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Started the day with a big glass of Teavivre green tea powder and milk. I’m about out and contemplating trying Red Leaf next time. Then grabbed a Lipton Citrus Green Tea as I went out the door. Overly sweet and tastes more like grapefruit than tea but I like it. My wife is having allergy attacks so I took her to the doctor. We assume it was brought on by all the trees we had cut down in our yard (40 at last count). While she went for her appointment, I sat in the car and enjoyed 60 degree weather in July – simply awesome. After the doctor visit we went to the pharmacy where they told us it would be an hour…. so went out for breakfast at 10:00. I had two cups of Mother Parker’s orange pekoe. Most days this is a nice, more than passable, bagged tea with breakfast. Today I caught hints of smoke and a healthy dose of leather. If it wasn’t for the paper taste this would be excellent. If I ever remember, I want to take a Finum basket with me and set the dust free just to see how different it tastes. When we got home I had to make a mad dash to pee. Can’t imagine why.

Three nights in a row of not sleeping. Last night steeped this up. I wish it was peppermint instead of spearmint but regardless, I could feel it making me relaxed and drowsy. Then I closed my eyes and of course my brain refused to cooperate. Still a lot more sleep than I have been getting.

Last night I was so wired when we got home I couldn’t sleep. So my wife heads to bed and I head to the den to launch a rescue mission to save three brave Kerbals trapped on the surface of Laythe, a moon of the gas giant Jool. This morning they are still staring at the sky wondering if help will ever arrive. Yeah, the mission failed to make a good intercept, and rather than trap another, I returned to the space center.

I prepared a cup of this herbal while trying to unwind. I learned 3 things. I have never reviewed this on my blog – how did that happen? I didn’t realize there were so many ingredients in this. And finally, I learned even with chamomile there is no point going to bed when you are awake. My brain would not shut down. Tossed half the night. Had to get up early to set up my guitar for church. Now my brain hurts.

I did enjoy the appley coconut and vanilla of this last night. Just wish it had actually put me to sleep.

Up early this morning to go fishing in a friend’s pond. It was almost big enough to be a small lake. Lucky him. The weather was cool (for July) and only enough clouds to keep the sun from making it miserable. Caught several small bluegill. Such a stress busting day. So why am I so tired now? I’m getting there, but I’m not that old… or am I? Sheesh. This lovely tea is my attempt at re-energizing before going to play cards with my parents.

In honor of tonight’s Super Moon. A post fermented tea not from the puerh area, so I guess technically a dark tea. This looks like Bai Mu Dan but since it is slightly oxidized under moonlight this I guess is closer to White Monkey. I’ve had this for a couple years. I grabbed my Teavivre gaiwan and steeped the first cup at 20 seconds. My wife bought me a cute little cup and saucer that just happened to be 90 ml, same as the gaiwan. I have really liked this one every time I have prepared it. Today is no different. This time it tasted like apple wine. That was unexpected. Later cups were more like my other reviews of this one. A neat tea.

I’m not sure I have ever quoted George Takei before but, “Oh My!” Yeah this stuff is really good. With Honey Black, I pretty much thought Green Terrace Teas nailed the description. Here I am not getting peach. Instead, dry I get sweet and malty with grape. Not Darjeeling muscatel, just grapes. Maybe the difference is in the prep? I used 195 F with a 2 minute steep. Once water hit it the nose was cinnamon raisin whole wheat bagel covered in honey. Love! The taste is malt and wheat, cinnamon and raisin, and honey. I am not saying they taste alike, because they don’t, but my reaction to this was similar to my first exposure to Golden Tips. It is just so good and hits all the right spots in my taste requirements. This is one of the few black teas that I think does not benefit from additions, and this from a sugar junkie. If you don’t resteep this is probably a bit pricey but it is definitely worth trying a sample.

Had a long hard day yesterday. Won’t bother you with the details (how unlike me). Suffice it to say, I woke up today exhausted and in need of tea. I had my morning powdered green tea and milk breakfast. OK, I had a yogurt with it so it was officially a meal. Afterwards I was craving the hard stuff. I had a fresh tin of this just begging me to indulge. So I did.

Holy pine smoke Batman! This smells intense. Prepared it is lighter in taste than I was expecting based on the aroma, but make no mistake this is no light weight. This is without question Lapsang Souchong. The smoke is layered. It jumps through light and sweet crosses into the edges of ash (not ash tray) and then pulls back into sweet and smoky once again. Definitely not for the smoke wimps. Man if this only had some bergamot ;)

I crave LS regularly in the morning. This one left me satisfied today.

A lot of times I read a company’s description and wonder, “How did they come up with that?” Here I thought Green Terrace Teas was pretty spot on. The dry leaf smells of oats and honey. I used 3.5 g and steeped 1 minute with 190 F water. The wet leaf is like honey on raisin wheat bread. The taste is similar but adds a wine like note and malt. As it cooled I definitely picked up on the peach and plum in the aftertaste.

Cup two was the best of the four I prepared. The flavors were more pronounced. I also picked up a spicy note like maybe cinnamon apple? Honestly, I never could decide what it was. There is also a lot of caramel present.

Cup three was my least favorite. Too light. I added sweetener to coax flavor out of it. Light honey, mineral, earthy (as in woodsy). The last two were the most interesting as I wasn’t expecting them.

Cup four I steeped 3 minutes. It was still light but stronger than the third. I did add sweetener. This one was a mix of the previous cups. The honey was present from the first along with the spicy note of the second and the mineral/earthy notes of the third. In this cup I decided the earthy was actually more of a nutty touch.

I really enjoyed drink on this one this afternoon and look forward to trying my other samples.

I grabbed this one today for no particular reason. I like it. The peppermint gives it a nice cooling tingle. Mint is the primary component in the taste. The rose is secondary in taste but strong in the aroma. To me it is nicely done. Any stronger and it would be too perfumey. I can taste the white tea mostly in the aftertaste along with the tingle. Since it is a white you need to use a lot more leaf than you might normally use.

Update the guys below are correct the price I mistakenly thought was for 7 oz is actually for 20 g. Big difference. This is still a very tasty puerh.

Still drinking this one again today with yesterday’s leaf. I only went about 30s with my steep today and it is lighter and more orange in color. Still nicely leather. I looked it up today and there is a sale on it right now $5.12/7 oz with free shipping. That’s crazy cheap and had I not looked and found out this was an inexpensive puerh, I would not have known. If you are interested here is the link (hope I’m allowed to do this): http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-Yunnan-Menghai-Dayi-Golden-Branch-Jade-Leaf-Loose-Ripe-Pu-er-Tea-/321166038132

In other news – our new porch is in the works. In preparation I had 3 oak and 2 persimmon trees cut in my front yard to make way. While the chainsaw masters were in my yard, we had 27 ash trees removed + 4 or 5 other trees. The ash trees had beetle infestations and were in various stages of being killed by the bugs. It is a big problem around here.

Not to worry, I still have lots of trees including about 80 persimmon and a couple humongous oak trees. Most of the ones we had cut were 50-70 ft tall. My yard looks like a war zone. I have a couple friends who are going to cut them up for firewood. It may take all summer. sigh.