T2

Ok, I could definitely sense what they were going for here, but when you need to steep a black tea for 2-3mins and they recommend steeping Indian Spice for 5-7mins that’s not really gonna add up. I put a scoop of this with my Art of Tea lemon myrtle black and it got too astringent around 5mins. One sample scoop left to play with. A green next time?

Sipdown #8 for 2014. I didn’t dislike this as much as I expected to—the first mouthful was heinously licorice-laden but the awful sweetness mellowed out after that first mouthful. I wanted to drink something energising due to not having any morning coffee around and while I’m not going to restock, I’m glad I got to try this sample.

Eh. Perhaps my sample was getting a bit old or I didn’t steep for long enough, but I’m not getting a great deal out of this. Then again, I’m not the biggest fan of simple green teas. Ah well, sipdown #4 achieved, at least! I’ll try another steeping of this as the website does say up to three infusions are good.

ETA: NOPE CHANGED MY MIND why keep drinking something you’re not crazy about when there are 87 other teas to drink? Binned, rose. Sorry.

Sipdown #3, dedication to the sipdown cause is in the house.

And now I am learning the hard way about being an Adult with fine bone china. I thought I’d be fancy tonight and drink my (properly steeped) first flush from my lovely Old Country Roses teaware I was given as a farewell gift from my last workplace. (I got two trios, a sugar bowl, a milk jug and a biscuit tray all together, it was lovely and very thoughtful of them.)

One of my trios has been on the shelf and watered somewhat regularly for the last 18 months. The other trio has been up in my top cupboard. I pulled the cupboard trio down tonight—and probably none of you are surprised to hear that the cup has a great big crack in it. I am a little bit heartbroken! Oh dear. I immediately watered the rest of my set (it’s all fine) but that just indicates to me that this stuff needs to be used more often.

In any case, I did real good tonight.

#1: 90°C 1.5mins. Not quite long enough for my tastes—a very light and delicate cup.

#2: 90°C 2.5mins. From the same teapot as #1, left for an extra minute! Basically perfect for me. I still don’t have enough of a palate to be able to describe teas, but let me try. Light, grassy, a little nutty? Ah. Good. The T2 website says “fresh and floral”. Yep, I don’t know what I’m talking about. But I like this.

#3: 90°C 4.5mins. Second infusion. And the magic seems to be gone already. I may never get the bliss of cup #2 back…

You’d think with a first flush I’d be smart enough to not oversteep, right?

Wrong.

You’re wrong.

x_x

Trying this again tonight with a bit more vigilance than just drinkin’ at work.

Sipdown #2! Look at me go! Another sample.

I almost butchered this with a too-long steep when I already had double the recommended leaves in the infuser. Saved with a couple spoonfuls of sugar and a healthy dollop of cream. In fact, it’s kind of delicious now…

Artificial perfume flavours in plain green tea. This smells nice but is bitter to taste. Not ethically sourced.

Plain jasmine tea, nice but not as good as a Chinese restaurant variety. Not ethically sourced. Curled leaves are nice as they steep very strong. 80 degrees brewing temperature.

This tea is better cold than hot. Its very fruity and summery. Shame it is not ethically sourced.

Oh cripes. Outta nowhere after making a cup of this tonight I realised I only have enough left of my current batch for…

One. More. Cup.

Ok, I’ll admit it. Time to boost the rating on this one. This must always be in my cupboard, it’s the best fruit tisane I’ve come across. Beats Forever Nuts (because it’s not as saccharine sweet).

I’m really annoyed, too, because I’ve been trying to wean off T2 now it’s owned by Unilever.

But the heart wants what the heart wants.

Drank this tonight after cold brewing for around 24hrs and it continues to be wonderful. A lovely balance of tart sweetness. Crisp apple goodness.

I took a whole bunch more teas upstairs to my bedside tea station last night, thinking of this morning in glee. What I forgot was to take my strainer back upstairs. This morning’s choice was purely based on the fact that I could filter the bits out with my teeth. But heck, this is maybe my favourite fruit tisane right now, so it was a win anyway.

APPLE CRUMBLE! You are so great right now!

Finally making some dents in my cupboard and as a reward, another sealed box gets opened… it possibly should have been something a little older but it’s coming on winter and this is the perfect winter warmer, cosy and tart.

In fact, I had a mug of DAVIDsTEA’s Forever Nuts just before this and I actually prefer Apple Crumble. Less killer sweetness. Gosh, what’s become of me?