371 Tasting Notes
I used up the last of my sample today but didn’t have quite enough left for a pot. So I mutated it a bit and added some Samovar Russian Blend to it. I had a fixed car to celebrate (see below for details on that) and wanted to break the possible “curse-o-Samovar.” Plus I’d forgotten to put Lapsang Souchong on my GTC order and the uber-fantastic Daniel Mann added some to my order after noticing my oversight. More celebration! This is actually one of the best “mutant teas” that I’ve done — but hey, two yummy teas comprise this cup. It’s about 1& a half tsp LS and 1 tsp RC. TG
The car is fixed — I get to pick it up at 1:00! It had a bad computer and I’m still under warranty ::happy dance:: And since my insurance covers towing the grand total of this stress is $65. The $65 comes from the first shop it was towed to for them to say “we don’t know what’s wrong with it” which is exactly what happened the last time they looked at my previous car. Only back then they’d caused massive damage to my break system that could’ve killed me. So why did my car even end up there? My dad: gods bless him. He believes they’re great because they’re “Christian.” But I can’t get too upset since my Dad’s the one who took care of everything when my car wouldn’t start and he also let me drive his car to work for most of this week. When I found out that he’d towed the car to that shop and not Toyota I let him know I wasn’t too happy about it. I shall try and figure out a way to let him know tactfully that I never ever want any of my cars going back to that place. I’ll also be adding rental car coverage to my insurance policy asap.
Thank you to everyone who said a little prayer or sent me good vibes since Monday. Y’all are awesome! :D
Preparation
Phew – I’m glad that’s over with!!
Yes – massive damage that could have killed you should override religious affiliation in my book :) It’s hard to communicate to a parent “I know you love me and you helped so much but this might not be the best idea!!” Good luck!!!
Thanks! I think that I shall wait for sometime after Father’s Day to have that chat. ;)
Oh, glad the cars better.
Thank you :) Toyota even covered the towing! And my dad brought up his error on taking the car to the first place and apologized, so we had a good dialogue about that — double win :D
yay!
Weight Loss Tea
A Tea Dialogue in 3 PMs (paraphrased):
Rabs: Um, Daniel, I don’t know how to say this, but there was this big honkin’ chunk-o-fused tea thing in my Weight Loss tea sample. I thought you should know. Should I be worried? Do you know what it is?
Daniel: No need to be worried! What you found is called a Toucha ball.
Super-cool explanation follows regarding Toucha balls.
Rabs: Hooray! I’ve learned something new. Thank you :D
::runs back to teapot and adds the Toucha ball for her second steep:: TG
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Heh. I think you got a couple more balls in your tea that I’ve sent.
Hey, I found a picture of them.
http://www.zengardentea.com/index.php?file=productdetail&iProductId=16
Hooray! I’m off to finally do my second steep with the Toucha ball (yup, that photo confirms that it was a Toucha ball that made my teapot go ting!)
I found a toucha review on steepster from a lady named JaneFan.
http://steepster.com/teas/chicago-tea-garden/12651-jasmine-scented-pu-erh-tuocha
Janefan’s great — she does some great alcohol/tea combos :) I also just realized that AmazonV also did the Camel’s Breath review and that’s toucha as well. I’m now super-excited to try this!
Oooh. Wonder whether I got a chunk o fused thing in my sample? (I just got my beautiful prize teapot in the mail today and it had a sample of this with it. Dan the Mann!!)
You must let us know if you got one!
I’m on my third steep: it’s so yummy! After the second infuson I looked in my teapot and the little ball was all floofy and just ready to break apart. I forgot to look after the third, but I’m probably going back for a fourth.
Oh, I like the nickname “Dan the Mann!”
I didn’t have any Toucha Balls in mine…
I know there’s a joke there somewhere…lol…
LOL!
For some reason I haven’t tried this one yet. It taunts me from the tea drawer. I’ll have to peek inside mine and see if I have any Toucha balls (whoa- I think there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere). Maybe I’ll be brave and try it soon.
all my http://steepster.com/teas/chinese-kung-fu-tea-art-ebay-store/10448-18-different-flavor-puerh-tea-chatao-14-riped-4-raw look like that. i just split them up before steeping and then rinse once.
The Touchas in this mix look more like a miniature version of a giant telescope building/observatory with a flat bottom. Or an igloo without a doorway (except with a little ledge near the top dome).
A few years ago I found one of those in a green tea sold by a local shop, and I tossed it because I didn’t know what it was while swearing at the fact that it had added to the weight of the tea so I’d got less for my money. Of course I’ve kicked myself about that ever since I had my first pu-erh toucha. I’d actually got MORE for my money and threw it away. Ignorance is dangerous.
Ouch — so sorry to hear that :( I’m super grateful for Steepster since I think without this community I would’ve tossed it and never purchased this tea again (not thinking about the weight/rip-off issue, but of contamination instead). Since I have Steepster I set it aside and asked. :)
I ordered more of this last night after the wonderful Daniel Mann from the Georgia Tea Company gave me a discount because of my car troubles. I waffled on this one a tiny bit because I’m still not sure how much my car repairs will cost, but then I went back and sniffed the sample bag and it’s still like my mom’s homemade angel food cake. SOLD!
Since I’m currently out of my Earl Grey Cream I decided to see how this one handled the JOEmo thermos treatment. So far this morning it’s awesome. Angel food cake inna cup! TG
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SERIOUSLY!!!!!! I LOVE THIS ONE!!!!!!!!
I seriously think I’m going to need to check out this company. All the reviews I’ve seen have been awesome.
Seriously — I can’t believe that I even hesitated to order more. This might be a day where the thermos never leaves my hand :) I just shared some with a tea-loving coworker and she confirmed the yumminess.
Do it mrawlins2! I ordered more samples to try because I’ve had so many pleasant surprises, plus the customer service is awesome! If you can wait, then you can wait until Daniel runs another one of his amazing contest and try to win some free samples :D
mrawlins2 – Daniel is AWESOME at Georgia Tea Company and they have LOTS of great stuff!!!!
Wow, he has GREAT prices too! I don’t know when I’ll be placing an order, but I will definitely be making one sooner rather than later.
I had been hoping that something would pop up on Select for GTC (I know that he contacted Jason — hopefully it’ll be soon and then you can freely cave) :D I just couldn’t wait (I needed my daily nummy tea!)
oh, yummy! I had angel food cake for breakfast (toasted, with fresh berries on top and a splash of cream. Mmmmmm
Janefan – can I come visit and go to your tea book parties and eat angel food cake for breakfast, then hootch it up with your chai vodka in the evening!?!? Pleeeeease!!?!?!?!
Oh yes — tea book party at Janefan’s house! ;)
Janefan – I think you’re about to have a house-full. I’m coming too…just for the chai vodka!
This was my “oh lord, I drank some beer last night which always upsets my system so I feel horrible in the morning and I need something soothing” tea this morning. I found it very soothing. The sweet floralness really was perfect. This one’s growing on me. It’s like it has the “NERDS! taste but healthier.” I’m gonna bump the rating up a little (the original being a solid 80). NE
Preparation
I finished off my cold brewed iced tea pitcher of this tonight. This puppy’s been in the fridge for…at least two days, and this extra time has (not surprisingly) given it more depth. It’s still very cherry, but it also has more cake to it. Pineapple is still elusive — I get a tiny bit in the aftertaste peeking out from behind the cherry. It’s a good way to end my day :) NE
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Wow, this sounds really good. I really need to break down and place an order with 52teas. I’ve been putting it off hoping some things will sell out because right now my potential order is very hefty.
Lol! I’m gonna be the tea devil on your shoulder this morning: you’ll be so happy when you get your first 52teas order (at least I was). Frank is also awesome and so good at customer service and their teas are just insane. :D
I talked my husband into letting me make a tea order sometime next week. Now I just have to get the price approval for the list I want.
I had a mutant form of this tea today since I think I was delusional overly optimistic about having enough sample left for my JOEmo. So I ended up trying a mix of 1/2 tsp Earl Grey Cream and 1/2 tsp Colonille by SeredipiTEA (courtesy of JacquelineM). Eh, it was okay but I felt that the combo wasn’t the best for either tea. It ended up being a mellow vanilla black tea.
But I am not upset! Why is Rabs not upset that she’s out of her precious Earl Grey Cream? It’s because the super-awesome Daniel Mann made this tea available online for me!!!!! Hooray! Huzzah! Yippee! Even though my car problems seem to be getting more dire I still shall order this. I’ll have to refrain from going too nuts on ordering this evening due to money constraints, but by golly Rabs needs her nummy tea! Today’s version was a solid NE.
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Well, to help you out since your car died, how about using coupon code ‘steepster’ when checking out and get 10% off your entire order?
Aww — Daniel! Now I’m all misty-eyed (it’s allegies I tell ya — allergies!). Thank you so very much. You’d pretty much made me a loyal customer, but lordy, now you’ve got one outspokenly loyal customer on your hands :)
Thank you again!
Anything to help!
This tea was my moment of zen in my craptacular day. I think that I look at is as more of a desert tea than an Earl Grey.
I have enough of my sample left for one more JOEmo thermos-full. This gives me stress.
Will this tea be available to order soon? I can has yummy tea?
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I added it to the web site…just for you! Heh.
Eeeeeeee!!!!! ::’splodes::
Thank you so very much! Hopefully today I’ll find out how much my car repair is gonna cost which will affect the qty of tea that I get for this first order. Earl Grey Cream shall be purchased no matter what. Thank you!!!!!
I was actually gonna PM you later today to see if there was any way I could get my little hands on some of this — you rock! :D
yay! Car trouble? That’s no good, what’s wrong with your car?
They think that it’s the computer. Effin’ car computers. I had to total my last car because the computer shorted out. I spent a chunk of money at one place to find out today that they’re not sure what’s wrong so it needs to be towed to the dealership. ::facepalm::
You can get a car computer for about $30 in a junk yard or pullapart place for your same make and model and just replace it, why all the trouble i wonder? Seems like a crappy mechanic. What kind of car is it?
It’s a Toyota Matrix (one of the few that weren’t recalled). I had gone with Toyota because before the massive recall they were considered one of the most dependable car manufacturers. And since I had such a nightmare with Volkswagon (utter, horribly mind-blowing nightmare) I wanted something that would last for years and years. I miss my first car (a Honda) that was fine for over a decade — never broke down once while I owned it.
Yeah, that’s pretty much right. VW’s have a lot of mechanical problems. My brother has owned three and all three broke down on him all the time. I have a honda accord and it has 250,000 miles on it and has never had a major mechanical problem. Toyota’s use to be great about as reliable as a honda, but obviously there reliability has come down quite a bit.
I wish you luck on the car, hopefully it won’t be too much.
And VWs are crazy-expensive to have any work done ($80 charge for each thing that they look at) and when my VW died the dealership refused to look at it since it was over a decade old (we’re talking by a month). That’s what I call standing by your product :P
I’m praying that it’s covered under warranty. ::crosses fingers, toes, and eyes::
And thanks for the well wishes and the sweet discount!
Heh, that’s horrible service! I’m sure it will work out well. If it’s the computer, certainly it should be covered under the warranty.
Ugh, sorry for the car troubles, Rabs!
Thank you! Fortunately my folks are able to help me out (and I get to drive my dad’s “midlife crisis car” which is a lot of fun).
I swear. Samovar and I are not meant to be. I feel like somehow our relationship is cursed.
I finally feel less frustrated about the whole took-forever botched-up order (I still need to drop off the return box). So I felt that I could try and give this tea a fair shake. I had two really pleasant cups and took the remainder of my second steep along with me in my commuter mug. I got into my car. It died. I chose to irrationally blame the tea. It is a tea of doom.
Okay, so it’s not really a tea of doom, but my eyebrow did raise and I kept looking at my cup outta the corner of my eye. When I got home from work I decided to keep steeping this tea to both 1. dispell my fear of a cursed tea, and 2. get my moneys worth outta this tea.
It’s quite a good Lapsang Souchong. It’s on the less smoky side of LSes and it does have a nice sweetness. And perhaps I still feel a bit jaded about the whole first order fiasco, but I just can’t imagine spending my money on a full tin of this. I have one more sample (as a result of the fiasco) so I’ll try it again at a future date and perhaps give it a more thorough review (and an even fairer shake). But if I have car trouble on that same day, well…doom. Doom! DOOM!!!!!
I’d rate this as a kitten purring on my “cat noises scale” for LSes. NE
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:(
This story reminds me of last night’s “Saving Grace” episode. Lol.
So I finally stopped off at a well-hidden UPS drop-off box on my way to work this morning (grrr) to send off the return and the blabbin’ fraggin box wouldn’t fit! I tried every possible angle. Now I need to drive out of my way to the UPS store. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! Will this ever end?!?! :P
