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Woah. I left this to brew a bit long this morning while I caught up on my email. Still pleasing, but unexpectedly jump-up-and-slap-yo’-mama strong. Not bitter though! A good pairing with my breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal and a hard boiled egg.

I think this is my first cup from my new order of this. It could be that the previous tin was just getting old. I guess I will see with the re-brewing, if it still seems strong. I think I mentioned before, but I tend to rebrew this over the day, let it cool and ice it when at work. It is a very nice no-fuss tea.

Edited to add: Oh! For the first time, I’m getting the chocolate note that the description mentions! Interesting!

I decided to try making myself an iced chai for my dinner drink tonight, and ended up making it for both me and the hubs when he decided that it sounded good. Brewed stronger than normal in my ingenuiTea. Frothed some half & half and added agave nectar for sweetening. Poured together. But when I added the ice to chill it, it watered it down too much. I’ll have to experiment again with making it stronger, or figure out a way to chill it quickly without watering it down.

I was feeling lazy this morning, and I didn’t bring my tea bottle to work with me. So teabags it is. It’s all right tea, but nothing spectacular. It doesn’t even particularly say “chai” to me. I only have 6 bags left, and when I am out I won’t get more.

I do like using their tins as pencil cups though :D

Ok, the verdict is…

Bleargh.

I didn’t like it cold brewed either. The floral note just jumps up and smacks you violently in the face, no matter what.

Soooooo… who wants some Orange Dulce? :D

Back to work. It was such a nice vacation. I’m glad the company is closed for Independence Day – I only have to work 2 days, then I’m off a day, then work 1 day, and then my normal 3 day weekend will be here. I get to ease back into working.

Threw some Jasmine #9 in my tea bottle. It came out pretty astringent this morning on the first steep. The second steeping seems better so far. I will probably do one more steep later, and start throwing ice in either this one or the next.

It’s a dependable tea. I think I’m starting to tire of it a little though. I should package up a couple of samples since I have a pound of it, and do some trades.

My cold-brewed Orange Dulce won’t be ready for awhile yet, and I needed something to drink with my microwave egg roll. I decided to go with this green tea so that I can try and polish it off – it’s one of the sample tins. So I hot brewed it strong, and poured it into a glass of ice.

This makes a pleasant iced tea. It’s grassy and mild. Not much astringency. I’m drinking it straight, with no sweetener. Which reminds me that I keep intending to make a simple syrup, but I always forget. Last time I made some, I made too much and it became a sugar crystal science experiment in my fridge. I need to make a small amount, and then remember to actually use it!

I swear I wrote a review on this previously, but I don’t see it. Maybe I just tried to do it back when the site was having hiccups.

A few years ago, when I discovered I could actually find loose teas, I bought a set of 6 Mighty Leaf sample tins. Orange Dulce was one of them, and I loved it. Flash forward to about 2 months ago, when I had a big tea shopping spree, and I ordered 4 oz of it, based on those memories. When I got it, I eagerly brewed up a cup, and… BLEARGH! It was awful, and bitter. I took some to work, and tried making some there, where the water is cooler, and still it was bitter. I tried giving that small bit at work to the tea drinker in the next cube, and she gave it back because she didn’t like it!

I am discouraged. I tried again at home. I tried it straight and unsweetened. I tried it with sugar and half & half. I tried frothing it as a latte. All disappointed me.

So now, I am trying one last time. I am using Daisy Chubb’s directions for cold-brewing (thanks, Daisy!) and if this doesn’t give me a tea I actually like, I am pouring the tea out of the cute little tin I bought for it, into a zip lock or some little disposable tub, and offering it up here in trade. There are good reviews of it, so someone out there will want it. Hopefully. I hate to see a tea go unloved.

Check back later and I’ll pronounce the verdict. :)

My little sample tin of Prince Vladimir is getting depressingly more empty. I need to be in a Russian fairy tale where the tin magically refills itself each night, and the animals of the forest help me brew it each morning.

I woke this morning with a headache, which is not the way I want to spend my last day of vacation. So I decided to brew some tea and take some ibuprofen. At first I didn’t want to use this tea, as I don’t want to run out! But I decided that a special tea is needed for headaches and mourning the end of vacation time.

I am on my second cup now, and the headache is abating, thankfully.

I haven’t mentioned it here, but I am on a self-imposed Buy Nothing Summer – no purchases except for food, personal care, and experiences (like concert or museum tickets) until after Labor Day, and I started on Memorial Day. So I’m not going to order more of this tea for at least 2 months. I have TONS of other tea anyway… but… I love this tea. I will miss it when it’s gone!

It is soothing and fragrant, not a hint of bitterness. On a lazy morning, it doesn’t slap me rudely awake, it slowly returns me to full consciousness.

As an aside, I have cheated just a bit on my Buy Nothing Summer – I did give myself leave to get some locally spun and dyed yarn when we were up North on vacation. And I replaced the tennis shoes I nearly walked a hole through in DC – the old ones went in the trash. I was going to let myself buy a couple of shirts so that I have more than just T-shirts and tank tops for Project 333 (33 items to wear for 3 months), but do you know, I couldn’t find anything that seemed worthwhile in 3 hours of shopping yesterday? When you distill your wardrobe down to far fewer items, it just doesn’t seem worth it to let in the cheap made-in-a-sweatshop crap I found at the mall.

I wonder if I can convince hubby to go get me a strawberry muffin somewhere when he wakes up. I want one so much I think I can smell it…

I hope everyone is having a pleasant morning (or whatever, where ever you are).

I’m back home, but still on vacation. So this morning, I am relaxing on my couch, drinking a cup of St Petersburg. One spoonful of sugar and some half & half, frothed with my milk frother. I can really taste the citrus this morning. It’s quite good.

What to do today? I could paint, or go take photos, or spin yarn… sometimes, the number of hobbies I have makes me not know what to do! :D

Back home at last. Ahhh… a cup of tea with The Prince, and shortbread cookies. I missed my tea. I only got one cup – of Twinings Darjeeling – after my last attempt with the sample that turned out to be rooibus. The Prince makes everything better though.