Art of Tea

floral….

This most definitely tastes of “exotic tropical fruit.” It’s lightly sweet and smells very good. The tea base is pretty light. It’s okay hot but cold it’s really good. Continues the preference I seem to have for fruit teas only when cold.

Thanks, CK, for the chance to try this!

i am not sure how to talk about this tea. it is okay. glad i have no more.

I had a much needed nap after work this evening, and actually felt a bit better after I woke up. A few hours later though, my head began to hurt again and I began to feel a bit sick. Knowing that a steaming cup of tea would do the trick, i ventured into the kitchen to try another sample, and reached for this one. A nice, low-caffeine option.
…except that according to art of tea, it’s a medium level caffeine tea.
Womp womp womp!
Not to be deterred, I brewed it up anyway. The dry leaf feels light and fluffy, and it’s a feeling I’m beginning to associate with white tea. It smelled strongly of juicy peach, and if I inhaled deeply enough, it almost smelled like peach-scented chapstick. Perhaps that’s not entirely accurate, but there was definitely some sort of lingering cosmetic feel to it.
Anyway, brewed it up as per the suggestion. The strong peach smell had faded some by the time the cup was sitting in front of me, and only by burying my face right in the tea could I get that peach blast i’d originally smelled.
Before I took my first sip, I mentally prepared myself to expect a lightly flavoured tea, a subtle tea, because it was white.

You know? i must say I was pleasantly surprised. This is absolutely a subtle, lightly flavoured tea. But it also has a creamy quality to it, not entirely unlike Butiki’s Cantaloupe and cream (although don’t get me wrong, CaC blows this tea way, way out of the water). I just mean that there’s a creaminess (perhaps it’s the underlying white tea?), and it lends itself well to subtle flavouring.

I’m going to happily finish off this sample (or maybe i’ll add it to the great Canadian travelling tea box to let others try), and who knows, maybe I’ll get more of it. I really didn’t dislike it at all, which is honestly what i was prepared for. Oh, and I added a few pieces of rock sugar, and that seemed to bring out the peach flavour a bit.
Goodnight, steepster friends.

I know, I know. I should probably be off either working or studying for this exam I’m surely going to fail, and I had every intention of doing just that, promise! But it’s insane how quickly having to focus on an important task makes you realize how messy your tea cupboard is…and how you need to get swap packages together…and how you should probably attend to some sip downs before making new gigantic purchases…and and and….
So, last night I found myself sitting on the kitchen floor, my tea in various predetermined piles all around me. It was astounding to me that I actually had a lot of tea that I haven’t even tried yet! anyway, I can finally join those of you in sip down land, as I’ve finally polished off the last of this tea. There was slightly more than needed for a cup, but overleafing never did stop this old girl, so in all the leaves went and I enjoyed the last cup. It’s a decent English breakfast, but certainly nothing to write home about, if writing home about things is your thing. I also had to grab a tea that didn’t require any sort of thought process whatsoever, as something sort of big was happening at work today and my stomach was already churning because of it. That thing went reasonably well (because I hate passive-aggressively referring to things only to get people all curious and leave them hanging there).
So yay, one less tea in my life!

This note is going to be awful, because I feel awful at the moment. I have another massive canker sore, and it’s burning my mouth with a vengeance that I thought only possible by the devil himself. The whole right side of my face is hurting, and the glands on the right side of my throat are swollen. I didn’t even bring any tea to work because I knew attempting to drink anything hot would be futile. I had a cup of this with breakfast and could barely taste anything. Mild floral notes, but honestly, I can’t be asked to remember anything at all. I’m going to pick up some origel just now, because I honestly don’t think I’ll survive at work.

This is a backlog from yesterday, as I’m clearly behind. But I was pretty irritable for most of yesterday morning, because this tea wasn’t all that great in my travel mug, and also the lid of my travel mug smelled very strongly of mint because the person at the store sold me “triple mint” flavoured dencher tablets even though I had her double check that the ones she picked up were unflavoured. Whatever. I’ve since purchased unflavoured ones, but my tea at work experience was rather marred by the stupid mint flavour (which was sort of fighting the prior sugar and spice tea flavour that I was trying to get rid of in the first place) and uggh. I’ve posted about this on the boards, but thought I’d ask here: do you guys soak your lids and stuff in this dencher tablet water several times to remove smells? I’m subjecting the lid of my timolino to a pretty intense regime this weekend, I think. What an annoying problem. It’s the silicone lid, I think, more than anything. And it only retains the smell of particularly strong teas (with ginger in them, for instance).
So yeah, this tea sample is being whittled down, which makes me happy. Not an awful English breakfast by any means, but just not special enough or memorable enough.
Half day at work today!

Despite waking up feeling refreshed this morning, I wanted a cup of tea that didn’t require much thought or appreciation from me, so I chose this one. Like I said before, it’s a decent English breakfast, and it’ll do on mornings like this. everyone needs a few teas they can just drink without having too many feelings about them. I only have enough left for a few cups, and that’s just fine by me. Paired beautifully with my hash brown mmm.

In other news, my H and S order (via Chapters) indeed arrived yesterday, and I happily tore into the box. I ordered Vanilla Comoro, Hot Cinnamon Sunset, and Parris. The great thing too is that they’re all in separate (square! omg) tins, and because they’re in sachets, they all smell distinctly different so there’s no need to fuss with facetime and such. Win win.
I have a question about the sachets, though. Are they intended for about 12 oz of water? I heard somewhere that they’re better suited to larger mugs of tea, and not your typical 8 oz cup. Thoughts?

Anyway, I’m going to be at work today until 8:00 tonight, which is kind of painful if you think about it for longer than a nanosecond. Especially because it isn’t actually work; it’s one of those professional development seminar type things. Aaaaaahhhhh.

Despite waking up feeling refreshed this morning, I wanted a cup of tea that didn’t require much thought or appreciation from me, so I chose this one. Like I said before, it’s a decent English breakfast, and it’ll do on mornings like this. everyone needs a few teas they can just drink without having too many feelings about them. I only have enough left for a few cups, and that’s just fine by me. Paired beautifully with my hash brown mmm.

In other news, my H and S order (via Chapters) indeed arrived yesterday, and I happily tore into the box. I ordered Vanilla Comoro, Hot Cinnamon Sunset, and Parris. The great thing too is that they’re all in separate (square! omg) tins, and because they’re in sachets, they all smell distinctly different so there’s no need to fuss with facetime and such. Win win.
I have a question about the sachets, though. Are they intended for about 12 oz of water? I heard somewhere that they’re better suited to larger mugs of tea, and not your typical 8 oz cup. Thoughts?

Anyway, I’m going to be at work today until 8:00 tonight, which is kind of painful if you think about it for longer than a nanosecond. Especially because it isn’t actually work; it’s one of those professional development seminar type things. Aaaaaahhhhh.

My head hurts and I want to go home and sleep.

I had a cup of this tea this morning and to be fair to it, i wasn’t really expecting much. It’s your average English breakfast, and that’s about all I can really think to say. I may have put in a bit too much sugar, so perhaps with a little less I’ll be able to “analyze” it more, but honestly, it’s just your average English breakfast. It’ll absolutely do in a pinch, is very inoffensive, and will be acceptable to pretty much anyone who drinks it. I won’t be restocking, but it came with my black tea sampler pack from Art of Tea, so I figured i’d give it a go. It pales in comparison to their biodynamic Darjeeling, which I actually think I might restock.

And now someone please come get me from work and take me home and make me a cup of (not this) tea and put me to bed. Thanks!
God it’s at times like these when I miss being a student. There just isn’t that kind of flexibility anymore. You don’t wake up with a splitting headache and get to decide to sit this one out—you doggedly plow on, proving to the rest of the world that “no sickness ’aint gonna get you down”, no sir. not you. because you’re perfect and hardcore. ugggh.
/end rant
…almost. I say we start a revolution and have a four day work week.

I normally do not like Earl Grey, but this one was good.

More Plum than Oolong. But that is what i like. Light tea.

This is another sample from the NYC meetup, courtesy of Nicole Martin. It’s pretty good – it reminds me a little bit of Paradise Tropical Tea, which is (in my opinion) a good thing. The flavoring is on the assertive side. I’m getting mostly generic tropical fruit; I see that mango and passionfruit are mentioned in the description on Art of Tea’s site. There’s a faint floral undertone to it, but it’s much subtler. And even with all of that going on, the base (Ceylon?) manages to come through nicely. I’m drinking it iced (brewed hot, then chilled), for reference.

Thanks, Nicole_Martin!

Well My sister cold-steeped this and since it was the only cold thing in the fridge I decided t have it tonight even though I had meant to try this before a run on the first time. This brew certainly invigorating- spicy cinnamon, sweet berries, and a refreshing herbal taste all combine to awake the senses. I’ll definitely have this again.

So I used the last of my sample (which came in an adorable tiny square tin, by the way) this morning, and am sad to have tasted the last of it for what I think will be a while. I don’t know why art of tea’s shipping rates are particularly obnoxious, especially since I order tea from the states from other companies and don’t seem to encounter the same problem. Anyway, this is definitely one I’m going to want to restock. Make no mistake: this is a no-nonsense, bold breakfast tea that you could heartily drink while you’re in a bitchy mood, getting ready for a day of annoyance, or pretty much for any other reason. I know I’ve described the texture as being woody or apple-like, and that still holds true. There’s also a dryness about the tea that is very pleasing on the tongue and which also makes it easy to swallow. I may just end up biting the proverbial bullet and ordering a full tin of this, because it’s just very staple-worthy. I steeped it for the max recommendation of five minutes this morning, and dare I say that was as strong as I could handle it. Strong, but perfectly so. Any stronger and it just may, may have tipped slightly into bitterdom and we can’t have that, oh no we can’t.

Here’s a question for you guys. For teas that you identify are going to be staples in your cupboard, how much do you typically buy at a time to ensure regular, guilt-free usage?

I woke up freezing this morning, and dreaded getting out of bed because I knew I would only feel colder still. I finally hauled myself up and braved the walk into the kitchen. I didn’t want to think too hard about which tea I wanted this morning, so I just defaulted to this one. I actually really enjoyed it. I steeped it for about five minutes, added in a teaspoon of rock sugar and made sure not to add too much cream. It resulted in a perfectly balanced cup, that was creamy, smooth, and reminded me of apples next to a wooded forest. I don’t even know why the term “appley” comes to mind; the tea does not taste at all of apples. But it somehow has the smooth, hard texture one might associate with a firm, juicy apple, or resting one’s cheek against the smooth, polished surface of a new wooden dresser.
If art of tea’s shipping prices weren’t so prohibitive, I think I’d actually go ahead and place an order for a larger size, but as it stands, that might have to wait. My sample is nearly empty now, which is increasingly unfortunate.

Anyway, hump day today, and I can’t wait to head home this evening. It’ll mean that the upcoming weekend is closer to you than the weekend you just finished, and that feeling is utter bliss.

Warning: emo post ahead.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a start and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I think what originally woke me was one of the dogs scrambling about, but he settled down and I simply couldn’t. I slept fitfully after that, still with a really anxious feeling in my chest. Have I mentioned how much I hate needless anxiety that doesn’t really have to do with anything? save perhaps knowing that you’re not going to be falling asleep again anytime soon, and have to be up in a few hours, and then you’re going to have to make it through your workday on so few hours of sleep, and why is there so much sadness and despair in the world anyway?
So I finally got out of bed and headed into the kitchen. I knew I needed a tea that would not demand anything of me: no opinions as to its taste, no specific emotional state, no philosophical rhetoric—just a decent, strong cup to get me started. And so I knew without a doubt it had to be this tea. it is admittedly my first Darjeeling, so I don’t really have anything to compare it to. It tastes wonderful though, with a bit of “dryness” at the end, and a full, almost woody taste to it (it doesn’t taste woody; rather, it evokes the sensation and smell of wood, or its texture, perhaps) and goes down with a very, very smooth finish. It’s actually a tea that I think that could either stand alone, but as with any tea I drink, it can absolutely hold its own against some milk and sugar. I couldn’t really even fully appreciate it until a few sips (gulps?) in anyway, as I just drank without thinking for the first little bit.

And so there you have it. I’m probably pmsing and needlessly weepy in general today, so if I drink more tea (and there’s more sitting here in my timolino), you might expect another tear-stained post from me LOL.

I hope you guys have a great Tuesday. I’m looking forward to lunch with a friend (that’ll break up the workday a bit, I think), and then after work, my boss and I are headed to a professional dinner thing, so that ought to be interesting. I just need to last without dissolving into a key change puddle for no good reason.

This was my first “real tea” that wasn’t an offering by David’s tea, so I was pretty excited to try it.
Despite a steeping mishap this morning (those always seem to occur, despite all my hopes and preparation), this made a pretty decent cup. Given that I don’t quite yet have the vocabulary to really describe tea, I have to say that it definitely tasted “black”, a bit woody, and appropriately strong. I added in a bit of sugar and milk, but this did not at all detract from the smoothness of the tea, and its very, very slight astringency actually lends itself to being a really good tea if you aren’t even in a “tea mood”.
But then I made it to take to work in my timolino and found that it wasn’t nearly as strong. I attribute this to the fact that there’s simply more water, plus I don’t like the timolino’s steeping basket nearly as much, as I don’t find my teas to be as flavourful in the travel mug—how do you guys prepare tea in your travel mug differently from the way you prepare in a cup? any recommendations for keeping the flavour strong? should I shake it a great deal to help things “circulate”?
In other (amazing amazing) news, I received my butiki order in the mail yesterday! I am over the moon about this, and can’t wait to try them!

Sip down! Taking a tea break from dealing with my finished lace shawl photos. This tea isn’t bad iced, though it does taste quite artificial and candy like. I feel weird as sometimes I do like candy tasting tea (ie, Lupicias Champagne Rose or Momoko), but this tastes like pixie stick powdery.

Shawl pics! phew, that was a lot of lace knitting crazyness and beading!
http://awkwardsoul.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/awkwardsoul-scarlet-temptress-shawl-2.jpg
http://awkwardsoul.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/awkwardsoul-scarlet-temptress-shawl-3.jpg

I was excited to try this tea and I heard it was a popular one.

The dry leaf smells like purple grape drink. Hot, the flavor is a mix of pineapple and berry with artificial sweet and dusty texture.
Maybe I’m not digging this because I’ve had real acai (my brazilian jiujitsu school are huge fans and would give us acai bars and other things). I was hoping for a more intense fruit flavor.

Oh well, I try this iced later.

With sugar: Very pale color. I really like the aroma, but the taste isn’t quite as compelling. It is nearly all butterscotch; the tea flavor gets a bit lost, though it does poke through. The flavor is remarkably complex, with hints of pineapple and grapefruit. I’m not sure how much is the tea and how much is flavoring, but the overall result is quite nice.

2nd pot: I usually use sugar in my flavored teas, but on a whim I decided to not use sugar, and was surprised by how much better I liked the tea. It had a lot of nuance that I missed before. The butterscotch flavor was still dominant, especially in the nose, but I really enjoyed the white tea flavors as well. The re-steep was nearly as good. Definitely a keeper

Oh, I really love this one. It’s a beautiful blend with big tea leaves and pretty rose petals. There is a light, sweet grape aroma that just makes me happy. The flavor is lightly sweet with a floral note. The aftertaste is heavenly – sweet grapes and rose. I added a little sweetener and then some milk. The sweetener brought out more of the grapey notes, and although I was hesitant to try the milk, it actually added a nice creaminess to the cup. This is one that I would definitely purchase again! It’s like a warm summer day with meadows of flowers and sunshine in a teacup!

-Dry blend has large black, brown and green tea leaves with pink and yellow rose petals.
-Dry leaves smell of sweet grapes. Tea liquor aroma is of floral rose with a hint of grape.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark yellow color.
-Faintly sweet flavor with a light floral finish. Soft sweet grape and rose aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Excellent tea. Delicate and sweet grape flavor with a hint of perfumey rose.