems like such a waste to use them only once when they’re the only chance I’ll ever have to try this tea! However, I didn’t think there was enough oomph in them for a cup by themselves—it was a teeny sample and I brewed it for extra-long last night. I brought a few teas to my parents’ house to try but went through them all, which means blending time!

The only thing I had that I thought would work was the ETS Scottist Toffee Caramel Pu-erh, so into the little french press it went! As a side note, my parents have a freaking adorable little Bodum french press with enough room at the bottom to not squish the tea leaves when you’re pouring, perfect for saving them for re-steeps. They never use it since it’s a 1-cup thing, so now it’s all mine!

These two teas melded perfectly. Spicy and bold from the chai, rich earthy and sweet from the pu-erh. They went together so perfectly it was hard to tell what base notes were from which tea, definitely a happy marriage! I have a few other chais I might try mixing with dessert-y teas now since this worked so well.

I am on a quest to make the perfect bedtime tea. One thing almost all nighttime blends are missing is a creamy factor, which makes sense since they are herbals 90% of the time. And the rooibos ones I can’t drink, so that is not an option! So I’ve decided to just do it myself.

This time: 52te’s Lemon Dreams and Harney & Sons Vanilla Comoro (which is decaf). I did the ratios about half and half: the results were tasty, but the lemon/chamomile/honeybush overpowered the black/vanilla combo. I’m thinking maybe 3 parts vanilla to 2 parts lemon dreams next time.

Though my ideal blend would be mixed myself: chamomile, lemon peel, cinnamon bark and vanilla comoro (since, you know, it’s a bit in the pain in the butt to blend my own decaf vanilla!). Maybe with a little lavender… I really need to make a Mountain Rose Herbs order!

Well I WAS originally planning on using the rest of my All The Raj sample for blending, but I thought there was probably at least one steep left in the first batch of “leaves” so I decided to just go for it tonight. So into my already-steeped herbal tea went some Jasmine Pearls from DAVIDsTEA (which I actually haven’t tried on their own yet) and a pinch of Tea Cozy’s Lavender Earl Grey. Might as well go all-out on the floral! Also, I have way too many samples and need a way to get rid of some of them.

Since there were so many different types of tea, this was really fun to watch brew—stuff floating all over the place! The pearls looked kind of like aliens as they opened though. I did just see Prometheus so that might be kind of warping my view… let’s hope nothing weird starts crawling out of me. Anyway, the tea! It’s floral heaven! Rose, lavender, jasmine, in wonderful harmony. I also put some honey in which I rarely do and that just makes it even better. As a lover of floral teas this gets a big thumbs-up from me… I’ll probably end up throwing my flower teas together more often.

The other night I decided to experiment a bit with my matcha and made two iced lattes: one for me, one for the bf! Aka I drank half of his, since he is a slow drinker and I kept sneaking sips haha. They were:

1/2 Cookies & Cream (black, distinctive) 1/2 Caramel (green, delicate)

and

1/2 Bavarian Cream (50/50, distinctive) 1/2 Coconut (green, distinctive)

The goal was to see how the black & white bases fared when paired with a regular green base. Both were a great success! The caramel cookies & cream was my personal favorite: I LOVE the black base so much, and the juicy caramel flavor just brought it over the edge into matcha nirvana.

The Bavarian Coconut was good too, light and tropical! It really tasted like a coconut cream pie. The white was a little lost though, since it was really only 25% of the mug. I do have a 100% white blend in the mail, so I plan on making a white/green Mango Rose latte next time!

So I had a little left of the following two samples way-back-when from Azzrian: Buttered Cranberry Orange Scone Honeybush (that’s a mouthful) and Custard-Filled Maple Long John Honeybush (also a mouthful) – both from 52Teas. I decided to combine them to create one super powerful honeybush concoction. I call it … Buttered Custard-Filled Cranberry Orange Maple Long John Scone Honeybush ^TM .

And you know what? It’s not half bad. I’ve been letting this steep since forever and all the flavors work together. I’m definitely getting orange most of all, but there’s sort of this creamy undertone with it as well. I can dig it.

And the best part is, I’ve cleared not one but TWO samples out of the way to make room for other teas. Now I have to tackle the 500 other samples I have.

2 tsp Butiki Teas’ Raspberry Truffle + 1/8 tsp Adagio’s Peppermint

This combination was inspired by Marketspice’s Holiday Tea that I tried earlier today. I eyeballed the Peppermint, so I’m not 100% sure what the exact amount was. It’s definitely less than 1/4 tsp though. I’m excited for this one! I hope the ratio works out well.

The brewed tea aroma is mostly raspberry with only a whisper of mint. The flavors were a little too quiet for my liking, so I added some Truvia. Hello! That worked! I’m getting a nice balance of raspberry, chocolate, and mint now. The mint could probably be stronger, but then so could the chocolate. I really love chocolate.

My husband gave me a bunch of Lindt and Ferrero Rocher truffles on the morning of our wedding. I’m trying to make them last. But all I want to do is stuff all these glorious truffles in my mouth pronto! LOL! This tea is a good compromise for my waistline. Tea to the rescue!!! I’d rate this combo an 88.

I’m in the home stretch! Only 3 weeks until winter break, and then Rayn and I head to Utah for 6 days to see the in-laws.

We love peppermint tea in this house. Right now I’m sipping on a combination of Peppermint from Adagio (good all by itself) and catnip from an herb shop here in SF (not that kind, tsk tsk, I mean HERBS). I read that catnip is calming and can also be good for tummies. I’m happy to report that unlike when my cats have some catnip, I am not attempting to travel as far as possible simply by rolling, nor have I slapped or bit Rayn yet. ;) This is a pretty nice bedtime/happy stomach tisane.

And if you want a quick laugh, here’s a short video of my kitties hopped up on the ’nip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrpFPPf3MMo&feature=plcp

This is a chance combination of tea and a book club!
I recently had an idea that I thought was really cool, but wasn’t sure how others would feel about it, so I decided to put it out on the interwebs for feedback. And the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

I’m sipping on Nepal Black from David’s Tea and starting up a new book club titled “Old Books Are Cool”. Every week we’ll be reading a chapter from a book that is at least 80+ years old, most of which will be free in ebook format and certainly free from the library. At the start of every chapter I’ll be posting themes, historical context, cultural context, and sometimes questions to think about.
I really wanted to find a way to share with people older literature that often gets ignored in today’s society, I think in large part because it’s hard to understand without all the contextual stuff that goes with it.

So why am I posting this? I want to open this up to any friends on Steepster, or Steepsterites in general who might be interested. Our first book will be The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells and I’m aiming to start next week. The book club is being hosted in google groups so anyone can participate no matter where they are, and if someone has a week they can’t read they can just catch up whenever they want.
If this sounds like something you’re interested in, just send me a message with the email address you’d like added to the group. :)

Trying to use up my DT Red Velvet Cake. Waaaay too sweet on its own, so this morning, I thought I’d go with half Red Velvet Cake, half H&S Soho. Definitely improved the situation! Because Soho isn’t as sweet, it cut the overwhelming sweetness, plus added a hint of coconut. Coconut Red Velvet cake! I think I officially found a solution to my problem.

I’m trying to use up the rest of my 52teas Gingerbread Chai to make more room (almost there, one round of brewing left), so I decided to brew some up, let it cool, and combine it with some Red Leaf Pumpkin Pie black matcha for a cold latte. This was my randomly thrown together recipe:

1/2 tsp Red Leaf Pumpkin Pie black matcha
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup steeped Gingerbread Chai
3 ice cubes
1/2 tsp vanilla agave nectar

The result is much better than drinking the Gingerbread Chai hot with some milk and sugar. The black matcha base grounds the spices in the Gingerbread Chai, in my opinion. Without the matcha, I find the Gingerbread Chai to be a little too heavy on the ginger, thus making it more two-dimensional. Now, the spices meld together with an earthier base to create a bold, yet much smoother result.

This is my favourite chance blend including Red Leaf Pumpkin Pie black matcha so far. I combined the following:

1/2 cup cooled 52teas Double Chocolate Decadence
1/2 cup soy milk
3 ice cubes
1/2 tsp vanilla agave nectar
1 tsp (maybe a little less) Red Leaf Pumpkin Pie (black matcha base)

Blend it in the Magic Bullet and surprise, surprise, we have a wonderful cold chocolate pumpkin pie latte.

This particular matcha gives more oomph to the Double Chocolate Decadence, since I find that tea kind of boring on its own.

Third matcha beverage today. I’m going to be going at my schoolwork for the rest of the day for sure.

Over the past couple days, I got the idea of trying JagaSilk Aztec hot chocolate with Red Leaf English Toffee matcha. As much as I like the former, lately, I feel like it’s been a little ho-hum, and as for the latter, I just got out of the habit of drinking matcha on a regular basis. So much sense, this makes!

I prepared this on the stove top with two teaspoons of hot chocolate powder, around one teaspoon of the matcha, and a cup of soy milk. The result is fantastic. The caramel flavour in the matcha really complements the chocolate, and the matcha seems to bring out more of the heat in the hot chocolate.

Cold brew experimenting turned out really well today.
I paired together peppermint amour and lemon myrtle from DAVIDsTEA.
Very refreshing on a nice spring day!

Surprise Stacy Sample!

I’m not sure how much she’d want me to give away but I feel compelled to write tasting notes when I try things. This one is a delicious green coloured blend that i am quite enjoying tonight. I am missing out on the chocolate side of it, but i can imagine how this would taste with the chocolate blending in with the tea. Yeah…i’ll be on the look out for this one. 78/100 Stacy – since it’s a work in progress :)

(hopefully that’s abstract enough of a tasting note lol)

Final uber secret sample from stacy. lol Yes i’m having fun doing this, though mostly it saves poor stacy getting a ton of emails from me to give her feedback AND maybe sparks some interest in the rest of the world for her secret concoctions.

I have to say on this last one Stacy…WANT! I didn’t get much of the non red flavour in the first steep that i had but the red flavour is what makes me super excited about the rest of the sample bag of this one. I also don’t usually like non black flavoured teas as much but this one hits the spot. It might be worth having this on the website someday…or a blend similar to it. Just saying :)

Secret Stacy sample #2! I have to say after trying this one, I am even MORE anxious for Stacy to produce a caramel tea. Yes I know poached caramel pear is on the way but that’s a pear tea in my head. I want a delicious creamy caramel vanilla tea….nothing to interfere with the deliciousness of caramel and vanilla.

Digging this one Stacy! Sans “yellow” stuff :)

SIPDOWN! well kind, but not really since it’s not in my cupboard BUT since this is my last morning with access to my tea stash, i decided to celebrate getting my cupboard down to under 180 before my trip with my last cup of the sample Stacy sent me of the custom blend we’re working on. Since we’re hoping to have it finished by the time i get back, i thought it was fitting. Plus i just wanted something tasty and delicious. :)

Just tracking tea drinking… I’ve been, over the holidays, drinking the samples that Stacy provided to me for the strawberry Rhubarb pie blend that won her contest. I’ve been trying to spend some time drinking both versions to get a sense as to which one i prefer, and which captures that strawberry rhubarb pie essence. It’s looking like the one with hibiscus may yet win out, which i know may have a few ppl questioning trying the blend, but i promise if it does get added to the blend it will be in moderation lol. Anyway it always amazes me how stacy (butiki teas) can so amazingly capture flavours. I’m having a blast with this blend, so much so that I may need to do another custom blend from her sometime in the future!

Sipdown! Drinking a random tea that i’m too lazy to log since it’s a sipdown. Victorian Afternoon Tea from Kittenna This is a bit astringent for me but it’s overall not a bad little tea. Certainly glad i got the chance to try it :)

Edit: Also forgot the rating on this is linked to all my entries haha this would be about a 73 :)

Logging for posterity

Working on the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with stacy and i’m super excited about it. Added a bit of spices to the sample she sent me and made my other half try it. It looks like he and i are in agreement on the whole hibiscus thing – sorry steepsterites, this blend will have them…in small amounts! for extra tangy rhubarb goodness :)

Anyway cinnamon was a success…nutmeg…well i’m not sure i added enough so I will leave that to the master blender Stacy heh

Caramel pumpkin cheesecake matcha smoothie. Inspired by the tea of the same name by 52 teas.

2 parts pumpkin pie matcha; 1 part each of cheesecake and caramel matcha.

Deeeelicious!

This mornings creation? Black Cherry Cheesecake Matcha Smoothie. I think tomorrow I’ll try black cherry caramel :) In any case this is delicious! I think the blackcherry is becoming my 3rd favourite matcha…maybe

Call me crazy but I just made Wild Strawberry Genmaicha and it was delicious! These two teas by Tea & Bloom came by way of the 12 Days of Christmas day six from tattooed_tea. She had mentioned fruit and cereal (Genmaicha) and I was inspired. The sweet and savory work well together and this reminds me of Kashi with strawberries or flavored rice cakes or drizzled popcorn balls. Yum!

Was writing a note when my laptop shut down, then had a hard time logging on to steepster and by that time I had moved on to the wonderful sheng I am drinking now. But earlier I brewed two blends. One an Upton Assam with chai. It was okay, I enjoyed tasting the Assam but the chai was a bit thin. I ended up using the liquor to make pancakes and they were quite nice, smelled like pumpkin when they hit the griddle but were very mild, enhancing the pancake taste just a bit.

Second combination was a blend of Upton’s East Frisian Sunday Tea with Vanilla, Sacher Blend Scented Darjeeling and a smidge of Extra Bergamot Earl Grey. Twas rich and smooth and charming. Now just as I finished brewing, Rowan asked for “tiny pancakes” (the first batch was small and I was still hungry as well". So I used up the rest of the pancake mix and poured some of this tea in for the liquid. The result was pretty awesome and the toddler agreed, we enjoyed it without butter or syrup. Would definitely remake both the tea and the pancakes!

Harney & Sons Black Currant with a bit of Cafe Vanilla brewed for my sister and brother-in-law while getting our Abbey on tonight. One might call this blend Lady Mary ;) Followed by shortbread and bourbon, like you do.

Ohhhh yeah delicious chocolate hazelnut blend from using up Adagio’s Hazelnut, Zen Tea’s Bossa Nova and Teavirve’s Bailin Gongfu Black Organic cold brewed overnight (and most of yesterday). Soooo good, have to save some for the husband. Not exactly sure how I taste mint but there is definitely a mint chocolate chip and caramel and hazelnut feel to this. Also toffee which I realize is what I expected out of the hazelnut teas, not terribly fair of me, but there it is. And Nuttella this time in the taste as well as the smell. Well that was fun, but I think my adventure in hazelnut blends is over, for now.

Teavivre Lapsang Souchong + Empire Tea Services Earl White. My plan was an uptown cowboy earl – rhinestone earl? lol :) Yeah, that was the plan. It smells lightly smoky and bergamot. The taste is kind of too little of everything. I steeped 3 minutes. This shouldn’t happen. It is like the two teas cancelled each other out. Both teas are very flavorful on their own but the combination is less than amazing. I be sad :(

Zen Tea Pheonix Pearls and Celestial Seasonings Sweet Harvest Pumpkin
For the pearls, this was there fourth steep. I brewed for 5 minutes, then poured into the mug over the pumpkin bag. I steeped maybe two minutes. Gmathis said she thought adding black tea to this bag helped it. Maybe i picked the wrong black tea but this tastes like the smell of one of those craft stores, that sell dried flowers, candles and crap, yeah, I am such a guy. This is definitely not my thing.

Funny add on to this review. I went in to the next room in the office to pass along some job information. As I was leaving, he asked, “Did the ladies spray something to make the whole office smell like that?”
“No, it was just me making some tea. Kind of smell like a dried flower craft store?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry I will gulp it and make it go away as quickly as possible.”
He is such a guy.

I don’t have any matcha, (I have never tasted any that I know of) and besides I really need to sleep tonight. So I took some white monkey and mixed it with homegrown tulsi. This is the second time I have mixed white with tulsi and it is a great combination.

While this was steeping I decided to strip the rest of the dried tulsi flowers off the stems. Afterwards I planned to put it in a sealed glass jar. As I started to pour, the bowl slipped out of my fingers and I dumped the whole bowl in the floor. Maybe I will get another picking of flowers this season and maybe I won’t :(

Last night I had some really good white peony leaves that had already been steeped several times. I added some home grown tulsi. I loved this combination. The melon and fruity of the white tea melded perfectly with the highly floral and clove like tulsi. The result had no clove flavor instead it was fruity and floral, almost like a mild rose. it was dripping with honey type flavor. This was a really good idea!

Just now I made Iced Tea for Lance, He wanted me to mix two for him so we mixed TC50: Uva BOP and TC54: Sarnia Plaiderie Estate BOP1 both from Upton Tea Imports here is link to both
They are both Ceylon from Sri Lanka just different estates I think.
The Uva estate is one of his favs for Iced Tea and this blend wasn’t bad at all, he likes it a lot.
He says it is Brisk and refreshing with very little astringency :)
http://uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=TC50&from=search.asp

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=TC54&similarto=TC32&UTid=3510-22-12032504&afterCart=/shopcart/item.asp

I added Siam Tees Santikhiri Oloong with DMS black Pearl also from siam tees to create a nice iced tea blend, I made it a few time and it is awesome, I’m fact i had some this moring i keep some in the fridge sometimes for something cold in the mornings. Very nice iced tea almost chocolatey :)

white earl grey (thanks darby!) and an herbal citrusy lavender from a company I will not name but am PEACING OUT ON so whatever. if you want to know more I have a massively long tl;dr but it’s worthwhile I think and I’ll msg you it.

I just have no idea how to quit, but I am sure not going in there Friday. I also do not give a single cookie about burning a bridge, because in my future profession a reference from a company a step above a shady used car dealership won’t help me :)

so yeah never buying their teas again but I’ll drink what I have because I only have ones that aren’t terrible. A customer actually came up with this and I was so excited by it I wanted to make it for her but of course that wasn’t allowed, god that entire model is STUPID. But thankfully I was doing nothing important as she was leaving with her cup so I was able to ask her how it was, and so I had to try it myself since she gave it a thumbs up.

It is good though. I just don’t like how the herbal is so moist all these pieces stick together. Not too fond though of white tea for an EG, it’s kind of bland. It really needs a black tea.

Precious White Peach (thanks to Chuckieroy) + Peach Tranquility (thanks to tperez)

I had the white tea peach one before when I was at store I don’t like naming. I can’t remember now if I had it hot or iced, I feel like it was hot and I didn’t like it. It seems so suited to iced tea.

To add more peachiness to it, I threw in the peach tisane.

It’s not very much white tea to begin with just as PWP, but it’s still kind of there, along with peach. The tisane adds some pineapple to it too.

I just realized that I had been trying NOT to drink anything peach after having so many recently LOL but these honestly are the best tasting ones.

First try recreating Teavana’s Thai Tea Blend

1 tsp Della Terra Teas Coconut Trees & Vanilla Fields
1/2 tsp Simpson & Vail Rooibos French Vanilla
1/2 tsp Simpson & Vail Almond Sugar Cookie

Drinking it alongside Thai Tea Blend to compare. It might be too much almond. The Almond Sugar Cookie is pretty strong…it permeated the entire box. I’m not a fan of almond tea so this was not pleasant. But I know there’s almond in Thai Tea Blend and I can handle it.

It might need a bit more vanilla. One of the ingredients tastes a bit perfume like and I’m wondering if that’s the almond cookie also. I picked that one because it would have a bit more vanilla too, so it’s weird.

Otherwise it’s pretty damn close. I think it actually has more body than the original.
Now to figure out which one has the floral notes and to try to replace just it.

I have four matchas I could actually review for credit but I instead got distracted by the idea of mixing these two.

Bavarian Creme + Raspberry Truffle matcha!

I haven’t had either of these in awhile so I’m not sure how the raspberry truffle is on its own anymore, but you can bet I haven’t forgotten the bavarian creme one. I went for a hot latte preparation (or a hat if you start thinking about the next word you’re going to type too soon).

The chocolate seems to get lost this way, so it reminds me of raspberries dipped in cream. There is a slight mocha-like note at the end though. From what I remember, I like the Bavarian creme matcha better cold. But I like it together with this one for sure, I’m going to have to start going through these matchas quicker because I want so many new flavors so much.

another attempt at just entertaining myself using Teavana blends:
(3 tsp of Raspberry Riot Lemon Mate + 2 tsp of Blackberry Mojito + a mug full of 175* water) x 2 min = something that most definitely needs to be poured over ice (and then saved for cold steeping).

I like Raspberry Riot because it’s like caffeinated juice and I could go for that right now. Then I thought, well, I have all this Blackberry Mojito that I like by itself, what if I had a bit of mint to the mate?

I’d actually not steep them together in the future because I prefer the mate steeped a long time and obviously I don’t want to steep a green tea more than a couple minutes. So I’m not sure if this will really be like caffeinated juice today (although that’s why I went with 3 tsp), but I do taste both the raspberry and the lemon. Blackberry not so much, but the mint is definitely there.

Also this makes it way too hibiscusy. I can stand both of these teas on their own without thinking they’re too bad, but this one…yikes.

I tried.

Teaopia Strawberry Fields + Whispering Pines Coconut White

I only had 1 tsp of the Teaopia tea, and 8 oz requires 1.5 tsp…and I was using a 12 oz perfect tea mug. What’s close to the top of this shoebox that I can add? Coconut!

I love coconut and strawberry together. I was worried this coconut tea might be too old to really be really coconutty because I completely forgot about it (this is the first time I’m drinking it) but it’s very balanced with the strawberry flavor.

It’s very sweet, almost like frosting. And I finished a sample of a tea!!!! Amazing.

When I go to my boyfriend’s, I bring along a reusable bag filled with teas that are small samples, or just a bit left, in hopes I can finish them off. That was precisely my plan to ice Teavana’s Precious White Peach again, but I did not have enough for a full 16oz. I have a very small amount of DavidsTea’s Kanpe with me, definitely not enough for even a cup, but I figure I’ll throw it in there too.

They actually don’t have any ingredients in common from the looks of it, but I figured why not give it a shot. I have more Kanpe but it’s still a sipdown combination of excellence.

I only had this peach tea by itself once and I had to delete the note so I can’t remember much of it. I do remember it was not hibiscus pink, which this turned thanks to Kanpe.

I might have let the temperature get too hot for the white tea? It’s very bitter. Which is weird, since you know, it’s not very much white tea in the first place. It starts off very strongly tasting like Kanpe, with the addition of peach before going bitter like that. The cinnamon is pretty strong too, I really was not expecting this to taste so heavily like Kanpe when I barely had enough for a cup of it hot, let alone iced.

I’ll probably finish the glass anyway but I’m glad that I have no more of that white tea. It really isn’t very good and it seems to be incredibly picky.

DavidsTea Stormy Night + Chocolate Orange

A friend was curious what she could mix that was a chocolate tea to tone down the cinnamon in Stormy Night. I thought Chocolate Orange sounded like the best bet, and it’s definitely good.

Stormy Night came off as really thin-bodied the first time I had it, and the puerh gives it more of a body. The cinnamon is way less intense, as is the coconut. It doesn’t taste like slightly chocolatey cinnamon coconut water anymore.

I’m gonna try it w/cocoa canela tomorrow. I’ve only got enough Chocolate Orange for one more cup so I think I’m going to have to drink it on its own, but this was a good experiment.

Remembering I have approximately 8572329 of Teavana Tarocco Ruby Orange, I decided to add a bit to ZenTea Caribbean Breeze for a glass of iced tea.

Caribbean Breeze already had some orange in it, so now it’s more of a strong flavor, with lemon underneath it. The green tea is kind of hidden, I steeped it for a green because I didn’t want too much orange.

I’m going to continue experimenting with ways I can use all that stuff up. I have barely touched the surface and I’ve had it for far too long.

I thought it was funny on Facebook, DavidsTea actually asked what combinations people make right after I did the oolong one last night. So I had to try this after seeing multiple people mention it.

DT Organic Banana Oolong + Love Tea #7

I guess it sort of works? The Banana oolong is not banana enough for me. I used enough of it for a whole cup while I used about 3/4 tsp of Love Tea, and Love Tea is still the stronger flavor in here. I let it cool for a long time since it was definitely all Love Tea at first. Now that it’s cooler there is a bit of the banana in the aftertaste but not enough to make me think, “this is a banana split!” I hadn’t had Love Tea in a good bit though so it was nice to have it again, although maybe too rich for breakfast but who cares.

I don’t have anymore of the banana oolong but I think I will try this again with 52teas’ Bananas Foster. Drunken banana split!

[blend of chais – oolong and mate – from place that doesn’t deserve to be named]

Someone returned it and I got to keep some of it. As I found it absolutely vile when sweetened, I figured I’d try it by itself while I waited in line to vote.

Hahahaha I didn’t wait in line to vote, it took me 10 minutes max, and that’s only because I had to be all chatty with one of the poll workers.

Also I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Georgia for making it difficult to vote for third party candidates, I actually gave up trying to vote for Jill Stein because I had so much trouble writing myself in for state representative. In fact I gave up writing myself in there and put “Bruno.”

Sadly I don’t think he’s qualified but nobody was running against this guy, and it was a valiant effort.

Anyway. I do not like this really. It was gross by itself, it did taste better for a bit after I added some coconut milk…but now it just tastes grossly sweet for some reason.

Yep, don’t get the hype. Disagree with the kid who told me it tastes like tea because it doesn’t in the end. But he was a smart cookie, I gave him some tisane and he asked me if it was from China. I thought it was pretty cool he associated tea with China, cause when I was his age I’d probably been like WHAT IS A CHINA.

But yeah, I know other people like this stuff so into the swap thread it’ll go later.

Teas Etc Persian Lime + Mahamosa Spearmint

This was AWESOME. I made a quart pitcher of iced tea, and I believe I used 1 tbsp of spearmint leaves and around 2 1/2 tbsp of Persian Lime. I don’t think I added any sweetener to it, but I do remember that I completely missed starting the timer on my phone so I had to guess at steeping.

It turned out perfect so that was fine. The lime and mint were perfectly matched, I was worried I didn’t have enough mint in there but it was just right to give a burst of mintiness at the end.

I have no idea what else to say since it took me hours to finally finish this and this tea was from yesterday. Blah.

DOCTOR WHO SERIES – JACKIE TYLER

Comforting and protective, she’ll give you a hug while simultaneously kicking someone’s ass for you.

A combination of chamomile, orange, rosehip and rosepetals, this tea is sweet and light and just a little bit tart. The chamomile lends it a bit of honey flavor at the front of the sip, and it finishes with the rosehip and orange.

Really, really good. Much better than expected. I’ve had an idea for this forever, and never had the ingredients to make it happen. I kind of feel as though I should be logging these as separate teas, since the ingredients are more or less finalized… but oh well. When I get around to doing the label artwork.

I wanted an Earl Grey Cream tea.
I have no Earl Grey Cream tea.

I was searching through my stash for something that would get that rich, heavy sweetness across, and I stumbled upon the Copley Square Vanilla by Tealuxe. “I can make an EGC,” I thought to myself. “Too bad I don’t have any EG.”

I did have one EG – the Lavender Earl Grey by Epi Tea.

I figured I would try it. Couldn’t hurt. So I steeped 1 heaping tsp of the Vanilla with 1 sachet of the EG for ~3 min.

Meh. It’s not that rich creamy taste I wanted. I got a bit of bitterness, which could have been from oversteeping – I didn’t time at all – but there was also an uncomfortable dryness that I think was the lavender. It took away from the richness of the vanilla I wanted.

Ah well. Off to the tea shop…?

50/50 ratio of Adagio’s Chocolate Chip to Adagio’s Birthday

Creamy and sweet!

Backlog
These 7:30 am classes are NOT doing my sleep schedule any favors… It’s mate day!
This was my second mate before 10 am.

I mixed about a teaspoon of Adagio’s Hazelnut (sipdown… so sad) with a teaspoon of Adagio’s Caramel and a teaspoon of Fusion Tea Room’s Roasted Mate.

The result is fantastic. Roasty and naturally sweet, I’m definitely getting some chocolate and hazelnut. It’s too bad I’m out of the hazelnut now!

I think I’ve figured out how to enjoy my Almond Happiness.

This morning I gave it one last ditch effort. 12oz travel mug, 1.5tsp Almond Happiness by 52 teas and 1 tsp Vanilla Cream by NMTC.

The Vanilla Cream had been one-note and bland, and the Almond Happiness was all-around disappointing, so I figured that I’d at least have a bit of a creamy vanilla tea, if nothing more.

Well, those two teas plus a bit of agave and half-and-half make a nice chocolatey, almondy brew, with a hint of vanilla and coconut. I don’t love either tea on their own, but I’m pretty happy with the two of them together!

Paradise Found (David’s) and Strawberry Lemonade (Teavana)

I’m a bit frustrated at myself for ordering David’s just to take advantage of the free Paradise Found, and then not liking it. I mean, I suppose I couldn’t have known, but it’s still disappointing. In all my sample-sharing, I found just a little bit of Strawberry Lemonade left over from last semester in the back of my stash, and figured it couldn’t hurt to try it.

Steeped 3 min, 1tsp PF, 2tsp SL, 1tsp rock sugar – 16oz.

Blech. I preemptively added rock sugar and reminded myself why I don’t do that… too sweet. Also, too much SL. It was drinkable, but cloying and tasted sort of like Kool-Aid.

Sigh.

On the plus side, a friend I’ve been trying to make plans with for months years now said “I intend to see you soon,” so maybe we’ll finally get to see each other? Living 200 miles apart has its downsides. But super excited to finally see him again!

Rooibos Lemon Cloud – Adagio; Caramelized Pear – Art of Tea

Steeped the RLC, and decided to add some of the CP in.

It’s actually not bad. I added a bit of milk, and it kind of overpowers the pear, but it’s pretty good iced.

Damn, though, I’m going to need to stock up on that CP. It’s incredible.

DOCTOR WHO SERIES: John Smith

John Smith is the pseudonym used by Ten in his stint as a human as a teacher in an English boarding school. It’s strong, traditional, and very, very English.

A blend of Earl Grey, vanilla and hazelnut teas. Drank with a touch of sugar and milk, as befits your traditional English teas.

I like this. When I want an Earl Grey, I almost always go to one of my flavored ones – it tones down the bergamot a bit. I’m tempted to try selling these on Etsy or somewhere, but I don’t know if they’d sell!

So let me first register my utter hatred with temperatures over about 80F. I mean. I would MUCH rather the winter weather when it’s so cold that my feet go numb through my shoes than this utterly unbearable 90+ weather. Especially since we don’t have air conditioning. I just… it’s awful.

#Rant over.

Cold brewed a mixture of Boston Tea Company’s English Breakfast and Twining’s Irish Breakfast. I was going to originally do just the IB, but the tin was a lot lower than I thought. So I figured I’d just go ahead and orchestrate some positive race relations while I was at it. (Sorry. Irish history is a bit of a favorite of mine.)

It’s a good black tea! Not remarkable, but good and solid with a bit of milk and sugar! Really good for cooling off :)

Banana Mocha Match!
Eat your heart out Starbucks!
I don’t think I could have over paid for a better flavored matcha!
One scoop Banana matcha – one scoop Mocha Matcha – Milk, Ice, Sweet Cream Creamer. OMGOODNESS!

Lately I have been mixing my beloved Strawberry Zabaglione with many things. The other day it was mixed with Butiki Good-morning Sunshine which was STELLAR I just want to say and this VERY early morning after an all nighter I am having it mixed with Traditional Guayusa from Runa Tea.
Why? Well I wanted to wake up as I have to take my daughter quite a ways across town for a work remote today (radio station thing) therefore wanted Guayusa. I also wanted some flavor and all I could focus on this morning was my beloved SZ. Although I was tempted to just go with Butiki again – I have to conserve my favorites so I went with SZ this time. ANYHOW … sorry blabbering – very sleepy still … Its really really REALLY good.
I think somehow the sweet flavor of the Guayusa mixes perfectly with the natural strawberry in the SZ. Its refreshing as all get out! I think that somehow the Guayusa almost makes the strawberry MORE strawberrish but maybe I am just really sleep deprived.
Could be both I suppose.
Well and now its gone – time for a re-steep then off across town then passing out cold – well I will drive home first of course.
:)

Reading back over this – it makes no sense – so just ignore what I thought of mixing with what and why – Obviously Im out of my mind. Regardless I am pretty sure I am not wrong about this tasting amazing. :)

Caramel Cheesecake Matcha – It was so good – wish I had enjoyed it more though I gulped it down in stupid speed! LOL
It was a huge glass gone in a flash!
Its not just the wonderful amazing flavors though its like I NEED matcha!
The energy is so pure and wonderful!
LOVE MATCHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Matcha Mix Latee YUMness!!!!!
Perfectly balanced with one big scoop of pumpkin pie and two scoops of cheesecake.
Mixed with milk, non dairy sweet cream creamer, on ice.
DELICIOUS!!!!!
Going to enjoy the rest of this cup now – should take all of 1 minute to suck it down.

I am drinking SOMETHING but I have NO idea what it is – after trying maybe 8 rooibos and 3 black tea bases for a custom blend – along with a tea for my daughter’s cold brew for work tomorrow, along with some from yesterday, and ummmm some green rooibos, I have no idea what the heck this even IS!
Its green some kind of fruit, maybe some spice? Sort of tastes like a Gurmans tea I have but I have not pulled out my Gurmans in over a week. Hummmm
Well its a re-steep and its good so I will log it here. Does this happen to others? I CAN’T be the only one!

My first matcha in almost 2 weeks I think – since I have been sick. Finally today I feel well enough to enjoy one!
I mixed mint, white chocolate and french vanilla OMG it is SOOOOOOO good!
It is like a milk shake!
Oh I made it with milk and creamer (Latte style) but these flavors blended are bliss!
Yummmmy its good to be back! :)

Combined Strawberry Matcha (its gone now unfortunately) and Champagne Matcha both from Red Leaf Tea of course.
OH MY GAWD!
This is magic.
Sweet, comforting, delicate, delicious, love on a stick.

Caramel Cheesecake Matcha – Matcha from Red Leaf Tea
I mixed half caramel and half cheesecake today.
It blends nicely allowing both flavors to come out.
Its so tasty!
This is not a 2 in 1 blend offered premixed on the Red Leaf site but one I mixed myself.
I would rather buy both flavors separately and mix them on my own so I can also have them as a single flavor.
This mixture is excellent!

Red Leaf Tea mix of Passion Fruit and Coconut in Almond Milk.
Reminded me somewhat of a Pina Colada.
Excellent mix.
I don’t care for the Coconut alone, or without milk but in the Almond Milk, which was Vanilla flavored this blend was YUMMY!
So much better – and healthier than a milkshake or alcohol.
May not be as healthy as straight unadulterated traditional matcha but you know what – I have a sweet tooth so this is a better way to satisfy it.
:)

Enjoying a LOVELY Mint Mocha Matcha this morning thanks to Red Leaf Teas wonderful matcha!

Yesterday I had a Butterscotch Bavarian Cream blend that was out of this world and today this.

I LOVE mixing matcha to come up with new flavors.

Today’s blend is really helping me sluff off the morning doldrums!

Eye opening mint with yummy mocha what could be better!?

My mint matcha review incoming soon.

So last night I steeped some Cinnamon Swirl Bread by sTEAp Shoppe. I got two great steeps out of the leaf and went to bed. I did not dump the leaf as I knew there was more to give. However when I woke up this morning I still did not want to waste the leaf but on the other hand needed a really STRONG cup of black tea to give me a boost after only a few hours of rest.
So I added some Fengquing Dragon Pearls from Teavivre!
VERY nice combo!
The pearls woke the Cinnamon Swirl Bread right back up without covering the wonderful flavors or the yummy puerh!
Can taste the pearls wonderfully as well.
Best of both worlds in two excellent teas!