Autumn Hearth Send Message

Steepster will absolutely not let me log World Market’s Mountain Wulong, under either of it’s listings, I tried several times today. I tried two days ago back when I actually drank it. No luck, I get an error message everytime. I saw that Jason was consolidating duplicate teas and while both show up and I was able to add one to my cupboard no logging. Anywho!

I received Mountain Wulong and Ancient Pu-Erh from my sister for Christmas, both loose leaf. I haven’t tried the pu-erh yet, but was pleasantly surprised with this one. I wasn’t sure what kind of oolong it was going to be but based on the reviews, I was hoping for dark and wasn’t disappointed. Nice wiry brown leaves with some silver mixed in. The scent reminds me of an Oriental Beauty or Darjeeling even though I know its from China. And the taste is nice sweet stone fruit, mineral and herbaceous notes.

It reminds me of the first Oriental Beauty I tried almost a year ago that opened my eyes to a whole other world of tea and led me to Steepster. I’ve had teas more complex and unique in the last year, but this is very nice. A good everyday oolong with enough sparkling moments to make it engaging. See this is me being not snobby. Will try to move the note to its proper page once the issue is resolved. Happy 250 tasting notes to me!

This is one that I requested/signed off on in my swap with Tunes&Tea. I think it was because the name was fun and it was from SerendipiTea, because I’m not the biggest rooibos fan, though I have found a few I have enjoyed. So mint and rooibos, very simple and yes very refreshing. The peppermint is dominant in the taste but the rooibos grounds it. Nice palate cleansing, which is exactly what I needed right now! I think I shall take JacquelineM’s advice and add honey next time. Thanks!

Should have looked this up on Steepster before I brewed this as my morning, erm afternoon tea. I thought it was just a black tea along the lines of golden monkey and the company was just being clever with the name (later I realized this is Red Leaf and while they certainly do clever, it’s cleverly flavored blends) as this came in a little baggie compliments of Tunes&Tea thank you! It didn’t smell flavored in dry leaf form, maybe just a touch savory but when I added the hot water I was surprised to find a very fruity aroma rising out of the cup, oh dear, wine tea, in the morning, ahem afternoon. Oh well, I’ll grab a cookie and go with it.

First sip, oh hey this is spicy, hmmm is that cinnamon in my wine, err tea? Mulled wine tea. I like it! I’ve had several wine inspired teas (mostly from Teavana), though never a wine infused tea and never with a black tea base. I don’t mind the musty note others speak of and I think my wine loving aunt would really like this, I got her and her wife a cast-iron pot last year and some aforementioned wine inspired tea, but I think this and a “bottle” of vintage tea works would be good to send along.

The only thing I find weird and I mean really really weird is that when I bite in my Christmas cookie (husband’s grandmother’s recipe, nice and thick and soft and normally oh so delicious) it tasted like a chicken biscuit. Oh dear, is this my subconscious at work (chicken Marsala) or are the tea and cookie really playing off each other this way? Several more bites of Christmas chicken cookie confirm, they really are. I think I’m going to make some pasta for lunch. Thank you Tunes&Tea fr the wild monkey morning, erm afternoon (okay so the toddler and I slept in and then stayed in bed for a long time)!

Thanks to Tunes&Tea for sending this along in a huge box of wide variety of tea that arrived Christmas Eve morning! I’m super excited to try the Asian grocery finds and the pu’erh! Plum sounded good to me this morning (err just before noon) I associate it with the holidays despite the fact the husband could find absolutely no fresh plums to make pie.

So this tea is very pretty, in not sure what the petals are, they looked like saffron at first but when I saw a cluster of them I doubted that, their more pink than orange. The dried leaf has very little scent but the wet leaves smell like dark fruit. I actually spent quite awhile sitting with te cup under my nose, just contemplating the tea. The taste is sweet, fruity, tart and has a cool chalky feel. I’m not totally sold on the plum, but its close. Not sure when this was discontinued, I don’t know anything about the shop it came from, but I enjoyed it.

This tea is keeping my spirits up the day after Christmas thanks to Sare! Sweet minty, candy-cane goodness, very refreshing! I need to stay in the holiday mood because we won’t watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special until tonight! This tea and the snow are helping!

Yes, I fell a day behind in the 12 Days of Christmas swap, but it’s been wonderful! Thank you LiberTEAS for starting and organizing this and all you wonderful ladies for participating! Hope all you Steepsters have had/are having a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!

Thank you Sil for this wonderful interpretation of Eleven Pipers Piping! Scottish pipers indeed! I enjoyed this blend Christmas morning as we Skyped with the in-laws in Indiana.

My three year old son Rowan gave me a Merida doll from the Disney movie Brave, she’s beautiful! And the husband gave me a small Lord of the Rings Lego set with Gandalf arriving with his cart full of fireworks to Hobbiton and a Thorin Oakenshield action figure amongst other things. He got action figures of his own but was very excited about the tiny creamer I found him.

Anywho this tea is awesome. I love a sweet, mild Lapsang and this fits the bill even if it’s not a true Lapsang, I love the smoke. It is like sipping on scotch in the morning ;) The citrus is subtle but gives it a bright feeling. Very nice!

Thanks for sharing a tea from your local shop Sil. Set the tone for an enjoyable Christmas Day!

Apologies for the delay in posting. I didn’t get to this on the 10th day but it did help me stay awake on Christmas Eve to finish wrapping presents. This blend seemed immediately familiar and very herbal. I’ve had a few other blends of mint and cinnamon and/or tulsi and they are very comforting. Just as I was settling into the first cup, the tea morphed into something unique that I’ve never tried before, though I don’t think it was just the guaysa. The tea took on a shimmering quality and I’m not just talking how it looked, but rather how in felt. Somehow the glitter had an effect on my taste buds and it was like this mint and cinnamon tea had been turned into candy and then turned back into tea. Hard to describe, but very enjoyable. Thank you KeenTeaThyme and well done on a magical blend, Leaping Lords indeed!

So tired but didn’t want to neglect this one. Thank you Alphakitty I enjoyed the tea and toffee earlier today. A truly inspired blend and yeah everything LiberTEAS said. Have plenty for later, may write more then. Night.

On the 8th Day of Steepster’s Christmas Swap Purrfect Cup sent to me, Butiki Tea’s Cantaloupe & Cream! When I opened the package and read her note I got so excited when I saw that she had consulted Stacy at Butiki, they have been on my list of tea companies to order from. I got even more excited when I read that she had recommended Cantaloupe & Cream, then my heart sank when I read that she was unsure and I was considering Raspberry Truffle, sure I love raspberry teas and truffles but I wanted to try the creamy cantaloupe confection! I sighed in relief when I read that she came to her senses (I’m teasing Purrfect Cup).

Gorgeous, delicious, cantaloupe and creaminess in a cup! I’m sure many if not most of you reading this have already tried this tea, if not you really must get you’re hands on some. I drink far more straight teas than flavored, but this is so natural and pure tasting. It’s not sugary or full of other non-related fruit flavors (you know how most fruit blends also contain apple, peach, pineapple, no matter what main fruit their trying to imitate.

This is spot on cantaloupe, as if Jelly Belly had made it, minus the tooth ache and over sweetness and unnaturalness of it all. Okay bad analogy, I only made it because the husband received a box of Jelly Belly’s on his mail route and I was impressed with how very pear the pear was but yes my teeth are still aching from he candy. This is much better!

So thank you to Purrfect Cup for following Stacy’s advice and sending us this gem of a blend. I love the tiny tin and am grateful there is a enough for a few servings so I can impress friends with this!

And a very merry Winter Solstice to all! We have snow here, yay!

Special thanks to Rachel for this delicious coconut confection for day seven of the 12 days of Christmas! Rachel recommended pairing this with Thai curry or mango at the bottom of her note. No one has to tell me twice to eat Thai or Indian. This went amazing with my Thai spring rolls and saag paneer( both from the frozen food section). Perfection! It’s a more floral coconut white than a spice or fruit that I’m used to, but it was very smooth and creamy, I think the cornflower helped here.