Teas Etc

♫ Yummy cup of Frou-Frou, hoppin’ through mah cupboard, scoopin’ up the tea tins and boppin’ ‘em on the head. And down came the Tea Fairy and she said: "Yummy cup of Frou-Frou I don’t wanna see you, scoopin’ up the tea tins and boppin’ ‘em on the head. I’ll give you three more chances or I’ll turn you into a Puerh!" ♫

Yes, I needed my Frou-Frou this morning to counteract my case of the Mondays.

Warning: graphic content ahead. Younger Steepsterites and those with heart problems should skip the following note. Reader discretion is advised.

I just had the most horrific tea moment of my life. Perhaps it was the Puerh gods smiting me for the 15. Because of the bad tea experience I wanted to go to a good ole standby that I’d just purchased a large bag of and had spent almost $7 on a pretty cannister to hold it. As I started to steep I actually took a minute to look at how pretty this dry tea is and then perhaps distractedly put the lid not-so-securely back on. Y’all see where this is headed, right? Yeah, as I picked it up off the counter to put the tin back in its cupboard the bottom fell off of the lid (I had a firm grip on the lid). I tried to grab it and slammed the lid into my ring finger (which lost some skin and feels quite bruised).

I lost more than half of my tea. ::sniff:: It was horrible! ::cries quietly::

I vacuumed it up as fast as possible so my curious cat wouldn’t get into it. My kitchen floor is not at its cleanest (I had actually noted last night that it was overdue for a good scrub), so there was no salvaging. While broken heartedly vacuuming up the leaves I didn’t hear my timer go off so lord knows how long my cup steeped, but apparently this tea is extremely forgiving — which makes me even sadder that so much was wasted! Waaaaah!

I just had to share my devastating story with those who would sympathize. ::sniffle::

Ahoy Fou-Fou! I really needed a comfort tea with some caffeine in it to start my morning. I’m going on four and a half hours of sleep and I’ve got a Saturday shift at the library. And it’s registration for the Summer Reading Program. And people are crazy. I mean, this is the most popular event at our library and people all week have been trying to have exceptions made for them in regards to registration. I even had a rude self-entitled lady try to bully me into letting her register early (apparently I’m the rude one who doesn’t want our most popular event each year have anyone attend it. I’m praying that she or her spawn do not sign up). She had called in and then promptly hung up on me when she realized that she couldn’t bully me into granting approval (which she never even let me get a chance to explain that I didn’t have the power to make that sort of decision). Oy.

Sorry, all this is to say that this is the tea that I reached for to help me get through this day. I thought that a lapsang might send me over the edge into being snarky at people (not good), so this cup of fou-fou would both help me to A. wake up and B. not kill anyone. I love a good tea that helps discourage my homicidal tendencies ;)

I also decided to try this tea at a lower temp to see if it helped with the odd and unpleasant citrus aspects I had experienced upfront the first time that I tried this. It worked! It was a wonderfully pleasant cup. :) TG

Oh floral joy! I have found my “Ultimate Cup of Fou-Fou!” It’s like I went through a beautiful garden, picked a bouquet of fragrant flowers, and then made a tea out of it. Oh, I must have this on hand forever and ever!

The dry leaves had me worried. It really smelled potpouri-ish. I actually wrinkled my nose and had to hope that steeping would mellow things out a lot (and it did – maybe not a lot, but it did enough).

The aroma smelled wonderful: a heady mix of earl grey, rose, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on – but I knew it was floral. Um, yeah, turns out it was jasmine ::blushes::

The first four sips were actually horrifying. The first sip I recoiled slightly – it was like a little salty/citrus bomb went off in my mouth. Second sip the icky lemon/lime taste/sensation started near the back of the roof of my mouth and traveled in a straight line partway down my throat. It did that for two more sips. It really was a bad sensation that that I’ve never experienced before. I set the cup aside and hoped that cooling it a bit would help. I waited maybe a minute and tried again. The “citrus yuck” was gone and all the yummy sweet florals came out ::Hallelujah Chorus starts to play:: TG

I am getting a slight dryness to the back of my throat which started near the end of the first steep, but I love this tea’s taste so much that I don’t care. I’ll live with it. The only thing I adjusted on steep #2 was that I added a minute. No weird citrus sensations with this cup. I’m dying to try this iced!

And you see that Preperation Detail right below here? The one that says 205 degrees? Well, for the first time I can attest to the truth of that statement: my Pino Pro electric kettle came last evening and from now on I’ll be within a few degrees of accurate temperatures! ::does happy dance::

Not a huge coconut fan. Not a huge rooibos fan. Not a big fan of this tea. I’ll keep experimenting with temp/time to see if my mind gets changed. I just got an initial smell and taste of barley and that was it. A coconut barley. Maybe this is what the outside husk of the coconut would taste like if I gave it a lick? It’s just not doin’ it for me (and I really wish that it did!). M

As a long time fan of Adagio’s golden monkey, I thought I’d try this version. It was decent, but didn’t quite pack the punch that I was anticipating. Next time, I will try to make it a bit stronger.

I am apparently in the minority here, but I was not thrilled with this tea. Overwhelmingly lemongrass up front! You get the ginger a little bit after, but even that seems to have a bitter bite to it. Really worried it’s not going to mellow, that the green won’t balance it out..

I think I must have done something wrong here. This tea was top 5 in Flavored/Blended Green at the 2008 World Tea Championships, and to me, it’s just bitter. The water was fine, the steep time was fine (maybe a bit long?), the proportion was fine.. I really don’t know for sure what happened.

Going to try second steep, see if it helps any.

And it did! Perhaps I let it steep too long the first time. Second steep MUCH less bitter, but still almost medicinal.The lemon definitely carries over from the smell to the taste, although it loses some pungency. The ginger comes to life in the steeping, but I really still can’t find much green in there. Maybe guo lu is milder than what I’m used to?

Definitely relaxed a bit as it chilled (thank you, overenthusiastic office air conditioning).
I think I prefer this iced, but I’d be wary of how to steep it well. Brewing a cup and letting it chill gently seemed to do very nice things to it; will have to experiment further!

light and floral, If you like green teas but are still new to oolongs, I would recommend this tea.

To check out a more detailed review…see my blog! http://wp.me/pQxcK-2l

This is a wonderful green oolong tea… its smell is fruity with some floral undertones and the taste is very robust for a green oolong. If you like green teas but are still new to oolongs, I would recommend this tea.

To check out a more detailed review…see my blog! http://wp.me/pQxcK-2l

Enjoying this tea during gossip girl tonight.

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Water: 22 ounces filtered boiling
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: green tea, vegetal
Steeped Tea Smell: green tea, vegetal
Flavor: sweet, vegetal, green tea, followed by astringency and a touch of bitterness
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: slightly bitter and astringent
Liquor: translucent yellow-green

The steeped mate doesn’t look too different from the dry mate.

Really similar to green tea, only you don’t get the same fast caffeine high and crash after – it’s more a little bit of energy to keep you going. However, I don’t suggest this as a wake up cup because it doesn’t kick you awake and say FUNCTION! I do think it would be an excellent follow up cup(s) after your wake up brew.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/teas-etc-loose-leaf-mate-tea-yerba-mate.html

I can’t remember if it was Soccermom or AmazonV who sent me a generous sample of this tea. Thank you so much for passing along some of this highly rated tea to me! I’m glad I finally had an evening which called for a rooibos.

The smell of this tea alone reminds me of warm summer evenings sipping pina coladas, rum and diets or any other sinful drink. So much coconut!

The taste is divine. I love how much coconut flavor shines through in this. It reminds me of my aunts coconut dream bars that she brought to my bridal shower last summer. Of coconut pudding. It is sweet. I think this is an excellent pairing for red rooibos. Must get more! (but must wait until May or later as I need space in the cupboard and room in the wallet).

I love drinking a pu-erh in the morning. Probably because it looks like coffee. This morning, this cup from teas etc. hit the spot!

I usually love pu-erh tea, but this one tasted particularly fishy this morning. And not in a good way.

This is a an average pu’erh. The flavor profile is rather one-dimensional. I enjoy drinking this in the mornings at work because it is dark and strong enough to be a good coffee alternative, and the pressed mini cakes make preparation simple.

Thanks to SoccerMom for this sample. This one is just OK to me. Comparing Adagio’s Golden Monkey w/this one, it seems that the Teas Etc. just does not have the bold flavor as Adagio’s version…..

Chinese green teas are very underrated in the tea world. I encourage all the Japanese Tea fans out there to try a Chinese green tea today.

This one is light and only slightly vegetal. A perfect complement to the Thai food I enjoyed for lunch.

Look, I know there’s lot’s of crazy insane reviews on this one, but, I’m just not feeling it. Maybe it’s an off night for me, but this tea is average at best on my palate. No lingering tail notes. Nothing really upfront to blow you away. It sure is beautiful, but, even the dry leaf doesn’t look as appealing as what I had hoped for given the reviews on this board.

I love it when a FREE sample rocks. The smell it melt your face, even with the small little bag I opened up. But, you can taste all the good parts of it right away…sweet, not bitter lemon…surrounded by the slight taste of ginger (which I know well from my love of Moscow Mules). This sample will likely turn into an order.

I got this tea as a free sampler from teas etc. It has a very weak, unimpressive flavor profile. I even tossed the leaves back in for a minute more steep time, but the flavor did not improve. It was packaged in a small clear plastic bag, so this tea might have gone south due to prolonged sun exposure in their warehouse.

Finished up what I had left…this one will be missed, indeed! Creamy, sweet, coconut…much like yogurt!