Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

on a missions today even if work is going to do everything it can to stop me. 1) drink up a few samples 2) get my review for justtea’s mint tea up 3) have at least 1 puerh

However before i got in to all that, i wanted a couple cups of black to kick off the day. Pulled this one out as it’s one of my oldest teas and i’d like to get around to finishing it off someday. It also tastes better in a mug than my work travellers, so good enough reason to drink it. Still enjoy this, though i think i now prefer some of A&D’s other blacks like black sunshine a little more.

Morning tea. Trying to take care of a few things around the house today without being on my foot too much. Needed something a little stronger to kick the day off so that i could be productive :) Figured i could work on some of my older teas this weekend as well.

Rest day today, so i’m working from home. Giving me a chance to not only try out the samples for the new teas we joint ordered but also drink up some oldies. Kicked off the morning with this one for fun :)

Working from home today so trying to get around to some of my older teas. Not a lot of samples left from friends so it’s all drink down the cupboard time! still enjoying this one

had a cup of this earlier today – i’m nearly out of samples to drink up so my cupboard is looking pretty empty. It’s good – because i’ll be able to focus on my older teas, but i AM looking forward to getting my AQ2T order in May sometime heh.

Another one from today.

It’s the holidays so this one came out of the cupboard today. I still enjoy this one quite a bit but i’m glad for the airtight tins since it’s taking me a while to get through this one heh

tis the season! Getting in the mood for the holiday party this evening. I relaly should drink this one more often – just a damn good cuppa!

Morning tea – great accompaniment to delicious breakfast with my other half.

easter holiday = holiday tea hahaha, just a few months late but i don’t care. delicious and exactly what i needed for the drive back home today.

it snowed all night last night, but didn’t give us as much snow as i wanted to see. gave me the perfect excuse to pull this one out of my cubpoard since it’s got pretty snowflakes on it. yes, that’s the sort of complex decisions that go into deciding which tea to drink. haha. still really love this one, which is of course why i hoarded it..thinking it might not come back..but then it did…so now i’m allowed to drink it up!

need to pack, finish work and get things settled for the next couple days… sooo just stopping in to say THIS arrived and THIS is what i’m having for dinner. so there. Over the past few days i’ve had some old favourites, some new teas and mostly been successful in not killing anyone. Mostly. Hope everyone is doing awesome and having a grand ol’s time in the hood. :)

I had just enough of this left for one cup, out of the incredibly generous sample that ifjuly sent me in the fall. The smokiness of this tea is absolutely perfect to me. Leather and malty wood, all brewed up in the most glorious colour. I am going to really miss this one.

Oh man, this is good! I don’t taste any smoke, but that’s okay. This is so malty and sweet and delicious I don’t miss it much at all. Maybe the smoke comes out as it cools, but I sipped this one so quickly I wouldn’t know :) Even steeped at around 3 minutes it’s incredibly bold and flavorful. So delightful. I hope they put this out again next year. I’m totally bummed I missed out on it.

Thanks for the sample Sil!

Brought some of this tea with me to the office today and it was AWESOME! I got notes of cocoa, bread, malt, and that fresh taste from the Darjeeling! I think Stephanie is right that, even though I have 4.4 ounces, it probably won’t last long! I’ve also decided I love it at 2 minutes steep. I tried their recommended 4 minutes and I think the malt takes over and you lose some of the complexity. 2 minutes is perfect. :)

Pic of the leaf: https://www.flickr.com/photos/97273956@N03/15728744884/

This was surprise tea from Stephanie! Thank you!
I think the only times I’ve gotten to try A&D teas were from swaps with Stephanie. :) They are very good, but I wish they sold smaller sizes, like 2 oz. packets because I don’t really want 4.4 oz. of one tea in my cupboard. I like variety too much!

This tea is really good! It has a baked good quality to it, like freshly baked bread! Mmmm! My mom used to make bread…buttermilk loaf to be exact. Freshly baked bread is so amazing…I used to cut a really thick slice and toast it with butter spread on top for breakfast. Delicious!

This tea is also smooth and you get a little freshness from the Darjeeling at the end of the sip. I brewed it for 2 minutes and that was delicious, but the website says 4! I’ll have to try that with the remaining sample. This would be on the “buy” list, if not for the ridiculous size, because it’s really yummy!

10" of snow fell on us yesterday and the temperature is hovering in the single digits. I’m not complaining as I’ve seen what Boston is dealing with lately. Trivia – I looked up the Fahrenheit scale. You know what it is based on? Neither does anyone else. There are some guesses but the truth has been lost. 32F being the temp water freezes is the only point of agreement. Just glad I don’t have to go outside where the amount of snow is higher than the temperature.

Needed something to warm me up. This is perfect. Well it was, cause now its gone.

Down in the back today. The kind where it hurts to breathe. Took some anti-inflammatory pain killers and brewed this comfort tea. The pills are for the back. The tea is for the rest of me. The ‘rest of me’ is happy. Hoping the back gets over itself and joins in soon.

I’m not sure why, probably because its from Andrews and Dunham, but I kind of expected this to be more Grrrrr, before I tasted it. Then looking at the leaf I realized I should have known better. This has lots of golden tips from the Yunnan leaf. It has a malty, honey, chocolate scent that is so good. So the brew taste is kind of the same, along with smooth and complex. The Ceylon does offer a healthy briskness mid sip and lingering long into the aftertaste to counter the smooth nature of the Yunnan. The the Darjeeling kicks in late in the sip offering up a woodsy fruitiness that is a neat topper. Somewhere along the lines there is a touch of smoke. It isn’t obvious but there if you wait for it.

I am not sure why this is called a holiday blend and I don’t even care. It is really good. Thanks Stephanie for sharing this one.