Other people have said that this one is better than DT’s Root Beer Float. And it is. Root Beer Float is damn good, in my opinion, but this one tops it just that little bit in basically every way.
The dry smell is amazing – like root beer, but with something else almost spicy underneath, and the wet smell has the same promise of deliciousness. The tea itself has a strong flavour which is predominantly root beer with something deeper and richer underneath…possibly that’s the chicory? I really wouldn’t know. It’s very smooth, and basically just has a richness and complexity that DT’s Root Beer Float lacks.
Which means I’d like to order more now that it’s available. Which brings me to the fact that I have a little problem.
Well, actually, it’s rather a large problem, which is this – I am a hoarder. Ever seen TLC’s mental illness porn, Buried Alive? (As opposed to, you know, their obesity porn like I Eat 33, 000 Calories A Day, or their child abuse porn like Toddlers & Tiaras, or… TLC is the king of exploitation programming, people.)
Well, it’s basically like that. Although not as bad. (This is an ugly thing to tell people, usually because they picture people who hoard jars of their own urine and sleep in piles of roach-infested baby blankets they won’t use because they don’t have an infant.) Possibly because I have the advantage of complete self-awareness that I have the disorder (at least for the past 5 years or so), I actually try to clean a bit at least weekly.
I was actually pleased when most of my hoarding tendencies got fixated on tea about a year ago. I may have trouble getting rid of stuff, but what can you really do with tea except get rid of it by drinking it? I was absolutely thrilled that I’d found something to hoard which was consumable and thus wouldn’t permanently take up space. Way better than years ago when I was hoarding newspapers and magazines, and they formed dangerous, chest-high teetering piles of solid, yellowing objects that just sat and grew.
But I know I’ve hit the point where I truly need to admit I have a lot of tea. I stood in my room today and just held my head looking – really looking – at the tea. I ran out of the shelf room that I had in front of some of my books, so now I just have bags lined up on the floor. Ack, stop! At least nearly all the newer stuff is 10g samples. I can drink that up in no time. (See? So good at the excuses.) I need to consider: I’m getting to the point where drinking my tea up will become a chore. I don’t want that, right? I want to enjoy it.
So I went downstairs and nixed most of the order I was composing from 52teas. Cherry Almond Gunpowder? What was I thinking? I hate gunpowder green. Gone. Anything from the permanent collection? Maybe another day, but not until I’ve drank a lot. Gone. Cotton Candy SBT? I have a half-pound of the bags of Cotton Candy, I don’t need another cotton candy tea. Gone.
I’m down to another bag of this one, Earl Grey Cheesecake (pass up cheesecake? inconceivable!) and a couple of SBT bags. Should I take this one off, too…?
WHAT TO DO, GUYS. Advice is welcome.
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I can’t help you I’m sorry I want to get all of that too lol
LOL, soooo…yes, get it? You know this is truthfully the “advice” I’m looking for, right? :P
Indeed HAHA you want “permission” to go for it!
I’ve been trying not to just buy tea left and right, but the only time I’ve actually been able to feel like I am really controlling it is I think about it like a trade balance, aiming for a “deficit” (drinking more than you’re adding). I too could not pass up cheesecake, and so I ordered some of the SBT bags again, and I immediately went and brewed one up. In a perfect world, I would drink enough tea before the new one comes so that I didn’t effectively add more. At least having tasting notes kind of makes it easier to figure out how many cups you’re making a week.
Good luck! I’d at least keep the cheesecake and this one is so good that I’d consider another bag now, but my feeling is it might be back again and again if you are okay with risking it and buying less tea.
Oh, like you think Frank might be badgered into re-blending this one again in the future? That’s a thought.
Yeah, or even the possibility of it becoming permanent. And I’d think also it’d appear in the Christmas box given its popularity, and usually he also reblends a good number of pouches when the days start counting down on that one. I figure there has to be another chance to get this one and it’s keeping me from ordering again.
Except damn cheesecake, that one sends me into a primal need to have it because everyone else is clearly buying it all up first.
I had no idea that there were only 2 pouches left! That instinct was right!
WHEW, there was, like, 10 this morning! Glad you said something, I finished that order up quick-like. Left it as is. shrug If I shouldn’t have gotten that Butterbeer, I’m sure the universe will pay me back for the greed. :P
I think it has already sold out two or three times! He has graciously reblended, and I didn’t see it this time around. Maybe there will be more coming soon…
I’ve seen other people do little contests and such and given some of their tea away as a prize. Doesn’t have to be particularly complicated. Some little quiz or just sign-up-and-I’ll-draw-lots. That sort of thing. I’m sure there are people who would be more than willing to help take some of the excess off your hands. (I did that once, over on LJ. I put up a list and had interested adopters sign up and then cut it off at, I think, around 20 people. They got maybe 25g or two or three teas each and it really cleaned up some of my excess, plus giving me lots of good vibes. :) I would advice though, that if you do something like, ask that your recipients cover the shipping themselves. It became rather more expensive for me than I had thought, so you need to consider that.
Another thing. If you prefer to drink it up yourself, I find it useful to go about it in a way so that it becomes a sport. Before my wedding I had put myself on a shopping embargo for several months, and it really became a challenge for me to see how far I could drink the collection down. I got from I think 80-90 teas to 27 by using up samples and drinking out almost empty tins. Admittedly though, some of it were also things discarded or set aside for swapping purposes because I knew I just didn’t like it.
Sometimes I’ve also set little goals for myself, like I’m allowed to place an order with two different shops when I’ve emptied X tins and Y samples. Then I keep a note on the table at Tea Corner to keep track of my progress.
Keeping track of how much you go through is definitely important, I think. It might be difficult for you to do it, but there’s something really motivating about it as well, because I start thinking of the goal as an achievement.
I can’t help you I’m sorry I want to get all of that too lol
LOL, soooo…yes, get it? You know this is truthfully the “advice” I’m looking for, right? :P
Indeed HAHA you want “permission” to go for it!
I’ve been trying not to just buy tea left and right, but the only time I’ve actually been able to feel like I am really controlling it is I think about it like a trade balance, aiming for a “deficit” (drinking more than you’re adding). I too could not pass up cheesecake, and so I ordered some of the SBT bags again, and I immediately went and brewed one up. In a perfect world, I would drink enough tea before the new one comes so that I didn’t effectively add more. At least having tasting notes kind of makes it easier to figure out how many cups you’re making a week.
Good luck! I’d at least keep the cheesecake and this one is so good that I’d consider another bag now, but my feeling is it might be back again and again if you are okay with risking it and buying less tea.
Oh, like you think Frank might be badgered into re-blending this one again in the future? That’s a thought.
Yeah, or even the possibility of it becoming permanent. And I’d think also it’d appear in the Christmas box given its popularity, and usually he also reblends a good number of pouches when the days start counting down on that one. I figure there has to be another chance to get this one and it’s keeping me from ordering again.
Except damn cheesecake, that one sends me into a primal need to have it because everyone else is clearly buying it all up first.
I had no idea that there were only 2 pouches left! That instinct was right!
WHEW, there was, like, 10 this morning! Glad you said something, I finished that order up quick-like. Left it as is. shrug If I shouldn’t have gotten that Butterbeer, I’m sure the universe will pay me back for the greed. :P
I think it has already sold out two or three times! He has graciously reblended, and I didn’t see it this time around. Maybe there will be more coming soon…
I’ve seen other people do little contests and such and given some of their tea away as a prize. Doesn’t have to be particularly complicated. Some little quiz or just sign-up-and-I’ll-draw-lots. That sort of thing. I’m sure there are people who would be more than willing to help take some of the excess off your hands. (I did that once, over on LJ. I put up a list and had interested adopters sign up and then cut it off at, I think, around 20 people. They got maybe 25g or two or three teas each and it really cleaned up some of my excess, plus giving me lots of good vibes. :) I would advice though, that if you do something like, ask that your recipients cover the shipping themselves. It became rather more expensive for me than I had thought, so you need to consider that.
Another thing. If you prefer to drink it up yourself, I find it useful to go about it in a way so that it becomes a sport. Before my wedding I had put myself on a shopping embargo for several months, and it really became a challenge for me to see how far I could drink the collection down. I got from I think 80-90 teas to 27 by using up samples and drinking out almost empty tins. Admittedly though, some of it were also things discarded or set aside for swapping purposes because I knew I just didn’t like it.
Sometimes I’ve also set little goals for myself, like I’m allowed to place an order with two different shops when I’ve emptied X tins and Y samples. Then I keep a note on the table at Tea Corner to keep track of my progress.
Keeping track of how much you go through is definitely important, I think. It might be difficult for you to do it, but there’s something really motivating about it as well, because I start thinking of the goal as an achievement.