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SIPDOWN!

I didn’t realize my bag was so low! But this is the perfect day for this tea so I can’t save it for another time. Little sleep, a decent drive ahead, and not in the mood for anything too rich. This tea is perfect. This sipdown will speed up my re-order from David’s!

Yum. I’m totally digging the nutty teas. Thanks Alphakitty for this one. This is going on the must buy list for della terra. Perfect tea for after dinner.

I got this chocolaty tea in a swap with TeaLizzy. I could smell it the second I opened the package and couldn’t resist making it right way. First off, my house smells absolutely amazing now. My mom just walked in to watch the bean while I take the little man to the doctor. He’s had a fever for about 4 days now. She asked me how i found time to make brownies. So, it definitely has a nice aroma.

As far as the flavor. I’m definitely enjoying the cup. I’m glad I got to try this as it’s sold out on the website. I don’t think I’d order it though. It’s actually too desserty for me. I’m not a huge fan of dessert, but I love dessert tea. Strangely enough, this one almost just seems like a dessert instead of dessert tea. So not great for me but any normal person would love this.

Thanks TeaLizzy!

Update: I gave my mom a sip of this and she went nutso. I just gave her the rest of my cup. So like I said, any normal dessert lover would love this.

I had a crazy thought in the middle of the night about this tea and had to try it. I added just a smidge of hot water to mix the matcha, added ice, and then added seltzer water. The first taste was super ginger but not very sweet. I added some straight up sugar and it was much better. A very healthy version of a ginger ale. Super spicy ginger just the way I like it. Next time I’ll add raw honey to it when it’s hot and mixing. I think that’d be better. But this is definitely feeling like drinking a soda. And as I gave up soda inadvertently a few weeks back, it’s a nice fizzy treat.
Classic matcha, robust flavor.

I bought this one and the plain vanilla black tea as 1oz samples ($2.20 – really good deal) and have been drinking them interchangeably without taking time to find out which one I prefer. Since I just had the plain vanilla I figured I’d have the vanilla cream and see if there is much of a difference. There actually is. The cream has the same yummy vanilla flavor, but (surprise surprise) is much creamier. Like having a vanilla tea with a little whipped cream in it. I think I prefer it. It’s a little smoother, doesn’t need much milk or honey. Both are good, but this is just a little better.

Needed a solid vanilla tea this morning after having a less than stellar one yesterday. Yum. Nothing too fancy about this. Just a good vanilla tea.

Thank you Emily M for a sample of this. What a surprisingly yummy treat! This is definitely going on my list next time I make a David’s order. Perfect for after dinner. Thanks again Emily!

Fun with a gaiwan day 2!

I bought a sample of this tea a LONG time ago (I know because the date is printed on the label) only because it was crazy expensive and I was curious what a really expensive tea tasted like. At that point I didn’t really know the differences between pretty much any black teas. Or else I probably wouldn’t bought anything listed as a keemun. But I didn’t know any better and spent $8 on a sample. I justified it by comparing it to the glass of wine my husband always orders at dinner.

Anyway, I thought this was another prime candidate for the gaiwain. And I was right. The first few steeps were definitely giving the normal smoky keemun flavor, but around 3 or 4 it got super chocolaty. Now it’s like drinking a cup of roasty dark chocolate tea. Reminds me a bit of Laoshan Black, but with a honey sweetness added to it. I’m really enjoying this. This gaiwan has really opened my eyes to all the flavors in teas that I never really tasted before. Very cool.

So I was having so much fun trying out my new gaiwan that I looked through my cupboard for another candidate for gongfu steeping. I brewed this one a few days ago western style and loved it so I thought I’d see what it was like using the gaiwan.

Holy snikeys! I feel like I’m totally maturing! (not too much though, obviously). I could taste differences in steeps. The first couple were what I expected and then POW caramel. Like yummy gooey caramel. It was crazy. When I brewed this western style it actually reminded me more of a hoppy pale. Now it’s like a cinnamon butter caramel. How can there be such a difference? I wonder where it will go from here.

It was a crazy morning. My son had a birthday party to go to at one of those bouncy castle places. Needless to say, by the time we got back, I was ready to relax on the sofa, watch some march madness and drink a nice cup of tea. I had a little bit of cake at the party and as much as I love dessert teas, I don’t actually enjoy dessert all that much. So I wanted a smooth straight tea to help me recover from the sugar overload.

I bought a gaiwan a few days ago but was waiting to use it until I was over this cold. I think today’s the day! I looked up the tea on the verdant website to see its exact brewing instructions and then watched the video as well. Pretty cool that he does that. He said that the tea can get like 15 steeps. Crazy. I don’t think I’ll get that far because, well, it seems like a lot of work. And this is pretty much my only break of the day until bedtime.

So I boiled my water, rinsed the tea. Then steeped it for a few seconds. Poured it into my cup. I did that several times. I think I’m on 4 or something now. This is exactly what I needed. Yum. I can’t tell you any flavors I taste, just that it’s definitely got a whole mouth feel and is really smooth. So far it has gotten sweeter with every steep, which is pretty cool. I can see this being a nap time tradition on extra trying days.

Okay, the next game is starting. I love march madness. My husband gets a kick out of my strange combination of interests. Beer, sports, and tea. (I have many more, but those 3 are pretty dominant :-)