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I really like this tea. I don’t normally like floraly/fruity black teas, but this one has some spice to it too. Seriously yummy!

I enjoyed this as much as I enjoy any oolong. Probably more, but I just don’t seem to go crazy for any of them. I just ordered the Laoshan roasted Oolong as Bonnie made it sound pretty tasty, maybe that will be the winner!

Backlog from yesterday:

You know how you don’t notice a flavor until you taste it strongly in something and you don’t like it much and then you notice it other things and you don’t like them as much either? Stay with me… I purchased a sample of this a while back and loved it so I ordered some more with my last order. Then I tried golden fleece. I didn’t like it as it had a sweet potato/mushroom thing going on. So then I tried this one again yesterday and was quite bummed to taste those same notes in this. I didn’t taste them the first time around as they are very subtle, but now that I can identify those flavors, I taste them and just don’t like this as much. Bummer. Still a decent cup but I’m not as excited by it.

I’ve had a day of trying only new teas so that I can continue to make a little space in my tea cupboard. But after trying all new teas, it was time to go back to an old favorite. For some reason I haven’t had this one in awhile. I may have burned out on it since I pretty much drank it instead of water for a few weeks. So it’s probably been a month or two since I’ve had it. It’s even better than I remember. Holy snikes! I do so love this tea. Perfect way to end the afternoon (and my arrested development marathon while the kids were sleeping). Not to say I’m done drinking tea for the day. That only happens when I brush my teeth for bed at the end of the night!

I’ve been wanting to try this one for a long time. Pretty much since I discovered milk oolongs by accident with the American Tea Room’s milk oolong. The bar was set crazy high with ATR’s version and this one doesn’t quite match it, although it is very enjoyable. Thanks Alysha for sending it my way. I’ll definitely be finishing off the whole bag!

I so want to be one of those people who likes puerh, and not because it’s healthy or anything, just because they truly enjoy the flavor. Unfortunately, that’s just not me I guess. I made this in the gaiwan so I could do super quick steeps and control the flavor a little bit. Despite being able to brew very mild cups, I just don’t really like the flavor. I don’t mind it in blends when it plays a minor supporting role, but it just doesn’t have star quality for me. I’m glad I got to try it though, thanks Shelley_Lorraine!

I received this in a swap with Shelley_Lorraine. It didn’t have any brewing instructions so I dropped about 5 little pearls in the basket and hoped for the best! I assumed this tea would have a similar flavor to other black pearl teas I’ve had (dark, chocolatey, malty). But this doesn’t have any dark chocolate notes, maybe a little milk chocolate as it cools. Its a pretty decent tea, but I like other black pearls better.

I’m on a unflavored black tea kick right now so I’m hunting though all my swaps to find some to try. Yunnans seem to be pretty reliably ok enough tea, never my favorite, but never really awful either. This one is a classic Yunnan. So I liked it enough. Thanks Shelley_Lorraine!

I grabbed this out of my swap drawer this morning and it’s been sitting in there for awhile. For some reason whenever I read the name “Almond Happiness” I just assumed it was a very stongly almond flavored tea, which are kind of hit or miss for me. But I’m going to try and cruise through some sample sipdowns today so I grabbed this one and threw it in the basket. It wasn’t until it was brewing (3 mins @ 185) that I started to wonder what exactly I was making. Frank doesn’t typically make simple flavored teas, there’s usually something more going on. Then I realized how dense I’d been. Almond happiness = Almond Joy. I felt incredibly dumb. Had I realized that sooner I would have brewed this one up a long time ago. Anyway I really enjoyed it. I would totally reorder. I got all flavors (chocolate, almond, coconut) and a nice black base. No honey or milk necessary. Yum! Thanks Jackie T!

Heading off this morning to do my first open water triathlon. A little nervous as I just started swimming about 6 months ago, but it will be fun! I set my breville to have this one ready for my at 5:30am when I woke up. I keep wishing it was more like the fall, but its still good. Good tea to start the day!

Update post race: Thanks everyone! After a crazy morning when my car wouldn’t start and my dad had to rush over to pick me up, I made it there just in time and finished it! The swim was kind of scary actually, but I finished first in my division for the biking portion! The run was more like an incredibly slow jog, but I finished and as far as I’m concerned, that’s all that matters! :-)