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Ugh, I just noticed that this wasn’t in my cupboard. I hate it when that happens! XD Anyway, I bought this at Teavana when I was visiting my mother. I’m glad I went in, because I got a couple of cute tins for half price, but I’m not sure what possessed me to actually buy tea! I plead insanity. Anyway, this is one chunky blend! Big pieces of apple and coconut and giant hunks of what I assume to be cinnamon bark? It smells very caramelly sweet with some nuttiness. I used a whole tablespoon for my 8 ounce cup because I knew it would be weak otherwise, and I steeped for 5 minutes.

This is actually surprisingly good! I noticed little pieces of dark red stuff, and I was afraid it was hibiscus, but it’s definitely not. Apparently it’s beetroot, I guess to make the tea dark pink for no reason? Whatever. The flavor is pretty good here. Lots of sweet apple with a perfectly charming amount of cinnamon, and a creamy nuttiness. I actually taste a lot of coconut, and it tastes like real coconut instead of sun tan lotion. I was surprised by this considering coconut isn’t mentioned in the name. There’s a little bit of tartness here, I assume from the apples, but it adds a nice dimension.

Overall, a perfectly nice little nighttime tea. Sweet and somewhat fruity, kind of like a very mildly spiced apple cider with coconut in it. Teavana has exceeded my extremely low expectations, color me surprised!

So I was unsure about this tea, since I hadn’t had it since my order, which was a few weeks ago. I left it outside the cupboard with the rest of the “sip down” teas, planning to give it another try and see how I feel about it. So tonight I made a cup with a little bit less water than usual and added sugar and soy milk.

And it’s super yum, and a pretty mild amount of smoke. Totally going in the cupboard with the rest of the keepers! :) I think I would like to try this tea without the smoke and see how it comes out.

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This really is a lovely tea. A very nice combination of white and black tea elements, with a nice chewy grain element. This cup is on the cusp of being bitter, I think maybe it was a little overleafed but I just used the whole sample packet. I would consider stocking this one on a permanent basis, but I think I like the Bai Lin just a little bit better, and they’re a bit too similar to have both. :P

Yum, it’s been a long time since I’ve had one of my Russian Blends teas. This one in particular is the “Lady Grey” of the bunch, in my opinion – light to medium bergamot level with lovely lemon flavor. A perfect accompaniment to me lazing about on the couch, watching The Fifth Element for the hundredth time!

So I decided to go through all of my tea and separate it out into what I consider “permanent” residents and then what I consider to be “try-me” teas, whether they be from sample orders or swaps, or simply teas that I don’t love enough to keep around on a regular basis. Then, I put all of my “permanent” teas into the cupboard and closed the door. I’m going to allow myself one cup from the cupboard per day, and only one cup. The rest of the tea I drink must be from the more temporary tea selection, which is on the counter and in a couple of small cardboard boxes. There’s quite a variety here, so I don’t see it being a problem until I start to make a lot of progress on it. I do also have a very small box for teas that I dislike enough to not be willing to drink them – these will be for swaps or whatever eventually.

Hopefully this system ends up working out! I was a good girl and put all of my untasted new Butiki teas in the cupboard! Come on, willpower…

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So I have officially put myself on tea-buying hiatus. I have way too many teas, and since all the sales I was planning to order from have passed, I should be well stocked on my favorites for a while (Butiki, TeaVivre, WP). A lot of my collection is samples from swaps, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to reduce the number pretty quickly.

So, this tea. I chose it as one of my samples in the 3rd Anniversary sampler from TeaVivre, and I was really surprised by its flavor. As much as I enjoyed this tea, I’m not too terribly sad to see it go since I have a lot of Yunnans right now. I would consider reordering this when I get my cupboard under control. It really is a different tea from my beloved Golden Tip. :)

Stephanie thoughtfully included some freebie samples in our swap, and this was one of them. After drinking a ridiculously indulgent milk tea, I needed a nice green tea to soothe my tummy. I don’t have much experience with dragonwell teas, but I have enjoyed the ones I’ve tried, and found them to be quite mellow and inoffensive. The leaves of this tea have the traditional flattened look, and they’re a rather bright yellowish green color. The dry scent is mild and spinach-like, and somewhat sweet. I brewed for 2 minutes at 185 degrees.

The brewed aroma is similar, mild and gently vegetal. I seem to always choose spinach as the main descriptor for sencha and these teas, I’m not sure if that’s a general thing or if I’m just not experienced enough with green teas to really notice the different notes. Overall, this tea was quite lovely and mellow, and perfect for my tummy. Very mild vegetal flavor, and something that reminded me of very light toast. There’s also that lovely buttery, nutty quality that seems to be typical of dragonwell teas.

Now I’m relaxed with a calm and happy tummy! :)

Tommy sent me a couple of packets of this mix, hooray! I love milk tea! Generally I would make it cold, but I’m actually feeling a little chilly today (the AC in our apartment is pretty low, stupid boys) so I decided to do a hot version with vanilla soy milk.

Super creamy and delicious, and quite sweet! I’m not going to rate it this way, because I taste the soy milk a lot, and I’m sure it drastically changes the flavor. So I’ll use my other packet with water and then I can give it a rating.

Delicious creamy nomminess! Now my tummy is warm and happy.

Okay, time to try one of the high rollers here on Steepster. I’m always sort of nervous to try teas that are firm favorites around here… I know I won’t be shunned if I don’t love them but I’m still afraid I won’t love them. Hah. This is one of those creepy tree branch teas (I believe the other term is “spider legs”). The leaves are huge and black and very twisty and brittle. I’m surprised by the lack of dry scent – just a vague honey sweetness and some mustiness. I followed the recommended parameters (aside from the boiling water).

Yum, this smells like waffles! With honey and fruits notes, too. Becoming very excited! It tastes like waffles, too! Or to be more generic, it tastes like pastry, but there’s something about it that reminds me specifically of waffles. I definitely get a buttery texture and lovely honey flavor. There’s also that dark dried fruitiness that’s almost syrupy. And cinnamon? Mm! The aftertaste is grain and, in a few sips, fresh apricot. At the base of the flavor is a lovely rich caramelized brown sugar flavor, mm…

So yes, definitely waffles! I don’t necessarily get maple, so I suppose they would be waffles with a dark, caramelized fruit syrup and cinnamon whipped cream! Om nom nom!

Good morning, Steepster! Yes, I know it’s almost noon, but I still have 8 minutes to write this before that happens! I figured I would choose the only Yunnan from my Butiki order as my tea of the morning, since I generally like to drink a Yunnan first. The dry leaves are adorable! Fairly short, small black leaves mixed with cute little fuzzball golden tips. It left lovely golden Yunnan fairy dust all over the teaspoon I used to measure! Aww! Dry scent is sweet, musty hay with chocolate and a slight herby spice note.

Mm, tea is so lovely. The brewed tea smells quite bready, with honey notes along with light floral and fruity scents. At first, I thought this tea was a bit too light, but it seemed that as I kept sipping it, I stopped thinking so. Maybe the flavor builds with this one? Anyway, it’s definitely light for a black tea, or even for a Yunnan. The taste is very grainy in the chewy raw grain sense, not in the bread sense. I was surprised to taste an interesting hint of cinnamon, which I loved! There’s also a wee bit of floral here (less excited about that one) and it makes an intriguing mix when combined with the cinnamon. Lastly, some cocoa notes and a very smooth, mellow texture round out the end of the sip. This tea is very lovely, and definitely different from any other Yunnan I have tried! :D

This tea makes me grumpy…

I love the vanilla flavoring and its custardiness, but I feel like this tea is super finicky or something. If I steep it for too long, it comes out bitter. However, I tried a 3-minute steep tonight, and it’s too weak. And it’s astringent?! Wtf, tea.

Only one serving left of this and it definitely won’t be a repurchase. There are other vanilla teas that I like. It’s a shame though. :(