Maddy Barone Send Message

My sense of smell has slid back into obscurity. :( But this tea remains one of my all time faves. It says it’s low caffeine (which is kind of weird since it’s black) so I decided it was okay to have it this evening. I made a small batch of monster sized turtle cookies. They are pretty tasty, and this tea goes along with them perfectly. So yummy.

I brewed this one up last night for my evening tea treat. I liked it even better this time, so am raising my rating to 75. I believe this is one of those teas that requires a sense of smell to enjoy fully. My sense of smell is iffy at best even with the Prednisone, but last night it seemed to be more clear than before. This morning it’s all but gone again of course. All of you who can smell, rejoice when you’re cleaning out the cat box. I WISH I could smell that!

Anyway, this time I used 3 teaspoons of tea and steeped it for about 4 minutes, and then I could smell hints of the cinnamon and spices. That made a big difference in my enjoyment. It’s still a bit too artificially sweet, but the spice cuts through that enough to mellow it. I still won’t buy more of this, but I’ll enjoy what I have.

I woke lst night around 4am to the sound of an immense clap of thunder that went on and on. Scared me half to death. I thought maybe a jet was ready to crash on top of me. But it went away, leaving only the rhythmic sound of pounding rain on the pavement outside my window. It was very cozy to lie in bed feeling a little chilly, safe and tidy.

It ws still raining when I got up, and cold enough that a good morning tea was required. I’m almost out of this one! It’s so good in the morning. So warm, and smooth, and mellow, and just a little malty without being astringent or bitter. Just about the prefect morning cup! I’ve put myselt on a strict tea diet until Christmas. I have plenty of tea to drink up before I order more. But it’s going to be hard to hold off on this one.

This was a gift from a friend. She passed on several bagged teas to me. Since I’m on a horridly high dose of prednisone right now, sleep is hard to capture. So NO CAFFEINE TEA after 5pm!!!

Last night I made this one. I am not a fan of chamomile, but it’s supposed to help relax you, right? This didn’t taste absolutely horrible, but it wasn’t my fave. Again, I don’t like chamomile, so it’s probably not fair for me to even rate this. Do you have suggestions for calming, soothing evening teas?

Here is the third and last of the teas I picked up at Teavana in Rochester while I was going to appointments at Mayo. This one sounded really good and I won’t have any trouble finishing the 2 ounces. But I don’t enjoy it as well as the Minted Monkey from Tippy’s. I think the mint must be quite strong because I can almost smell it. That is, I feel the coolness of mint when I lift the steaming cup to my lips and after I swallow. Can’t speak for the chocolate aspect. I would call this tea pleasant. Probably won’t pick it up again, but I’ll happily drink what I have.

This is one of the new autumn teas from Teavana. I picked up two ounces to try because it sounded warm and comfy for fall. Last night a brewed a cup and I have to say I wasn’t impressed. It was sort of tasteless and almost colorless in the cup. I didn’t rate it last night because I was super tired after my four days away at the Mayo Clinic and I didn’t follow the instructions on the label. And of course I have no sense smell or taste of taste.

This might be very nice iced, and as we’re expecting some days in the mid and upper 80s next week I think I’ll give it a try that way. I don’t give this a raving recommendation, but if a friend served it I’d have no trouble finishing the cup.

While I was at the Mayo Clinic this week I had a 4 hour stretch between appointments. I didn’t want to hang around the waiting room so I decided to see if there were any tea shops in Rochester. I found one, in a mall. Teavana. I had never been to a Teavana. It was similar to the David’s I’ve visited in Winnipeg.

I picked up three teas while there: this one, the Cacoa Mint, and one of the new teas for fall, Poached Pear Cider. I just wish I could have gotten little samples instead of a full two ounces. But I guess 2 ounces isn’t too much to try out a tea.

But I’m reviewing this one tonight since I had it this afternoon. It’s been cold and rainy today, which is prefect tea drinking weather. I really liked this one. It was smooth, and for me the spice was just right, not too bold or so weak that I couldn’t feel it. The color was a nice dark amber color. I bet it smell really good. My sense of smell is gone again, which is unfortunate, but I have hopes of it returning soon. The doc at Mayo put me on 5 medications, 3 of them steroids, which should open up my sinuses and allow me to get some scent up in the olfactory nerve area.

At any reate, although this tea won’t be an Absolute, All Time Fave, it is very pleasant and I think I’ll enjoy it this fall.

I’ve been very, very busy today. I’ll be spending Tuesday through Friday at Mayo Clinic and I for sure don’t want to come home to a messy apartment. I figure i’ll be exhausted after the treatments and the 6 hour drive home. So I spent 5 hours cleaning. I still have another 2 or so hours tomorrow, but for now I’m sitting back with The Walking Dead and this tea. This is the end of it, and it’s very nice. Smooth, light, a little sweet, a little malty. I think I like it better iced. Or maybe with my sense of smell back on the fritz I just can’t taste all the yummy nuances of this tea. Fingers crossed that this horrible aspirin desensitization will be effective and I will regain my sense of smell. And breathing through my nose would be fun too.

It’s a miserably hot day out there so I made a cup of this and put it in the fridge to chill. So nice. Light, fruity, refreshing, and delicious. The cat thought so too. I had about half of it and then left my desk to use the bathroom. When I returned my cat had her face stuck deep into my cup, lapping it up as fast as she could. There are times when I wonder how my cats are still around. Then they do something cute and they are reprieved. Anyway, I really enjoyed the first half of the cup and Merry Miaow really enjoyed the second half.

This tea might not be the usual breakfast tea, but since I have a teensy bit of my sense of smell I decided to have it. Nummy. Absolutely nummy. I opened the pouch and took a big sniff and I swear, there was a slice of banana bread inside. happy sigh The tea was smooth and mellow and almost sweet on its own. No sugar or milk needed, but I can see why others might enjoy it that way.