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I really love this tea. It’s like maple syrup covered peaches. Delicious.

Ended my tea day with this one. Sil sent me a big sample of this awhile back and I’ve really enjoyed it! I don’t love the rubharb but the pie crust and vanilla is super delicious. Sad to see this one go! Thanks for the large sample Sil!

Another big miss for me. Tastes like the smell of what I can imagine fake chocolate perfume would smell like. NEXT!

COUGH MEDICINE!!! ACK. Dumped the cup and literally spit out what was in my mouth.

Utopia teas are super hit or miss for me. I love roasted almond cookie. Love it! But some of the others are seriously, not for me in a crazy way.

Another from my ocho sampler from Joy’s Teaspoon. This tea is from Nepal and according to the website, is processed at a factory owned by the tea growers and run by a woman. I’m all for that, so I was hopeful that I would like this one. And I do! I found a winner for the BBBB! Now I have an excuse to order more Cinnamon Roll from Joys Teaspoon, too!

I dumped the whole tiny tin into my gaiwan to make this one. It is very similar to a Yunnan, but spicier. Along the lines of Zhu Rong. Not as chocolatey though, more caramel I think. But man, spicy. And a touch of toasted rice flavor. I’m really enjoying it! I’ll add updates if the flavor profile shifts at all through the steepings, but steeps 1-3 are really enjoyable.

I’ve had this one in my swap drawer for ages. Terri Harplady sent it my way back in the early days of our tealationship :-)

She has written about this a lot, but for some reason I haven’t tried it. I think because it’s an adagio tea and I don’t often love those. But I need to make some space in my swap drawer for a swap coming from yyz, so time to get to work!

This is actually really nice. Not at all what I expected. Very smooth and drinkable. I can’t see myself reordering, but I will very much enjoy this mug! Thanks Terri!

ETA: As this cooled and I continued with my day while sipping on it, I liked it more and more. Very sad to hear it’s no longer available, would have seriously considered an adagio purchase! But, I can wait for a version from Stacy.

I had this one for breakfast yesterday. I’ve been trying to find my perfect bold morning cup to handle cream and honey. This was not it. It was ok. Definitely a bold cup, but I think I need a stronger assam to any other tea ratio in my breakfast blends.

The last time I got the sampler from Joy’s Teaspoon I got this and really liked it so I got another sample of it this time too. I need to order a small bag next time. This is really good. The cinnamon isn’t that fakey cinnamon flavor that puts me off from so many teas (ahem… monkey bread)… This is just a really good cup. I’m already sad that my sample is gone. I want more right now.

ETA: I was able to get a very decent second steep out of this. I normally don’t resteep flavored teas, but I wanted more!

I’ve been looking for some more interesting teas to share with the BBBB ladies so I ordered the ocho sampler from Joy’s Teaspoon. I love that sample set. You can choose any 8 teas and they each come in a tiny little tin perfect for a mug full, 2 cups, or a gaiwan session. Just the right amount. I pulled this one out this morning as it smelled pretty interesting.

This tea tastes like…. tea. Like the unflavored iced tea that comes out of soda dispenser at a restaurant. Very similar to a ceylon, but it almost tastes like it has lemon in it already. This wasn’t for me as I don’t love Ceylons, but I can see using this as a base to make really good iced tea. I"ll have to order another sample next summer and test it out, but for now, its not going to be reordered for the BBBB.

I have new neighbors! And they are perfect. She drinks tea and has 2 boys that are right around the same age as my little man and they love playing together. They came over yesterday for some playing and we were going to have some tea. She warned me ahead of time that she pretty much only drinks tea with milk and honey (which is totally fine, I do that with several of my teas, and used to do it with all of them!)

But I thought I’d give her something she’d enjoy straight. There is a sense of accomplishment (I know, weird) that comes with realizing you enjoy tea totally straight. At least there was for me. Given my luck with Butiki’s wild mountain black with my father in law, this seemed like another good one to give her.

I used my little orchid yixing pot that is just too adorable for words and dumped a ton of leaves in it. Then we just had cup after cup of it. She was totally blown away and was super excited that she found a tea she enjoys drinking straight. It was also cool to talk to her about yixing pots and the history behind them and explain leaf hoppers. We’ve decided to make a weekly playdate/tea party as she is curoius to learn more.

These taiwanese teas are great converter teas. They can convert anyone!