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Morning tea. At the moment, oolongs seem to be my tea of choice to ease into the morning/day – specifically my Butiki blends.

I love the dry smell of this: it’s very creamy but also reminds me of the smell of dirt right after a heavy rainfall. I love that smell!

Anyway, this was really good! I slightly overleafed, and I think that’s perhaps why I was especially able to taste the creamy pumpkin this time around and not just the spices.

This finishes off the sample sent to me from Lala – though I thankfully still have a sealed 50g packet that I bought from Cuppa’T earlier in the month. This portion, however, was made in my timolino and brought with to Robyn’s.

Steeped for four minutes in boiling water – and I’m not really sure how much leaf was used since I just dumped it all in the brew basket. More than 1 1/2 tsp. and less than 1 tbsp.

It was a little bitter, but that could be from sitting in the timolino all day (I made this at like 2 PM but didn’t drink it until around 9 PM) or from a longer steep time. Still really good though: like a marzipan heavy almond cookie.

…And that finishes off the last of the cold brew I had made up, though I still have plenty of leaf left to make more.

I brought a timolino full of this when I went to hang out with Robyn, and it was gone super quickly. We also had our (very late) Christmas gift exchange and of course she got me tea! Though, I got her tea too…

I didn’t tell her this because I didn’t want to come off as rude or ungrateful (after all, she really didn’t have to get me anything in the first place) but I already have lots of one of the blends she got me and the other (which she gave me in such large quantity) is one I find really disgusting, personally. However, the third smells amazing and I’ve yet to try it, so yay for that one!

So – anyone interested in swapping for 50g of Jessie’s Tea and (guessing conservatively, because I know this was a used tin that once held 100g) 75g of Buddha’s Blend? The Jessie’s Tea is unopened from mid December and the Buddha’s Blend is from August of this year. Like I said, she started off with 100g but conservatively speaking I think it’s closer to 75g now. I also know for a fact it was stored properly.

I couldn’t resist drinking another RiverTea blend today while getting ready to go out (movie night and super late Christmas gift exchange with bestie Robyn), so I made this one up because the sample packages were already in my drawer and I didn’t want to go digging for the pretty white storage containers that have Boatsman and Mulberry White in them, although a little caffeine might have been nice.

When preparing this one (a little more than 1 tsp. for a 10 oz. mug of hot water, steeped for six/seven minutes) I was reminded that this blend has hibiscus in it: somehow I’d forgotten that – but to me that was a good sign because normally hibiscus is a very memorable ingredient because it floods and overwhelms things. The fact I’d forgotten about it, to me, says that it’s well balanced and doesn’t take over.

I think this was a longer steep than the first time (I believe I did five minutes the first time), and this time around I do taste the hibiscus just a little more just like I taste the peppercorn a little more – but neither are really the dominant tastes. Really, this is just a wonderful sweet orange/strawberry/cherry fruit tea with a small touch of tartness and a small splash of subtle spiciness in the aftertaste. Again, I’m really excited to get more although I do believe I prefered this more with a slightly shorter steep time.

Also, I hope my RiverTea notes are making you all jealous – though not too jealous I hope, because I don’t want to be a bitch about it. I’m just a little giddy I get to enjoy my blends sooner rather than later.

All the RiverTea hype going on right now has made me pull out my two remaining small sample packages of this blend and Pret a Portea. Internally, I’m a hyena right now laughing loudly and egotistically at you all because I get to drink my RiverTea blends and you do not.

Mwahahaha.

But honestly, I’m so happy that RiverTea is receiving such a warm welcoming and so many people are placing orders because I’ve been nothing but impressed with the blends and the company itself. I hope everyone enjoys what they ordered as much as I’ve enjoyed the teas I received. I have my cart all built and samples picked out, but sadly I’ve yet to pick up a prepaid card to actually place my order.

So anyway, parameters for this mug were 1 tsp. of leaf in a 10 oz. mug steeped in boiling water for three minutes.

I still love the taste of this one – it’s a lychee black that really does taste exactly like a lychee. Not artificial or overly sweet, just perfect. Alongside the lychee, I also get floral notes of rose but that’s not uncommon for lychee since it’s often compared to roses, grapes, some wines, and perfumes.

For me, the sweet spot with this tea is after you’ve allowed it to cool down a little. If you try to drink it piping hot, it’s ok but cooled for 5-10 minutes and it’s just mind blowingly delicious. The black base for this one is also quite nice to boot.

For me, I only ever pull out my lychee teas (whether that’s Butiki, Tea Desire or now RiverTea) when I feel I really have time to sit down and appreciate them. I’m very excited to be getting a larger amount of this one!

Steeped up a mug of this because I woke up in only minimal tooth pain so I figured that I’d finally eat/drink something since I had been in so much pain I couldn’t bare to do either last night.

This is a great, gently sweet cup and I thought it’d be the perfect way to ease into the day. I was correct! Really enjoying this cup, though I think for the resteep I may add in some milk.

Sipdown (178)!

This matcha is listed in two different places, and apparently I’ve written one review under this listing (other than this review) and then the review from last night under the second listing. Blah. I don’t know which is the ‘proper’ listing, but since this is the one I had in my cupboard then I guess I’ll just stick with this one.

Anyway, here’s the link for my review from last night – I don’t particularly feel like deleting it and reposting.

http://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/216355#comments

I prepared this in cold milk again today, since I really enjoyed it that way last night. Same preparation exactly, although this finished it off. Now that I’ve found a way I really love this, it’s a little harder seeing it go.Maybe once I’ve found enough flavoured matcha that I love I’ll be able to justify putting in an order, and perhaps this will make it into that order.

Thank you VariaTEA and consequently, Cavocorax for the sample!

I brewed this up really funny. The water was a weird, low temperature (like 70 degrees celsius) and then I got caught up doing something and left it to steep for like seven minutes. It still smells really good, though!

Taste wise, I mostly get the typical black tea base from 52Teas. The rest is a very buttery root beer/cream soda combo. It’s ok, but I’m not in love either. I’m surprised this is as good as it is though despite my weird steeping parameters.

Made a small amount of this in cold milk. I may have used a bit too much matcha; it’s really strong.

I’m trying to catch up to VariaTEA! Everytime I make a new batch I notice that she’s made more too. Blerg. I think part of it is that I’m accustomed to drinking large amounts at a time though (8 or 10 oz. mugs and a few 12 oz. timolinos full). Smaller cups would allow me to get through more tea quicker…

Made a small cup of this.

I’m quite happy I haven’t gotten sick of it yet.