gmathis Send Message

Glum weather today. Rained all night and the sky stayed cold, thick, and heavy all day. This was appropriate. Wood smoke and a little fruit at the end. I added a teaspoon of mulling spice to the second steep, and that made it even cozier.

Wowza! The dry leaves smell so good! With a sloppy steep and no additives, I’m still catching it all: pan-fried apples, a little maple-osity, the stick-to-your-lips bread and egg thing. Just enough for one more cup with a little milk and sweetener. Thanks, Michelle!

Since EG isn’t a favorite, and since this is a gift-tin grade tea, and since the bag smelled suspiciously floor-cleanery, I planned to dump in the dairy immediately. But I got brave and took a sip before adding anything and the bergamot was surprisingly natural tasting. It’s pretty pleasant with office creamer and the contents of a honey straw.

Although I’m pretty certain my sample pack of this rooibos chai was getting long in the tooth, the scent when I opened it was lip-smackingly, cookie-ish, sweet. I steeped it work, which always means neither time nor temp were overseen carefully, and ended up with a really nice afternoon cup that was more fruit and almond than spicy chai.

This is the better of the two options in my QEII sampler tin: still falls in the “just tea” category, but much less acidic than the afternoon tea version and easier to drink straight. Maybe a little cherry wood personality to it.

I’m feeling cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eel. Just call me Mrs. Grinch when you walk into the office today. So in hopes of inflating my heart two or three sizes, we’ve got Pentatonix singing their lungs out in my direction, and I steeped a cup of Christmas tea in my favorite wintery mug—it has embossed holly leaves and berries. The bumps feel good in your hands.

The orange and clove profile, as many people have mentioned before, is a lot like good ol’ Bigelow Constant Comment, only not quite as finicky—steep time of 4 minutes, and it’s still not bitter or biting. (Maybe I should take the hint, eh?) A little milk and honey would flip this into a nice orangey chai, I think.

I am now the proud owner of a Commemorative Queen Elizabeth Tin of New English Teas—a gift from someone who got a kick out of all my Jubilee fan-girling this summer. Inside, three foil pouches with tagless bags.

This English Afternoon has no standout flavors; it’s just tea, but it does lean to the sharpish side—some other reviewers emphasize its acidity, which isn’t bothering me, but does indicate that I might now have a use for several flavored honey sticks that have been gathering dust in my office tea corner.

It’s fun; it’ll do; I can share with office mates.

You all are going to be up till midnight tonight catching up on all these Advent reviews! So I’ll be brief—very mild, a little roasty, not too floral. (Don’t stay up too late, kids.)

(Oh…I have had this before. Will y’all come see me in the memory care ward?)

Well, the first time out, references were made to Big Red chewing gum. This time around, it reminded me of Brach’s Cinnamon Discs hard candy.

Do they still have the do-it-yourself Brach’s Pick-A-Mix bins anywhere? When I was little, that was big stuff, getting to fill my own bag. Mostly gumdrops and those white taffy squares with fruity blobs in them, but Mom or Dad would reach over my shoulder and make sure some butterscotch drops and cinnamon discs made it home, too.

Never mind the cinnamon. This cup tasted like nostalgia.

I guess we can call this one a sipdown—I’ve been working my way through the last of a Tea Forte sampler—I’m down to lots of chais and wintery flavors that didn’t appeal during the summer, and this was the last of that particular flavor. Looks like it’s no longer a Tea Forte purchase option, perhaps because it was just “eh, OK” in personality. Good quality black tea with orange and ginger. It did taste more like a ginger snap than Bigelow’s Ginger Snappish, and was just fine for an afternooner in between dishes and laundry. (Must there be housework in December?)