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You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever had this without any type of dairy. I’m drinking it plain today so I’m picking up on some flavors I hadn’t noticed before. Not vanilla, though. I don’t taste any vanilla. I think it’s…cinnamon?

So it seems that my rating for this one tends to fluctuate quite a lot. Generally it falls into the “it’s just okay” category, but last time I had this blend I really liked it so I bumped the rating. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for today’s cup. It’s very light and very dusty. Not particularly flavorful. Dropping my rating back down for its unreliability. I’m guessing I didn’t get everything in my scoop, but after shaking the bag there should be some consistency I would think.

Definitely getting that aroma of sugar snap peas again today. Goodness, it’s spicier than I remember. Maybe because I’m non drinking it with any milk or sweetener. The spice lingers in my throat like cayenne.

My body hates me. That is all.

Michelle’s Tummy Tamer

Many thanks to Michelle for reminding me about shou puerh and it’s digestive benefits. She sent me her own Tummy Tamer blend a while back, a mix of shou puerh and peppermint. It’s such a nice change from the herbals I’ve been drinking.

Not my favorite tea by any means, but I’m drinking it for the digestive benefits today. It’s definitely got some heat to it, not sure if it’s more from the ginger or black pepper, but I can taste the cooling mint as well. As it cools, the dreaded licorice comes out. I can only reheat the same mug so many times . . .

Recovering (hopefully) from a stomach bug or some kind of food poisoning, so I thought a nice peppermint tea would be my best option today. The crackers and rice diet is not fun, and even the rice made me sick. So here’s hoping the peppermint tea helps (or at the very least, doesn’t make it worse).

I like Stash’s peppermint tea, but it’s not as reliable as I had hoped. I made this cup the same way I did last time and this time it’s slightly bitter. I could try again and decrease the temperature, but since this is my last bag I think I’ll skip another purchase and look for something else. In fact, I just remembered I already have a solid mint tea that I love – https://steepster.com/teas/qntm-leaf-tea/92845-mindful-mint. No need to find another.

I was neglectful and left this to steep for longer than intended. The result was a bit of bitterness, but more of a bittersweet chocolate sort of bitterness. It was very dark and smoky, with a hint of nuttiness after the sip. In previous notes, I mentioned that this was too light for my taste, so perhaps this is the best way to steep this particular blend from now on.

The lavender is the strongest aroma and flavor, even overpowering the bergamot. It came out a little bitter, so I may have steeped too long. I still have a few more cups of this one left. It’s flavor has held up all this time.

Backlog from October 26th:

For National Pumpkin Day I made the recipe below from Oh, How Civilized. I upped the sugar from 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon because I tend to like my tea sweeter than most. It’s roasty, toasty – delicious. I don’t taste pumpkin or spices, but this is an older tea so I can’t say how it might have been fresh. Most of my green teas from 52Teas are older, probably all of them actually, because I gravitate more to black teas than anything else. This houjicha is different though. It’s still not as strong as a black tea would be, but it has such depth of flavor.

https://www.ohhowcivilized.com/hojicha-tea-cream-froth/