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Influenced by MegWesley’s post yesterday, I decided to drag out the step stool and pull the Queen down from her perch. (Tallest daughter was busy with chores and tall daughter is sick and sleeping.)

I opened the tin and gave it a sniff and I swear my eyes rolled back in my head with ecstasy. This is such. good. tea. As usual at breakfast, I am having it with milk and sugar, though in the afternoons I like it plain. It is one of the few teas that transition well for me that way. This morning it is fruity, roasty, the ever so slightest bit smokey.

All hail the Queen!

I am sorry I don’t have a description for this one. I had a cup of this Friday at the store and just hadn’t logged it yet. I can’t find a description on their website. The owner mentioned that he might discontinue it when his present stock sells out, which is a shame because it was really good! Grab some now if you want it!

The liquor was a medium red/brown. The body was light but the flavor was not, and I love it when a tea does that. I think this would resteep well based on how it tasted. It had a little sweet caramel taste and some…sweet potato? I know I was reminded of Yun Nan Dian Hong a bit. It was not smokey as some gunpowder black teas can be, unless my lunch at Noodles had sedated my taste buds and I didn’t pick up on it. Good tea!

For the first time I can remember this year, it is COLD! The weather channel says it is 47 degrees with a wind chill of 39F, but I swear it feels a lot colder than that. I was barefoot, and it was 7:15 am, and we have had some 70 and 80 degrees days lately so no wonder.

This made me crave a nice hot tea for breakfast, and my mind always goes to two choices – this one and Queen Catherine. Because I am short and the tins are up high and my tall daughters were still asleep, I chose the one I could reach! :)

I take my teas without additions, except for these two at breakfast. It makes a nice hearty cup with roasted notes and a hint of chocolate. It went well with my toast and Nutella. It is very inexpensive, too. I just noticed that they sell an organic version and I am thinking of giving that one a try.

This is the last of the sample from Teavivre. I have tried it before, and of the two flowering teas sent I liked Two Dragons and a Pearl the most, so that is the one I ordered from them. This one is also good, and certainly very pretty and entertaining. The liquor is pale and the blossoms have deep color so it makes a very pretty show.

I made this in my 8 ounce Taiwan glass teapot from purepuer.com. Because It opened slowly, I let it steep for about four minutes. It was still weak at that point, so I should have rinsed or just discarded the first steep. As it is, I decided to combine steeps 1 and 2 for a medium body.

The flavor is slightly grassy, but I really taste the marigold, especially on the first steeps. If you don’t like the smell of marigolds (my MIL hates them) you might not like this tea. If other blooming teas have been too weak for you, you might want to try this one.

Hubby hung in there for four steeps. I am still sipping and I think I am on number six. I am impressed with the flower colors. The first flowering tea I ever bought looked like stagnant ditch water in about five minutes. I half expected to see a minnow flit by. This is much, much better. Because I liked these two, I am toying with trying some of their other blooming teas as well, since I want to restock my dragon pearls and I want to try some more of their oolongs and I really REALLY need some more of their Chun Mee.

My bad. I bought this a long time ago when I was a tea newbie. It was the first green I really liked. Then in the frenzy of collecting more and more, it was laid aside and forgotten. Now it is too old. It made an okay cup of tea, but nothing to write home about. I thought I would give it a try since I loved the DragonWell from Teavivre but I think I will just toss it, and remind myself to drink my greens faster!

I was delighted to find Tin Roof Teas yesterday. I was even more delighted when the owner offered me a sample along with my purchase. I must say the dry leaf smells wonderful, floral, and medium bodied.

The liquor is indeed a pale straw color, just as the packaging promised. (Good thing to know – their packaging says right on it a description of the tea and directions for making it.) I was bracing myself for an astringent and puckers experience, but what I got was YUM! This has a fresh green taste, and I reminded of the very best buttered brussels sprouts, sweet and soft, not the bitter, pithy ones. After the sip, there is a tingling sweetness, not dry and puckery, but downright kissable! This does cleanse the palate, but instead of feeling like it got stripped clean, this simply comes in and freshens freshens freshens. I made three steeps, tasting each individually and then combining the rest into one pot for our nightly tea.

This is excellent, and now I can’t get the Fig Formosa off my mind. Maybe my son will pick it up for me before he comes home next week. :)

I am absolutely, positively pooped. I didn’t sleep well last night, probably because I knew it was critical that I wake up on time this morning to get oldest daughter to the airport over an hour away for her flight to N. Ireland.

I am also elated and delighted. I found a new tea shop! It has actually been there for three years but I had never seen it before, and it is a shopping center I have only been to twice that I can recall.
They have a web site, too: www.tinroofteas.com. They had great teaware as well as a big selection of high quality teas. They will also make you a cup of tea, and they have tea flights two weekends a month, with the final tea being paired with chocolate. Oh, joy!

The proprieter was fun to talk with and very sweetly let me sniff dozens of canisters. There were some delectable smelling teas that I hope to try in the future, especially the Fig Formosa. For today’s purchase I chose this Tung Ting as I have never had one before and wanted to try it.

The dry leaf appearance was as expected – tightly rolled and deep dark green in color. The fragrance is excellent! There is a floral headiness that just intoxicated me.

Because I was fall-over tired, I didn’t do my best job steeping this. I didn’t cool my water enough, I didn’t get the timer set on the first pot, and yet the tea forgave me. I am now on the fifth steep and the tea is more floral than ever. The first steeps had a hint of astringency, possibly my error or possibly for palate cleansing. Either way, it was pleasant then and is still gong strong. I am going to go for a couple more steeps. I am enjoying the natural floral taste too much to quit now.

This is one of those oolongs that are the reason I drink oolongs. I am so so glad I got 100 grams.

Edited to add: I just walked past the living room where I made this tea and had the tea set still sitting out. The aroma wafting from that room was so lovely I had to come in and make another steep. This must be six or seven, but the floral loveliness is still going. Wow, I am glad I bought this!

This is a decent, mid-grade Keemun tea with good chocolate notes. It is not very expensive, and I got it on sale, so it was a good buy, but the next time I order something like tis it will be from Teavivre. Their black teas are higher grade and more affordable. Youngest daughter loves this one.

This was our third tea at tea time today with my friend and daughters. What a heavenly aroma! I chose this special tea to celebrate the end of JURY DUTY! Hooray! I am not complaining that I got called up. I feel blessed to live in a country where trial by jury is our right. BUT, this week? Really? LOL! Three puppies getting fixed, daughter leaving for Europe, need to go out of town twice, and throw in a couple of days at the courthouse plus my music students. WOW!

So the end of my jury duty was call for celebration! Since I am done, I now get to go along to drive daughter to the airport, the daughter who bought me this tea and has more DF tea waiting for me in N. Ireland, to be brought home to me when she returns. EEEEE!

Delicious! Aromatic! Smooth and lovely base. Yum.

Wow. Today I decided that when this bag of tea runs out I must order more. This tea was sent to me by Doulton, and oh my goodness, each time I drink it I am surprised by how great it is. The light smokiness is like a tight hug from a good friend, I don’t know what else to call it. I am comforted from the first sip. This is great tea.