606 Tasting Notes
What an interesting few days!
Sunday I had my final baby shower. We also got hit with quite the snow storm. Like to the point where I couldn’t get the car out of the driveway.
Then Monday… well the greatest and craziest thing happened. I had my little boy!
Monday went by like any other day. I hung out… went for dinner with my dad and just as I was about to go to bed that night, I started to get some weird symptoms. Come to find out my water was starting to break but I wasn’t sure if that’s what was happening for sure or not. Anyways I eventually decided to go to the hospital to get checked out and I went from 2cm to 8cm in an hr. Our little guy was born about 3hrs after I got to the hospital. It was the fastest delivery of a first baby ever! Born at 35.5weeks. Isaac William James is 4lbs 11oz. 19" long.
Only problem is his lungs aren’t quite right yet. He’s on a ventilator right now and we’re hoping and praying that’ll change soon. He’s slowly getting there but it’s taking a while. I’m hoping he can stay breathing on his own fully soon.
Alright onto the tea. This is the one they have ay the hospital and honestly it’s not too bad. I’ve loaded the cups up with milk and sugar and there has been something so comforting about it. Maybe it’s cause it’s the only tea I have on hand but it’s been great to have. I’m so thankful for it today and yesterday. I’m slowly getting anxious for loose leaf again but honestly it doesn’t matter. Thinking about tea is just my distraction for worrying. I know the little guy should be fine but I’m really having my moments. And it’s hard not getting to hold him. I’ve only held him once and it wasn’t long enough. And I was in such shock from giving birth that it feels like a dream instead of reality. Hoping today I’ll hold him again.
Wow I’m really using this tasting note to voice all my thoughts and fears. .. haven’t really voiced all this yet. It’s kinda nice to get it out.
I’ve been craving spearmint tea, but went for this one instead. haha
Only steeped up a small cup of this one as I’m really trying to watch the caffeine a bit more as apparently my baby is measuring small… Hopefully everything will be okay in the end…. the doctor is keeping an eye on me, so hopefully it’ll be okay.
I’m not too sure if I’m getting Irish Cream or not, but it’s close. I think this one would hold up to milk very well also. I think that would make it even more like Irish Cream. I’ll have to try that next time.
But all things considered it’s very, very good. I love the cream and the almond… and the coconut is a nice touch.
I’m not too sure if I’d get this one again, but I’m glad that I tried it.
Update on this one: I added more leave this time. It’s the nordic mug from Davidstea which is 16oz and I used a perfect teaspoon from Davidstea which is… 2.5tsp I think they said? It steeped up much darker this time and I added a little extra rock sugar.
It’s actually really good. I’m enjoying this tea a lot. There’s much more flavour in this tea. I’m getting a bit of a maltiness to it, and a touch of floral also. It’s good. I’m liking this so much better this time.
So, note to self: use a bit extra leaves on this one!
Living in a border city is both a blessing and a curse. I get to order from companies that have shipping costs far too high for Canada but I can get them delivered to the states and I save myself so much money! It’s fantastic. And it’s bad. haha Yesterday I picked up two orders. One from Adagio of just a few teas I’ve been dying to try including my two own custom blends, and one from a website called Enjoyingtea.com. I got some yixing pots on there as they were on sale and I ended up with some free tea samples in TINS! But like nice tins. I was stunned but very happy. Now I need to slow down to a STOP on buying tea and accessories now that I have everything I’ve been looking for and need to drink what I have. Only 6 weeks til baby is here and I can start trying more of the teas that have been taboo for so long… I think Iced teas are the way I’m going to go and lots of travel mugs that keep tea hot for long periods of time…
Anyways, this is one of the teas that I ordered from Adagio as it’s a simple black decaf tea. It isn’t too bad… I’m steeping it up today for 3 mins with a bit of german rock sugar and a little skim milk (mostly to just change the colour). It’s definitely a dark colour when steeped, but in some ways the taste isn’t as strong as I would have liked. I think next time I’ll add just a bit more leaves for my cup (there’s a good chance I underleafed for the size of mug I’m using).
But I am enjoying the subtle flavour of this one. It’s nice to have a decaf tea that you can enjoy anytime. And even though I’m not really getting the characteristics that the tea says I should be getting, it’ll be nice to have this one around as sometimes it’s nice just to have a basic tea in the cupboard. I just hope that when I add more leaves that more flavour will come out.. .it’s very basic and kind of weak.
Two DT perfect spoons of Creme Caramel rooibos, and one of Green Rooibos with a bit too much sugar, cold steeped in the fridge for close to 24 hours. DELISH!
I’m totally loving this. It’s sweet and caramel-y. It’s a nice dessert tea even though I’m drinking it before dinner. haha This would be a great way to kill some sweet cravings :)
Only enough for tomorrow morning’s cup so I’m going to say this is a SIPDOWN!
It’s a strong tea and is quite good.
My only complaint is that I always end up with an almost tea dust on the bottom of my mug when I use my metal infusing basket from Davidstea. I don’t have this problem when it comes to rooibos teas in the basket which is why I have to think it’s more of a dust than the leaves coming through.
I don’t know if this is because of the tea itself or has something to do with the way it was packaged/maybe got rocked around. Either way that’s a small complaint in some ways, but in other ways it’s annoying. haha
Well, since the little one will be here soon….ish…. 8 weeks, I’m not sure I’m going to restock this one. I think I might just try to stick with the other decaf teas I have and use them up. Lots of green rooibos and red in my future.
So I finally bought a gaiwan. I actually bought two of them. One is about 150ml and one is about 75ml. I’ve tried the larger one today. It’s taking some real playing to get use to. I almost burnt my fingers on the steam from the first use, which isn’t good, but what can ya do?
Anyways, this was the tea for me to try today with the gaiwan and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but the first steep was quite bitter after only 10 seconds. The second steeping wasn’t as bad at 10 seconds but still was a tough bitter. Maybe it’s also ‘cause I’m not use to drinking this tea straight up? Anyways, so the third steep I did 15 seconds and it wasn’t too bad! I was surprised by it. It started to mellow out and turn into a nice tea. Maybe the first two steeps should have been a bit shorter. Maybe this is the type of tea that only needs like a 5 second steep to start? Or maybe I just used too much leaf? I’m still trying to understand that part of it.
Either way, I’m not giving up on the gaiwan yet. I have some oolongs and pu’erhs I want to try in it once the baby is born, if I get time for tea. I’ve heard newborns sleep a lot at first so I might be okay… Maybe? Hopefully? haha
I do have a few white teas I could probably try in it too before the baby comes ’cause they are straight teas and they should be safe…
The first time I used my gaiwan I burnt my fingers trying to hold it and then dumped a bunch of tea and leaf into my cha hai and all over my tray trying to adjust the lid. It was terribly awkward.
For my 100ml gaiwan I usually use 1-2 tsp of dry leaf and then look for recommended steeping times in other people’s tasting notes. A lot of teas are good with a flash steep – just pour on and pour off. And I figure if I do too short a steep I can always just pour the tea back into the gaiwan and give it a few more seconds.
If you pick up the style of gaiwan sometimes called an easy gaiwan they are easier to pour.
you sleep when the baby sleeps. they dont sleep that much, waking up pretty often. you have to feed the baby every 90 min. its just never stops, so i really doubt you will have plenty of time for a tea. maybe later in a few months when the baby will have a schedule
I’m really not sure about this one. Trying it straight up, it’s very interesting. The description says jammy-like taste to it, but I’m not too sure if that’s what I’m getting or not. I think I’m getting more of a floral quality to it I think.
There’s just something about this tea that I’m not crazy about. I will probably finish it, but honestly it’s not for me… Even with milk and sugar I don’t find this tea to be overly exciting…
Oh well… Maybe I’ll try it in one of my new Gaiwans and see if that helps!
I tried a small amount of this in stores today and I’m really not sure where to begin reviewing it.
It was overwhelmingly sweet. I think the must have added like twice as much sugar as they should have so it was very hard to get the flavours to come through. But I did notice the mint. That managed to come through. It was good. I wish the rest had had a chance to really shine instead of getting beaten down and away with the amount of sugar. Oh well… what can you do?
I wish there was a way to order samples from Teavana instead of committing to a full 50g!
Well fix all the spelling errors later. On a phone it’s too tough
Wow. Congratulations and I’m glad your labour went fairly quickly. Here’s hoping your son recovers quickly too.
Congratulations! I remember all too well the fear and excitement involved with the birth of your first baby (ours just turned 1 in december)…. I hope your little man recovers asap so you get to hold him again. Just knowing his mom is there will definitely help him.
Congratulations, and best wishes that you and baby will be home together soon!
Congratulations! I’ll keep you and Isaac in my prayers. Hopefully you’ll be able to hold him again soon.
Congratulations on a beautiful baby boy! Sending well wishes that you both can go home together soon. <3
Congrats! I’m sure your baby will be fine and back in your arms soon.
Good hospital tea is a precious rarity. I drank so much bad hospital tea when my mum was in, and it was really only distinguishable as tea because it was hot, brown liquid that clearly wasn’t coffee.
Wow, congrats!! You’ll get to hold him soon! Sending positive vibes
Thanks everyone! I didn’t get a chance to hold him, but he’s doing so much better. He’s completely off the ventilator, they don’t have to give him as much oxygen, and the tube they had in his mouth has been taken out. (It removed extra air out of his stomach so the lungs had the space to expand.)
I’m home again. The doctor has been really impressed with my progress. And hopefully tomorrow we’ll have even better news!
Good luck with everything!! So glad to hear he’s doing better and that you are doing well also.
This painful waiting period will end in the truly amazing experience of being (re)united with your tiny beautiful son :)