Custom

Tea of the morning…..

I did it. I blended it. My last Franken Breakfast blend has been reblended, making it a favorite of mine. Now to design a label….

Notes of malt, slight briskness yet still smooth, with a punch of cocoa at the end. A great way to wake up!

Usual teapot method.

1 tsp Vanilla Cream Earl Grey (California Tea House)
1 tsp Blood Orange (Adagio)
10 oz water

This is my second time making this concoction and it’s been cold steeped each time. The first time it sat in the fridge for probably 36 hours because it got hidden behind something and I am the master of forgetfulness-fu. I only steeped this one for 8 hours, and it really didn’t seem like the extra time made much difference.

The orange rind/hibiscus combo latches onto the bergamot in the EG and makes this a really bright vibrant cup. The vanilla and cream aspects seem to temper the hibiscus to a degree, so while it is still quite tart, it’s not metallic or overly hibiscusy. I’m actually a bit enamored with this combination and once I have a manageable inventory of tea (so never, really), I would pick up both again to drink this. Especially in the summer.

Rating: 84/100

Aaaand I’m back for more experimental fun!

In my 10 oz mug of cold steeped goodness:

1 tsp Vanilla Cream (Culinary Teas)
1 tsp Blood Orange (Adagio)

It made a surprisingly clean, dessert like cup. Very creamsicle tasting, with a bit of creamy mouthfeel from Vanilla Cream tea. It needed a touch of sweetener (1/2 tsp or so) to cut the dissonant notes of hibiscus that would pop up infrequently. If it weren’t for that, this would be pretty close to ideal.

Rating: 81/100

Operation Cococaramel

I ran another Cococaramel Sea Salt experiment today.

1 tsp Cococaramel Sea Salt (Teavana)
2 tsp Ceylon Star (DAVIDsTEA)
6 oz milk
6 oz water

Then cold steeped for 6 hours.

And while this might not be the best thing I’ve ever had, it’s the best tasting Cococaramel Sea Salt has ever tasted to me.

Overall, this cup is anise-y and just a little naturally sweet, but in a way that actually works. There’s a little bit of chocolate flavor that leads into the caramel at the tail of the sip. The milk seems to have the body that the Cococaramel needs (otherwise it’s just too, too much).

I think I can definitely finish off what’s left of my bag like this.

Rating: 79/100

Things that wound up in my 12 oz cup this morning:

3/4 tsp Darjeeling Sungma Summer (Adagio)
3/4 tsp Ceylon Sonata (Adagio)
1/2 tsp Tulsi Signature (LaJava)
1/2 tsp fennel & anise seed

I didn’t have enough Summer Sungma for an 8 oz cup, so I needed to get creative. I brewed at 200 and steeped for 3 minutes, and maybe wish just a little that I had gone a little shorter. Something in here got mildly astringent. Maybe even just a smidge bitter, but I mostly notice the drying feel on my tongue.

The anise adds a sweet licorice-like flavor that pairs all right with the base combination and fennel. The fennel itself is sweet and a little savory. The tulsi adds a little bit of cooling mouthfeel, but also contributes to the savory feeling of the cup. It becomes more prominent as the cup cools. Sugar and milk/creamer probably would have benefited this cup too, but it was fine without any add-ins as well.

Rating: 78/100

Also, I’m on dogsitting duty so here’s Tango:
http://imgur.com/338ECNg

Operation Cococaramel

1 tsp Caramel Apple Explosion (Blue Raven Tea)
2 tsp Cococaramel Sea Salt (Teavana)
12 oz water

The hope here was to find a method of drinking the Cococaramel Sea Salt that I enjoy, because I still have just over an ounce of it left. This wasn’t my answer. I might try again switching the Caramel Apple to be the larger leaf amount, but the licorice root and anise in the Cococaramel seem to be incredibly dissonant with everything ever (including the original tea itself), so I’m not holding out hope. It might end up getting tossed into the swap pile yet.

Rating: 44/100

Backlog

1 tsp Hibiscus (Jamestown Teas)
3/4 tsp Pomegranate (Dori’s Tea Cottage)
12 oz water

I used the last teaspoons of each of these together in a cold steep.

The result was very tart and hibiscus-y with a sweet-tart pomegranate aftertaste. There wasn’t much in the way of the coppery flavor I associate with large amount of hibiscus, so that was refreshing. Sugar helps this along, but it was still on the far too tart side for me. It was definitely drinkable, and probably a good way to jump start your mouth in the morning, but it’s not something I’d do again.

Rating: 66/100

6 tsp Risheehat Golden Musk Second Flush (Thunderbolt Teas)
6 tsp Blueberry Syrup (California Tea House)
2 quarts water

So, right now there’s a pitcher of this in the fridge. Fiance insisted he was getting sick of iced Darjeeling, so I doctored it up a bit.

It’s a decent blueberry flavor (a little tart maybe) but it pairs well enough with the sweet, earthiness and delicate florals of the Darjeeling. It’s not something I’d choose for myself as I think plain Darjeeling is perfect thankyouverymuch, but it’s nice to have someone to share my tea with.

Rating: 78/100

1.5 tsp Coconut (Adagio)
1 tsp Lemon Soleil (Adagio)
12 oz water

I didn’t have enough for a full cup of either, so the bits at the bottom of the tins ended up in a thermos in my fridge together.

After it was done, I added a little milk, a little brown sugar, and the tea into a shaker and hoped for the best.

It’s surprisingly good like this, which I find strange because I’m not big on either of these alone. The lemon flavor is subtle, with coconut reigning as the king flavor. There’s a nice creaminess supplied by adding milk, as well. Are lemon coconut macaroons a thing? Because I’m pretty sure this is what they taste like.

Rating: 71/100

1 tsp Cinnamon Fig (Art of Tea)
1 tsp Vanilla Cream (Culinary Teas)
8 oz water

These are both teas that I’m kind of meh about in hopes of making something I was less meh about.

The result? Still meh.

The initial sip comes with the vanilla flavor, but that’s brutally quashed by the fig and cinnamon flavors, which are overpowering. The cinnamon just seems so out of place, in both the original blend and this. Also, there’s some semi-serious astringency going on here.

The aftertaste is actually pretty tasty. It’s vanilla and fig, which pair well together. If I could get more of those two flavors in the tea, this would actually be a pretty good mash-up. I’ll probably try again with a 1:2 of Cinnamon Fig to Vanilla Cream.

Also, the overall flavor improves the cooler it gets.

Rating: 52/100

5 tsp Vanilla Rooibos (Adagio)
6 tsp White Melon Yogurt (California Tea House)
2 quarts water

I’be been trying really hard to get creative with the teas I have in large quantities that I feel like I’ll never get through because I either a) burned myself out of them or b) think they’re overwhelmingly meh.

So, I made a pitcher of this cold steeped.

Aaaaaand. It’s really rooibos-y. Not terrible cedar chip levels of rooibos, but still definitely earthy and a little woody. It pretty much drowns out any subtleties from the white tea. I absolutely still pick up the fruity flavors and the vanilla complements them well, though! It makes a really smooth, almost-desserty fruit cup. It’s a little like eating melted melon ice cream out of an unsealed wood bowl, so you pick up just a little bit of woody earthy flavor with every bit.

I think I’d rather find something else to mix with each of them though.

Rating: 56/100

6 tsp Jasmine Pearls (Adagio)
4 tsp Silver Needle (Adagio)
2 quarts water

So, last night when I was making up my pitcher of jasmine for milk tea, I realized I didn’t have enough of my Jasmine Pearls for the amount of water I wanted to use. Oops.

So, I just went super boring (but practical!) here and mixed it 60:40 with some Silver Needle and made a pretty normal Jasmine Silver Needle. Problem solved!

I might have to do it this way again, because it added a really nice vegetal note and made the whole thing less perfumey. Also, once I added the sugar syrup, milk and boba there was a sweet honeysuckle note from the Silver Needle too. I cold steeped overnight as opposed to normal steeping and serving over ice, and Fiance said it was the best milk tea I’d ever made. So yay!

Rating: 84/100

i made House Party 3 some catnip tea. but despite what this pic looks like, she didn’t actually taste it. cats. sheesh.
http://instagram.com/p/Zrasqsoc8X/

Experiment Number 31: Berry Blue Jello Popsicles made with super-concentrated (3 tsps per cup) Tardis Blend Tea instead of water.

Initially all seems to be going well. I figured that the sugar in the jello would sweeten out the tea enough.(Note, this proved to be incorrect. Adding some stevia or so to the blend before chilling will probably take care of that.) The Tardis blend balances nicely with the berry blue, which was encouraging, even if it made a weird green color. In the future I will probably use a cheap bagged earl grey instead, as the berry blue over powers most of the berry from the Tardis blend, maybe even add a touch or two of vanilla extract. The earl grey however, is very much there. I believe I made the tea a bit too strong, as there’s a sort of lingering bitterness to the popsicles that probably makes it unsuitable for friend sharing. I’m not sure how long these will last in the freezer, but they seem tasty enough for a first experiment.

Experiment number 30: 50% Vanilla Green and 50% White Peach.

This didn’t go very well. While the White Peach helps the flavor of the white green, the vanilla green drags down the white peach. I had to add sugar to this, which I almost never have to with white blends. The Vanilla Green didn’t play very well with my sample of white blueberry either. Gonna have to try the vanilla green with some green fruit blends when I can get my hands on them. I’m thinking I see a sample of apricot green in my next Adagio order.

Ahaha, yes. The True Blueberry works wonders on Adagio’s cranberry. I take one bag of true blueberry, one teaspoon of cranberry, and leave the bag of true blueberry in. It covers the tea flavor more than most people on here would probably like, but its a tasty blend. Just like that I’m out of cranberry.

Drew & I fixed a pot of tea to go with lunch. It included Hazelnut, Vanilla, & the last of Cream, all black teas from Adagio. To be quite honest, it was kind of mehhhhhh. But at least we got a sipdown in!

It’s been a beautiful Spring day in St. Louis, but unfortunately with the beautiful spring weather, we have tree pollen. Allergies always make me feel irritable & overly sensitive: physically, mentally, emotionally. Today I’m feeling sensitive to tastes, light, colors, pretty much everything! Add to that, I spent a few hours working on my taxes, & although I’ve made progress, I still have plenty to do before they are done. That’s enough to make anyone grumpy, right?

Most of the flavored teas I like don’t taste as good to me today.
I wanted something natural.
This is a combination of 2 teas, both Black dragon Pearls:
One is from Mandala – Thanks to Azzrian
The other is From Praise Tea – from our dear Ms Bonnie!
I didn’t have enough left of either one to make a cup, but combined together they are doing the trick!
Plus I get to claim a Double Sipdown!!

While I was at the college today I needed to refill my 16 oz tea thingy, & looking through my purse, I had 1 of each of several things. I’ve been carrying around ‘chocolate hazelnut decaf’ (stash), which was a free sample they were handing out at the last Bridal show I played at (I should have took more than 1, right?). I had Numi’s ‘Breakfast Blend’, Harrod’s ‘Earl Grey’, Mighty Leaf ‘Earl Grey’, & Numi Magnolia Puer. The first 2 won out. I felt like they were probably compatible, so into the cup they went with a little stevia. Not bad! The chocolate hazelnut is probably pretty tasty on it’s own, & it’s flavors held up nicely. Now I’m home…hmmm….what to drink next?

So…I’ve been lurking on the Adagio site, reading through the fandom blends, LOL. So have both of my sons. Leif has already ordered tea twice in the last week or so. I was contemplating the Tardis blend by Cara McGee. I’ve already tried a couple of her blends, & they’ve been quite good. This one contains: Earl Grey Bravo, Blackberry, & Vanilla.

I grow blackberries (blueberries, & 3 types of raspberries), but I know all too well that berry flavored teas are not always very good, so rather than buy the full amount, I got samplers of those 3 flavors, so I could experiment a little. I mixed 1/2 tsp of each, steeped 3 minutes, and it’s a tasty mix! Even better with some stevia stirred in.

Way to punch through the flu Mr. Chai. You’re a good friend in times of need.
A little too much cardamom this time around, which I found a bit odd. Milk and honey certainly helped :)

A friend of mine blended up some chai and gave a small tin to me. It turned out quite nice! I’m really enjoying her creative efforts. Thanks G!!
The first time I made a cuppa, it was super potent. More than I cared for. Now that it’s been a few months, the blend has mellowed out significantly, in the best way possible. I think I’ll go for another!
I added milk and a bit of sugar this time, but I tasted it before that and it really could go without if needed. Yum!

I’ve been feeling headachy all week. I figured it was all the pressure I was under at work. This morning I felt worse than ever. Pounding headache and nausea. Ugh. Thankfully, I had a nub of fresh ginger in my fridge. Husband offered to help but kitchen activities leave him nearly frantic with flailing helplessness. After watching him fumbling about for a bit, I stepped it and made the drink myself. (He’s a sweetie who does the taxes, computer stuff, and saves me from spiders, but food prep is a mystery to him. Cute. :))

Grated a bit of ginger into my infuser and steeped in boiling water for about 7 mins. Dollop of honey and you’re good to go. It’s a very tasty and energizing drink. I love the warmth and spicy burn of ginger tea. It always feels like liquid health. Delicious too. One large mugful made my nausea practically disappear. Halfway through my second round of this and I’m feeling up to making pickles! Daikon pickles! Can’t wait till tomorrow when I can eat them!