Premium Steap

Yesterday I FINALLY got over to Premium Steap to replenish the supply of my darling Emperor’s Red. Of course I had to have some today! Amazing, as usual. Roasty, fruity, tangy, perfect as-is. Broken record alert: “I could have this every day!”

:)

But seriously. If I wanted to make my life very simple at work, I would have this, Harney’s Golden Monkey, Harney’s Queen Catherine, Harney’s Earl Grey Supreme, Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice, Teas Etc Rosy Earl Grey for when I need some froof, and a few random samples for a little variety and I’d be done! I really need to work toward that! :) :) :)

I am drinking my final few leaves of my precious! I have been so dreadfully busy that I haven’t even had time to breathe yet alone go to the tea store, but this calls for an emergency! I am going to schedule AN APPOINTMENT ON MY CALENDAR on pay day (Thursday!) so I can go to Premium Steap and get my roasty friend (and ashmanra! I am going to send some to you!!!! and mrawlins2 – I am going to send your package! I am the worst tea friend when I get crazy like this!! I AM SORRY!)!

Anyway – enough of my psychosis! The tea :) Perfection as usual. Roastyfruity. Chocolateyearthy. So easy to drink. Impossible to oversteep. Love, love, love.

EDIT: I posted a pic on my twitter account of how large and beautiful these leaves are after they are steeped! http://twitter.com/#!/jackiemania

Under extreme work deadline! My toasty, roasty, tangy friend – #1 ally in helping me Get! Things! Done! Three steeps of deliciousness.

Hello my roasty, tangy, perfect exactly as-is friend!

♥

Oooooh my roasty delight! Thank you for helping me with my perspective and patience during Registration (count to ten! Take a sip! count to 10! Take a sip!) Unique but friendly. Very easy to love. Very forgiving. I wish you were a person!

I was scooping some of this together to send to Jaime and I just HAD to have it after smelling the wonderful leaves. Delicious, delicious, delicious! I never tire of the roasty tangy unique flavor of this one. MmmmmmMMMMMmmmmmmm!!!!!

Wow – I totally forgot about my tea steeping since I was on a long call with a student – it must have steeped for 10 minutes!!!! I was expecting a horrible bitter mess (much like the student I was speaking with!), but I got a delicious chocolatey roasty rich Happy Accident!!!! Can this tea do no wrong? :) Sheesh! I am going to steep it for at least 5 minutes from now on (and I want to run out and buy 29038290348902384 lbs of it so I never run out!)!

♥

Needed my roasty friend this morning – exhausted (from fun :) great dinner party at friend’s house last night, followed by seeing Richard Thompson at an old, beautiful, small theater from the 1930s – good tired :) :) :) Two steeps of the tangy Emperor was just the thing.

I took a walk to Premium Steap yesterday to replenish my roasty friend!!!! SO happy to be able to do that you have no idea! I was in a near panic walking to the store – not knowing – since the harvest was so troubled this year – if they would have it! (can you tell I’m rereading David Copperfield and that I totally get a kick out of Mr. Micawber?!!? But I digress!)

Thankfully – the big beautiful silver container was full! Phew! The intoxicating fragrance as the owner scooped the tea almost made me faint! I knew exactly at that moment what today’s morning tea was going to be :)

As usual, it does not disappoint. Smooth, roasty, tangy, heaven.

My penultimate teaspoon of leaves! I have to make time to go to the store and get more! Ahh!

Delicious, fruity, lovely, yummy, I could drink it every day tea!!!!

Gosh I love this tea :) I let it go to five minutes today and boy is it roasty and fruity! I think I was a little too shy with this one. Thanks ashmanra for giving me the idea to be a little gutsier with my steeping parameters!

I am in a slight panic – my 4oz tin is almost gone! Hopefully I can carve out some time for a walk to Premium Steap next week to replenish my stock, and see if they have anything in resembling a decent Yunnan (plus some of that yummy sounding chocolate/mint/rooibos).

Feeling very warmed and comforted by this tea today! It’s rainy, chilly, and MONDAY – boy do I need some roasty :) After reading that ashmanra tried it with a hotter water temp and longer steep, I figured I’d give it a shot! It’s very good – stronger but still very mellow if that makes any sense! Nutty/fruity. I think I will keep it like this for future steeps.

Just me ’n my roasty friend here, steeping away the morning, and part of the afternoon! I know it must be boring to read me drinking this same tea all the time, but that is the fact of the matter :)

Three steeps of my beloved! Ahhhhh so good to be back to the roasty tangy deliciousness of this tea, and the focused energy it brings. Coffee can a harsh mistress when you are in her company excessively! Tea is so much more calmly invigorating. I am a much happier camper today drinking less coffee, and more tea!

Insanely busy day at work. This roasty, interesting tea is keeping me going. Delicious no matter what temperature I seem to drink it at. Good for at least 4 steeps. Must run!

Nice new lunch time ritual: Closeting myself in the spare office with a cup of tea and my knitting. I feel so much better at the end of that hour!

This was a delicious choice to accompany me: roasty, interesting, complex, delicious! If I had a Top Ten Tea list, this one would definitely be on it :)

Needed my roasty today :) Three invigorating, smooth, and tasty steeps. So sad when my cup is empty! Always looking for more with this one.

In the mood for ROASTY today! A hit with my breakfast of an Odwalla Chocolate Chip Peanut bar – whodathunkit!!?! Must be the bar’s nuts and chocolate complementing the roasted nuts and dark chocolate notes in the tea.

Oooooooh, how I love this tea! Roasty, smooth, and distinctive. I am always surprised by how fast I drink this!!! I usually sip each cup over an hour’s time, and this one always disappears within 15 minutes! Thankfully, I usually get three nice steeps from it. I’m on my second right now – so. good. I think the second steep is my fave because it’s so…chocolatenutbutter? Dark chocolate, health food store very roasty just ground peanut butter tea.

Ooooooh! We have a winner here!!!! It’s not exactly like my beloved Silk Road Tea’s Imperial Red, but it is close enough. It is a little less roasty, and not nut buttery, but chocolatey. Smooth as anything. I love it! I could seriously drink this tea every day. I let my coworker taste it and she said “Woooooooooow!”

I again completely ignored the steeping directions from the shop, and steeped it like Imperial Red. I thought it worked like a charm! No bitterness or astringency at all.

♥ ♥ ♥

I was in the mood for something I haven’t had in awhile this morning. I thought this one would be a good candidate, as I now have some rock sugar in my possession. I very much enjoy this one “with a little sugar, like the Germans!”

Mmmm. Delightfully fruity. I can’t believe what a dramatic difference that sugar makes. It smooths out that “a little too astringent” quality and adds to the fruitiness. Ahhh, that signature muscatel flavor is just the little twist I needed to give my tastebuds something new to think about :) The color of this tea is also so beautiful. I wish I was drinking it in a pretty white china cup!

(an aside: does anyone else not like drinking hot items like coffee and tea in glass? I don’t like it at all! I think I inherited this dislike from my grandmother! I like ceramic and china. This would look so pretty in a glass cup but I can’t stand drinking from glass! Oh I’m so peculiar!)

I would love to start a little tradition where I get some of this exquisite first flush each late Spring after it is released :)

Also, I found this Wikipedia article very informative about Darjeelings:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_tea

This was a little bitter today :( I think maybe because I did not take it “with a little sugar, like the Germans.” ;) I have no plans to bring sugar to work any more, so I think I’m going to try it at 195 next time.

Even though I was a little disappointed, it was still quite good – grapey, winey, complex.

Leaves are much greener than I was expecting. They smell really good, too. Earthy and sweet.

WOW. I was not expecting to like this one as much as I am! I have only had one single estate Darjeeling (but it was a second flush) and I was underwhelmed. THIS, though! Fruity, complex grape like wine, oh so delicious. This took me totally by surprise. I am intoxicated!

I prepared it a little cooler and for less time than the shop recommended, and I like it very much this way. I can see it being a bit too astringent brewed for longer or with hotter water.

I did take it with a little sugar like the Germans :) Delicious!

I’m so excited! I have another type of tea which I love!

I made a second cup with these leaves and the leftover water in my kettle, and it was less muscatel-ish but even fruitier.

I have to get back to my LTS (Local Tea Store) and get a nice sized pouch of this!!!

Graduation fair today! I had one quick steep before I had to run downstairs and help students all day. It was a good, roasty steep but all too rushed. Ah – next time I will take my time and have a nice bagel with it to make up for it!