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(backlogging)

I ordered a (hot) chai latte from a random kiosk at the airport. I watched the barista, and it was made with steamed milk and this chai concentrate.

It was awful. When I first got it (and it was PIPING HOT) I was thinking that it was okay… I think I just couldn’t taste much. As it cooled and I got about halfway through, I realized that it tasted kinda sour and just like… milk. No spices or tea or anything. Blah. I threw it out.

(backlogging)

Since I’m in a hotel, I can’t prepare chai the traditional way (no stovetop). A friend suggested that I try this as an alternative.

It was okay, not spectacular (didn’t compare at all with making chai with actual tea leaves and spices!).

I had a migraine, so I “got” to taste it again an hour later. Now I can’t stand to look at it. I don’t want to rate it because of that. I’ll try again in a few days.

So this is the first tea that I made in the hotel room. I wanted to start with a familiar tea before trying new stuff, plus my thermometer hasn’t arrived yet (I had it shipped to the hotel) so I can’t try anything except herbals or blacks.

I had to buy a new tea kettle, though, since I forgot mine. I’ll be here for 4 of the next 5 weeks, so I needed a kettle.

It sweet and delicious, just like normal, so I feel like I can go ahead and try other things!

Needed something strong because my mouth tastes like the chinese food I had for lunch. The tartness of this one did cover up the chinese for awhile, but after about an hour the chinese flavor is back.

It’s a strong flavor, but not lasting. sigh

Had a frustrating evening so turned to this to relax me before bed. I still love the tangy tart sweetness.

Thanks to wombatgirl for sending me this! I’m developing quite a backlog of traded teas, but this one smelled the strongest, so that’s what I went for.

Wow, I’m loving this one! It’s sweet and tangy and fruity but still light; it’s not the super strong fruit flavor of many of the tisanes that I like. This tisane has depth as well as sweetness.

I’m definitely going to have to purchase this one. After I make my way through my pile of tea…

So I’ve been doing a lot of sour apple in the evenings and I decided to switch it up a bit.

I like this one, but not as much as the sour apple… this is a citrusy hibiscus. It’s good, but I probably won’t buy it again since I like the sour apple much better.

I thought I’d update on the experimentation we’re going through with this blend and the triniTEA.

I’m using about 6 tsp of English Breakfast and 2 (heaping) tsp of Lemon Youkou. It’s on the hotter setting of the triniTEA (II) and brewing for 2 minutes.

We’ll get about 32 oz of tea, which will then have sugar added to it (about 1/3 cup) and the pitcher will be topped off with ice (it’s a 1 L pitcher).

The bitterness seems to be gone (good, because I can’t brew it for any less time on the triniTEA!). I’m still playing with the amount of lemon because the last one I thought was not enough but the husband said it was too much. I’m making it more to his taste becuase he tends to drink it more than I do.

So I prepared this one like the directions state – 16 oz of boiling water for 5 minutes, then add another 16 oz of cool water and refrigerate.

I sampled it this morning… woah. It’s like drinking hibiscus and ginger root. Maybe there are other flavors there, but I can’t tell because these two are completely overpowering them.

I’m going to try it hot before giving it a rating, since I’ve had some other ginger teas that are fine hot and ick cold. Since it comes in a bag with enough tea for 32 oz of iced tea, I’m going to have to open the bag. Annoying.

So I got to work (after our 4 hour delay) and discovered that no one made coffee. This tea was sitting the the break room and I decided to try it while the coffee was brewing (I always start my day with 2 cups).

The smell of the tea was offputting, but whatever that aroma was, it wasn’t present in the tea’s taste. I just felt like I had to hold my breath as I brought the cup to my lips. Ugh.

It was okay, there was the sharp bite of mint and a hint of chocolate afterwards. I bet it would be better if made like a chai (but I’m at work).

I looked online for this tea (for a picture and description) and couldn’t find much. Apparently it’s a limited edition only sold through World Market.