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Spring is definitely on it’s way! I think I can actually crack open the windows without getting dirty looks from my pups today. :) Okay, they might still give me dirty looks, but they live here for free so they’ll just have to huddle up and deal with it for a little while. They both think my lap is their personal heated bed anyways.

So this tea! Very nice! At first, I thought possibly a bit chocolatey, but it was likely the piece of chocolate I had before taking a sip. Now I"m more inclined to think a light malt on the swallow. A bit of prune. Smooth and sweet. Warm and lovely. Pleasantly drying.

I was a bit surprised by the little bits of dried leaf. I nearly spilled it all getting it out. I suppose, though, that it explains the briskness of this tea.

I don’t know what it is, but something about the smell of this makes me think of having tea in an English garden. I’m not even sure what an English garden looks like. I’m just envisioning myself in a nice summer dress, floppy hat and parasol while sipping tea with greenery all around me. Maybe it’s spring fever, actually.

I am, as always, amazed that one plant can have so many intriguing flavors. Can you get this level of complexity if you cultivated mint extensively?

I’m ashamed to say, I’ve had this tea for a long time and am only opening it now. The moment I smelled this though, I knew I would love it. Such a lovely toasted grain and honey aroma! Or like nectar heavy flowers. I can’t believe this tea isn’t actually full of honey and flowers!
Mmm ambrosia. I don’t think I’ve ever had an oriental beauty I liked so well.
I need to scrub off this chocolate lip balm before sipping next time though. :)

Happy Monday everyone!

So I’ve been away from Steepster for a bit. I come back and Holy Cow! Everything looks different! I think I like. :)
Anyway, this tea showed up with my monthly Lupicia newsletter. I had been on Whole 30 for the past month, so my diet was restricted to purely nutritious and beneficial foods. No cookies! I really missed sweets on some days. Thankfully, there was always tea. And this tea tastes like cookies! So I opened it up today and OMG it smells like those multi-layered wafer cookies with vanilla frosting in between every layer. Mmmmm…tastes like sweet childhood. :) After a few tasty sips, I added a few splashes of full fat coconut milk. Amazing addition! So creamy and luscious! I do think the caffeine content is rather high in this. I am positively buzzing! I may need to get some of this for those days where I feel like I need a little sweetness in my life.

Now it’s off to make healthy versions of Super Bowl foods. I don’t even like football. The things you do for love…

It’s been a cold few days. Pups are very clingy heat leeches lately. :)

THere’s nothing like a hot cup of tea on a cold day. It just warms you from the belly out.
This is a particularly nice green. The first impression is of a savory green. Like toasted soy beans. But there’s also a nice surprising sweet floral finish. I had two pieces of mint chocolate with this tea. very nice combo. :D

Happy New Year!

It’s the perfect day to relax with some green oolong. I love this lightly floral and summer flower flavor. It tastes like youthful innocence. Definitely is one of the loveliest green oolongs I’ve tasted. Then again, I have pounds of mediocre green oolong I’ve been trying to get through at work so…
Anyway, this tea somehow fills my soul and makes me feel like the world is a good place.
I’m having a hard time describing this tea objectively. :/
It’s just good, okay?!
Peace out. :)

It’s pretty much cold all the time now. That’s when I enjoy making a large pot of tea to drink throughout the day. I usually prefer to go with a caffeine free tea or else I’d be bouncing off the walls after my second cup. I’ve had this particular sample for a while now. I should not have waited so long.
The dry leaves smelled like intense sweet honey and plum jam. Wow. There’s practically zero body in the brewed tea, but there is a lot of aroma and flavor. I much prefer this over the fermented variety. So much fresher and fruitier. I’d imagine that this is much better for pairing for fruity favoring than the fermented variety. But the fermented kind has more body so maybe that’s why? Dunno.
Anyway, I’ll be happy to drink this pot down to keep me warm today. :)

Nostalgia. This smells and tastes like the agar agar jellies my mom and grandma used to make for us when we were kids. I asked mom recently why she doesn’t make them anymore and I was told that it’s a treat for children. Kids get all the good stuff!
Other than that, sweet floral aroma. Light and smooth and brothy. Yum!

I am inundate with sample pouches in my work stash. I can’t decide what to drink. I’m resolved to just sip down everything. At random. I grabbed this pouch first. The dry smell worried me. It was strong and kinda garbage-y. Brewed, the taste is less worrisome. The apple taste is super artificial, and there’s a desserty flavor to it. More like apple muffin than straight up apple. I can detect the refreshing qualities of green tea. Mineraly. Not horrible but I’d pass on a second cup.

A timely and tasty afternoon tea. People have been bringing in so much candy at work. It’s the season for fattening up! I needed something light and clean to wash away the sugary coating in my mouth. This tea is perfect for the job. The peach is so refreshing and the natural tannins in green tea are great for that clean feeling. The jasmine is light. Juicy peach is the predominant flavor here, but I’m not complaining. Tasty tea. Good quality leaves. I oversteeped like whoa, but the resulting brew is barely astringent. I love teas that can stand up to my neglect. :)
There’s also that typical savory flavor I get from most Chinese greens. It’s odd next to the sweet peach but an enjoyable contrast.

In other news, I’m beside myself with excitement for BBC’s 3rd season of Sherlock. January can’t come soon enough. I haven’t fangirled so hard since I was a teen.

I finally opened my sample packet of his from spring. I know. I need to work faster. :(
It was cool seeing Laoshan tea in its green form. Cute!
The taste was very umami. Reminds me of a mellow miso. I felt like I was sipping broth. Love broth. :)

I need more time in my life to just sit and appreciate tea again. When I do have time I spend time with friends and do chores and stuff. No tea reflection time. So my notes have been shallow of late. And I write them so long after drinking I only remember pieces of what I’ve drunk.

Anyway. I glad I tried this! Tasty.