2901 Tasting Notes
Sipdown at work. With eyes closed, this smells exactly like a cup of Swiss Miss. With real half and half, it is chocolatey, creamy, and semi-sweet. With non-refrigerated work creamer, it’s good-smelling but anemic. We’ve got a TeaMaze run on the books in coming days—while this was pretty good, I don’t think it’ll be on the “must replenish” list.
I made it a point to delay enjoying my second sample bag of Jardin Bleu from Lexie Aleah until I had time to sip it slowly and enjoy it fully. This time, I added milk, which toned down the strawberry a little and made the slightly sharper rhubarb stand out. Fruity goodness without unpleasant tartness makes me happy. Cup’s been empty for 20 minutes and I’m still smiling at it.
Youngest gave me this one for my birthday about six years ago, maybe seven. It was delicious.
Lovely image of you smiling at the empty cup. Truly delightful.
(Normally, I don’t ponder empty cups that long, but I had a snoozing cat on my lap, and I was soaking in a sunshine puddle watching the leaves fall.)
Even more perfect.
Really liked this one. And with milk, I believe it can be even better.
Just call me the Grand Dame of Unfinished Projects. By that chair, a rag-tied Christmas wreath, 1/16 done (needed to start it for proof of color concept). By this chair, two crochet projects; a scarf that could travel with me in the car on a trip to Kansas, and a shawl-ish thing that is bulky and can’t be done with a clingy cat on your lap. Down the hall, a folded basket of laundry that I haven’t put up; Mount To-Be-Read in various stacks and piles…
So what am I doing? Feet up watching old Muppets Tonight episodes. I have a crush on Bobo.
And to add a little class to my unscheduled pit stop, a cup of this really nice roasty-toasty oolong, courtesy of our friend derk. It strikes me as being very un-oolongy with a very gentle honey-wheat toast profile. I’ve often joked about my husband’s hyper-tuned floral sensor; I let him sample it and he picked up some jasmine and floral notes, which are confirmed somewhat by other reviews. But to me, those are very much in the background. A little loveliness in the midst of undone housework.
I find this highly relatable. And it sounds like a highly nice tea to enjoy a day with!
Absolutely with you there. Capture the loveliness! Also, it’s quite cool that you share your life with someone whose tastebuds are wired a bit differently than your own.
Aww, that sounds like a cute wreath!
That sounds like a lovely break from all the projects! I’m a world-class procrastinator, and the only reason I keep Mount To-Be-Read somewhat under control is that most of my books are from the library. (However, my library stopped charging late fees during the pandemic, so it’s a little less under control than it should be.)
We live just outside of city limits, which nixes our library access without a pricey annual fee. (And you can’t read library books in the bathtub.) We have a couple of great used bookstores with very reasonable trade-in policies, and I’m the out of town book mule for a work friend who lives even farther out. She brings me her entire family’s castoffs to read or trade, as long as I pick authors I know she’ll like, too. Pretty good arrangement.
Lexie Aleah, the wreath couldn’t be easier if you need to make some inexpensive gifts. A round wire Dollar Tree wreath form and some 99 cent bandanas cut into strips. Pick a color pattern and tie knots around the form to your heart’s content.
Not having library access is just terrible, WY has a state wide elibrary with lots of popular books, and not so many obscure ones. E-readers are not so good for the bathtub, but convenient for travel. My mount-to-be read seems to grow without me looking, probably because ThriftBooks keeps sending me emails and their books can be less expensive than some fancy teas.
I work in a public library, and we are supported specifically off of our city’s property taxes, hense having to charge an annual fee to residents that don’t live within our city limits. Most of the smaller surrounding towns have their own local libraries, but opt for ours because it is much larger with a better selection. Our yearly fee for non-residents is less than the cost of two new hardback books, so I tell people to gauge off of that whether they think it would be worth it to them or not.
That’s exactly how our library calculates the out of town rate—library costs of operation broken down per resident. I’ve considered buying a non-resident card several times…mostly my delays are prompted by personal foot-dragging and sloppy reading habits…if I don’t get bubble bath on my books, I spill lunch on them ;)
I really like this particular tea, gmathis. I have bought it a couple of times. II still have a little left I think. It is very roasty, toasty, and comforting.
I think I have enough left for one more nice sit-down. It has been a real treat!
I’ve become quite the Teeccino fan, due in part to the very favorable reviews here and due in part to some serendipitous local sales and Natural Grocers coupons. Burned one of those coupons today for a box of Vanilla Nut, which, says the label, also features dates and figs.
Chicory and carob are always the leader in a Teeccino, but with the vanilla and fruit, it’s almost the twin of a Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut Bar and the scent has kicked off a whale of a chocolate craving this afternoon! Pleasantly sweet on its own, but it’s going to be even better when I try the next cup with milk.
Hmmm, never had a Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut bar. Should I?
Try one. See if you like it. I prefer dark chocolate to milk, but I wouldn’t say no to one. I like additions to chocolate and these are a good size, which I also like. (i’m not a fan of teeny weeny nut bits in bars.)
I’ve never had a Cadbury’s anything I didn’t like! ;)
I really like the mocha flavor! The Vanilla Nut used to be my go-to though.
Based on a previous review, which I didn’t consult before making a cup, this seems to be my go-to comfort tea after high-intensity kid wrangling. My Sunday kids were the costume characters and candy-passers at a church-parking-lot trunk or treat event. You should’ve seen ’em … back of a box truck converted into the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon. We had a pint sized Anakin, Kylo Ren, Leia (who did her own hair—no wig needed), a sixth grade Rae who could jazz dance with her light saber, and a Storm Trooper wearing long underwear and a sandwich board that said, “Lost Armor. Reward 50,000 credits. Call BB-549.”
I’m exhausted clear down to my socks, and without thinking, grabbed this faithful, gentle, cookie-sweet, lemony friend. It tastes even better when you’re sipping it in near silence. Recommended when you need a little pampering.
Sounds cute and exhausting! Perfect cup to the rescue.
I love the idea of a nekkid Stormtrooper!
I LOVE this tea. It is a good “I need a treat” tea, that you can taste the lemon (like Starbucks lemon loaf) & sniff the lemon flavor to calm yourself.
I’m down to about half a box and had to talk myself down off the ledge to keep from buying two extra boxes at Target today.
(Moving a note to the correct tea. I got my shan’s mixed up.)
The scent of this long-leafed delectation alone is swoon-worthy. There. I used a big word. Now back to my regular wonky vocabulary. It smelled like fresh-baked pumpkin bread or gingerbread as it steeped. The sweet bread vibe continues in the cup, with something deliciously rich and fruity going on. Essence of stewed sweet black cherries, maybe, that stays in your mouth long after each sip.
Dearest derk, thank you for a tea to think about!
Wow, this one sounds very lovely.
Other reviews don’t mention precisely the same flavor tones that I do, but “fruity” does seem to be a common denominator.
Mmm, Wild Shan Cha’s are usually wonderful.
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Hmph. I never reviewed this? I’ve had the little canister for ages—given to me by the humblest, sweetest, little white-haired retired church librarian. Remind me to check up on her soon, willya?
There was nothing very stellar about it, even in its youth—a reasonable decaf facsimile of good old Constant Comment with more orange than cinnamon. Even so, it has proven to be a good comfort tea; tonight with a splash of honeycrisp apple cider to revive it. Drink it in your oldest sweatshirt and fuzzy socks.
I approached my maiden cup of yaupon very carefully, because it was at work and in case it affected me strangely (visions of me zoning out at my desk in a peyote haze), I was very cautious with the steep time—a conservative three minutes instead of the 10-15 suggested on the packet.
Caution may have minimized the energizing effect, but I can definitely see and taste similarities to mate’. Tastes like a cross between green tea and roasted coffee, and made a nice little mid-morning eye opener on a blustery day.
derk to the rescue again!
Haha. Having encountered a cactus similar to peyote before, I can say it’s better partnered with nature than with work :)
“Tastes like a cross between green tea and roasted coffee” – good way to describe it. I feel like it has a gentle malty sweetness, too.
And there was another glitch on the site, so these last few notes of yours didn’t show up in my feed.
It has been a little hiccupy this week.
(Oops. removing and correcting a very complimentary note for a completely different tea!)
https://steepster.com/teas/what-cha/79877-taiwan-wild-shan-cha-black-tea
Ah, you’re welcome <3
I’ve never had this tea, so I think it might be one of these 2 ;P
https://steepster.com/teas/what-cha/94339-taiwan-shan-lin-xi-black-tea
https://steepster.com/teas/what-cha/79877-taiwan-wild-shan-cha-black-tea
Tazo’s on my lap snoozing, so I can’t get up to check the bag…I did write this without the label under my eyes, so I could’ve crossed up the name. I’ll retract or correct soon :)
I want to leave some kind of proverb about lap-napping cats but I got nothin.
This one is a favorite of mine:
https://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/poetry-prayers-visual-arts/d-h-lawrence-pax/
I had enough left from ashmanra’s sample for one more cup. Final verdict: this is heavier on the cream than the whiskey aspect. It reminds me a great deal of Adagio’s cream, which I liked immensely. Still quite good if you’re just looking for a sweet cream tea that needs no milk.
