Cynthia Carter Send Message

The globes are tea leaves tied into a flower – they expand when brewing, but remain tied in a cluster.

The tea is light and delicate, with a very light jasmine aroma. The flavor reminds me of a very pale, light version of Jasmine Silver Needles, and I wonder if perhaps the tea would not be more flavorful if it weren’t bundled. It’s a pleasant cup, but I prefer Jasmine Pearls or Jasmine Silver Needles. When I took my first cup from the pot, I removed the tea bundle, but after sipping that cup, it occurred to me that a longer brew time might improve the tea, so I returned the bundle to the pot while I finished the cup. My second cup was much stronger and more flavorful than the first. I think a steep of at least 7 minutes greatly improves the cup. It has the delicate sweetness and wonderful fragrance I expect from a good quality jasmine.

A kinder, gentler Irish Breakfast tea. Excellent with milk and sugar. Tastes like a very good quality Assam should.

I received a sample of this tea from a swap with an acquaintance on Ravelry.

My dogs often wake me way too early in the morning, and they are not patient about waiting when they want/need to go out. So, many, many mornings I stumble blindly out of bed, let the hounds loose, and grope my way blearily towards the tea kettle. When I am in that state, I want a good, stout breakfast tea that will stand up to a bit of sugar and milk. Something that will metaphorically kick my arse into motion, and not something that is necessarily refined or subtle.

This tea fulfills that requirement for basic stimulation, but adds to it a smoothness, and a sweet caramel smokiness that makes those 5:00 am wakeups into something almost pleasant.

Almost. I’d still rather sleep late, to, say, 5:45 am.

This is the perfect tea for those bleary-eyed moments in the morning when you can barely remember how to make tea. The flavor and aroma remind me a bit of good Irish stout. It will wake you up faster than a Marine drill sergeant. And, if you just can’t quite face all of that bright-and-cheeriness early in the morning, it mellows quite nicely with a bit of milk and sugar.

I woke up this morning with the migraine-from-hell. I spent most of the morning on the back porch, knitting and sipping this tea, mostly because that was about the most I could manage to do. The jasmine flavor and scent is incredibly rich and soothing. I like jasmine teas, and I like Adagio’s Jasmine Pearls tea a lot, but this is much, much better. The silver needles tea marries with the jasmine very well. The second steep is better than the first – I noted that on the first steep, some of the leaves did not get saturated with water, even after a seven minute steep. The second steep really brings out the full flavor of this tea. That said, I wouldn’t refuse a cup of the first steep, either.

I have a sample of this tea, and am mulling over whether to order it. The oolong leaf is very dark and oxidized looking. There is a sweet almond smell, but my sample contained none of the almond chips seen in the photos of this tea. I don’t know if that means they no longer use them, or I just got none in my sample.

The smell of this tea brewing is amazing – I kept taking big long sniffs because I enjoyed it so much. The flavor is a little thin using the average amount of leaf I generally use. For my second pot, I added about a third more leaf, and it was much better. The flavor is smooth, without an over powering amount of almond. My usual complaint with Adagio’s flavored teas is that they are too intense and rather artificial tasting. This was much better than their other flavored teas. The color of the tea is very dark for an oolong.

This is a new herbal tea from Tazo. I found it in, of all places, my local grocery store, which only carries teabags. I’d love to find it in whole leaf, because this is a delighful herb tea.

The odor when the bag is opened is overpowering and sickly sweet – roses on steroids. The tea when brewed is much mellower – the rose is still present, but I get lots of citrus notes, and a mild sweetness. This tea is made with honeybush, so it seemed unlikely that it would need sweetening, and it does not. A very pleasant cup for evening, or for when your life needs a little more rosiness.

Tazo has its generic brewing instructions on back – 5 minutes in water at boiling temp. It might be worth experimenting with a lower temperature, especially as this is bagged tea and should extract fairly easily.

It is ice tea weather here in the Coastal South, so I made a pitcher of black and blue tea with this today. Two bags Luzianne black tea, about two cups of frozen blueberries, thawed, blended to release the juice and strained, two quarts of water, and a couple of tablespoons of agave nectar to lightly sweeten. Cheers, y’all!

Makes a really forgettable iced tea.

I just can’t make up my mind about this tea. With one cup, I am loving the delicate sweetness of the coconut, and the way it enhances the tea. Another cup, and I am not in love with the pouchong tea, which has a coarse and slightly harsh taste to me. I bought this as a sample, mostly because I love Adagio’s Thai Chai, and the coconut flavor in it. The sample is gone now, and I still can’t make up my mind if I like this tea or not.

Maybe I should flip a coin?