Custom

ChOTD….

I added some chocolate tea to this mix to mellow it out a little. It is much better. Right now, I only have this mix (just over 4 ounces worth) and the Tipu Chai, so there are now only two choices. This will be my last log of this one until I get some new chais! (I do have enough for one more try of Harney’s Indian Spice, though!)

ChOTD…..

This one is interesting….it is essentially a catch-all tin for anything chai-ish. It started with about 1 or 2 ounces of Adagio Thai Chai, the end of my Adagio Masala Chai sample, the end of my Naturally Flavored Cinnamon Tea sample from Upton, And the ends of my Tropical Chai and Hearthside Chai samples. I decided to make this tin my Franken Chai, because I can just keep adding things, using some up, and it will evolve into its own type of chai, no matter how perfect, or imperfect. Now, I keep thinking of things I could add…..

My cuppa today…. tastes a little more lemongrassy than I would like (that would be from the Adagio Thai Chai). I think I will try less chai mix next time…

As I’ve said a few times previously, Emperor’s Red was starting to taste a little lackluster now that I’ve come under the sway of Mr. Keemun Mao Feng! It’s still a nice tea, but I wanted a little more “oomph!” So, I blended together the Emperor, some Panyang Congou from Harney, some Upton China Black, and some Upton Keemun Mao Feng.

…and I love it! I used about 2 oz of the Emperor, so you can still taste him in all his tangy roasty glory, but the few tablespoons I put in of each of the other teas added a little backbone to the blend. I am especially loving the little bit of pastry the China Black is adding!

I now have a tin full of something I’m excited to drink! It’s a perfect daily drinker – delicious, great sans additions, tastes good with any food pairing. Horray for tea experiments!

We have another winner. This is very good. I like this blend better than the Florence blend, but I am so happy that I don’t have to pick just one. Rather than messing with premixing, I have just been adding the scoops to my teapot before brewing.

Chocolatey with a light hint of rose, and it packs the yerba mate energy punch.

24 oz teapot, 4 1/2 actual tsp Valentine’s Blend from Harney & Son’s, 1 1/2 actual tsp Roasted Yerba Mate from Upton, 5 minutes, freshly boiled water. Lightly sweetened.

Pleasantly surprised with this :) I suppose it works well though since Paris already has vanilla and caramel notes. And I’m all about vanilla and caramel, so the more the merrier. Added in a dash of caramel creamer and brown sugar for my silly sweet tooth, mmm. I like.

The morning blend…. I am liking this one more and more! I think Dinosara mentioned that the base for Tower of London was mostly Chinese blacks. That is probably why the cocoa notes in the Roasted Yerba Mate just blend in with the cocoa notes in the TOL base. It is almost not noticeable.

24 oz pot, 4 1/2 actual tsp TOL, 1 1/2 actual tsp Roasted Yerba Mate, freshly boiled water, 5 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

Another good blend with yerba mate. While it is not as good as the blend with Vanilla Black or Florence, this one is still good and retains the hints of fruit. I don’t get a strong note of cocoa, but it is there and really just brings the fruit notes down a little.

So happy with the blends I have made with the addition of Roasted Yerba Mate. I have a few more that seem interesting to me like English Breakfast, Queen Catherine, and Rose Congou. Who knew it would be so easy and economical to go this route rather than the preblended versions from Teavana? Per 24 oz pot, it costs me less than a dime in addition to the pot of tea I would be making anyway. It is an added bonus that it uses tea I have in my stash. And I just love the energy boost I get. I know there is more caffeine, but I am thinking it is more than that.

My go-to rooibos when I’m having an attack of “I need something sweet and delicious” in the evenings :) Made like a traditional tea with a little milk and sugar, it is very satisfying when your sweet tooth is acting up, and you don’t want any caffeine. The antioxidants don’t hurt, either ;)

Mmmmm. What a tropical treat! I taste primarily the candy banana taste, and then a pineapple-y, creamy, yummy flavor. I’m really glad I combined these two teas because the result is so dessert-y! I was having a bit of a sweet tooth attack last night, and this satisfied it well, with the addition of a scant teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk.

My tea of the morning. I used almost 4 actual tsp of Elyse’s Blend from Harney & Son’s and a slightly heaping actual teaspoon of Roasted Yerba Mate from Upton in my 24 oz. pot. I quite like the result. I am getting the honey flavors with the Elyse’s Blend, and a slight hint of cocoa from the yerba mate. I don’t get the subtle bite (yes, I know that description kind of contradicts itself) of the Assam in this blend like I do when drinking Elyse’s Blend on its own. I think we have a winner! I am not sure what to try with yerba matea added next….English Breakfast or Queen Catherine? Tower of London?

My notes about this blend: With my affection for Teavana’s JavaVana Mate (which is a good portion of Assam tea with the additon of roasted yerba mate and flavorings) and its high price, I decided that it might be possible to enjoy Yerba Mate added to just about any of my favorite breakfast teas. This is my first try….. I love the energy I get from yerba mate, but don’t like it much alone.

A couple summers ago, when kind Steepies helped me replenish my tornado-crashed pantry, JacquelineM tucked in a tin filled with odds and ends of berry-flavored teas that, shaken together, made a quirky mystery grab bag of fruit flavor. Just enough left for one last jar of sun tea. Chilled, it’s a lovely treat to spend the day with. (Writing and doing grungy housework via the carrot-and-stick method: Write, sip. Vacuum, sip. Fold, sip. Dishes, sip.)

Also builds a strong case for me, when the tin is finally empty, to start a “scrap” tin of my own. Waste not, want not.

Summer seems to be the universal Steepster Scrap Drive season—using up the bits to make room for the good stuff next fall. And in keeping with the spirit of salvage, I pulled this out to make a jar of cold brew. A gift from the kind and creative jacquelinem last summer, it’s a scrap of berry this and a pinch of berry that. All sweet, no tart, it makes a wonderful cooler and soother. (100 in the shade this afternoon.)

My husband recommended renaming it Teaberry Suicide, or Teaberry Strangler in honor of the Laura Childs mystery.

JacquelineM shared some of this with me; it smelled so good, I went straight for the sun tea jar. My first taste sensation was berries-and-cream, and iced, it was that much better. Then, after reading the description of how this good stuff was concocted, I had flashbacks to church camp when we’d buy “suicides” (one shot of every kind of pop from the fountain) at the canteen. I believe this is better.

I am slowly getting better. Today, I felt like I needed something warm and soothing for my throat, and I couldn’t think of anything as ginger-y as the ginger & honey crystals that I have in the cupboard. So I brewed up a cup of my ever changing breakfast blend and added about half a pouch of the crystals. This is very gingery, but, it feels so good on the throat.

I got to sleep in today, which was nice … so as it turns out this is my first cup of the day. I am having it along with my breakfast of champions: a cupcake. I made cupcakes last night so that I could have a treat to send in my daughter’s lunch bag for the next couple of days … if they last that long. These are really yummy… quite possibly my best cupcake frosting yet. (I don’t usually bother with cupcake batter from scratch, but, I refuse to use that frosting in a can. blech!)

So, my breakfast blend has gone through several transformations since the last time I wrote a tasting note about it. It is incredibly rich today, malty, with lovely chocolate undertones. Really very good.

This is actually my first cup of the day… yep… at 8 pm. Today has been a very busy and hectic day and I am so glad to finally be drinking some tea. When I have no tea in me, I am a very unhappy person. Must be sure never to let such things happen again.

Today is my hubby’s day off, and while I drink as much tea while he’s home as I do when he is at work, I don’t drink what I would refer to as “new” teas when he’s home, because I don’t have enough time to sit down and compose my thoughts to review it properly because we’re off running our errands most of the time.

So, I generally drink tried and true teas during his days off work. This blend is a combination of little bits of robust black teas that I’ve had in the past and do not have enough for a full pot, but do not wish to toss out that little bit. Instead I put them in a tin together with all the other little bits of robust black teas and make my custom breakfast blend (which is different from the LiberTEAS Breakfast Blend in case you’re wondering).

It’s nice.

This is a blend that will change constantly, since I am constantly adding little bits of teas to it. Today, I also added a generous portion of ginger honey crystals from Prince of Peace. I am battling a cold (or the flu, can never really tell the difference), and the ginger feels incredibly nice on the throat.

I completely forgot to drink my coffee this morning. I was trying a sample I received in a swap early this morning and completely forgot my coffee. My single, lonely, necessary cup of coffee. Needless to say, I have had a caffeine headache all day, and it finally dawned on me where that headache came from…at 8:30 pm at night. Yes, life is getting a little too hectic. Time to slow down and ‘smell the roses’.

Anyway, since it is now around 9pm at night, and a light amount of caffeine will likely help, I settled on this choice as it has a white tea base. This one is pretty amped up as far as the blueberry notes, and the hibiscus from the Berry Blues is strong enough to taste and see, and definitely strong enough to add a little bit of sour with the sweetness of the blueberries. When the tea is prepared hot, the white tea base really does not come into play much, as I think the hibiscus might be just a little too intense. I may change the ratio slightly next time, but it really is quite refreshing iced just the way it is.

4 tsp in my jumbo mug with 16 oz water.

Backlogging from last night. I crushed up a bunch of cardamom pods and put them in with some rooibos. It’s a nice combination with soymilk and sugar. I’ve been looking at a lot of recipes for Swedish baked goods lately, so cardamom has been on my mind. :)

My evening cuppa. My little taste of that rooibos blend from the store that starts with T reminded me that I had tasty rooibos in my own cupboard! I had completely forgotten how much I liked this blend. It is a great warm you up tea. Ther are hints of apple and cinnamon, and the caramel flavor just kind of intensifies the rooibos base. It resteeps well, too. Yum!

I did not like the chocolate honeybush from Adagio, so I added some flavoring that I had on hand from my blending days. The result is rather yummy. Very subtle chocolate flavor, this kind of tastes like those chocolate covered oranges.

I like it.

My evening cuppa. Yum. I think any blend with Vanilla Comoro is a sure winner. Sweetend and enjoyed!

This is one I mix up as I go along…maybe a tablespoon or two of each at any given time in a small tin. You never know when you might want the flavors separate as opposed to together.

My evening cuppa for the day…….Lovely, relaxing cup that won’t keep me awake.