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From the Traveling Tea Box

Hmmm, not bad, but not memorable, either. Smells like honey! Nice. A little fruity – I am not familiar with yuzu so I am assuming this is it.

The tea in the cup is cloudy – I think from the honey or bee pollen? – and golden. The flavor is not bad, not stellar. I would not buy this, but if someone offered me a cup on a cold day or when I had a sore throat, I would take it. It probably tastes best to thse who add honey or sugar to their tea. Fn to try, though, and I think this is only my second ever Tea Forte tea!

More Traveling Tea Box tea!

There is a Spice and Tea Exchange in Asheville, NC? Really? I have read reviews for their teas, but pictured them only being in some exotic, distant locale, like California. LOL! But Asheville is in my state, though a good five hour drive away or more.

This is a far simpler tea than the Chocolate Chili Chai I just tried, but I really think I like it better. I am getting a nice Keemun flavor, which is already chocolatey, with the addition of some chocolate on top of that.

I try to drink all my tea plain, and I like this one sans additions. For those who add milk and sugar, I feel sure this tea would go over the top to decadent dessert tea status.

Very nice.

Another tea from the Traveling Tea Box! I am trying this on behalf of my future son-in-law. He loves chocolate tea and he loves hot peppers, so I wanted to see if this is a “must have” for him. I am a wimp when it comes to hot peppers, but I read a lot of reviews that said this is only mildly spicy.

It smells good. The first tentative sips surprised me. This really is very mild. Everything is mild. The level of chocolate flavor, the tea base, the chai spices, and the chilis. The aroma is rather intriguing and is the best part of this tea. I guess I am picking up the chai spices over the top of the mild chocolate.

Since I drink my tea sans additions, I can’t say this one wins my heart. It is a decent tea but not one I would seek out, but I suspect since Gav adds milk and sugar to some of his teas he might really enjoy it that way. It would give it that “little extra something” that would make it a great cup of comfort on a cold winter day.

This is from the Traveling Tea Box. Wheeee!

I was excited about this one because I really like puerh tea! I have had very little DavidsTea and that has been samples and mostly long ago.

I followed their directions for steeping. The aroma is nice puerh and chocolate with a hint of orange. One thing I wasn’t wild about is that there is an oil slick on top of my cup. It isn’t a deal breaker but I really don’t remember seeing this with other teas I drink. The sip is a bit disappointing at first. There is so much chocolate scent and the puerh base comes through so well, but the actual taste is tea with orange. There is only a hint of the chocolate. The puerh is more muted than I thought it would be. Perhaps I should stir it up or add seem of my own chocolate so that the taste matches the aroma.

One plus is that the second steep is much like the first without a noticeable diminishing of flavor, though I feel like the taste has morphed a bit.

This isn’t bad, I will enjoy it and I will share it with friends, but it doesn’t make me want to put in an order with DavidsTea. Once you have tried Lupicia’s Chocolate Strawberry Puerh, it is hard to love another flavored puerh.

Woohoo! The traveling tea box arrived from Australia today! I am almost out of my Harney and Sons Vanilla Black so I gave this one a try as one of our tea time selections today.

The leaf particles are small, broken pieces, not large fairly whole leaves like H&S. The dry leaves smell great. According to the packaging, both the tea and the vanilla beans come from New Guinea. Cool!

Because the particles were small, I told my daughter to stick with a three minute steep lest it became bitter. It worked well, as there was no bitterness but plenty of vanilla flavor. The black tea base was decent, I think almost but not quite as good as H&S. This has real vanilla beans ground up in the tea, and it certainly smells exactly like my kitchen smells when I make a batch of extract. Lovely!

What fun to try things I have never heard of, and would never see around here. Thank goodness we have the Internet now so we can order!

I needed a black tea for tea party today to go with homemade chocolate chip ice cream and this cake: http://thenonpareilbaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/chocolate-cake-with-cream-cheese.html?m=1

Paired with such sweet food, the tea seemed to become even more roasty, more chocolatey. Oddly, I felt like I tasted vanilla with the chocolatey flavor today, no doubt some function of the pairing. Great stuff. So glad I skipped lunch…

We had this as the final tea of tea party today. My guest commented that the aroma cleared her sinuses. Haha! I was surprised that I had only remembered peach and apricot with this one. When I gave it a good sniff today, she was right. It really was powerful, and at first I couldn’t place what I was smelling, and then I realized it was ginger.

The tea is actually a marvelous strength, not overpowering at all. Apricot and peach are in the forefront, but the ginger is a nice highlight and lingers a bit. It doesn’t burn as ginger can, but it isn’t shy. This is much nicer than I remembered. It was a really stressful time when I tried it last, right before working the election, so I guess I wasn’t paying as much attention!

Eight days ago it was 70F and we were sitting outside on a blanket reading. This morning it is 25F. I opened the door at 6 am as the pup I am dog sitting today was being dropped off. Then I had to go to the storage room fridge to get more milk…barefoot. Then I had to go back out to hunt in the freezer for English Muffins. We’re out. Sigh. I should have put on shoes.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty frozen so instead of my usual toast and chocolate milk breakfast, I made grits, bacon, and an egg to go with the chocolate milk and tea!

The lemony high notes of this tea make me think there is a bit of Ceylon in here, but I really taste more Assam. This is quite drinkable without milk or sugar, though, and for me most Assams are not.

I talked my youngest daughter into trying this one today. She likes a few black teas – mostly Lapsangs and Assams, but I thought she would enjoy this one since it reminds me of one of her favorite Irish breakfast teas. And she did! We are now warming up nicely, I had the sense to put socks on, and we are wrapped in blankets ready to begin school. (The furnace is set to seventy but we are total wimps when it comes to cold weather.)

Hubby and I sat down for four infusions, gong fu, of a different oolong. It wasn’t bitter or bad, it was just…liquid. No particular flavor notes came out at me. It was boring tea. Hubby said it didn’t do anything for him, either. Not bad, just not wow.

I was feeling a bit blue and I wanted something really good to make me go, “Ahhhhh. Mmmmm.”

This is the last of the sample I ordered over a year ago…maybe two years ago…from Harney and Sons. And this is what I was looking for. Hubby had already gone to bed but I took a tiny cup to him and asked him to try it. “That’s better,” said he.

I have to agree. This is sweetly floral and a touch fruity. Harney says it has citrus notes, but don’t get the idea that this is sour or tingly or lemon lime. This is a sweet and mellow fruit taste under the touch of flowers. I think I would compare it to osmanthus or gardenia, very light.

I will be taking advantage of the new Harney shipping special and ordering this, Royal Wedding, and Old Fir Da Hong Pao. Orders over $25 ship free, no coupon code needed. It ends 2/14/13.