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I spent the morning updating my cupboard. I haven’t really been drinking much tea since I was last here, but I did sign up for the Obubu tea club before visiting their farm in Wazuka, Japan last fall. My husband and I got married last October and took a trip to Japan for 18 days for our honeymoon. Of course, I had to visit a tea plantation while I was there! It was a great experience, the staff were all wonderful and the setting gorgeous. Plus we got to sample several teas! Would definitely recommend the tour if you are ever in the area.

So anyway, I now have a ridiculous stash of Obubu teas, mostly from the subscription box which is a generous amount of tea. Please feel free to send me a message if you’d like to try a sampling of their teas!

Had a lazy session with this tea on the couch (or tried to, as the pugs tried their best to sit in my lap…). I used a ~200ml kyusu that I also picked up in Japan and did three steeps of 60s, 10s, and 30s.

This is a shaded tea, so it has a somewhat intense and umami vegetal flavor. The first steep especially had a nice intensity, and strong spinach and cooked green bean notes. It felt very thick and silky on the tongue, with a nice creamy quality. There was a touch of pleasant bitterness and light astringency at the tail end of the sip, and a lingering umami aftertaste on my tongue. As it cooled, I picked up more seaweed notes and perhaps a hint of apricot.

The second steep was lighter and sweeter, still with the same vegetal notes but with less intensity. The third steep was a bit too light, I should have steeped it longer than I did. The vegetal notes gave way to a grassier flavor, and it was the sweetest of the three steeps.

Definitely a very satisfying tea, with a nice savory vegetal flavor up front giving way to more sweetness in later steeps. It reminded me how much I love Japanese teas! I’m not going to rate it for now, as I’ve been out of practice so I don’t have a good point of reference.

(here’s a couple of Instagram posts from our Obubu trip):
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4gUNC-gTBt/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4gVwpEAUyS/

My caffeine-free selection for the evening. This is from my giant backlog of Bird & Blend subscription packets that I never drank… ^^’

I’m not a huge fruit tisane person, I find they tend to taste the same and there’s usually too much hibiscus involved for my liking. This one smells luscious and strawberry & creamy in the bag.

This is a decent fruit tisane, but nothing special. There’s a generic tart fruity flavor to it, I think I can pick out pomegranate and strawberry but I might not have been able to if I hadn’t already known they were there. It’s a little bit too tart in my opinion, which just furthers the generic quality. I’m not getting any cream, though it would be hard-pressed to stand up to hibiscus. There’s a hint of bitterness in some sips.

I suppose a touch of sugar would probably help this one, but I’m not in the habit of sweetening teas so I’m drinking it plain. I’ll probably try a cold brew for the rest of the bag, though I haven’t been drinking much iced tea lately.

Not going to rate this, as fruit tisanes really aren’t my thing…

So after browsing the Lupicia site earlier (for no good reason, I might add), I figured I would steep up a cup of this, one of my favorites of theirs. It’s a seasonal tea and it’s available right now, so I thought it would be a good idea to see how it’s aged so I can restock it if needed.

Luckily, this is still perfectly scrumptious. I love this tea, it has such a bright and crisp apple flavor, which is a nice contrast to the usual sweet apple & cinnamon combination that is much more common. There’s such a lovely zing to the apple here, yet it doesn’t quite reach Jolly Rancher candy status. It’s more like a tart hard apple cider. The apricot is very subtle, although this could be because the tea is older. I do taste little hints of stonefruit, and there’s a bit of a floral note, especially in the aftertaste.

The base tea is their usual somewhat brisk offering, but I like its slight sharpness next to the apple, I think they complement each other well. There’s also a dry autumn leaf flavor that gives a nice earthy base to the bright flavors.

I couldn’t ask for a more autumnal tea. Now, please excuse me while I sigh contentedly…

Good evening, friends. Yay, it’s the weekend! ❤

I’m digging into my (extensive) Lupicia stash after browsing their website earlier in the day. This tea I have in sachets in an adorable little Halloween-themed box, and I figured it was the perfect season to steep up a cup!

I’m wondering if this has suffered from age, as my previous rating was surprisingly high for a tea that’s just pretty good. The base is quite brisk with a hint of bitterness, which takes away from the dessert-y intentions of the flavoring.

It does have a nice rich chestnut flavor to it, though, and alongside it is a very dark caramel note. It’s a lovely combination, but I do wish it were on a different base. Perhaps I’ll try this one with a dash of milk next time, to take the edge off the briskness.

Ahhh, another old favorite…

I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of rooibos in general. At the very least, I’m extremely picky about rooibos blends. They can taste medicinal and give a weird itchy throat sensation.

Luckily, this one is one of the few exceptions. The rooibos taste is there, it’s woody with a dark caramel note. It’s pleasant enough but wouldn’t be tasty on its own. Happily, it’s accompanied by a lovely tart rhubarb flavor and sweet creamy custard. The two together take the rough edge off the base, and give the blend a nice roundness and depth of flavor. None of the flavors overwhelm the others, they give a nice balance of sweet versus tart and fruity versus decadent.

Such a wonderful caffeine-free option for any evening, but especially suited for fall.

Just when I was lamenting the lack of chai blends in my cupboard, I came across this one. Hooray, cozy time! :D

I find most pumpkin spice things to be terribly disappointing, as they’re usually just the spice part with no pumpkin. Luckily, this tea has a lovely creamy pumpkin flavor along with the somewhat gentle clove, cinnamon, and allspice. The base is a little brisk but I’m okay with that, as I tend to steep my black teas below boiling and for less time than recommended anyway.

I’m not a big chai drinker but I’m so happy to have this in my cupboard for when these fall flavor cravings hit. A small splash of milk really oomphs up the creamy pumpkin-y goodness! Cozy and tasty, and aging very well! I bet this would be fab with a drizzle of maple syrup, too. Next time!

So while browsing the discussion boards earlier, I was reading through the advent calendar thread and saw mention of a Kusmi advent calendar. Naturally, my head exploded. Once I had sufficiently recovered, I went over to their website but it seems the calendar isn’t available on the US site yet. Soon, my precious…

So anyway, this of course prompted me to steep up a cup of possibly my favorite Kusmi tea (although really, that’s a tough choice). Unfortunately, this one is at least a few if not several years old now, and has lost its luscious red fruits essence. So mostly it tastes like a somewhat generic black tea base with a hint of bergamot and vanilla….

Now I don’t let myself feel too bad about it, as I did get through most of the 100g tin over the years. So I suppose the advent calendar release will be the perfect opportunity to order a refill bag of this lovely tea! I’d best be sure to test out some of my other Russian blends to see if they need a refresh as well…

So long for now, old friend. We’ll meet again soon enough!

I was inspired to drink one of my Andrews & Dunham teas after seeing a note from amandastory516. Thanks, Amanda!

I’m enjoying this cup greatly while eating some Laughing Cow cheese and nice seedy whole grain crackers. This tea is lovely with the food, it’s strong enough to hold its own but not too strong.

I’m an Earl Grey lover, and this is a good one. The base is somewhat brisk but still smooth and flavorful with notes of wood and hay. The amount of bergamot is perfect, the starring flavor but not overpowering. It’s not perfumey at all, which can sometimes be an issue for me with cheaper Earl Grey blends. I’m also getting a light peppery note, but that could be a result of my food pairing.

Delicious, comforting and refreshing all at the same time! And the tin is so cute, I don’t even mind how highly impractical it is to open… :D

After ordering a couple of tea advent calendars to enjoy this December, I’ve been craving Christmasy teas a bit. I admit I’d forgotten about this one until I found it rummaging about in my tea cupboard.

I was worried about its age because it didn’t have much of a scent in the tin. Luckily the steeped tea still has plenty of flavor left!

This tea does a nice job of straddling the line between a spice tea and a dessert tea. There’s a bit of clove-y warmth, but also rich marzipan and creamy cake notes. And just a little bit of sweet orange adds a nice aroma and harmonizes nicely with the spices.

So cozy and comforting for curling up and watching a movie. ❤️

Why hello there, friends!

It’s been a while, I hope you are all doing well given the current circumstances. I haven’t been drinking much tea over the past year or two, but I’ve been feeling tea-ish lately so I thought I’d pop over and see what’s going on.

I’ve been mostly gravitating toward flavored black teas lately, and this is a good one. Smooth and mellow with a fairly light touch of bergamot and a nice fruity sweetness. The description lists peach and apricot, but to me there is a little bit of strawberry or something as well.

Very yummy and soft, perfect for chillaxing in the afternoon or spending the evening on the couch with your pugs! ;)