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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

Feeling incredibly horrible right now, so I’m resorting to my aunts old school and probably toxic mixture of neo-citran and earl grey. I last had this when my aunt rescued me from my house during reading week when I could barely crawl out of bed!

Having fun with family history searches and found out my grandmother was alive at least 3 more years than I thought, and was a roommate with Bette Davis at Cushing’s Academy. She is incredibly difficult to track down because she had several legal and professional names and the ImDB has merged her info with another person! Otherwise I only get references to her as foot notes to my Grandfathers scandalous but exciting life.

TheTeaFairy

Oh, feel better soon… I have to adk: neo-citran and earl grey in the same cup? Lol, I like the idea! Your grandparent’s life story sounds awesome!!

OMGsrsly

That is such a cool history! Hope you start feeling better soon.

yyz

Yes in the same cup! It both deepens and intensifies the flavour and makes you feel a little bit closer to normal instead of catatonic! As more and more media is digitized, I’ve been able to find out more and more tidbits of information and bits about their personalities. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve benn able to track most of my family ligns into the 1700’s. Many people I’ve talked to have crazy stories in their family history. I met one person who found out that his grandfather was a three times bigamist as sanctioned by the British merchant navy no less!

My grandfather was by all accounts brilliant but became addicted to money, and risk and that was in the end his undoing but he did it for quite some time!

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

More lavender experiments

1 TSP lavender
Few slices of ginger
Cinnamon (@1.5 inches crushed)
1/8th TSP licorice shredded licorice root.

@ 16Oz mug

Cinnamon and lavender dominate scent.

The flavour is a little thin for the amount of water I used. Next time I might add more ginger and slightly increase the cinnamon and lavender. The licorice root is perfect. However, the flavour does intensify while you drink it.

Warm slightly spicy tea, with a touch of sweetness, and a bit of brightness from the ginger and lavender. Not overly floral, the lavender and cinnamon kind of blend into each other, with the lavender only slightly dominant.

__Morgana__

I’m trying to imagine cinnamon and lavender together and totally failing in the attempt.

pyarkaaloo

cinnamon and lavender…how’s that working out? a creative pairing, no doubt. i imagine this to be a clash of titans. did u enjoy this one?

yyz

Its kind of interesting, the lavender I have is quite a spicy one. In some sips they kind of create their own unique entity, while in others the cinnamon is kind of woody cinnamon hearts and the lavender comes off slightly powdery compared to some of my other lavender experiments. Mostly its a sweet spicy mix with a touch of brightness.

yyz

I’m actually enjoying it. I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but for some reason it was in my mind to try it.

TheTeaFairy

Haha! I like reading about your little alchemy blend testings :-)

Tabby

Oooh, interesting. I can see lavender and ginger being nice together… the cinnamon makes it a little scary, haha.

yyz

I’m not sure if I like it as much as the lemongrass, lavender, ginger but it did taste pleasant to me, I think I want something to deepen the base a bit, but I really liked the last half cup. I might add it to the coconut experiment sometime maybe I can get lemon pound cake with lavender ( I have had that before).

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

Large Pinch of dried lemongrass
4-5 slices fresh ginger
Dried coconut
It smells wonderful, a bit like lemon pound cake.
It tastes quite tart. I was going to add some licorice root, but I misplaced it. I suppose I could add sugar but its drinkable as it is. The coconut and ginger create a blend of cream and warmth under the lemony note. The lemongrass is both the first and last note when drinking this tisane but the ginger lingers.

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

2 tsp cocoa nibs
1 tsp soba cha,
a couple thin slices of ginger,
4 small pods of cardamon,
1cm worth of cinnamon stick
3 arms of star anise.
1 clove
@14 oz of water steeped for @6 min

Not bad and chai like but I used one TSP of soba cha instead of extra coconibs and I think next time I will use the extra tsp of nibs and then add the soba cha. I will also up the ginger next time as well, otherwise the flavours mixed well to produce a mild cocoa based chai.

TheTeaFairy

Now, I’m jealous! Sounds like the perfect comfort recipe after my night walk :-)

caile

Sounds nice!

Fjellrev

Cool recipe!

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

More lavender experiments…

This time I used less than 1 tsp lavender
2 1cm thick slices of ginger
A pinch of dried lemongrass

I like it but I think I have to decide what I want to be in prominence and increase the proportion of it. Right now I have the spicy floral lavender and the heat of the ginger but I think I want more of the lemon tones ginger can have. The lemon grass kind of grounds the other two flavours adding a touch of tartness and a bit of depth to the flavour. Nice for when I’m not in the mood for lavender by itself.
gmathis

Hadn’t tried a lemongrass-lavender combo before. Making note!

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

Once upon a time it was easy to buy bulk herbs and spices around here in small proportions, but now if they even have the herbs you end up having to buy prepackaged bags with fixed proportions. Which is how I ended up with a huge bag of lavender. It’s a nice lavender sweet and spicy, not soapy thank goodness. But I still have tons left. I’ve given it away as sachets, drank it straight as tea, added it to my bath, and used it to flavour other teas. This is a continuation of project, move through the lavender.

Tonight I added the lavender to cocoa nibs, and cardamon.

You know what it’s not too bad. Though I think next time. I’ll use a little bit less lavender and add a little more cardamon. The lavender sweetened the cocoa and added a little bit of spice, and the cardamon was slightly detectable underneath, doing the same.

I’ll have to try it again, but lavender actually goes quite nicely with chocolate.

around 1tbsp coca nibs, less than tsp of lavender, a couple cardamon pods, sreeped in a 16 oz mug for around 7 min.

Nicole

It always surprises me that I like dark chocolate bars with lavender. Have not tried it in cocoa yet…

yyz

They’re nice aren’t they?

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

Mystery Ceylon

I’m currently enjoying a mystery Ceylon that I picked up at the Polish grocery store. I haven’t had it for a while, but I forgot how nice it was.

It has this beautiful mix of fruity blackberry, floral notes, toasted grains, hint of sweet potato, malt and spice with some slightly earthy/leathery notes and a sugary note that has a dark maple syrup tones. As it cools it remains quite sweet and citrus tones come out. The tea has a nice body and re-steeps really well.

I wish I know for sure where the tea came from. It is a large leaf ceylon, with broad twisted leaves. I suspect it comes from this company as they have supplied teas to the store in the past.

http://organicteacup.com/products.aspx,

but there are several other local companies it could be from.

CelebriTEA

This sounds really lovely with the blackberry & ceylon, sweet potato(fave),
malt and spice….mmmmm

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

I really need to try more unsmoked or lightly smoked zheng shan Xiao zhongs because I love the one I’m sipping on right now. The dealer I bought this one from is in the process of re-setting up his e-store or I’d direct you there because I’ve loved all the wuyi blacks I’ve had from him so far.

This particular one smells like dark chocolate with some grain notes when dry and has thin shiny dark leaves with a few red brown leaves. It is best brewed between 80-90*c. I prefer brewing it at around 80 because then it is buttery like an oolong and the chocolate and caramel notes it has dominate.
It has notes of cocoa, caramel, and honey note’s over sweet potato, cinnamon and some grain notes it has some fruity citrus lychee notes and dark crust toast notes as well as a hint of vanilla.

When brewed at a higher temperature the lychee/citrus and sweet potato notes become stronger.

This tea holds up to 5+ brews when brewing 1tsp/200ml.

Really nice tea, so I hope I can get it again. If not I’m going to have to experiment with more sweet and un-smoked teas of this type.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

I am sick once again, sore throat ( for some reason when I get sick this tends to be where it concentrates), runny nose etc. To doctor my self up I made a tisane of ginger, sage ( full leaves from last years garden), cardamom, ginger, cloves and honey. It actually tastes quite pleasant, herbal, but not overly medicinal. The brightness of the ginger tempers the earthiness of the sage. Sage and honey are both known to help sore throats and the other ingredients are also known to help fight infection so hopefully it’ll help. At least it’s soothing on my throat!

JustJames

if you i have an excellent recipe for an echinacea tincture, it does take some time to make though. if you start now it would be ready for fall…

yyz

That would be awesome to have a recipe for a tincture. I even have Purple Cornflower in the garden right now. Though I know it is best to use the two year old roots, following you and you can send me a message.

JustJames

okay, that’s it… this won’t do. i’m away tomorrow but once i’m back i’ll dig up my recipe and message it to you.

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

I decided to do a comparison between two supermarket earl greys.

Twinings and Ahmad Special Blend.

Cost Twinings between 5.49-6.99 CAD for 100g tin.
Ahmad 6.99 454g box

Dry Leaf
Twinings The bergamot smells more of baked lemon with soft powder floral accent, bop leafs are larger and coarser than Ahmads with a light baked goods smell to leaf.

Ahmad The bergamot is slightly lighter and smells of fresh lemon rind with a floral accent(lavender and rose), and ginger, dry leaf bop ceylon blended with other black teas.

The teas both brew to the colour of maple wood.

Scent of brewed tea

Twinings bergamot(lemon foral) over slightly woody, slightly orange scented black tea smell including rind with a hint of ginger and a cinnamon like scent.

Ahmad strong scent, of malty lemony tea with deeper lemon scent with a hint of ginger, and floral notes.

Taste Twinings Tea is slightly vegetal, with slightly malty tone underneath a citrusy top note. Hint of lavender present, mixed with lemon rind taste, It brews lighter than I remember with less of a rich tea taste. This tin tastes like it is using the same base as Lady Grey.
It is thin bodied with a spicier bergamot. I like the spiciness but I wish there was more citrus. It is a light tea. Relatively smooth and relatively insensitive to steep time. It leaves a spicy floral with hint of citrus aftertaste.

Ahmad This tea has a malty undertone, with hints of red fruit mixed with orange (almost a shirley temple cocktail note), not quite as spicy on the tongue as twinings, with a hint of cooked lemon mixed with orange and rind, rose, and lavender. This tea is more tannic. The tea has more depth than twinings. I would like more spice. It benefits from a shorter steep time as it risks getting bitter and astringent. It leaves a citrus aftertaste.

Both of these teas lack either the rich sweetness of the tea base in the cjay earl grey http://steepster.com/teas/cjay-tea/36148-earl-grey or the bright citrus of the big active tea http://steepster.com/teas/big-active/35256-essence-earl-grey-superior-with-rose-petals.

gmathis

Wish I could find Ahmad at a local supermarket!

yyz

Its kind of funny because the store where I bought this one is near the store where I usually go in to by Indian goods, but I had never been in it. I was planning to buy some Kenyan CTC but unfortunately they only had 1KG bags in stock a lot of tea to buy for someting I’m not sure if I will like anyways.

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

I’ve been a little under the weather today so I’ve been experimenting with various versions of Chai.

So far I’ve done one with Bai Mudan, one with a cheap darjeeling and two versions of Kashmiri Chai made with Samovar green tea, next I’ll probably make ginger tea with an assam.

The white chai included bai mudan 3 pods of cardamon, 1/2 inch of cinnamon stick, white pepper cracked, 1 arm of star anise, and ginger. I added two much cardamon this time, but otherwise it was pleasant, but mild and smells of baking.

The darjeeling chai had similar spicing but tasted of lemony mild ginger and pepper with gentle spice, the tea base underneath left hints of almond and peach, lemon and a bit of malt and was faintly floral.

The Kashmiri Chai was spiced with cardamon and cinnamon, I added a pinch of baking soda and salt to experiment with pink tea. I made it two ways, steeped to which I added crushed almond and boiled.

The steeped tea brewed to a peachy green colour and tasted of crushed
almond, bitter spinach ,a faint hint of sweetness from the tea base, cardamon and cinnamon. It tastes light on the tongue, especially at the front of the mouth. It does not taste of salt and soda.

For the boiled tea I added the tea, spices and water appropriate to amount of servings, and a pinch soda and salt. I boiled the tea so that 1/4 to 1/3 of the liquid was lost, I then added back the
lost water and boiled it 2-4 minutes. The boiled tea is a dark, opaque, browny red. Taken of heat if you add milk, it goes pink. The tea is smooth and looses the heavy tanic feeling of the steeped tea. I was surprised how dark and red the tea goes considering this is
made with green tea.

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

Sometimes when I’m craving something sweet but not too sweet I like to mix Teaopia/Teavana Caramelissimo with a light to medium bergamot earl grey(this time CJay teas option). This time I blended them 2 parts earl grey to 1 part Caramelissimo. What you get is citrus caramel blended with a hint of nut from the hazlenut brittle in Caramelissimo, over a ceylon/assam blend base which is both citrusy and bitter/earthy. It’s really nice, but add some sugar or increase the proportion of the caramel tea if you prefer a sweet tea. As it is this blend has an aftertaste that is a little like eating an earl grey dark chocolate truffle.

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drank Random Steepings by Various Artists
437 tasting notes

I added about 1 part lavender buds to 4 parts of a light roast Dong Ding and the went really well together. The oolong is very floral with acents of gardenia and carnation and the lavender helped to increase the intensity of the floral spice and sweetened the tea while adding just a hint of lavender flavour.

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So, I didn’t feel like making a new tea page for this tea. I got a really great ginger root herbal at Apple Hill last weekend. It’s so tasty! Has a lot of bite to it, more if you let it steep longer. I tried my first cup at a 5-minute steep and tonight I’m drinking a 6-minute steep and it has a lot more bite and heat. Yum! I also put in some fresh honey, also from Apple Hill, and it’s delicious! I really was never a fan of ginger, but that seems to be changing. I think once I’m done with these teabags, I’m going to experiment making my own from fresh ginger. Should be fun!

keychange

I’d love to learn more about your ginger tea experiments! I struggle with random bouts of nausea, and I’ve heard people wax poetic about how great ginger is, only I think I’m in the camp of people who’ve not really liked it all that much. I hope that will change though!

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We had a tea party today! I always have small ones with just a few people and we keep it casual. Everyone enjoys trying stuff out of my cupboard. Haha! I decided to introduce them to puerh today and steeped up special dark by Mandala. Everyone liked it and it was actually everyone’s favorite of the day! We drank lots of different teas. I personally drank snow view by Lupicia, special dark, TeaVivre’s white tea cake, and caramel & rum by Lupicia. It was a great chance to rediscover teas I had forgotten about. We had quite a spread too. My caramel apple scones were a hit, and we had goat cheese, shallot, and habanero sauce tea sandwiches, caprese kabobs, strawberry and goat cheese on crackers, and a lemon curd macadamia nut crust tart. Here’s a pic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/97273956@N03/15621636997/in/photostream/

So fun! :)

sundaysipping

Incredible looking tea party!

Nicole

That looks great! And sounds very tasty!

ashmanra

Oh wow! That looks awesome! I could eat that whole picture right now. Sounds like an awesome tea party!

Kittenna

Looks delicious!

gmathis

I am in awe of anybody who can make food look that pretty…especially that many kinds simultaneously! Two dishes at once just about kill me :)

Tealizzy

gmathis- I can’t take the credit…my friends all chip in, so it’s not so hard. I usually make the scones, provide the tea and host it, while others bring sandwiches, sweets, etc. Works really well! :)

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So, I’m on work travel in Arizona, and I just can’t get a good cup of tea around here! I even brought some teas from home, mostly sample sachets from Lupicia, but drinking tea out of styrofoam cups really ruins the flavor. I should have brought a travel mug, but I wasn’t sure if it was okay to take that on the plane. My coworker said he’s done it, so next time, I’m totally bringing one! Also, the tap water around here has a funny taste. And to top it all, I tried to make tea in my hotel room with the coffee pot, but even after two “rinses” of the pot, it still had coffee residual taste. That, coupled with the funny tasting water and a styrofoam cup…oh man, I should just give up! One more day…I can make it!!!

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Had afternoon tea and a BBC Pride and Prejudice marathon yesterday with a friend! So fun! We’ve seen that version of P&P a million times, but it’s still the best! I made a new scone recipe, which was delicious…raspberry, white chocolate chips and coconut buttermilk scones! We also had a variety of tea sandwiches, of which my friend’s apple pecan version was awesome! I love long weekends!!

Oh, almost forgot to say, we enjoyed Nina’s Paris’s Grand Amour, Della Terra’s Oolong Creme de la Creme, and Butiki’s Maple Pecan Oolong! Yay!

TeaLady441

That sounds awesome. I love that version.
Those teas sound pretty nice too.

Terri HarpLady

Sounds like an awesome afternoon, especially the FOOD! YUM!

ashmanra

I NEEEEEEDDDD a tin of Grand Amour! I think I am going to buy a tin for my son-in-law as a groom gift when he and my daughter get married.

Stephanie

Maple pecan oolong is da bomb

Tealizzy

Ya, it was pretty great. When the husband’s away, it’s great to have a girls day!!

ashmanra – you should totally go for it! Make sure you get some for yourself!!

Chelle

I was watching it too! Love it. I had a pot of Madam Blueberry from a local tea blender. Yum!

Tealizzy

Nice, Chelle!!

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Have you ever made a cup of a tea you really liked, but this particular cup sucks? I just did. I made some of that dragonwell tea from some unknown tea plantation in China, and it tasted awful. Perhaps my steeper still had residual from my steeping of Aztec Spice, even though I washed it? Perhaps my mug had residual, even though I rinsed it? Maybe my honey is getting too old? Maybe my taste buds are off? OR, maybe I subconsciously didn’t want that tea at the moment? Anyway, it was gross. So sad.

In other news, I created a spreadsheet of my tea inventory! Yay! I was worried that I was starting to lose track of some teas, and I was right! I have A LOT of little amounts of different teas. So, it’s pretty cool because I can sort by company, by type of tea (black, oolong, etc), by amount, and by a rating. I created a new rating system for the spreadsheet: Favorite, Good, Okay, and Yuck! Lol! Favorite and Yuck pretty much speak for themselves. The difference between Good and Okay is whether I might buy it again. Now I just need to organize my physical cupboard better!

TastyBrew

Awesome. I’m a spreadsheet junkie too. Was all I did in my previous life.

OMGsrsly

Ooh, i need to add a ratings column to mine. I’m just starting my spreadsheet, and it’s kinda scary. I missed adding a bunch of teas to steepster so my total is higher…

Rachel J

Haha… Tea nerds unite! I love spreadsheets.

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I am perpetually using this for my dragonwell tea from an unknown plantation in China. So good with honey! I think I tend to prefer roasty toasty green teas to the grassy type. I’ve noticed this one has a bit of a lemon note as well….goes well with the honey! Mmmmmm.

TastyBrew

We are definitely on the same page with a lot of teas. I’m all about the roasty toasty greens as well. I’m still trying to find the roasty-toastiest.

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I REALLY love this dragonwell tea from China that I got from my husband’s friend. Stinks that I don’t know where he got it, but I have a lot of it! It is extra yummy with honey. Funny how my tastes have been changing. Lately, I’ve been developing a better appreciation for green tea!

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So, I’m gonna catch up on my backlog of tealogs in a backwards fashion, because I can! Had a pretty crappy day today after a fabulous weekend. Very hard to go back to work after that, on top of the fact that I’m so burnt out at work, I’m toasty! Anyway, my husband’s friend gave me some fabulous dragonwell tea from a tea plantation in China. I wanted to give the company credit, but he couldn’t remember the name of the plantation, even though he went there! It is roasty goodness! I especially like the second steeping, because, I think it’s smoother, and possibly sweeter? Added honey for both steeps. Still getting my palate acquainted with green teas. I like this one a lot, especially as an afternoon tea or to go with a meal. The other bad thing about not knowing the company is that I can’t buy anymore! Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to savor what I have! Thanks Terri, for setting up this “random steepings” tea. I’m glad I can at least write about it!

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Enjoying a cup of my homemade roasted dandelion root tea. I love it. The dandelion roots came from my own garden. I scrubbed & trimmed them, ground them up in my food processor, and then slow roasted for about 3 hours. My garden is big, with an unlimited supply of dandelions, and in the spring I eat the greens daily, because they are so good for my liver. I roast at least one batch of roots every year in the fall, because it’s a great tea for me in the evening: all the depth and boldness of a black tea, none of the caffeine.

Over the last few years I’ve been adding more herbs to my garden for evening tisanes, for medicinal brews, and for the bees & other insects to enjoy. I don’t plan on starting a business, I just love gardening and I love tea. :)

ashmanra

I need to try this!

Evol Ving Ness

This sounds delightful. Your post makes me happy just to read about this happening out in the world.

Terri HarpLady

I’ve been roasting my own dandy roots for awhile. I really want to add some chicory to my collection, the funny thing is I always thought they used wild chicory (the blue flowered weed), but turns out they roast the roots of endive & the various cultivated salad chicories. I plan to try growing some of those, enjoying the greens, and then roasting the roots in the fall. Anyway, I love gardening, I love tea, I dried a lot of herbs in fall, and although I prefer them fresh, the dried ones transport me momentarily into last summer’s garden, with visions of this spring :)

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Hello steepster friends! Sorry I’ve been such a slacker for so long, thus is the life of a successful musician, right?

Anyway, I’m loading up a box for my tea sister Sil (finally) and some of the teas I’m sending her have been drank, but not reviewed. So I’m gonna try to make up for that by drinking them all! First up, 10AM Morning Cleanse, by The Tea Spot. I’m writing this review on Random Steepings (which I actually created, back in the day) because there is no heading for this one, and it’s no longer being offered on their website. I got this sample ‘awhile back’, and am just now sampling it. It’s a blend of Black, Puerh, Rooibox, Cardamom, ginger, Cinnamon. Although it’s not overly remarkable, it’s not bad. Kind of a light chai, and although I rarely sweeten my teas, this one is happier with just a touch of maple syrup.

tperez

Welcome back!

Terri HarpLady

Thanks! I try to stop by once in awhile :) Glad to see a familiar face!

mrmopar

Good seeing you again.

Terri HarpLady

and you, and BTW MrM, I haven’t forgotten the tea I promised to send you, it’s in a box a few feet away. One of my goals for this week is to finally get that box off to you and another one off to Sil.

mrmopar

I wouldn’t stress about that. Have you seen my cupboard lately…..I may need an intervention..

__Morgana__

So great to see you, Terri!

Sil

Tea boxes are fun! I already have another started for you Terri hahahaha

ashmanra

I was wondering where you had gone! Good to see you back on here!

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I’ve had this sample of Fu Brick from Life in Teacup for quite awhile, and today was finally the day. I posted some picks to my Instagram, if anybody wants to see it. Anyway, it’s dark tea with the Golden Flowers clearly on display. The texture over all the steepings is very smooth, with a vanilla like feel. The flavor is wood and tobacco, and after the first few cups my mouth has a sensation of camphor too. I till have quite a ways to go with this, but so far I’d say the taste is pretty consistent throughout. This tea is really more about sensations and a good tea buzz too. I enjoyed it. BTW, the reason I posted it over here at the Random Steeping page is because it was a free sample and I didn’t see a point in creating a page for it, since I don’t think Gingko is offering it on her page.
And that’s a sipdown, folks!

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