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The forecast today called for showers, drizzle, and fall-like temperatures. I never used to really look forward to the fall, but with all this cozy tea I’m accumulating, it actually feels quite perfect.
I chose this one this morning for its warming quality, and because the cinnamon has enough zing to, I don’t know, jolt me a little. Not that I needed that this morning though; it’s Friday, and that alone is reason enough to wake up happy.

I used a little less cream this time, and a bit of sugar, although I found the cinnamon somewhat subdued this morning. It could also have been the pairing with my bagel that made it feel that way, but I still really enjoyed the cup. I know I’m going to be restocking this, and I can’t decide if I’m going to get it loose-leaf or get the sachets because of how convenient they are. Duh, I’ll get both. What was I thinking? You know, it also occurred to me how important it is to try and name a tea accurately. For example, if h and s had decided that this could be called a chai, I would have likely been pretty disappointed. I remember feeling that way when I drank another tea—I can’t remember what it was. It tasted very much like a decent chai, but it wasn’t being labeled as such, and so I had to spend some amount of energy just reconciling the fact that it nonetheless tasted good while not necessarily at all conjuring up the taste profile it meant to. But then again, our perceptions vary so widely, so there’s that. That’s about as deep as I get this morning though LOL.

It rained last night, and with rain always comes the need for comforting cozy tea. To be honest, I’d say the vast majority of my teas fall into that category, because tea is cozy and comforting to me even in the abstract. Nonetheless, I wanted this one this morning, and as usual, it doesn’t fail. It beats vanilla Comoro by about sixteen longshots. I was just hoping I’d like vc as much as so many other people did; it’s more affordable and also comes in sachets which are convenient for taking to work. Having said that, a better tea is a better tea. I also love that the assam base (which I actually don’t prefer on its own) allows for a ridiculously long steep time without getting bitter or kicking up a fuss. So yeah, not much new to say about this tea—just reiterating my love for it.

I suspected I would enjoy this in my Timolino, and I suspected correctly. I think I’ll let it steep for five minutes instead of the four I gave it this morning, but this tea really doesn’t seem fussy, and I loved it at four minutes as well. A very cozy tea, perfect for fall or winter. People who are afraid of bergamot but who nonetheless want a bit of it: try this tea!
I don’t know how I’m going to determine what I’m going to restock for sure. it’s really whether a tea withstands the test of time. I have often really enjoyed a tea the first few times i’ve tried it, only to have my love for it subside for some reason or another. So I suppose I’ll log every time I drink a given tea in order to keep track of the ones I reach for the most. So far though, this one is looking like a keeper.

I came home from work yesterday evening, and promptly fell asleep on the couch. Woke up to have dinner, realized I was still freezing, and fell asleep on the couch again (to a foot rub this time though!). Woke up again, only to take the doggie out and then crawled back into bed. I woke up at about a quarter to six this morning, and felt refreshed. Why am I telling you all this? for absolutely no reason haha.

This morning, I was craving Parris, but tried to convince myself to try this one instead, as the tin had just been sitting there, all square and adorable, and no doubt feeling neglected. Then I realized that I could take Parris to work in my Timolino, and try this one with breakfast! It really is very much like magic.

Anyway, the tea. I added a little too much cream, and about a teaspoon of sugar (don’t judge, yo!). I set my timer for four minutes, and began to inhale my hash brown (delish, just in case you were wondering). My IPhone went off, and I struggled to get the teabag out of the cup. In an attempt to prevent the tea bag from falling right into the cup, I had wrapped the string a little too complicatedly around the handle of the mug, so when I tried to take the tea bag out, it was like “Hell no, biatch!” and I was like “You’re messing with the wrong person, braw.” and went to find some scissors. Cut the string and rescued my tea. Then i sat down to enjoy it.
It is exactly as many tasting notes describe. Very cinnamony, but not in that annoying, drying way. It manages to be both gentle and intense, and I imagine it would feel divine on a sore throat or when you have a cold (is it awful that I vaguely wished my throat was a bit sore because I could so vividly imagine how wonderful this tea would feel against a sore throat? did I just say that?). Anyway, definitely lots of cinnamon and cloves, although I couldn’t really detect any orange. And as others have said, you can’t really taste the black tea base, but with a tea this warming, how much does that even matter? It tastes sort of like the milk that’s left over in your bowl after you’ve had a most nutritious breakfast of cinnamon toast crunch, minus the tons of extra sweetness (some say this tea needs absolutely no sweetener added, although I can’t ever resist, so a teaspoon it was, and it was just fine—I wouldn’t ever dare add more than that—not to this tea).
So far, I’m liking two out of the three Harneys teas I ordered, and that isn’t too shabby at all! I can definitely see why Harney has its fans, that’s for sure.
Alright, fun’s over. I’ve got to feed this yellow animal that’s curled up next to me, brew up tea for work, and then it’s off to pretend I’m a contributing member of society all day!

Yeah, this one just isn’t happening for me today. The vanilla is almost completely absent, and it doesn’t seem to matter what I do, it basically refuses to make an appearance. I don’t know if it’s because it’s decaf, but I can’t really even taste the tea base, so the tea can’t really be redeemed for me that way, either. I don’t hate it, but I feel absolutely no inclination to restock. I want a tea with a lot more vanilla in it than this one. I wanted to like this so badly, but alas, there are more teas to love and that’s just a fact.
But yeah, very dissatisfying experience. My lunch also left a lot to be desired, so perhaps I’ll plan for a day-saving cup once I go home.
Does anyone want a few sachets of vanilla Comoro?

I was debating between having vanilla Comoro or this one with breakfast this morning, but decided I’d take the vc to work in my timolino. Somehow, this seems like a more appropriate breakfast tea. In the tin of sachets, there’s definitely an earl grey-esque scent, although it’s most certainly not overwhelming, and it’s nestled among all sorts of other scents that I can’t particularly distinguish, but which are nonetheless sweet and inviting. I let it steep for about four minutes, and added in my requisite cream and sugar.
So far, I think this has been the best EG-esque tea I’ve had, and I’ve typically not been a fan of those. There’s so much more than your basic bergamot happening here; it’s got a thick mouth feel, has creamy vanilla, and somehow manages to taste both elegant and cozy, and I think comfort and elegance are difficult to find together. I liked it so much I thought of brewing it up my timolino for work as well, but settled on the vc, as I’m toying with a longer steep time for it to see if I can’t harass some more vanilla out of it. So far, I’m liking Parris better than vc.

And thank sweet heavens it’s a shortened week. I don’t know what it is, but I’m just having a lot of trouble adjusting to not having enough free time to myself, and this is despite a fairly ordinary work schedule. And I’ve always struggled with discerning between whether or not it’s a lifestyle adjustment thing or if these are legitimate warning bells. I suspect it’s the former, because a girl like me can always find something to complain about, unfortunately!
Have a great Tuesday!

When I first got my Keurig, I couldn’t imagine the day I would be able to live without it. I mean, I still use it to dispense my hot water (because it’s much easier than fussing with kettles and knowing when to stop pouring and such, although that can absolutely be done—I’m just lazy and scared). Anyway, still love the machine overall, and I do enjoy the occasional coffee from it, but I obviously don’t use it for its original purpose as much anymore. But this morning we were in a rush, and i didn’t have time to steep anything properly (and I hate rushing things like that), so I just brewed up a k-cup of this. It’s odd to me that I used to like it, although it’s not entirely a bad tea option given that it brews for like five seconds. I’m definitely getting the cinnamon and some spices, but overall it’s a fairly watery, thin, lackluster option. but will it do in a pinch? it sure will.

It had been a while since I enjoyed this tea in an ordinary mug; I’d been taking it to work in my timolino a fair bit, so I was excited to just have it the way I fell in love with it. It has stayed true to itself, continues to shine as it cools, and will always be my first Butiki love.

Even though my order arrived earlier this week, I held off trying this until today, because I hate trying new tea when I can’t really focus on enjoying them.
The sachet of this smells divine, like pure sugar vanilla cookie. There’s absolutely nothing at all artificial about the scent.

I steeped this for five minutes and added in some cream and sugar. The taste is very true to the smell, if a bit subdued. I can definitely detect the black base (which makes me happy), but I know what they mean when they say that the fact that it’s decaffeinated makes it a lighter tea—it doesn’t have the distinct weight or thickness one might expect from a black. The upside of that though, I think, is the potential for steeping it for like five hours and not worrying about the tea ever becoming bitter.
Next time I plan on adding slightly more sugar and steeping for even longer. This is a very true vanilla—perhaps it’s all the things I was hoping David’s vanilla orchid would be but just isn’t. I can’t wait to have this in my timolino either! I bet it would travel really well.
Also, I was at David’s today, and saw their larger timolinos. The brewing baskets in them are huge, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hugely tempted to purchase one on the spot. They said they’d be getting new colours soon though, including an ice blue one, and so I grudgingly convinced myself to hold off. November 1st can’t come quickly enough!

This is a backlog from yesterday, as I’m clearly behind. But I was pretty irritable for most of yesterday morning, because this tea wasn’t all that great in my travel mug, and also the lid of my travel mug smelled very strongly of mint because the person at the store sold me “triple mint” flavoured dencher tablets even though I had her double check that the ones she picked up were unflavoured. Whatever. I’ve since purchased unflavoured ones, but my tea at work experience was rather marred by the stupid mint flavour (which was sort of fighting the prior sugar and spice tea flavour that I was trying to get rid of in the first place) and uggh. I’ve posted about this on the boards, but thought I’d ask here: do you guys soak your lids and stuff in this dencher tablet water several times to remove smells? I’m subjecting the lid of my timolino to a pretty intense regime this weekend, I think. What an annoying problem. It’s the silicone lid, I think, more than anything. And it only retains the smell of particularly strong teas (with ginger in them, for instance).
So yeah, this tea sample is being whittled down, which makes me happy. Not an awful English breakfast by any means, but just not special enough or memorable enough.
Half day at work today!