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I took up knitting about a month ago, & last night I finished making my first pair of socks!!
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This is a lovely tea, especially lightly sweetened. It’s bold enough to be satisfying, with a touch of vanilla, chocolate, & orange. I drank it while Tony & I were watching Winter’s Tale.

I love single varietal teas so much, but I also enjoy a good blend, particularly a good breakfast blend. This one is unusual in that most breakfast blends tend towards 2 or more black teas that have various features which, when combined, create a balanced cup.
This one includes white, oolong, & shu puerh in the mix, along with 2 black teas that I love. The results is a complex & complementary cup of awesomeness: chocolate, malt, sweetness, a little tangy, with a thick satisfying mouth.

I’m enjoying this one in bed, first cup of the day. Nothing fancy, but a good yunnan black, & I’m a sucker for novel shapes, as long as the tea tastes good.
It feels good to just relax a bit, as I’ve been on the go all week, & starting Monday life as I have known it for the last several years (we’re talking laid back pajama wearing tea drinking gardening cooking eating harp playing & teaching bliss) will suddenly change.
I’ve done it before…I can do this…a little extra $$$ will be nice!
The hardest part will be leaving the house at 6:00am.
I’ll need tea
Lots of tea!

Oh, hello rich earthy cup!
This has been a very long day.
First I had to go by Metro High to pick up a harp that I had placed there a few years ago for a student that was attending there. He graduated in spring, & I’ll need that Harp!
Then I went to Carr Lane, the school I’m teaching at, & got to work about 9am.
I had to move 9 harps from the far wing of the building, where they have been stored in a closet, but first I had to move a bunch of junk out of the closet, because they were in the very back. I use a dolly, & I should have turned on my pedometer, cuz I’m pretty sure I walked at least a couple of miles today!
Once the harps were moved, I had to clear all the junk out of my classroom. The previous teacher had that room for years, & she retired & left tons of stuff in there. I moved it all into the empty classroom next door, which is where everyone is putting stuff they don’t want.
That took hours, & more walking. Now I have an empty closet, lots of open shelf spaces, my harps are lining the walls, & although there’s still a ton of stuff to do, I should be good to go for the first day of classes, & I can do the other things (like spray & wipe the entire room with Ms Meyers clean day – Lemon Verbena, empty the desk drawers that are full of junk, redo the bulletin boards, etc) a little at a time.

I’m on the 2nd steep of this tea. I came home, had the first steep while I taught a student, had a rehearsal with my flute player for 2 hours, drank this 2nd cup, & I’m done for the day.
Teas I brought to school with me:
The Black Lotus
Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha
I was there for 7 hours. That wasn’t enough tea!

I’ve enjoyed this tea, with it’s rich & tart flavors, and now it’s gone! Already?
I even dribbled a little of it into my pan to steam some kale for breakfast :)
Now I need to brew 2 teas to go, cuz I’m headed out the door to set up my classroom!!

It’s been a long & busy day, & so much still to do before I go to bed.
I’ve been drinking this tea all evening. The dry leaf, in shades of green & gray, has a fresh & sweet kind of aroma that brings to mind a spring rain. Although I was expecting a potent brash raw taste, the early steepings were very mild & creamy, & the flavor gradually built to an almost fruity taste. This is a lovely sheng, with potent energy.

Thank you to Angel & Teavivre for the generous sample!

This is actually pretty good, especially with a pinch of sweet added. It’s sweet & fruity, a little tart, but there isn’t so much hibiscus in it that my mouth puckers.
It does kind of remind me of bayer orange flavored children aspirins, from when I was a kid.

On a side note, my grapes are starting to ripen, one grape at a time. I planted these grapes a few years ago, & according to the package, they were seedless red.
They aren’t.
They are something along the lines of a concord…big hunk of pulp in the middle, touch skin, & 2 – 3 large seeds. Not my favorite kind of grape, due to texture, however, they are tasty.

1 T + 8oz X 3/5 min
I still haven’t done a gongfu steepings with this tea yet, & I really should.
(Sars, I’m going to buy that damn yixing I wanted for smoky teas now. I blame you. hahaha)
Anyway, it’s very tasty, in a pine & brown sugar kind of way, not overly smokey, but delicious. I’m drinking it plain, but I happen to know for a fact that a little Maple syrup turns this one into a wonderful dessert.

Still delicious! (see previous reviews if you’re looking for one)
This morning this tea came with me into the city to the school, where I visited with the awesome new principal, & I got to select my classroom: I actually get a real classroom! Previously, it was a closet & we had to drag the harps out onto the stage to practice), & my classroom has windows! I never had those before! And shelves, & everything (such as electrical outlet for teapot…).
So it looks like I’m actually really doing this! I’ve been self-employed, living the pajama lifestyle, for years, so it will take some adjustment, but it’s only Mon, Wed, & Fri, and I’m actually kind of excited.
Tomorrow I have to go to a meeting, Friday I get to set up my classroom (I’ve never actually done that before).
Monday school starts!

Getting down near the bottom of the bag with this one, so I’ll probably have to start thinking about a Butiki order sometime soon, besides, Stacy & I never did get the ball rolling on my custom blend…