Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

Backlog – I was in the beautiful mountains of Jasper this weekend, and of course, I had to take this tea with me. I had a cup the first morning we were there, and it was so perfect, with the wild scent of the trees and the morning dew drying. It gave me a nice boost of energy for a day filled with hiking. I only wish I had thought to take it with me on our hike to the top of a mountain, as it would have been very fitting! And, I even got my boyfriend to try some of this tea and even kind of like it, and he vehemently refuses to drink black tea (I will open his mind somehow haha). See previous notes on this awesome EG!

Happy Canada Day!!

I just got back from the lake for 3 days, and was super busy last week, so while I was reading the reviews on here and drinking tea, i haven’t been very active on here haha. So I thought I’d backlog this tea today, as I had it at least 3 times while at the lake this weekend. Such a delicious EG. One I gave been craving and drinking lots :D so happy I have a tin! Before I have any today, though, I need to have a nap, busy weekend tuckered me out. See previous notes on this tea :)

Yum yum yum. I like this tea. It is pouring rain here today, so it’s the perfect day for an earl grey. I made this in the morning and had about 2/3 of the travel mug, now the rest is cold. But man, this is an earl grey. I was expecting it to be totally different, as it smells pretty strongly of bergamot dry. But after a 4 min steep, there is the perfect amount of it, not perfumy either, just a perfect balance. Mellow yet not. Yeah, I like this haha. The caffeine was a bit rough on my stomach when it was empty before lunch, but it still is a very good tea. I want to try it when it’s not in my travel mug haha, maybe when I get home, because it’s a mount gray day here, with all the rain. At least it hasn’t flooded here, still nuts what happened in the south part of the province. To any southern Albertans on steepster, thoughts out to you all!

So I have Caravan and Caravan Resurrected samples from Terri HarpLady and JustJames. Time to start comparing! (If there is even a difference? IDK)

Holy smokebombs Batman! This is exactly what I expected and feared from this tea! :P Maybe I shouldn’t have steeped it for 4 minutes, but I am drinking smoke. It smells and tastes rich and dark and tasty… I can definitely taste the black base under that smoke and I can tell it’s a quality blend even if I can’t identify it. Assam? Ceylon? It’s good. Very good. It’s assertive but smooth, and the smoke doesn’t threaten to rough up your throat.

The smoke itself though is sadly only something I can handle in smaller quantities. I’ll have no problem drinking 10 oz of this, but I don’t think I’d ever buy a tin of it as it would take years to drink 4oz. I think I’ll keep the Caravan Resurrected sample around as a treat through when I’m looking to get rocked by smoke. :)

Thanks for the sample(s)! Sipdown (153)

Ahhh, this tea. When I just need a solid, dependable cup of black tea in the morning, this never fails to disappoint. It’s rich, malty, just sooooo good. I’ve raved about how much I love this tea many a time before, so see previous notes for more info :)

I plan to do some yard work with the guy today, get some errands done, and relax with tea with him hopefully. Enjoy the fine autumn weather, maybe carve our pumpkin tonight :) there’s a fair amount of stuff to get done, but we aren’t in a hurry to do it. :)

Starting off the morning with this lovely tea. It’s rainy and grey outside and I can finally start wearing fall sweaters on days like today, so Double Knit Blend fits the mood haha. Malty, delicious, lightly smoky, I’ve reviewed this tea before in much greater detail lol, but it’s still really good. One of my favorite black teas – the perfect ‘old standby’ when I don’t want anything too honeyed, too sugary tasting..just straight up good black tea. See previous notes!

Oh, and I still have this horrible cough. I think my asthma is back from the forest fire smoke this summer, other family members are also having the same issues..ughh will probably need to go back on daily meds for it. :( will find out tomo at my yearly doctor appointment..ah well at least I won’t be coughing continually then hopefully! It’s been a bad summer for allergies/lungs. At least tea seems to help my throat a bit!

What a day..started out bad, 20 mins late for work from the cat getting out and causing me to leave late and get stuck in traffic, non-stop work, site visit, and an hr extra of work. Sushi with friends after which cheered me up, but now that I’m home I’m utterly exhausted. And yes this is a strong black tea, but I wanted a familiar cozy comfy tea to wrap up in tonight. It’s also been a rainy day, so double knit fits the bill. Malty, slightly sweet, I think this is even better than the last time I had it lol. Sooo good. See previous notes on this awesome tea.

Mmm this tea. Thick, malty, dark, a bit smoky..bold, warming, I wish I had more of it. It’s a major blizzarding mess here (again) and the roads were absolutely horrendous this morning…not looking forward to driving home after my course tonight. Anyways, this tea is perfect for a busy, snowy day at work.

Oh, and I slightly went over to the dark side – my bf’s mom made some freshly ground decaf Sbucks coffee in a french press this morning, bold roast..I couldn’t pass up a sample of it. And now I’ve been craving coffee all day lol, I haven’t had it in probably a year and a half! Haha, this tea, or the tiny bit left in my mug, will have to suffice. Then onto more black teas. Darn wintery weather, makes me crave rich teas and caffeine it seems! See previous notes on this tea :)

Not related to tea

Oh my goodness, I had the busiest weekend ever with moving and cleaning out our apartment, but we are finally in our new place! Sleeping in the living room until we get our upgraded mattress on Thursday, a few boxes laying about, but we are in, and the cat is back with us! Ahh I love our place, my whole tea stash fits in 2 drawers!! That must mean I can buy more tea, right? :D

Related to tea
Anyways, this is the first tea I made in my new kitchen yesterday, it was robust and helped me get through the busy day. Now I will doze off at my desk all morning, so don’t mind me. I will be drinking Super Ginger sleepily lol. See previous notes on this tea!

Double Knit Blend for the second tea of the day! I’m at work now, so much warmer at least, but man oh man I don’t want to go outside today. Also driving 4 hours to go to the work Christmas party this afternoon…going to pack lots of blankets and tea for the ride in case something happens! Ah, I love this tea. I needed it yesterday, but I’m having it today. Rich, malty, a bit sweet, a bit smoky..perfect. One of my favorite straight black teas. See previous notes.

In the travel mug this morning, I got a ton of sleep last night so I’m actually somewhat awake today, but tons to do today, a site visit at work, getting the rest of my Halloween costume, carving a pumpkin, getting the pumpkin to carve, making a costume for my cat, and stocking up on Sugar and Spice at DavidsTea before the fall teas are gone! Oh and I need to try my new teas from Verdant if they arrive today! Eeep! Need energy haha, and this tea is good at supplying it in a very tasty way. I really do like this tea, might be my favorite of my A&D teas, other than Mount Gray, but that one usually requires a specific mood lol. Anyways, this is honeyed and delish today. See previous notes!

Double knit blend on this chilly day! It’s a bit windy outside and looks grey out, almost an EG type of day, but I’ve had a fair amount of those this week, so I took out this tea. Slightly smoky, malty, a delicious blend of blacks. Yum. Even in the travel mug it’s pretty good, a bit more smoky, but I’m ok with that today. Oh, unrelated to this tea, but I got my Verdant reserve teas this week, the two I ordered, waiting for a good time to try them! I need to have time to sit and enjoy them :D hoping my BOMC (blend of the month club) from Verdant shows up today too, tracking has been at a standstill for it since the 9th. Anyways, see previous notes on this tea!

Another long day today, busy, which is good to keep me busy, but I have a meeting this afternoon and the project manager isn’t here, so I’m nervous about that..I’m still pretty new at my job, and a meeting by myself with two contractors = eek! Anyways, this tea is strong and yummy enough to get me through this day. Hopefully, as I didn’t have much sleep last night and also have my class tonight..gwah. This is totally becoming my go-to tea for tougher days. I feel like I should just bring the tin to work actually lol but I’m worried the water/kettle here would make it taste funny! Note to self: invest in a teeny kettle for at desk. Sigh. Hope my meeting goes well. See previous notes on this tea!

It’s one of those rough weeks…mountains of work, had an exam yesterday for my class, apartment problems (make me want to move to be honest) and not enough sleep on top of that. Sigh. I want this week to be over already, I want to finish all my work, and I want to move haha. Oh, and it’s that time of month lol. But I will persevere..with a cup of this tea this morning. Malty, dark, with a slight honeyed aftertaste. No milk in my cup today. Pure caffeinated goodness right here. This is giving me energy to keep going through the day, and tastes good to boot. Ugh I want to sleep, but I will keep working. See previous notes.

My A&D order came today!! Huzzah! I was so looking forward to it :D so pleased too! Three very stylish tins, 2 buttons (one of which I am actually going to wear out tonight haha it’s on my sweater right now! Tea nerd right here :P) and a magnet! I kind of wanted a small tiger with the Tiger Assam haha but oh well, there’s tigers all over the tin! So of course, I had to find my order outside the door when I came home for lunch, so I had like no time to make a first cup. Also had to have the bf help open the tins with a screwdriver haha, just like little paint cans!

I brewed this one up first, as I knew I wouldn’t get much time and I want to save the Tiger Assam for when I have lots of time, and it isn’t a Mount Gray day haha too sunny out! Anyways, I brewed up a teaspoon of this in boiling water for 4 minutes, and only got a few sips of the first steeping before I had to go back to work! But the few sips I had were veryy good! A nice fruity scent almost, and a malty taste, a bit of astringency but it works here. Very malty, a bit fruity, and actually a bit lighter than I was expecting, although it definitely packs a good hit of caffeine!

I am currently drinking a cup of the second steep, and unfortunately it is not nearly as flavorful, but still quite good. I also haven’t eaten much tonight (waiting for a friend to go to dinner), so it might be good that there isn’t as much caffeine in this cup. Still a nice malty taste, that is the main flavor of this tea for me, maltiness. Yumm. I am very pleased that this one is so good, as it’s the one that I honestly was the least excited about (as bad as that sounds haha). It might end up even being my favorite of the three, who knows? :P excellent start to these teas, and I’m currently happy that I have a giant tin of this!!

This is a damn fine timolino mug tea. It’s always hit or miss when you drink from a tumbler, but this one shines. It’s almost creamier this way. I’ll have to remember that!

It’s slightly smokey and sweet and just a touch astringent, and it’s just what I want this morning.

I might need to make a coffee before I jump to my next cup of tea though because I’m sleepy and I need a jolt. I stayed up too late watching Hannah and it was an awful movie that I had high hopes for. It was just weird.

I also just finished reading Neil Gaiman’s new book, and I absolutely loved this quote: “I liked myths. They weren’t adult stories and they weren’t children’s stories. They were better than that. They just were. Adult stories never made sense, and they were so slow to start. They made me feel like there were secrets, Masonic, mythic secrets, to adulthood. Why didn’t adults want to read about Narnia, about secret islands and smugglers and dangerous fairies?” It’s basically what I felt about his book.

So even though it’s summer and I’m wearing a long swooshy skirt, I’m cold and thinking about fuzzy sweaters.

It’s pretty tasty and I think there’s a touch of smoke along with the base, unless that was from the caravan tea. There’s is a fruity note and just a touch of astringency but it makes me feel warm and cozy. This would be great in the fall.

So, this was added to my shopping list as well! Thanks TerriHarpLady and JustJames. (whoops. I got samples from both of you but I’ll enjoy every cup! )

Ahhhh mount grey…how I love you so.

This tea is super duper delicious. Any bergamot lovers out there (and even some of the haters) would love this tea :) It is a moderately bold black base with a very strong but sweet and smooth bergamot. I should drink this tea more, but I don’t because I want to savour it.

To all reading this post, please know, I have climbed the summit of Mount Grey!

And a Happy Canada Day to all! There has been quite devastating rain though my province and the neighbouring province over the past week. Where I am, I have measured 5.75" of rain in the last 5 days. In my city alone there are a reported 400 houses with flooding/sewer back up. There are also dozens and dozens of communities under a state of emergency and one even evacuated due to flooding. My house has been safe, thankfully my sump pump is working steadily. My sincerest thoughts to everyone who is spending this Canada Day throwing out personal belongings, cleaning up sewer back up, or who are displaced and not able to be with friends and family. The sun has finally come out to shine today, it will get better :)

First of all, this tea came with a magnet, a magnet with a dinosaur on it. I don’t care if I have not tasted the tea yet, it is the best tea ever. Tea and dinosaurs, YES!

The dry tea is bergamot lightly scented with black tea.

The brewed tea is much lighter in colour than I would have expected, but the taste did not dissapoint. It is a strong, robust black tea base with strong bergamot flavour. The bergamot is sweet enough that there is no need to add any sugar, for my tastes anyway. Even though the lack base is strong I am getting little to no astringency which is good. This is a very bold tea.

Well I have scaled the summit of Mount Gray and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Now it is time to scale Mount Tuesday.

I just compared this EG with one from Hugo and Justea. See notes here for detail: http://steepster.com/cavocorax/posts/239066

Backlog: I made this one yesterday on the iron stove too! We were sitting in the living room, just chatting by candlelight when everyone wanted tea!

No one ever wants tea! :O

So I grabbed my TARDIS teapot and made a pot of this one. Our guests don’t really drink tea (in fact they’ve NEVER had EG), but I thought this one was standard enough that it was more likely to be enjoyed.

And I was right! Good thing they’re not like Sil!

I feel like I needed this tea today.
I feel like nothing else would do.

Thankfully I have it on hand.
Maybe it’ll snap me out of this funk.

ETA: It did. It snapped me out and I feel more like a thinking breathing human being again.

Oh and here’s a trailer for the Christmas episode of Doctor Who: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TWwYLlcPekA

It’s cold. I think it’s a good morning to visit Mount Gray and tour its blustery peaks.