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The powder room renos are coming along slowly but surely. I put the last coat of paint on the ceiling yesterday, and I was looking forward to getting that first coat onto the walls this morning (That first coat of color is always exciting to me), when I realized that my painting clothes were in the wash. I debated ruining another set of clothes (I inevitably get paint on myself) but I decided to wash my laundry and check out steepster in the meantime. :D

I could have sworn that I already posted a tealog for this? Hmmm….must have dreamt it. It’s just as well because it tastes even better now that I’ve left it to cure for a little longer. The raspberry flavor reminds me of a raspberry ice cream rather than a straight up raspberry. It’s smooth without any tartness, nor any of those annoying seeds that somehow lodge between my front teeth without my knowledge for like half a day…then I finally look in the mirror and do a double-take…and try to remember all the people who I’ve talked to since I ate raspberries…

Sorry…back to the tea! When I made this, I didn’t let the water hit the boiling point and I steeped it according to color (rather than time) as I find sometimes 52teas steep a little stronger and therefore require much less steep time. This is perfect in my books as it means more subsequent steeps. I have a feeling this will also make a lovely full-bodied iced tea…mmmm…it’s really delicious hot though.

I’m usually fond of Della Terra teas chocolate blends, but I’m not so sure about this one. I can taste and smell both the chocolate and the strawberry, but it’s not quite making buddies with my taste buds. The strawberry aspect reminds me of the strawberry flavored Flintstones vitamins that I used to have when I was a kid. Although that was one of my favorite vitamin flavors back in the day, it isn’t translating well in tea form, especially combined with the chocolate flavor.

It’s not bad; it’s just not for me. I’m glad I had the chance to try it in my chocolate try me pack, but it’s not repurchase-worthy for me.

A lovely light tea, fairly typical of a white tea. I’ve never had a tea with peony in it before, so I was expecting this to taste overwhelmingly floral. Thankfully the floral aspect is equally delicate and complimentary to the white tea, rather than competing with it. There’s also a lovely subtle sweetness to this.

I bought only a single serving packet of this and in the future I’d buy another sample of it from time to time, but I don’t think it’s one that I’d need to get in full size. It’s good, but it doesn’t jump out at me as a “buy me now” kind of tea. The bonus is that this tea comes with a built-in conversation starter…how to correctly pronounce “peony”. I say “pee-ownee”, my Dad says pee-eny…I suspect we’re both wrong

Mmmm…mate! This is the second Mate I’ve ever had and it’s another hit for me. I love the roastiness in the taste, but it’s not something that I’d drink everyday – it would take away from the specialness of the experience. I’ve never had red velvet cake, so I can’t speak to the authenticity of the flavor, but it has a depth to it that does remind me of chocolate cake. It’s a lovely treat after a morning of sanding and mudding the walls of the powder room. Slowly but surely, the room is coming together :)

mmmm…maple syrup. Quite a tasty rooibos, which is saying a lot coming from the picky rooibos girl. To me, rooibos is like that vegetable that you don’t quite dislike, nor do you quite like, so you always try just a little. For me its brussel sprouts, I feel like I’m on the cusp of liking them, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m not sure if that’s a relatable comparison, or if I’m way off in left field.

This rooibos kind of reminds me of something I tried from Della Terra Teas…Autumn Leaves, perhaps? I’m pretty sure I was surprised at how much I didn’t mind that one either

The house has been eating all my time lately, so I’ve missed a couple of tealogs again :(

The tea: I’m on my third pouch of this (clearly I’m a big fan), and this is apparently my first log! I usually write my tealogs during breakfast or lunch, and because I drink my honeybush teas at night I rarely log my poor honeybush blends despite relying on them every evening. This one is definitely one of my favorites. I make it a little stronger by adding at least an extra half teaspoon of the dry mix and I just leave it steeping. It gives it an extra oomph, and never seems to get bitter anyways so I figure there is no harm. Chocolaty Malty goodness, this is my night-time go-to drink.

The ramble: When we moved in less than 2 weeks ago, we found that the main floor bathroom smelled funky. We scrubbed it repeatedly to no avail. There was a bubble and rip in the linoleum, so we figured that may indicate the problem. Well, our intended quick fix of changing the linoleum gradually evolved into a slightly bigger powder room reno. My Dad came over and took out the toilet and discovered that the wax seal under the toilet was completely chewed away and even the concrete slab that it was sitting on was starting to crumble around it! We also noticed some staining on the wallpaper, so since the toilet was already out, we thought it was a good time to do the walls as well. But removing the wallpaper meant removing the trim and most of the cabinets…and so it goes. So together with my Dad we’ve ripped off wallpaper, cleaned the walls and started the sanding and mudding in preparation of the eventual painting of the room. It’s an unexpected reno, but once we’re done, it will be so much better than the pee-scented toilet in a stained floral wallpapered room that we started with. I’ll drink to that!

I bought this in the little sample size (the individual cup size they sometimes have near the cash register). Ginseng doesn’t normally agree with me, but I was too curious to see what this tastes like to pass up at least trying it. I’ve been hesitating to try it for so long that I deliberately put it at the front of my cupboard so I couldn’t continue passing it by.

Thankfully, so far I am not experiencing any ill effects, maybe there isn’t very much ginseng in it? The oolong base is lovely and the ginseng taste isn’t overbearing, it actually reminds me of a spice? Hmmm…Tarragon maybe? I’m not sure.

The more I drink this first steep, the less I like it. The aftertaste lingers in a strange way, and is starting to make me feel a little weird. I don’t think my tummy likes this very much.

Even though my first steep didn’t agree with me entirely, I proceeded to do a 2nd and 3rd steep, which didn’t seem to bother my stomach as much. Not something that I’d buy again because of my reaction to the first steep. It’s not bad, but there are so many other teas out there that I’d prefer to drink.

Blueberry goodness! I keep wanting to try other tea companies (I’ve had my eye on Butiki Teas for months now), but every time I’m poised to place an order with them, Frank comes up with something else I just can’t resist. The thing is, I’ve never been disappointed with a 52teas order, so it’s just too hard to break the ordering cycle. I’m hooked!

This tea has a nice balance of flavors between the tea and the blueberries. The smell, the taste, ahhh…so unmistakably blueberries! I’m not sure if I’m getting cream cheese, but I do get a bit of the Danish taste at the end of the sip, particularly when the tea cools a bit. Maybe if I play with the water temperature a tad I will get more of that cream cheese taste? Even as I made it – it’s delicious!

I should know better than to tear into a pack of 52teas without letting it cure, but the sheer excitement that I experienced when my latest order arrived was enough to make me fear my head might implode. The black base is solid and the Butter Rum flavor is complimentary in its flavorful sweetness. Kind of hmmm…butterscotchy? I’ve never had butter rum, nor have I ever tried butter rum lifesavers, so butterscotch is the closest thing that I’ve tried that I can compare it to. Me likes me butterscotch!

Speaking of butterscotch, have you seen that episode of How I Met Your Mother where Barney says that butterscotch is to Canadian women what chocolate is to American women? Are we really known for loving butterscotch so much? I’ve never heard that before. Perhaps that’s just made up for comedic effect? That show and it’s Canadian quips always crack me up. Gotta love Robin’s music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY_bhVSGKEg Hahaha! so ridiculous, it’s funny

Anyhooo….I digress….shocking, I know :P

This tea is good, and I’m certain that I’m going to like it even more as time passes… assuming that I can hold off on drinking it all so it can cure a little longer? It’s a good thing I ordered a variety of new (to me) 52teas to try so I can distract myself away from this one. I’ll definitely have to Hansel and Gretel myself away from this one by making a trail of other teas away from it…hey look! Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish! Mmm…that sounds delicious! …I think I need another mouth.

I better stop procrastinating and get back to cleaning and cooking. The designer is coming over this evening for the design kick off meeting, and the house is looking disheveled. I’m super excited though, and I don’t think it’s just the caffeine :D

This was part of the Fall try me pack. The dry mix is well suited to Halloween with the orange sprinkles and the wee black cats; and the brewed tea is a perfectly creepy green shade. For a rooibos, I was pleasantly surprised that this tea didn’t taste woody. Instead it somehow tasted nutty to me, like it maybe has some almonds or perhaps a touch of walnuts? I don’t see nuts listed in the ingredients so I’m not sure why I taste them. Hmmm…Perhaps it’s the magic?