Maddy Barone Send Message

I haven’t left a tasting note on this one yet???

I’ve been enjoying this one for a couple of months. It is the perfect cup for these cold dreary nights of deep winter. It has been 41 days since we were at freezing or above, and we certainly won’t be seeing 32 until at least March. In fact, the highest temp since January 7 was 19 about a week ago.

This is like summer in a cup. Bright and naturally sweet, it gives me a much needed lift. Even my weak nose can smell the sweet tang of blackberries in this tea. You know what a ripe juicy blackberry tastes like. That is what the tea tastes like. I love just about all the honeybush teas from 52Teas, and this one is the same. I don’t care as well for rooibos and I can taste the woodiness of it here, but it doesn’t ruin the cup for me. Raspberries and blackberries are my favorite fruits anytime of the year. I buy them every week even in the dead of winter. But berries in February don’t taste as good as berries in July. This tea reminds me summer is coming.

I have been having an absolutely horrible time lately. Between the cold and the snow and the car not starting, my mood is beyond glum. I long to go to bed for a week. I am coming out of it slightly now. The fact that it was 20 degrees today and the snow was the light fluffy kind with no wind probably helped.

Anyway, my new co-worker is apparently a tea aficionado. She came in this morning and began setting up her desk. One of the things she brought was a small wooden box with tea bags. She told me she drinks loose leaf tea at home, but for the office she uses bagged tea for convenience. A woman after my own heart! She had a couple of varieties of black teas and offered me one of these. I like Prince of Wales. Nothing fancy or expensive, but a straight black tea of decent quality is always welcome. I told her about Steepster and we might see a new member soon.

Quick! This is back in stock, so is Cocoa Amore and more

!

More bad weather coming in. I think I’m actually getting depressed. I just don’t want to deal with it. Ugh. Thank God I can work from home tomorrow, so that’s a good thing.

My throat is slightly sore today. Tea really is the perfect thing to drink. Sore throat? Have some tea. Bone deep cold? Have some tea. Sitting and knitting? Have some tea. I feel bad for the people who don’t know the joys of tea.

I initially held off on opening this. I hesitated because I figured as soon as I opened the pouch, it would be gone. But that is just plain foolish. When it’s gone, it’s gone, and I’ll mourn, but why punish myself by not drinking it? And the weather has called for hot tea. I’m sure its cold wherever you are too. Maybe even colder than Fargo. I think the entire north american continent is much colder than average this week But we haven’t broken any records. And tomorrow it will get above zero. I’ll still drink hot tea though. ;)

On Monday I made a large pot to get me through my writing meeting. We are meeting online this winter. I miss seeing people face to face, but it’s so nice to not have to go out in the weather. People must have been looking at my face when I took my first sip, because Tina Holland said, “I don’t know what yo;re drinking, but I want some.” LOL She’s a coffee girl all the way, and doesn’t like tea. Maybe I’ll convert her.

This tea is so good. I’ve had a at least a cup every day this week. I seem to really enjoy the Fujian teas. I can’t even taste the vanilla (stupid nose). That’s a shame, but this tea is smooth and rich even without the vanilla. I’m am so pleased I was able to get a couple of ounces when WP sent the email advising people they had a few old favorites back in stock. I am going up to Winnipeg tomorrow and I’m bringing the second pouch of this as a hostess gift.

We have another stupid blizzard tonight. I wanted a warming tea, something caffeine free, with ginger for my unhappy tummy. I decided on this one. It was okay. My tummy has been slightly unhappy for several days now. I don’t know what the deal is. I’m not actually sick,. just gassy and lethargic. I suppose I can blame winter. This winter is really nothing unusual. But the last four or five years have been abnormally mild so I having a regular winter seems awful. I am tired of winter :(

You know, I’ve been hoarding two excellent teas for a few weeks now. I’m afraid once I open them, they will be gone. But that is stupid. I should open them and enjoy them. I don’t think anything else will really satisfy me. Like this tea. It’s not a bad tea. It’s a perfectly good tea for a cold winter evening. But it ain’t Golden Orchid, now is it?

Sip down.

Today begins a stretch of at least 7 days where the temp will not get above zero. Except maybe Saturday. That is forecast as 0. This is Fahrenheit. The low tonight is forecast as -23, and the rest of the next 7 days is as bad. Next Thursday will be a high of -15 and a low of -30. That’s as far as the forecast goes, but I seriously doubt temperature will suddenly zoom up to the 20s above zero the next day. I am guessing we will get above zero in about 9 or 10 days. I am actually dreading this cold snap. A little cold weather doesn’t actually bother me. But I’m getting older! I don’t want more winter! We just finished a blizzard, and another one is expected on Sunday-Monday. There is nothing for it but to run out and start the car every few hours to keep the battery charged. That, and drink tea.

This tea pouch is now sadly empty. I enjoyed this one. I enjoy all the honeybush teas from 52 Teas. Sorry to see this one go, but now I am in the mood for something spicy and warm. I’ll go rummage through the drawer to see whag speaks to me.

I drove down to Minneapolis for the weekend. ON the way home today I stopped and got some tea. They had only a few varieties, and this looked like the best of the bunch.

The first half of the cup was nice. Nothing I needed to have again, but drinkable. The second half, however, was bitter. It wasn’t over-steeped, since I removed the tea bag right away. I think the flavor changed as the cup cooled.

I have a raw throat. My nose is plugged, so I expected the sore throat is from post nasal drip. I first reached for David’s Cold 911, but I got my Whispering Pines tea order the other day and I decided to go with that. I ordered two ounces of North Winds and 2 ounces of Golden Orchid and I am dying to open those. But, since I am smelling even less that usual right now, I decided to try this, which was the sample sent with my order.

This was a rich tea. No thin taste or flat notes. Even with my nose clogged I could detect something sweet like raisin. I didn’t get the spearmint or the spice, really, probably because of my stupid cold. It felt good on my throat. I think this is better hot. I actually dozed off about half way through the cup. I went back to it, but when it cooled, there was a slight astringency to the sip. So I will be sure to drink this one when it is warm.

I have an uneasy tummy so I brewed a cup of this tonight. It’s hard to go wrong with peppermint, and Twinings has a very decent herbal peppermint tea. Nothing fancy or expensive, just good evening tea after one overeats. I’m not sure the more expensive loose leaf teas are any better than this plain workhorse of a bagged tea.