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I needed something to calm my nerves, because this day (nay, this week) has been nothing but, frankly, shit. I am apparently going to lose my job, and there is little I can do about it. They thought they gave me a choice, but there isn’t one. Unless “give up school for your job, or give up your job for your school” counts. Except school is why I need a job, thus if one goes, so does the other.

I have a stress headache from furrowing my eyebrows too hard for too long. I snagged this from my mother’s cupboard, because it seemed interesting enough. You can definitely SMELL the spices, and sniffing it, it’s very christmasy. Spicy sugar plum—very fitting. I just threw the teabag in and didn’t even bother with a set steep time—so yeah, the bag’s still in there. It’ll survive. It’s got a good spice base. Not too strong, and luckily the hibiscus (which is very apparent) doesn’t overpower it. I think I’m actually getting some form of sweet, plum flavour in there as well. The spices are solid—cinnamon of course, but there are others (I didn’t look too closely at the ingredients, forgive me).

I think it balances very well; I can see myself snagging a few more bags of this in the future.

Just finished off the box. I’ll have to get more. I really like to have some on-hand for stomach aches. Although I could just buy a chunk of ginger-root and grate some into a cup whenever I need it. Could be cheaper.

Edit: Nevermind, found ONE LAST BAG hanging out behind a few tea tins.

And so I bid you adieu, sweet Formosa. I don’t think we will meet again. Not in this life. I thank you for allowing me to make your acquaintance.

Accidentally let this sit for six minutes. But it’s forgiving, although a little sharp. This tea really defines “malty”; I think of cracked wheat bread when I drink it.

Trying this again—five minute steep now, instead of four. It’s really… blech. Maybe I just don’t like wine flavours. But it honestly makes me think of soap. Grapy soap. There’s really no trace of the base in it—it’s weird. Still, I’m sipping it a lot in hopes that maybe the taste will grow on me. At the very least, I’m not spitting it out. And occasionally it does remind me of wine. More the smell, though. Well, I’ve got a good fifty grams of this to experiment with. Although it doesn’t seem like there’s much I can do. Certainly unique.

Edit: An aftertaste is developing and coating my mouth, I’ve noticed—and it’s definitely more grape-y and wine-y. I’m very on the fence about this one.

If you’ve got dietary problems with milk or sugars, this isn’t a good tea choice as it quite clearly DOES have chips of caramel added.

I have no such problems, so naturally I find this delicious either way. There are sunflower petals as well, probably to carry some of the flavouring oils and to decorate with even more yellow colour.

Dry, it smells strongly of caramel, brewed it smells strongly of deep, toasty caramel and tea. I’ve already done a little entry review before, but I thought I’d type this one up as if I hadn’t, just because I’ve got much more time to sit back and savour it.

There is definitely a dark caramel sweetness. It reminds me of Tealicious’ maple tea, in the weight of it.

Slightly astringent, leaves my mouth dry (although it’s been a little dry all day so this might just be me); the base is definitely Ceylon, I can taste it coming through, and it’s all right—I don’t dislike it, it’s fairly solid.

The caramel chips seem to be the cause of the cloudyness of the tea. The caramel lingers far into the aftertaste. This’ a nice tea to have in my cupboard. I think it’d be fun to mix it with others too.

After making a huge stovetop pot of traditional chai (using President’s Choice) for everyone in my family, I decided I needed to follow it up with something a little bit more mellow.

I opened this tin to find that I’ve only about a teaspoon and a half left, and was a little surprised at how sad this made me. Not to mention, I haven’t a clue what to do with the tin after save covering it with white tape or something so that I may reuse it for another tea.

As I took my first sip, I realized how much I would miss this tea. I believe I got it from AmazonV’s art contest? I think I’ll have to go and buy more. It’s not a love relationship, but it’s like a Lady Grey. And it’s very nice to relax with. Light and cheery and citrusy. It’s a little drying, but I keep sipping it.

Edit: Decided to throw the last half a teaspoon of fanning dust in with the second steep of this, to give it a little boost and to allow me to decupboard it.

Brewed, this smells strongly of Assam. The taste is incredibly flavourful—Assam on the first note, strong but not sharp, followed by a definite Keemun taste. I’m not immediately getting any Ceylon, but it might just be the Ceylon that’s tying the two together and toning down the Assam. Background-player.

It’s cooling now, and I think I’m getting a bit of the Ceylon.

I’d also like to point out that mine (and all, I assume) came with a card inside the box that reads: “For best results, serve others first.” Sadly, I had no one to share with, otherwise I would have.

That’s the last of that. I plan to buy some next time I’m over there, and possibly some of the blueberry black as well. Both were delicious. This’ very good as a breakfast blend.

I like that this is at the top of my ‘most drunk’ category. Makes it easier to find.

Still my favourite earl grey, although I’m so low on it it is becoming painful to look at. I can only hope that, by some chance, Winner’s gets them in again, although I haven’t seen the brand in there for a very long time.

The company, from what I’ve learned, is Taiwan-based, and I think the tea base in their Earl and also in their Litchi must be Taiwan or China-grown. Definitely not Ceylon. Much darker. A bit cut up, but still delicious.