Green St Petersburg

The dry leaf aroma is subtle sweetness. I think I’m picking up on caramel and vanilla, but I’m amazed at how out of practice my nose is. Stop drinking tea for 3 months and I might as well start over from square one! The brewed tea aroma is slightly smokey. Is this gunpowder? That’s what it looks/smells like.

The flavor is delicious! A tiny hint of smoke that’s complemented by a lovely green base and subtle sweetness from the added flavorings. I bought this back in October 2013 on my Parisien honeymoon. I didn’t realize that each little 25g canister wasn’t sealed more than with just the lid. I thought there’d be an interior cover that you’d rip off, like what you find on Mariage Frères tins. So sadly these teas have probably lost their punch. :( That’s really disappointing but I’m going to enjoy them as much as I can anyway. Usually 25g would last me a long time. But I think I’m going to burn through these little tins.

I’m so glad that I’m firmly in the second trimester now and don’t have to worry so much about drinking teas (green in particular since it can inhibit folic acid absorption). I’ve been so good! I’ve avoided caffeine more than I ever have in my entire life. I only indulged a handful of times and even then, I made sure to keep my caffeine consumption below the recommended 300mg. I deserve to indulge a little now. My poor tea stash has been going to waste. I’m excited to return to a bit more normalcy in my routine.

So a little update on me and the baby: he/she is doing fine! We aren’t planning on finding out the gender in advance, so it’s going to be a complete surprise. For now we generally refer to the baby as a boy so we can avoid the awkward he/she or even worse “it.” Odds are he’s probably a boy anyway. Boys run rampant on both sides of the family. I’ve felt him move several times! It kind of feels like when you get a shiver and your skin crawls, but the feeling is on the inside of my body and it isn’t unpleasant. Just weird. I’m due at the end of January 2015 right around my birthday. I can’t wait! This is such an exciting time. My husband and I fought infertility for 6 months and finally succeeded in conceiving our miracle baby naturally. I’ve been really good too; I haven’t gone out and bought a million baby things. I found the crib, which is currently laying in parts in our nursery waiting to be assembled. I also bought one baby outfit, an adorable white hat with bear ears, one blanket, and one bib. How amazing am I? Total control. :) So that’s it for now. Thanks for reading!

Opening the tin it might as well smell as the green variant of Kusmi´s St Petersburg, but that´s where it stops for me. This is gunpowder tea, which end up as an acceptable green tea, but most of the aroma´s (citrus fruits, especially vanilla and caramel) are gone! Need to drink it again, maybe changing the steeping parameters, because I cannot understand the good ratings by some people.