So last week the husband and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary (8 years together) with a relaxing four day/three night stay in Ohio Amish Country (Holmes County). Husband was originally skeptical about vacationing in Amish Country, thinking it was all furniture shopping and knickknacks, but not at this little gem in the woods: http://www.innathoneyrun.com/ With a fantastic restaurant, spa and walking trails.

I couldn’t decide on what type of room/suite when we were booking so I told Jay to pick and he left it a surprise until we checked in. He choose the Trillium Cottage, clever boy. Total privacy, wood burning stone fireplace, great architecture and the only room with a two person Jacuzzi tub. We had a welcome tray when we arrived Sunday evening with local cheese, fruit, wine, chocolate covered strawberries and cookies (though shortly after we arrived they called to invite us down to the restaurant for complimentary wine and appetizers, we decided to stay in).

I’ll talk more about their restaurant when I review the special tea cocktail I had there, but this is a about a k-cup. Monday morning I took a shower and walked out to find the husband reading the paper while drinking a cup of coffee and eating biscotti, I found this both amusing and annoying as the husband isn’t a coffee person. He informed me there was tea for the Keurig as well.

Now I’d never used a Keurig before, customers at Teavana used to ask me all the time if they could brew with theirs, so I was curious. Husband said it really felt like German engineering, shrug. Tea was so-so, pretty mild with a slightly astringent finish, but not much bergamot, bummer. At least I had delicious pastries that my sister sent us off with Sunday morning from Black Bird Bakery in Lakewood, Ohio (they have fantastic scones).

Full disclosure here: I honestly don’t know if it was Celestial Seasonings, they had a Celestial Seasonings herbal k-cup that I didn’t make, but looking at images of Earl Grey k-cups it was definitely not Twinnings and the Bigelow, which would have been my first guess, looks different. This design looks the most familiar and husband agrees, so I’m going with that rather than creating a new tea, because I’m tired and sick, again… Won’t rate though.

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Druid, artist, poet, mum, lover of tea, ritual and myth. I grew up on Celestial Seasons herbals but fell in love with straight loose leaf tea working at my local Teavana for a year. I am grateful for the introduction and the experience, but have moved on.

I see tea as an experience for the senses, I like to imagine tasting the land and the weather as well as the effect of sun, air, fire and the human hand. I have a soft spot for shu pu’er, yabao, scented oolongs, wuyi oolongs, taiwanese tea as well as smooth naturally sweet blacks, creamy greens and surprisingly complex whites.

I began ordering lots of samples from Upton to educate myself on different varieties of tea we didn’t have at work and have fallen head over heels for the unique offerings from Verdant Tea. I am learning things I like: buttery mouthfeel, surprising sweet or spice notes, woodiness, mineral notes, depth and complexity and things I don’t: astringency, dry and sour notes.

I collect tea tins and am in danger of collecting pots, though I am trying to restrain the urge due to current lack of space. I brew mostly in a glass infuser mug or a tea maker, only using cast-iron for company now (still need to get a gaiwan) and tend not to sweeten my teas unless they are British or fruity and iced, which is not often.

As far as ratings, I lack a definite system and haven’t been assigning numbers lately, wanting to spend multiple sessions with a tea first. I usually only log a tea once, unless it is a new harvest or I have significantly different observations, but will go back and edit or comment if I find something interesting or new.

Location

Baker Street, Berea, Ohio

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