I missed you, Steepster.
And really, I’m not back yet. I’m still down south, where I’ve been since the 22nd (and somehow it’s still absolutely freezing outside…why do I feel cheated?). I was totally incommunicado for the holidays, which were lovely, mellow, and full of accidentally oversteeped cups of tea brewed at random temperatures…and then I was tea free for the last week, because I had my wisdom teeth out, and hot liquids were a no-no (to say nothing of the fact that caffeine and vicodin make poor bedpartners).
Today I actually got to brew myself a half-cup of chai. It was as though the pill-filled universe I’ve been existing in flickered for a moment on a faulty circuit, and normalcy was briefly restored. I may escape the matrix yet! With a flight home Monday to look forward to, things are looking up (though I may very well be shredded into a thousand tiny pieces by two very angry, lonely cats when I walk through that front door. The possibility exists that I may not survive how glad they will be to see me).
Despite my inability to drink any tea, I did get to buy some tea the day before my extractions. There’s a Teavana nearby. I loaded upon Samurai mate and splurged on a little bit of their Golden Monkey, as I sort of like Adagio’s, and I’m a huge fan of the Golden Spring. Why not, right? Fujian tea and I seem to get along pretty well.
Take this with not just one but several grains of salt: my mouth is not completely normal right now, for one thing, and for another I have no ability to gauge temperature here, but…
I’m just not that excited about this tea. Malty, yes. Bitter? Yeah. Not just bitter but a bit sour on the aftertaste. I’m sure I can lessen this by backing the temperature off, so this rating is just tentative. It certainly seems to have the thick, brothy mouthfeel that I liked so much in my Golden Spring, but the flavor seems so forward. There are elements of that prune/raisin sweetness in there, but they’re outdone by the bitter malty flavor. I guess I’ll have to try it again another time. Glad I only bought a small amount, though.
Hopefully it at least fuels me through reading the insane amount of updates from you guys that I now have to parse through! I’m excited to see what everybody was trying over the holidays, and I cannot wait to get home…home, where my Samovar and Teafrog orders from pre-Christmas are patiently waiting for me to pick them up from the front desk…
Your chart? Did you make yourself a tea chart?
:D
It’s an inventory, basically listing all my teas by type, really pretty simple. I printed it out, & the ‘rule’ is I make a mark next to each tea when I drink it, so that I work my way through the collection (instead of just drinking my favorites all the time). Of course, I’m allowed to cheat once in awhile, LOL
That’s a good idea. I think I may need to try something like that, to help me mix it up a little better. Sometimes I think it’s been months since I’ve had a tea, and when I go to log it, it turns out I had it the week prior. whoops!
The funny thing is, I made it through my entire collection of straight black teas (18) in a week! With one exception…the last cup of Zhu Rong. I’ve decided that last cup will be my reward for finishing my taxes (which I’m suppose to be working on right now…shhhh….don’t tell Ms Theresa!)
lol – good luck with the taxes
18 black teas! In a week! My kind of girl! :)
:D
Pumpkin waffles! Yum!!