94

When I was little, I used to get these biscuits that had fruit in the centre. I don’t remember them exactly, but they were kind of flower-shaped, like these:
http://www.123rf.com/photo_7427430_sweet-cookies-with-fruit-butter.html

But I remember them being in a tin with other butter cookies, so these might be more accurate:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/jam-filled-butter-cookies/

Anyway, that’s what this tea smells like to me. And that really surprises me, because to be honest, usually when people describe getting a kind of cakey fragrance and/or flavour from tea, I kind of roll my eyes, because I just know that my palate isn’t sophisticated enough to pick up such nuances. But I swear, it’s really here.

I’m not so sure about the brandy, but I believe it’s here, too. My only exposure to brandy was when I was really little. Parents, don’t cringe, but my father used to put a bit on a q-tip and use it to alleviate toothaches. It was weird, because that was the only reason this massive bottle of brandy was in the house, as neither one of my parents ever touched alcohol. Anyway, it’s not like I remember what it smells like or know what brandied fruit would smell like. That said, there is something here besides the smell of apricots that brought brandy to mind, but part of that could just be the power of suggestion and the process of elimination: “I smell the apricots, and I smell the cakey bits, so what’s that other thing? It must be brandy, because that’s all that’s left.”

I was really good this time. I always open a packet of tea and stick my nose in, and then wonder why the brewed fragrance/flavour isn’t as in-your-face as I’d like. Duh? This time, I actually held my breath (I’m nothing if not a study in extremes) until I’d put the tea in the infuser and closed the pouch again, making sure to only sniff the dry leaf in the infuser and then the brewed tea. I believe it really made a big difference re: my expectations and produced a happier result than usual.

The unsweetened tea is okay, but pretty unremarkable. No matter how much I try, I can’t get “dessert” from unsweetened tea. “Oh, it’s sweetened naturally by the fruit in it” just doesn’t cut it for me. So I took a few sips to be good, and then I was like okay, time to play. I decided to sweeten it with (vegan) ’nog.

Sorry. It happened again. A concoction so good, I just don’t have words. Suffice it to say that this addition didn’t overwhelm the tea; rather, it enhanced it in all the right ways and turned this into what I consider to be truly a dessert tea. My rating’s not really accurate, since I’m not always going to have ‘nog around. But since I know that works, it shouldn’t be hard to yummify the tea with other stuff, like vanilla soy milk and sugar or something.

So good. So, so good.

Tea amount: 1 tsp/~4.75g
Water amount: 6oz/~175mL
Additives: A “splash” of vegan (Silk soy) ’nog

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
LiberTEAS

The start of your tasting note caused me to reminisce about cookies that my gramma used to make. They weren’t thumbprint cookies like the ones you have links to, but, instead, they were enclosed cookies with a homemade apricot filling inside, like little, tiny, bite-sized apricot pies. OMG they were so good. sigh I miss my gramma so much.

Sil

Hmmmm this sounds good! Stop making me reconsider not picking up franks blends!

Claire

Oh man cookie memories…my grandma on my mom’s side was from Spain, and every Christmas she would make these amazing almond flavored butter cookies. I tried making them one year and of course they didn’t live up to my Grandma’s!
This tea sounds super tasty, I may have to get some for my brother-in-law since he loves dessert tea.

Nik

Awww, LiberTEAS, I miss my grandmother, too. =( Our home is five minutes away from the beach in Bombay, and she and I used to go for sunrise and sunset walks on the beach, stopping to get water coconuts. She was used to getting what she wanted, and she wouldn’t accept anything but the best, especially when it came to me. She used to make the poor chap cut open coconuts until she found the one that had the jelly just like I liked it, and only then would she pay him. She was awesome. Your gramma’s tiny apricot pies sound amaaaazing!

Sil, no way, do you know how many teas you’ve added to my shopping list?! =)

Claire, your abuelita’s cookies sounds yummy, too! I bet even if yours didn’t turn out just like hers, they were still delicious. =)

LiberTEAS

@Sil: why would we do something like that? I subscribe to his teas, and I think that everyone should!

Sil

@ liberteas lol don’t get me wrong I do enjoy franks teas but then I get sad that I can’t have them again!

@nik so we’ll have a fun swap haha

Serenity

I love reading about people’s memories of their grandmothers!

canadianadia

That’s funny, I remember my Dad talking about using alcohol to alleviate tooth pain. Now, I’m curious if it was brandy also? I’ll have to ask him the next time I see him.

Nik

I’m sure our fathers weren’t alone, but then, a lot of things were okay back then that aren’t now. =) (Nothing too crazy, I’m just talking about stuff like being able to stand in the back seat of the car, as a toddler, with my chin on the front bench seat.)

MsWhatsit

Nik, I like your style. I’ll bet that WOULD be good with eggnog.

Sil

nik is mia (

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Comments

LiberTEAS

The start of your tasting note caused me to reminisce about cookies that my gramma used to make. They weren’t thumbprint cookies like the ones you have links to, but, instead, they were enclosed cookies with a homemade apricot filling inside, like little, tiny, bite-sized apricot pies. OMG they were so good. sigh I miss my gramma so much.

Sil

Hmmmm this sounds good! Stop making me reconsider not picking up franks blends!

Claire

Oh man cookie memories…my grandma on my mom’s side was from Spain, and every Christmas she would make these amazing almond flavored butter cookies. I tried making them one year and of course they didn’t live up to my Grandma’s!
This tea sounds super tasty, I may have to get some for my brother-in-law since he loves dessert tea.

Nik

Awww, LiberTEAS, I miss my grandmother, too. =( Our home is five minutes away from the beach in Bombay, and she and I used to go for sunrise and sunset walks on the beach, stopping to get water coconuts. She was used to getting what she wanted, and she wouldn’t accept anything but the best, especially when it came to me. She used to make the poor chap cut open coconuts until she found the one that had the jelly just like I liked it, and only then would she pay him. She was awesome. Your gramma’s tiny apricot pies sound amaaaazing!

Sil, no way, do you know how many teas you’ve added to my shopping list?! =)

Claire, your abuelita’s cookies sounds yummy, too! I bet even if yours didn’t turn out just like hers, they were still delicious. =)

LiberTEAS

@Sil: why would we do something like that? I subscribe to his teas, and I think that everyone should!

Sil

@ liberteas lol don’t get me wrong I do enjoy franks teas but then I get sad that I can’t have them again!

@nik so we’ll have a fun swap haha

Serenity

I love reading about people’s memories of their grandmothers!

canadianadia

That’s funny, I remember my Dad talking about using alcohol to alleviate tooth pain. Now, I’m curious if it was brandy also? I’ll have to ask him the next time I see him.

Nik

I’m sure our fathers weren’t alone, but then, a lot of things were okay back then that aren’t now. =) (Nothing too crazy, I’m just talking about stuff like being able to stand in the back seat of the car, as a toddler, with my chin on the front bench seat.)

MsWhatsit

Nik, I like your style. I’ll bet that WOULD be good with eggnog.

Sil

nik is mia (

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Bio

2012.10.07: I hear people like to understand other people’s ratings, so here’s a loose guide:

01-29: Dear God, why.
30-49: I’ll finish this cup, I guess, but no more.
50-59: Meh.
60-69: Decent. Maybe I can blend it with something else and make it better.
70-79: Heeey, this is quite good!
80-89: I love it, but I’m not in love with it.
90-100: Permanently resident in my Happy Place.

Update: I have steeped, and it was good. =] Still a tea-ophyte, though.

This is a tea site, so I feel like “well, I’m Indian” should be enough of an introduction. Because, I mean, it’s kind of in my genes, right? But the fact of the matter is that I’m an absolute tea-ophyte.

I’ve just discovered a world beyond Celestial Seasonings. I’ve just discovered “sachets” instead of “normal” tea bags and bought my first loose tea sampler. I don’t get the whole water temperature and steep time thing yet, nor that if I want to get a yixiang tea pot, I’d need one for each type of tea. I have this infuser ball thing, but I haven’t used it yet.

Don’t cringe, but right now I’m still just boiling water and pouring it over a teabag, adding some sugar, and drinking a nice, hot cuppa. I’d like to learn more, I think, and I’d like to train my palate. I figure participating in this community is the best way to do that.

So ya. Hi!

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