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I’ve been drinking my best teas lately, the ones I usually keep for special occasions.

Why wait?

As I’m going through lots of changes in my life, I realize the way I drink tea is also changing. I no longer want to have over 150 teas to choose from in my cupboard. Don’t want to be a tea hoarder anymore. I want to fully appreciate and take time with what I choose to buy. I no longer want to be disappointed when I remember a certain tea and realize it’s not fresh anymore cause I forgot it was there for the last 12 months!

Doesn’t mean I wont experiment and try new stuff, I’m too curious about tea for that. But I’ve been selling myself short by having too much…Never thought I’d say that!

Now the tea.

Just as its name leads you to believe, this tea is special so I am not saving it, I am drinking the life out of it!

I know I went heavy on the leaf, but this first flush has a lot of character, and that’s a very good thing. Nice golden colour, and fruity aroma. It is packed with taste, mostly peaches and sweet apples at first.

I get a nice fresh citrus astringency that I’m very fond of.

As a blind test, I would have guessed second flush because it’s so fruity. Then, the flower-power hits me, and I am reminded that it is a FF. It’s like a mix, best of both worlds!

The second steep was just as tasty, but less sweet, a little more astringent.

I have several other Darjeelings to review from Butiki, as the Darjeeling sampler was part of my last order.

Story…

Sorry I’ve had to neglect Steepster and all its lovely people lately…

Funny how life can take you on a ride. Mine just took such a turn, I will be forever changed.

The last 3 weeks have been hell. I’ve had to isolate myself to cope with what was happening.

I have thrown myself into exercising. This past week, I pushed my body to its limit by doing intense workouts. I just discovered HIIT (high intensity interval training) I am now hooked.

I also biked for 12 long hours yesterday, cross country trails. Meaning, hills, hills and more hills.

My new motto: exorcise with exercise! Yes, my back, my tooshie and my legs are killing me! But physical pain helps put my mind to rest… So as long as my body is allowing it, I’ll keep pushing for a while.

Aside from doing crazy workouts, I’ve kept my sanity by drinking lots of tea as usual.

And now I will catch up by reading my dashboard, as I’m sure your reviews will cheer me up :-)

Sil

Welcome back! Hope things are going smoother for you.

tigress_al

Good for you in taking a constructive approach to stressful situations with excercise!

Bonnie

Hi good fairy!

TheTeaFairy

Thanks Sil, nice to see you!
Tigress, yes, sport is definitely a stress reliever :-)
Hi Bonnie, love your new pic, very artsy!

JustJames

so glad you’re back… my head is happier as a rule when i’m exercising. lol, it really does exorcise life’s grouchy moments out of our brains. i just grabbed one of 52teas root beer float black teas… i can send some off to you if you need a root beer pick-me-up? xo

TheTeaFairy

James, thank you…I have missed this place too! I am a restless type of person, I always say tea, books and music exist to make me stop… So workouts aren’t new to me. But this HIIT thing brings it to whole new level! Gosh, when you first look at it, you think, hey, I got this, easy! But when you start, oh my!
And thanks for your kind offer. But I will start by «cleaning up» my stash and rediscover what I have first! And when things are better for me and my head is back on my shoulders where it should be, I migh offfer major swaps to get rid of all the unwanted «babies» and find new families for them :-)

canadianadia

sending hugs and strength to help you through your difficult times

TheTeaFairy

Canadianadia, I’ve missed you and your kind words, thank you:-)

Butiki Teas

I hope your stressful times are over soon. Exercise is very cathartic for me too. I love HIIT as well. I find it to be the best as far as stress relieving and no other exercise improves cardio faster. I have been solely focusing on weights lately but I can’t wait to get back to cardio and especially HIIT. What do you do for HIIT? I have this video set for HIIT (Turbofire) but I also do running days with HIIT.

Charles Thomas Draper

I like the way you think….

TheTeaFairy

@butiki: Thanks Stacy… You and I have a very similar lifestyle :-) Having acces to Youtube on my tv set, I have subscribed to FitnessBlender, they offer so many HIIT sessions, and they are very well done. You can customize your workouts by choosing a series of videos and target what you really want. They have beginners and advanced sessions. Those «burpees» sessions are real killers! I also do HIIT running sessions, but on the treadmill, running in the countryside here is too hazardous,I have sprained my ankles too many times! Who knew running this way was so much more effective? After almost two weeks, I feel I have improved on almost every aspects, my breathing, my heart rate…plus it’s less boring this way cause you keep changing and adjusting pace every 30 sec. (that’s the pace I’m going at right now) I’m really into it!

@Charles: :-)

Butiki Teas

Interesting, I will have to check out FitnessBlender. HIIT is definitely more effective. I do trail running because I find it less stressful on my joints and I love being in nature but I did just acquire a treadmill from my parents. I can’t wait to set it up. :)

Donna A

I just finished a sample of this and like you, I really enjoyed it. I can really identify with your post. After experimenting extensively with lots of teas, I had so much in my cupboard that I backed off for awhile from trying new ones. And there was so much going on in my life that I have neglected Steepster, knowing I would eventually get back. I totally agree that physical activity is extremely important for stress relief, so I have taken up hiking and fast walking. I need to add more, but its a good start. Being physically active means I’m on the computer less, but things have settled down in my life some and I’m going to try to check in with Steepster more regularly. I hope your life gets easier very soon.

TheTeaFairy

Donna, I’m glad you could identify with what I wrote… balance is the key to everything, I’m still trying to find mine. Thanks for your kind words, happy to know things have settled down a bit for you :-)

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Comments

Sil

Welcome back! Hope things are going smoother for you.

tigress_al

Good for you in taking a constructive approach to stressful situations with excercise!

Bonnie

Hi good fairy!

TheTeaFairy

Thanks Sil, nice to see you!
Tigress, yes, sport is definitely a stress reliever :-)
Hi Bonnie, love your new pic, very artsy!

JustJames

so glad you’re back… my head is happier as a rule when i’m exercising. lol, it really does exorcise life’s grouchy moments out of our brains. i just grabbed one of 52teas root beer float black teas… i can send some off to you if you need a root beer pick-me-up? xo

TheTeaFairy

James, thank you…I have missed this place too! I am a restless type of person, I always say tea, books and music exist to make me stop… So workouts aren’t new to me. But this HIIT thing brings it to whole new level! Gosh, when you first look at it, you think, hey, I got this, easy! But when you start, oh my!
And thanks for your kind offer. But I will start by «cleaning up» my stash and rediscover what I have first! And when things are better for me and my head is back on my shoulders where it should be, I migh offfer major swaps to get rid of all the unwanted «babies» and find new families for them :-)

canadianadia

sending hugs and strength to help you through your difficult times

TheTeaFairy

Canadianadia, I’ve missed you and your kind words, thank you:-)

Butiki Teas

I hope your stressful times are over soon. Exercise is very cathartic for me too. I love HIIT as well. I find it to be the best as far as stress relieving and no other exercise improves cardio faster. I have been solely focusing on weights lately but I can’t wait to get back to cardio and especially HIIT. What do you do for HIIT? I have this video set for HIIT (Turbofire) but I also do running days with HIIT.

Charles Thomas Draper

I like the way you think….

TheTeaFairy

@butiki: Thanks Stacy… You and I have a very similar lifestyle :-) Having acces to Youtube on my tv set, I have subscribed to FitnessBlender, they offer so many HIIT sessions, and they are very well done. You can customize your workouts by choosing a series of videos and target what you really want. They have beginners and advanced sessions. Those «burpees» sessions are real killers! I also do HIIT running sessions, but on the treadmill, running in the countryside here is too hazardous,I have sprained my ankles too many times! Who knew running this way was so much more effective? After almost two weeks, I feel I have improved on almost every aspects, my breathing, my heart rate…plus it’s less boring this way cause you keep changing and adjusting pace every 30 sec. (that’s the pace I’m going at right now) I’m really into it!

@Charles: :-)

Butiki Teas

Interesting, I will have to check out FitnessBlender. HIIT is definitely more effective. I do trail running because I find it less stressful on my joints and I love being in nature but I did just acquire a treadmill from my parents. I can’t wait to set it up. :)

Donna A

I just finished a sample of this and like you, I really enjoyed it. I can really identify with your post. After experimenting extensively with lots of teas, I had so much in my cupboard that I backed off for awhile from trying new ones. And there was so much going on in my life that I have neglected Steepster, knowing I would eventually get back. I totally agree that physical activity is extremely important for stress relief, so I have taken up hiking and fast walking. I need to add more, but its a good start. Being physically active means I’m on the computer less, but things have settled down in my life some and I’m going to try to check in with Steepster more regularly. I hope your life gets easier very soon.

TheTeaFairy

Donna, I’m glad you could identify with what I wrote… balance is the key to everything, I’m still trying to find mine. Thanks for your kind words, happy to know things have settled down a bit for you :-)

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Profile

Bio

I am French Canadian, so please forgive me if my English is not always perfect :-/

My relationship with tea in a nutshell:

I’m married to straight Black. I have torrid love affairs with Oolong and Puerh. I party with Green and White occasionally. Flavored are not my BFF, I usually stay away from them.

Love Steepster, a place for tea lovers, where you learn and share with others.

About me:

I am a free spirit, I let people be who they are and expect the same in return.

Books! I love classic literature, but also modern and pretty much anything that captures my attention.

Music is also something I can’t live without… From Bach to Nirvana, my ears know no boundaries…

Animal and nature lover, amateur photographer.

I’ve been drinking tea for as long as I can remember.

Drinking tea is a sensorial experience. The name in itself “Camellia Sinensis” lingers the promess of an adventure for the senses…

Not a big «swapper», but will occasionally. Not because I don’t want to share but because I’m trying not to hoard so much.

Also, I have narrowed down the teas I really like over the years, and I don’t feel the need to try and buy everything the way I used to. (Maybe I have become a tea snob? Sigh…)

My ratings: because I pretty much drink only teas that I judge exceptional, my ratings are usually high. Don’t be shocked to see lots of 90’s and a few 100’s. That’s because I’ve had my share of crapy teas and I’m done with that ;-)

You can find me on Instagram here, I post about my tea sessions mostly, but also about the beautiful nature that surrounds me, and my fury companions :-)

http://instagram.com/theteafairy/

Location

The Laurentians, Canada

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