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I’m back!! I had quite the health scare last year and I think I’m on the other side of it all. Ready to jump back into life… & tea :). I’m going to try and limit my caffeine at least for awhile so will be looking for suggestions for good decaf/herbal/rooibos blends.

I’m drinking this one tonight because it’s one of the few herbals I have that I bought in the store one day after having bought a cup to try it. Of course they made it overly sweet and used lots of leaf so my cup tonight isn’t as flavorful. I don’t even know how much tea she used in the cup I bought, must have been double or even triple what I would consider normal for a cup.

This almost smells better than it tastes. Hubby walked past tonight and asked what I was making. He wasn’t sure what to make of the smell.. Didn’t make himthink tea. I said, “Smells like glazed roasted almonds at the mall?” Yep, that was it …!

It is sweet carmel almond with a bit of artificial something flavor. Pretty color, although in my timolino tonight I’m missing out on that. It’s not something I would reach for often, but if you want something sweet, it does the job. Not going to change my rating as this is good but not great.

I’ve had this before. Going through my stash of samples and this one smelled good.. and a plus side, it’s a sipdown. Shortly after I arrived here on Steepster MissB was so generous to send me samples to try… This was one of them. I have so much trouble drinking the last cup of something that I think I like when I know I won’t likely reorder soon.

I remember enjoying this one, but didn’t have refined tea taste buds when I first tried it. I have to say it tastes very different to me now. I didn’t taste the complexities of it before. I get bergamot, and orange peel mostly (of which the orange peel comes as a kind of bitterness at the end of the sip), maybe a bit of vanilla, and if I really think about it, maybe some nutty dryness at the end of the sip. As I near the end of the cup I get more nutty flavor, and maybe that caramel, maybe. Kind of strange to get both bergamot and orange peel in the same cup and being able to detect them both. Trying to decide if they compete with each other.. Hmm..

I think

My son had Cub Scouts last night and I didn’t really have time to steep tea for my timolino to take with me. I decided I could take a moment to throw a bag of this in my timolino and go with it. This was the tea that made me interested in flavored teas. I had never had anything like it before.. Flavorful, spicy, sweet. I have always been picky about tea, didn’t drink anything flavored, it was black or C.Seasonings Sleepytime. I was never interested in flavored varieties, hot or cold, but found I loved chai mixes. Maybe that’s why this one struck a cord with me. Much like a chai, but I wouldn’t call it that. It opened my eyes that there were things I might be missing. I googled tea and found Steepster and all of you wonderful folks.. So glad I did! I have learned so much and tried some things I never would have, my range of teas that I will whole heatedly pick up and try without wondering how it’s going to taste or if I’ll like it has opened up vastly… And I’m one that would often have chosen a favorite to avoid disappointment.

I have to say I still enjoy this one, I like both the regular and decaf versions. Strangely, as strong as it is, I love to put it in my thermos or timolino and just leave it there to steep until I’m done. Done that way it gets very rich, spicy, quite sweet. I’m still unsure if they put stevia in this one or if the sweetness Gomes from the spices. Glad to find I still enjoy it and can put it in a container of choice and run out the door..simple goodness. Although I don’t know that I would drink it everyday.

Today is the first day this week we are hoping school will be in session. They have canceled all the other days due to extreme cold and bad driving conditions. Right now school has been delayed 2 hours and we haven’t heard anything more. I now the secondary roads a terribly slick but I think the school administration is ready to get the kids back to school too. I had to take my son to a doctors appointment with me yesterday because of the closing.. Not something I like to do. I’ve been having pain down by my ovary and up my back. They tested for urinary infection and that was fine so I’m expecting a call for a CT scan. It’s a little unnerving not knowing what is causing you pain. I’ve kind of out life on hold today waiting for the phone call. Lots to do, but ready to leave for testing if they say “come in”.

I’m sitting here listening to the ice/rain mixture hitting the roof and windows tonight. It’s warmer outside than it has been, at least it’s not blistery cold anymore, but just hearing it outside makes you think cold.. brr. So hopeful that they have school tomorrow so we don’t lose half of our spring break doing make-up days this year! They missed all but one day last week due to the cold.. don’t get me started on that one.

Anyway, this afternoon I decided on this tea. I had Green Caramel by Persimmon Tree this morning so I was looking forward to something with a black base. I hadn’t had this in awhile so I dug it out. I like this one a lot, especially that addition of creamy/vanilla it has to it. This tastes strangely of pepper to me today though, which I often think mildly of this one, just more so than normal today.

But, then Hubby sat down with Bengal Spice(C.Seasonings) and all I could do was think I need a cup of That! Made as a latte.. Yum! But hadn’t I really wanted a black tea? & here he sits complaining that it’s too spicy and he had to dilute it… No way, that’s what I love about it! I’m thinking I’ll have to make me a latte of that before I go to bed yet. Crazy that what I thought I wanted changed when he sat down with something else. I’ll still finish this cuppa and enjoy it, then off to Bengal Spice :)

As I finish typing this I get a text from school… here we go again, 2 hour delay for school tomorrow. Crossing my fingers they don’t cancel again tomorrow!

I thought I had written a tasting note about this one previously but I’m not seeing it now. I have been sipping down some of the teas I bought in the last year since I became familiar with the world of loose leaf teas. I find that I dig into something that I enjoy and drink it down to a couple of teaspoons and move on to something else… I hate parting with something I like and that has become like a friend. Much of what I have purchased so far has been black or herbal teas, but this one made it into the batch. I believe someone sent me this one as a sample and I enjoyed it… I can’t remember who & am not certain of that but I’m glad I ordered it.

This is certainly a green tea, but not too vegetal to me which is something I’m happy about. The little caramel balls fascinate me and I’m always certain to make sure I get one in my steeper basket when I make a cup. I’m not sure the little bits of grain/rice add much flavor but somehow they make me think more cereal flavor less vegetal… maybe it’s a mental thing. I hadn’t had any of this tea for awhile, but after having some today I remember I enjoyed how light it is compared to the blacks I often drink. The caramel gives it another dimension without hiding the green tea base. I do like this one. The second steep was almost as good as the first, missing a little of the caramel flavoring when I was hoping that little ball of caramel might come even more alive.. still good though.

After having this today, I ventured over to the Persimmon Tree Tea website and it looks as though most everything on their site is “out of stock” yet they posted on facebook not long ago. Anyone ordered from them recently?

Another timolino full of yum. Scraping the last few cups out of my bag. Haven’t pulled the trigger on more of this yet but did do a re-steep today to try and make what I have last just a little longer. Trying to get through that so I can get off to bed, and hopefully the caffeine won’t bother me tonight. Just not sure I can let it sit tonight & risk not getting to it in the morning.

Contemplating getting a Kindle. Mom keeps giving me books to read and I rarely pick up a real book unless I’m on vacation. I have read a couple on my phone though and have wondered if it would be a smart purchase to get me more into reading. I enjoy it, but rarely find the time for it. Any of you readers? Do you prefer real books or electronic versions ?

We went to Indianapolis yesterday to get my mom’s iphone repaired at the Apple store, her first iphone and would you know it, the only one we’ve come across with a problem. Anyway, we failed to think ahead and make an appointment and ended up with time to spend in the shopping mall.

I succumbed to the 75% off sign in the window Kindleat Teavana and took a tour of the store. Bought a winter themed timolino for my friend @ 50% off… Thinking Christmas next year. Yes, this is the earliest I’ve ever done any Christmas shopping. I decided I would grab a couple of ounces of this and Carmel Almond Amaretti. This one was 50% off as well. Darned if the sals clerk didn’t over pour by two ounces the first try. I told him again how much I wanted and he poured it to within a half an ounce over. If it wasn’t so busy in the store and I didn’t have my Hubby & son waiting I would have made him get it right. I can see why people would stop shopping here if that is a consistent thing. I wish they offered a few things pre-packaged in 2 oz sizes so you can grab and go but then they wouldn’t have the opportunity to over pour.

Anyway, enough about that. I had a cup of this last evening and it was pretty much how I remembered my sample being that I tried last year. Creamy soothing peppermint. A nice evening tea. However I do feel like their blends tend to taste more artificial to me the more I drink tea. Kind of like Starbucks turned coffee into foo-foo drinks as my Hubby would say. Not something I would want every day, but maybe as something different. I guess the two blends I picked up are herbal.. I needed some more evening teas anyway :)

This is my go to timolino tea right now and I’m almost out .. Eeks. Gonna have to check and see if there is any left online and get some more before tins gone for good. Love the strawberry with the black tea and bit of richness from the chocolate. I don’t ever really get chocolate from this, but I think it adds depth or dimension.

I tried this once in a cup and couldn’t figure out what went wrong. Strangely it tastes so differently to me when I can smell it as I drink and I prefer it in my timolino. Even so, I’m enjoying what I have of it… Might have to throw some of my Christmas $ out there to get some more.

Yum! Still Yum! So greatful to Stacy for holding some of this back for me awhile back while I made up my mind on the rest of my order.

I still can believe I enjoy orange in tea, and this one is scrumptious! Going to be savoring and re-steeping this one as much as I can get the life out of it :)

So hopeful that Stacy misses us and does a few batches of tea to keep us in some favorites… or she can do a random fun blend of her liking .. Just wishful thinking :)