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Tried this one cold brewed. It’s a lot more mellow and not really “Fruit Loops” when made this way. I think that either way is fine, but for the Fruit Loops it needs to be hot brewed. Still yummers!

Warning: graphic content ahead. Younger Steepsterites and those with heart problems should skip the following note. Reader discretion is advised.

I just had the most horrific tea moment of my life. Perhaps it was the Puerh gods smiting me for the 15. Because of the bad tea experience I wanted to go to a good ole standby that I’d just purchased a large bag of and had spent almost $7 on a pretty cannister to hold it. As I started to steep I actually took a minute to look at how pretty this dry tea is and then perhaps distractedly put the lid not-so-securely back on. Y’all see where this is headed, right? Yeah, as I picked it up off the counter to put the tin back in its cupboard the bottom fell off of the lid (I had a firm grip on the lid). I tried to grab it and slammed the lid into my ring finger (which lost some skin and feels quite bruised).

I lost more than half of my tea. ::sniff:: It was horrible! ::cries quietly::

I vacuumed it up as fast as possible so my curious cat wouldn’t get into it. My kitchen floor is not at its cleanest (I had actually noted last night that it was overdue for a good scrub), so there was no salvaging. While broken heartedly vacuuming up the leaves I didn’t hear my timer go off so lord knows how long my cup steeped, but apparently this tea is extremely forgiving — which makes me even sadder that so much was wasted! Waaaaah!

I just had to share my devastating story with those who would sympathize. ::sniffle::

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act III scene 5

Exit, pursued by the Bear.
Stage direction from A Winter’s Tale, Act III scene 3

When I was initially going through the mighty Shakespeare box and I pulled this bag out I said aloud “Oh God” both as a statement of horror and a supplication. I dislike both chocolate and Puerh: this seemed like the most unholiest of pairings. I needed to be in the right frame of mind to try this one. And today was the day.

I bravely went to my teapot and prepped. The dry leaves actually didn’t make me recoil. As I added the freshly boiled water to the leaves the scent wafted up I did recoil and said “Oh God” yet again. Dirty animal chocolate. As I poured the steeped tea and the smell came at me I started muttering “ohgodohgodohgod…” My composure totally cracked, and yet I tried a sip. I GAGGED! It was my first full-out tea gag. I calmly set the cup down and put my hand over my mouth and tried to decide what to do. It smelled like a zoo. A chocolate sprinkled zoo. Perhaps more like if you took this tea, mixed it with the mocha powder that Starbucks uses, and then stored it in the cave where a bear’s hibernating for the winter. I decided to let it sit in another room while I decided its fate. Either the cooling would be a good thing or it would go down the sink.

The cooling helped it quite a bit. I’ve only had a few Puerhs, but there seems to be a “sweet spot” of time/temp where it becomes this oddly fascinating drink to me. The window on this one was very quick. I could sort of understand why others like this: the chocolate did do a neat “flavor coat” on the roof of my mouth. The tea seemed more like a mineral-filled earth. And then it went back to being blechy. There’s about 1/3 of the cup left and it’s sink-bound.

This tea is Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale. It starts off full of vengence, then does this 180 where it’s all about redemption and a statue coming to life. It really isn’t Shakespeare’s best play — the only really good part of this play is the stage direction Exit, persued by the bear. I started off vengeful with this tea, then shifted maybe 10 degrees or so in it’s favor, but that’s as far as I got. No redemption here. If I really enjoyed chocolate or Puerhs, then this would be a completely different note, but alas it is not to be. GA

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act III scene 4

“So-so is good, very good, very excellent good; and yet it is not; it is but so-so.”
As You Like It, Act V scene 1

This was my first experience with a CTC (Cut-Tear-Curl) blend. Even knowing what it was I was still shocked at how much it looked like very coarsly ground espresso. My concern grew about bitterness. The dry leaves smelled like (all-together now): black tea! I couldn’t even tell you what tea it was. I looked at the packaging and it’s from a Kenyan tea garden. I don’t know if I’ve had another Kenyan black tea.

The brew itself was surprisingly good: no bitterness or bite! This is a pretty good breakfast blend. And then the cup began to cool and it got a bit crazy. There was this great Ceylonish sweetness happening and then it morphed into a light Puerh. Wah?!?! I soooo didn’t see that one coming. But it was still good — it was more of a “stroll through a small barnyard” earthy Puerh. I did a second steep and this time it stayed a generic black tea with nice moments of sweetness. I wouldn’t call this tea “hefty,” but it’s got a bit-o-oomph on the original steep. I’m not clamoring to get more of this tea, but if I ever get around to placing an order from KTeas, then I’d get a small portion of this to have on hand.

This tea I name Touchstone the fool from As You Like It. This tea certainly fooled me and kept my tastebuds on their toes…er, or something like that. It was these moments of “what the hey?!?!” that I found most delightful. Plus, I adore Touchstone’s line that I used for the intro to this note since it so wonderfully encapsulates my feelings toward this tea. NE

Doulton’s Shakespeare: A Tasting Note in 5 Acts
Act III scene 3

“A high hope for a low heaven.”
Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act I scene 1

I really wanted to like this tea. It’s got both “garden” and “party” in its name, therefore it must be like a floral party for mah mouth — amiright? Oh nose! I am wrong. I actually had this tea yesterday and the disappointment was so great that it took me until today to write about it. Perhaps I set my expectations way too high.

Both the dry leaf and the steeped tea’s fragrance screamed potpourri. It’s rather what I’d imagine chewing on a big-ole mouthfull of potpourri would be like. After it cooled a bit I sort of enjoyed holding the liquid in my mouth (more like having just chomped down on some fresh flowers), but then I’d swallow (back to bitter potpourri), and finally the aftertaste was sort of nice and flowery.

Therefore I picked a rather “Meh” play for this “Meh” tea. Furthermore, Love’s Labour’s Lost has the greatest percentage of rhyming couplets of any Shakespeare play: flowery language for a flowery tea.

I have enough for another pot of tea so I shall try adjusting the preparation perameters. If the adjustments help, then I’ll re-dub this tea “Love’s Labour’s Found.” M

NEEEEERRRDS!!!!!