Tearunners

Gongfu!

This was a lazy Sunday morning session. I think it’s fitting that the sunlight streaming through the window was so intense that morning as I sipped on this oolong, as it’s tasting notes really channeled the nostalgia of summer break. The sweet and slightly sour smell of freshly morning grass, dandelion greens, and biting into a succulent peach. Smooth and syrupy liquor that almost seems out of place for such a green oolong, but the peach ties it all in together. We’re still a ways out from eating peaches on emerald green grass while the sun beams down on us, but it’s nice to be able to capture that feeling for just a moment!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp-lfVOOcmV/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GObJzDfBY-I

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge – a white tea

I had very little of this and I don’t remember how I felt about it the last time I drank it, but I must have done something wrong. I see astringent and bitter listed here by others, and that was just what I got. I also see jasmine and floral and candy mentioned. I did not get those.

I like white tea, and usually enjoy it a lot. I don’t know what went wrong with this one, but I am glad to see the back of it. Maybe someday I should try it again. It was quite old. That could be part of the problem.

Pretty average. Will need to play with the steeping times on this one i think to see if i can coax out a bit more deliciousness

Tea Runners offered a super cheap first box, so I figured why not? I ordered a single herbal box and then canceled. This was the first tea I tried, and wow, this was quite tart from all the hibiscus. It’s really not my sort of tea, but it’s drinkable. The spices are pretty strong, and it works with the mulled cider sort of vision, but it’s way too sour.

Hot breakfast cuppa from a few days ago. It wasn’t necessarily the most stand out flavour but the rich full body of the black tea and very round and non-astringent mouthfeel that accompanied it felt lux and worthy of the “breakfast tea” title/classification. If anything I would say I got a sort of raisin-y floral note, but it was just something that couldn’t hold my attention the same way the texture was.

This was one of the teas included in this month’s gifted subscription box and at first I wasn’t really sure what to think of it. The main flavours are hibiscus and star anise, both of which can be pretty polarizing in their own right. I do, however, LOVE star anise and I don’t personally have any sort of vendetta against hibiscus so this very intense, punchy cuppa wasn’t a turn off for me! Weirdly, the phrase that kep coming to mind was “Summer Mulled Wine” – and I guess that makes sense because between the #hibiscus, anise, cinnamon, and orange in this blend there are A LOT of flavours that overlap with mulling spices. I guess, in my mind, the fact this is somewhat brighter and juicier in its top notes is what gave it that summery twist. Unexpectedly, I think making this one iced is what’s gonna be next on my list to try with this blend!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfHDjCau2L7/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BPqVAdd5SQ

Cold Brew!

Wasn’t sure how I was gonna feel about this tea since it’s got a lot of ingredients in it that I have strong and often conflicting feelings towards. My overall first impression, however, was that it was pretty refreshing with some really aromatic and full bodied jasmine and lavender notes. I think I would need to be in a really particular mood to want to go back and revisit this tea but it landed a lot more solidly than expected.