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“sipdown! mostly because i really need to drink up some of these teas because HOLY THERE ARE TEA STORES IN CHICAGO! like close to the hotel…i can handle a 25 min walk for tea. I anticipate leaving...” Read full tasting note
“OK, I am actually getting a bit of eggnog this time, now that I made it properly! This is still a delicately flavored blend, but it’s still good when I’m in the mood, and I do like the creamy...” Read full tasting note
“Backlog: I made this in addition to resteeping the Lemon Meringue I had earlier. I got distracted cooking so I could not try it hot but as a warm tea, it is very similar to Santa’s Milk and...” Read full tasting note
“No sugar added, although I didn’t fuss too much about removing all the sprinkles. No milky stuff added, either. :( Yes, I have a very sad face. I love additives in my teas! Makes them so much more...” Read full tasting note
Day 4
12 Days of Christmas 2013
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sipdown! mostly because i really need to drink up some of these teas because HOLY THERE ARE TEA STORES IN CHICAGO! like close to the hotel…i can handle a 25 min walk for tea. I anticipate leaving early from work on monday and going to buy tea….just a hunch. I’m sure that now that i’ve said that, the world will conspire to keep me away from everything tea related but a girl’s gotta try!
this tea was less yummy the second time around but still decent enough to enjoy. not a restock though as there are others i prefer. Appreciate it though dexter! i’ve had a lovely time with these :)
OK, I am actually getting a bit of eggnog this time, now that I made it properly! This is still a delicately flavored blend, but it’s still good when I’m in the mood, and I do like the creamy eggnogish mouthfeel!
What is properly for you? :)
I think I overleafed a perfect spoon and steeped 3.5 min.
Do you have the big perfect spoon or the smaller one? The big one is almost 1 tbsp… (Damn you, DavidsTea, for changing it!)
see, I never understand David’s tea’s instructions. Often, their teas call for 1.5 tsp—do they mean one and a half of their own perfect teaspoons that are huge? or, does the 1.5 refer to a single serving of their huge perfect teaspoon?
Mine is the bigger one!
And I just assumed DavidsTea means one scoop for 1.5 tsp because that makes it perfect.
The 1.5 tsp are measuring teaspoons. I’ve asked a few different people about that one. :) The old perfect spoon was 1.5 tsp, but I think they moved to the bigger one so you just need one scoop in your perfect mug…
Oh man. This is so confusing. :( I wish they would label them somewhere so people knew what “perfect” was.
Backlog: I made this in addition to resteeping the Lemon Meringue I had earlier. I got distracted cooking so I could not try it hot but as a warm tea, it is very similar to Santa’s Milk and Cookies. Actually, this was slightly less astringent than Milk & Cookies and may even have more of a cookie quality to it. No eggnog or alcohol though. Again I only drank this after dinner so my taste buds may have been off but luckily Cavocorax was generous enough to send me a very generous sample that I can have another cup in the future.
The only ‘eggnog’ I got from it was a slight creaminess that I could taste mid-sip, but not all the time. It was better than Milk & Cookies. (Stupid Milk & Cookies – glad I didn’t accidently send you more. Maybe I finished it? LOL)
And I always try to send enough for 2 heaping cups. I’d hate for you to miss a good tea because it was over/understeeped this first time.
Haha I got the creaminess too. It wasn’t bad compared to the others I had. I will definitely be trying it again soon with more neutral taste buds.
No sugar added, although I didn’t fuss too much about removing all the sprinkles. No milky stuff added, either. :( Yes, I have a very sad face. I love additives in my teas! Makes them so much more comforting.
Oh well.
I steeped with cooler water this time, and although I can tell it’s going to get bitter as it cools, it’s much better to start with. A little boozy, I’m definitely getting the nutmeg-custard taste and smell. The tea base is somewhat sharp… maybe an even cooler temperature would work better. It definitely needs a shorter steep.
As it cools it’s definitely a boozy, rich eggnog – lovely! The spices are all there, and it’s surprisingly good (and an excellent fix for when eggnog is off your list of teas you can drink). I did remove the cute gingerbread sugar pieces however, and used Truvia instead.
Oh no. I’m now worried about the fate of the little gingerbread men.
Ha! They ended up in a package now off to another tea owner. :)
Phew.
(Hehehe. http://tinyurl.com/mvfgzgu)
One of the last of my teas to try from MissB! Thanks so much again for all of them.
When I smelled this one as it was brewing and immediately afterward, I really did not think eggnog. I’ve been sipping at it a bit as it cools to drinkable temperature, and I have to say it is definitely filling the creamy niche. There is something familiar about the flavor here but I can’t quite place it. Not really eggnog, but maybe the added spices. A creamy, spiced thing going on here. Not getting any “spiked” about this, but that’s ok. As it cools, bitterness from the black tea is becoming more prevalent unfortunately. Still, the rest of the flavors are pretty tasty; if only it had a better-quality tea base! :)
Flavors: Cream
This tea came from a mystery box from MissB an embarrassingly long time ago, and (I really hope) is the oldest in my cupboard by far. That being said, it still smells incredible and has a good amount of flavour. The black tea base is nondescript but not astringent, it has a slightly nutmeg-spiced vanilla creaminess which is delicious. It was sweet enough already, but I added a pinch of brown sugar and it really brought the creaminess out more. I chose this as my ‘tea which reminds me of an alcoholic beverage’ from Mastress Alita’s scavenger hunt prompt, but I don’t taste anything alcoholic. I don’t think that’s a result of age, since looking at the notes it seems like others felt the same way when it was fresh. It’s a lovely tea, and I think some rum flavouring would have tipped it over the edge into ‘great tea’ territory. I do wish it was more ‘spiked eggnog’-y, but a tasty tea all the same!
I also still have some treasured teas from MissB that are probably just as old. I even have a teaspoon of this that is treasured because of the tiny gingerbread men sprinkles. :D
Thank you for making me feel better about my tea-hoarding problem! And yes, the gingerbread men in this are adorable!
Another sample from MissB! Thank you so much! Ima tell you right now that is wins the most adorable tea ever. The tiny gingerbread sprinkles! They look like the tiniest gingerbread cookies. Actual color. Actual texture. So it’s like cookies with eggnog! I tried to save most of the gingerbread men sprinkles for the last teaspoon so I could admire them longer. :D There is also a peppercorn in the blend. The flavor isn’t EXACTLY eggnog (like that amazing Red Leaf Eggnog matcha I had the other day), but it’s pretty good anyway. A nice black tea base that goes well with the flavors that are supposed to be here. There is a slight spicy flavor that would be like eggnog spice. Not really SPIKED though. A little sweet, probably because of the gingerbread men sprinkles that I was sad to see melt. Pretty tasty! The second cup was very nice as well, with a couple extra minutes on the original steep. This one almost tastes on the verge of being a chai. One of my favorites from Herbal Infusions that I’ve tried and not just because of the sprinkles!
What, WHAT. You’re going to CHICAGO?!
Snap to it, Sil. Better make some room for your obvious Chicago tea haul! Chug, chug, chug.
yeah i leave Sunday night, but get in too late to actually explore tea places… work all day monday – hoping i can get out of work with enough time to at least run up to one tea shop (it’s a 25 mins walk ish), would then have to get dinner and do some work… then tuesday, get up, check out, work all day and fly home… not a fun time but i’m hoping i can get out monday for just an hour or so.
Ha ha, I would totally walk 25 min to get tea, but if I was out of milk – no way. That would have to wait. Priorities.
oh i don’t mind the walk…even an hour would be fine..and i COULD technically figure out the red line to get there but walking = checking out some of the places on the way.
Adagio and Tea Gschwender are both there…and if i walk back to the hotel, there’s always the magnificent mile or Macy’s near the hotel if i REALLY want to shop.
…though i hate shopping for things other than tea lol
Oh, but the FOODS. And the COCKTAILS.
Okay, which tea stores? Which.
Where will you be in Chicago/what tea store? (Lived there for 5 years!)
I love that everyone posted exactly at the same time. Sil, you said the magic words, ‘tea shopping’ and ’Chicago’. Who doesn’t get excited about that?
haha I’m staying at the W Downtown, but I was going to walk up the mile (and then head in a bit) to maybe try hitting adagio and tea gschwender since they’re sort of close to one another.
Unless you have some other secret places i should go to Dinosara…I pretty much just hit goggle tonight as i haven’t had any time otherwise. Plus, there’s a chance i’ll be back another 3-10 times this year so what i don’t hit now, i can hit later. The office is near that hotel so i’ll always be staying in that area…ish
I don’t have too many specific suggestions for you because I wasn’t really tea obsessed when I lived there. You should find an Argo, though, there are a few throughout the city.
Argo have exploded! Last time I was there, there was one, now there are like 8, or something.
I go to chicago once a year to visit the harp factory. I almost never do anything else there. There was a tea shop there for awhile, but they closed before I got a chance to check them out.
argo is next door to work i think :)
I will admit I don’t like their stuff, but I like the free wi-fi, the decor (in the cosy ones)/the people-watching (the less cosy, but more lively ones) and their mugs. Especially the old ones with all the dots. I might possibly have a few at home.