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Dear La La Lemon,
Why do I always overlook you? Your lovely rich black base, and vibrant citrus punch is SO refreshing, even hot on a cold day, and was just what the doctor ordered to end and awful week! Even the vaulting pony wanted to share you with me (but since you were merely a cup to go, I didn’t feel like sharing).
Please jump off the wall at me more often, so I remember to add you to my continuously growing collection!

Having an absolutely atrocious week. Between being attacked in a public bathroom for using what the person thought was the wrong one for me to be using (and then having security called to escort me off the premises for being a “pervert”, ugh), coming home to find one of my cats had passed away and her sister having completely lost her mind (that was Monday, it’s now Thursday and she STILL hasn’t touched her food or water…), followed by being blamed for the cat’s death, my dad leaving the province for work for the week so I don’t have anyone on my side, and then being too broke at the moment to afford to put enough gas in my car to go see my pony…ugh….Tea is my only comfort right now…

Once again, I found myself reaching for my tin of Butterfly Jasmine to console me. I wasn’t in the mood for the SweeTart profile of my usual Bear Trap, but didn’t feel like a full bodied black or pu’erh, and something about oolong didn’t appeal to me. So it came down to this, Sencha Ashikubo, Gyokuro, and my Japanese Sour Cherry green tea from Silk Road. For whatever reason the jasmine won.

It’s as beautiful as ever, lightly sweet, floral without being perfumey, and a lovely green base. I really do love it, but it’s not really doing what I’d hoped it would. sigh Back to moping around and hoping nothing else goes wrong I guess. At least I didn’t ruin my tea?

This is one of very few flavoured pu’erhs that I can throw a scoop of into the bottom of my travel mug, top with water, and let it go all day, topping up the water as it gets low.

I was really excited that it contains grapefruit, I LOVE grapefruit, but have few teas with it in them. It gives the tea a different citrus kick than the usual orange or lemon, and the extra tang really cuts through the earthy pu’erh to make the cup feel fresh. The cinnamon is subtle in the steeped cup, and intensifies with time.

I usually throw it in the bottom of my Timolino, fill with water, and then it takes about an hour with the top off to be able to drink it. So I’m going to write the following bit as if each steep is about an hour:

First: the grapefruit really shines in the first steep. It’s sweet but tangy, lightly spiced, with a really rich finish. It reminds me a bit of breakfast. Half a grapefruit with a cinnamon bun and cup of ceylon. I feel like the pu’erh is lighter than most in my collection, and tastes like a slightly earthy, slightly malty Ceylon, and I think that’s why I love it extra much.

Second: the grapefruit is still there, but milder, the pu’erh is a bit bolder, more earthy, more malty, more like my other pu’erh. The cinnamon really comes out in the second cup. Reminds me of Christmastime, and those oranges with the cloves poked into them. Really comforting cup!

Third and beyond: more of a cinnamon pu’erh, the citrus is almost gone by the third, and totally gone by the fourth. The pu’erh has softened again, and is back to feeling like a mild black. I like to add a splash of oat milk at this point, and it looks like chocolate milk in my cup! haha! I usually squeeze about 5 cups out if I start with the leaf in the bottom of my cup first thing in the morning.

If anyone is interested in a sample, I have LOTS (probably 250g right now) and since I work up the block from the shop, I can always go get more with very little effort, so I’m happy to send a couple cups’ worth :)

This is still my go-to “antidepressant” tea, at least when I can have caffeine (so before about 6pm), and this is definitely one of those times when I needed a cup of comfort with a bit of a “stop dragging my butt” boost without causing jitters.

Really not having a good time of things as far as aftermath of my coming out. Today was the first day I’ve been home when my family has been for more than a few minutes since coming home after giving them the letter, and there’s been nothing nice said to me. DAd’s out somewhere, and I’m stuck home with mom and my sister, and every half hour or so one of them comes down to my room to tear me a new one. So hot comfort was very much needed.

Out of the milk oolongs I’ve tried, this is my favourite. It’s the creamiest and sweetest, without being overwhelming. A soft floral note comes through, though I wouldn’t call it orchid as the description suggests. More like…magnolia, with a bit of honeysuckle thrown into the mix. It’s sweet, like whipped cream, and the light floral notes cut the sweetness just enough so that the flavour lingers without coating the tongue for hours on end.

Sipping it makes me feel like I’m being hugged by a long lost friend, or that I’m floating on a big fluffy cloud. It’s comforting, makes me smile, and makes the world seem a little less dark and evil. So really, it’s no wonder why I keep stocked up on it and always reach for it when I need that cup of compassion.

I’m having an awful day, mood-wise. Slept badly, had some pretty brutal nightmares, spent the better part of the morning feeling like a zombie. I needed a pick me up, but didn’t feel like something fruity or sweet, which meant I didn’t reach for my usual Bear Trap or Ceylon Star. Something made me pull down my tin of Butterfly Jasmine and the smell hit me immediately after opening the tin and I knew that was what I wanted.

Lightly yet boldly Jasminey, I get all the wonderful jasmine goodness without feeling like i’m drinking soap or perfume. The green tea itself is slightly sweet, which I think really accentuates the bright crispness of the jasmine.

I’m contemplating making matcha in some steeped butterfly jasmine when I finish this cup.

Tried this while at a friend’s house on a REALLY foggy day. We were originally going to go explore some caves in a provincial park near her place, but the fog was too thick to safely drive the 15 minutes to get there. So we made each other a cup of our favourite tea (I made her some milk oolong and she made me this)

WOW! I’m actually surprised I liked it so much! Not usually into cranberry, but something about the nuttiness of the red rooibos combined with the tart cranberry and sweet orange really worked for me. I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top and let it sit while it cooled, and it made me feel like it was Christmas all over again, especially with outside being so white (only with fog and not snow).

she didn’t like my oolong though and dumped it down the sink. It was tragic! I would’ve totally drank it for her!!

I have been having serious anxiety issues lately while writing my “coming out as transgender” letter to my family, and this is the only tea that has even remotely calmed my nerves.

The first time I bought it, I didn’t smell it or find out what was in it before buying a tin, all I cared about was the bear aspect. Well it turned out to be my favourite herbal blend!

It truly tastes like a bear hug in a cup. Sweet, tart, great hot or iced, and very “beary”! I love it plain, with one raw sugar cube, or a splash of maple syrup. Toss in some guayusa for an early morning kick too. I went through 100g in 5 days, and got another 200g today after running out of the house after giving my family the letter. Now at almost 1:30am I’m making another cup to help mellow out so I can sleep off this anxiety! I feel like my heart is going to burst from my chest or I’m going to shake right out of my skin!

This is my third cherry tea, the others being Teaopia’s Wild Cherry herbal tisane and Silk Road’s Japanese Sour Cherry green tea.

Unlike the Wild Cherry, Cherry potion has quite a tart bite to it, thanks to the hibiscus.

I actually like the hibiscus in this! It reminds me of Bear Trap, crisp and fruity, really refreshing both hot and iced. I can’t drink the Wild Cherry hot, it’s too sweet and too much like a ripe cherry, and something about hot cherries doesn’t sit right with me (can you tell I don’t like hot cherry pie? haha).

The Bai Mu Dan definitely takes a back seat in this one, but I’m not sure it’s entirely a bad thing. At the same time, I feel like this would go wonderfully with a green base, something nice and crisp to compliment the crispness of the cherry and hibiscus. I feel like the white base is too soft, too subtle, it needs something with more oomph, you know?

I had to toss some mini chocolate chips into my tin because I ate most of the chocolate chunks out of it…They’re like pieces of mini toblerone, and I LOVE toblerone!!!

I definitely prefer SN to Super Chocolate, I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon and green tea, and find Super Chocolate to bee too strong. I gave what I had of it to a friend who loves it.

As much as I like it, I feel like it would be better with an oolong base. I actually drink it exclusively blended with Spiced Carob/Dr Chocolate to get the oolong component I feel it’s missing. The sweetness of the coconut and vanilla balance out the bite of the cardamom in the Dr Chocolate, which in turn lets me enjoy it more as I’m not a huge fan of cardamom.

Because I really don’t drink it on its own, I don’t feel like it’s fair to give it a rating. It’s a great tea, but I kind of wish it would have been an oolong and replaced Dr Chocolate/Spiced Carob.

I treated myself to a beautiful blue matcha bowl, so sat down to “christen it” with a bowl of Matcha Matsu.

I have some really odd texture issues, so I don’t generally drink matcha unless it’s in a latte, but I wanted to have the first drink out of my new bowl be pure.

Hmm, the flavour is nice, but the way the matcha coats my mouth when I have it straight bothers me. I do a thin matcha for straight consumption, thicker when I intend to make a latte, but something about the latte (is it the milk? or the texture of the foam??) makes the feel of the matcha sticking to my mouth seem less offensive.

Barring the texture issues, it’s a really nice bright green tea. Crisp is probably the best word to describe it. I can’t think of anything to compare the flavour to, but it’s refreshing, totally different than my usual choices of buttery greens.