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Yum yum, dark roasty yaupon from Texas. Lightly floral, earthy, gently buzzing with caffeine, no pesticides, wild-grown. 100% grown, processed, packaged, and sold in the USA.
Still thinking of and praying for the people of Texas and the other surrounding states enduring the freak inclement weather.

Lovely, perfume-y, full of umami and earthy. Warm. Satisfies my desire for a second cup of coffee without actually being coffee. No acidity and no caffeine. I rely on coffee for survival, but tea is truly the magical side of things.

Today is Ash Wednesday, so for us Catholics, that means it’s a day of fasting and abstention. Drinking this to warm myself up and boost my mood so that I can more fully embrace and embody the spirit of Lent.

I choose to live in the American Northeast, so I have zero right to complain about the winter weather, especially with the amount of cold weather-related suffering that’s occurring in the American Deep South, where they didn’t choose to deal with snow and ice (and indeed are not equipped for it), but… it’s just the truth that it’s bloody freezing out today and everything is coated with glare ice. The wind doesn’t help.

I donated to the Red Cross Disaster Relief efforts in the hopes that the money will go toward helping my fellow Americans in Texas and other impacted states. If any of my Steepster friends live in those areas, know that I am sending warm wishes, prayers, and happy thoughts your way!

Normally not a plain peppermint person, but every once in a great while, it hits the spot. It helps chase away the tickly throat and seasonal snuffles, and it can be quite soothing. I like it when it’s on the old side, like this box of sachets is, so that the flavor isn’t as intense.

Perfect cold-day tea! Rooibos for joint pain, nuts for a thicker, brothier mouthfeel, sweet cinnamon for flavor. This is a very woodsy-tasting blend, evoking flannel blankets in front of a roaring fireplace in a log cabin in the mountains somewhere.

Upping my rating on this. I enjoy tulsi. It feels so nice going down, like a tonic or balm. Mild and vegetable-broth-like. The floral jasmine note of this particular blend lifts the spirit. I was feeling pretty run down today, but after this, I feel a bit better.

Ever logged into your work computer on Monday morning and realized that you’re simply not emotionally ready to launch your interoffice IM app and email client? That me today. Wish me luck.

Caffeine will only increase my stress levels and further diminish my fool-tolerating threshold, so this is what’s on tap today. Good with a splash of milk. Good for the stomach. Good for the liver. Just good all around.

Backlogged… drank yesterday.

I had high hopes for this one… It’s just OK. The flavor is overall kind of nondescript. It’s a refreshing change of pace to see an herbal/ bedtime blend that doesn’t have chamomile. But the lavender is so overpowering that I think I prefer chamomile, honestly. There’s some slight but lovely perfume-y floral complexity in the finishing note with the fruits and linden flowers, but it mostly tastes of herbaceous medicinal soapy lavender.

The dry leaf looks pretty, but once it steeps, it turns into a mushy, slimy, beige lump of yuck. I understand that that’s kind of a silly complaint, and it’s not a dealbreaker, but it doesn’t add anything to the overall experience, either.

Just… meh.

Rooibos works best when it’s bagged, because the loose leaf is so fine that it goes straight through my mesh strainers and I spend the entire experience scraping it off my tongue and picking it out of my teeth. So I appreciate that Sipsby chose to send me the bagged version. If they hadn’t, I’d’ve just wound up making my own teabags with the empty bags they provide anyway.
This is a smart and enjoyable blend, as cocoa and rooibos both have earthy notes, and the orange note comes through right at the end as a bit of a palate cleanser. I also appreciate that it’s organic. A nice break from plain rooibos, and very satisfying and warming on this chilly, snowy afternoon.

Not Stash’s best offering. I taste mostly lemongrass. The peach flavoring is weak and doesn’t work well with the oolong base.

Got as a sample… I think it’s just gimmicky. As promised, it does steep a pretty pinkish purple color, which turns blue if you add lemon juice.
However, the artificial watermelon flavoring overpowers all the other real fruit and the green tea in the blend, which is expected, but still a shame. Cold-brewing and drinking iced is the only tolerable way to consume this.
Not my thing.