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Decided to brew this sampler tonight after my Thanksgiving tradition of ordering gobs of Thai takeout (typically on the Wednesday before when things are open) and then reheating the leftovers, which last me days, for dinner.

This is one of those “turns blue because butterfly pea flower” herbal blends. I don’t really care about “color novelty” in tea, but I actually like the taste of butterfly pea flower and will drink it straight (I particularly like it the traditional way with some lemon juice and honey). I’m mostly used to it paired with citrus, though this is a minty/fruity blend. My blue cuppa smells heavily minty, with a touch of an herbaceous element, but I’m not getting any fruitiness in aroma. And honestly… even though there are blueberries and blackberries in the blend, I am not tasting them either. I am getting a very nice tasting mint tea, with a fresh and tingly sensation from the mints, with the spearmint being the most dominant minty flavor. I am also tasting the ginger in the blend, but it isn’t really spicy; more, it is adding to some of the earthy notes I’m getting in the tea, as well as a slight warming sensation at the back of the throat. It’s actually interesting, as I’m getting a cooling feeling more on my tongue, and a warming more on my throat… despite being conflicting, it isn’t unpleasant. Usually butterfly pea flowers have a sort of vegetal flavor to me, but I’m not getting that, either… instead, I’m getting more of an “earthiness” beneath the mint that reminds me a bit of echinacea or tulsi.

This is actually a nice “I’ve gorged myself” chaser considering the mint and ginger, which are my two main “help my poor abused GI system” teas. In the end, the butterfly pea flower really is just a “color” gimmick as I don’t think it’s doing much of anything for the blend… just a way to try to make a mint blend “more interesting,” really. But if you like mint, I mean… it doesn’t really need to be interesting?

Anyway, I’m fine with it, mostly because I’m not adverse to pea flower flavor. But since pea flower can be one of those easily aversive flavors, really no reason to recommend this over any other mint / mint and ginger / tummy tea sort of blend.

Flavors: Earth, Ginger, Herbaceous, Mint, Peppermint, Spearmint

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML
gmathis

Our day before Thanksgiving tradition used to involve chili dogs and Frito pies from Stogey’s Coney Island (a local dive), but two of us can’t handle that any more. We did slightly more civilized Mexican take-out Wednesday instead. Sounds like you chose a good antidote.

Mastress Alita

I see no point in cooking a big meal when I live alone. I also have always hated cooking. This has been my “thing” for quite some time now, heh.

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gmathis

Our day before Thanksgiving tradition used to involve chili dogs and Frito pies from Stogey’s Coney Island (a local dive), but two of us can’t handle that any more. We did slightly more civilized Mexican take-out Wednesday instead. Sounds like you chose a good antidote.

Mastress Alita

I see no point in cooking a big meal when I live alone. I also have always hated cooking. This has been my “thing” for quite some time now, heh.

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Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

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Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

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Idaho, United States

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