The Tea Spot

What is it about the weekends that make it impossible for me to write reviews? Well, it just really, really is impossible. I try, but I get too busy.
This weekend was no exception! I went so many places, and did so much stuff, including my beloved Dickens Faire (as a woman who owns her own bonnet, its impertitive I get to go watch people in hoop skirts dance around, and listen to readings from a Christmas Carol by Dickens “himself”.), and a trip to the circus (I love the circus.)
Monday feels both like a rude awakening, and a return to schedule. I like the schedule bit. And speaking on schedule, I’m due for another “try it or sip it down” tea.
I’m fighting some sort of sinus-y thing, which can’t quite commit to being a cold, so I’m going for a strong tea with ginger. Ginger is medicinal, right?
This is very strong, but neither as smokey or as gingery as I was expecting. I did give it a very light steep time, so I’ll try it again with different parameters, to see if I can coax out more of that smokey flavors I love in lapsangs.

Brewed hot. Full disclosure I’m not a fan of rooibos (the licorice herbaceous type flavor reminds me unpleasantly of detox tea), but coconut and rooibos are a perfect match. I only wish the coconut flavor could completely overwhelm the rooibos actually, although that’s probably not what most chai drinkers or rooibos drinkers want.

So I’ve been mindlessly sipping on this at work for a while now, and today marks my last sachet (I am determined to sip down, as I’ll probably have some Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping to do).
Its rooibos, I’m afraid. There a hint of cookiness to it, but its not particularly gingerbread. Just fine, nothing special.
Oh well, another sipdown!

Part of my Tea Spot set of sachets.
Theres rooibos here, but also a decent amount of ginger in this. I don’t quite know that I get “cookie” out of this, but it is gingery.
ETA, I was only going to have one cup of this today, but then my boss turned on the air conditioner. In November! (We live in a warm climate, but still….)
So a cup of warmth was needed STAT.

Killed this off this afternoon, as an accompaniment to a post-lunch shortbread cookie.
Its been a good work tea, nice without demanding a lot of attention. That’s the sort of tea I can really get behind as a work brew.
It was nice, but I won’t be seeking any more out.
Sipdown!

Early side effect for the medication for the Badness is that I feel a bit queasy this morning. Bleh. Its supposed to pass soon, and the good news is that this medication does not require many doses, so its nearly all behind me now. Yippie!
Makes me wish I had more mint and ginger with me today. Peppermint chocolate tea will have to do.
There was an extra touch of creaminess in my cup today, I’m glad to say. All very enjoyable.

This is a tea that’s easy to drink without really thinking about it. A perfect work tea, in that respect, as it allows one to sip and shuffle paperwork all at the same time.
I drank a cup down this morning, when I first needed some pick-me up at the office.

I’ve had a few sachets of this since my original review, and I’ve reordered my thoughts somewhat.
In terms of chocolate mint teas, I like Harney and Sons version better. Its richer, creamier, and generally feels more like a mint chocolate.
This is thinner, and the chocolate note is fading to the mint note. But its not bad. I’m certainly not going to have any trouble drinking this, and I’ll even enjoy these cups.
Ahhh, but a cup of tea is nice this morning. It was a long weekend, very busy, and not as much sleep as I’d like. I forsee much tea today.

I recently got a little kit of Tea Spot sachets, a holiday kit. This, a gingerbread rooibos, and a white tea with chestnut are now all in my possession.
Its a little early for the holiday flavors for me, but I’ll make an exception.
This is more minty than chocolate-y, and that’s alright with me. I like a peppermint black a lot.
This is a little weak, so I might try two sachets next time, and see what I come up with.

Today I am heading out to the pumpkin patch to get the annual gourds to decorate my porch.
So, there is only one thematic choice in my cupboard for today, and this is it.
I’ve added a sugar cube, and am pleased with the result. It mellows the somewhat bitter taste it can have.

It’s my moms birthday today, and we’re going to have a wonderful day of fun things together!
In her honor I am drinking my first cup of this for the year- my mothers very favorite thing is pumpkin, so this was the only possible blend.
Omnom. It makes me feel like autumn is here.

I decided to have a pot of this with my morning writing session. Alas, I cannot get this tea to work!
It smells wonderful in the loose leaf, but it brews up bitter every single time! Argh!

Today is Pumpkin carving day! I shall make the gourds smile!
So really this was my only option for the day. I steeped it less then I usually do, and that helped with the somewhat overpowering bitterness that can come on the tail end of the sip. It did help!

Its October, I can have pumpkin teas!
I still have a lot of this left over from last year, so I’m determined to drink it down this year.
It smells divine. Spice, pumpkin, it all smells fresh and wonderful. But it always brews up bitter to me. I tried a minute less today, but still bitter. I will have to try it for a couple minutes less and see.

I decided this tea would be my morning cup, smelled the leaf and had a wonderful sigh of contentment. It smells so lovely! Why not be drinking this more often?
Riiiight. It turns super bitter super quick. The next time I am going to watch the steep time like a hawk.

My morning pot of this came out bitter again, which is making me go hmmm. It smells so good! Why cant it taste as creamy as it smells?
I’m going to try it next with a very light steep time, and see what that does.

Ooof, what a morning.
My plan was to put a pumpkin soup in the slow cooker, so that it will be all ready for me when I get home. Hooray! I love the slow cooker! And its an easy recipe! And soup!
But I could not find my can opener for the pumpkin, and so the morning involved a lot more rushing about than I anticipated. Memo to self, prep more the night before on slow cooker days.
But the thing is now plugged in, set to low, and the soup is (hopefully) on the way!
Happy Halloween! While I was chopping and prepping I was drinking this.
I still need to tinker with the steep times. I think this might require a lighter hand then I am used to giving.
But on Halloween, none but a pumpkin tea will do!

I made an error today, I let this steep too long, and it got bitter. Drat. I can see that this one needs a careful eye.
Its Pumpkin Day! My family has only two major holiday traditions, the first is the whole Christmas Tree ritual in December, and the other is this, Pumpkin Day.
We take pumpkins very seriously here, and the carving of jack-o-lanterns is a serious business.
So today we’ll pack up to the local pumpkin patch, find our chosen gourds, and take them home.
I confess, I’m always as excited as a child to do this. Its one of my favorite days.

I have long lamented that most things that are “pumpkin spice” have no pumpkin, just pumpkin spice. Now, the spices are very nice, but I loooove actual pumpkin, and so I’ve picked up all sorts of things, only to be saddened that theres no hint of pumpkin in them, just cinnamon and cloves.
So I was delighted when my sister told me about this tea, which was not just pumpkin spice, but actually had pumpkin in it! I hit order very quickly when the floodgates of autumnal teas opened.
And ahh, this smells wonderful! A fabulous balance of pumpkin and spices. I could stand in my kitchen and breath this in for a long time, which would weird anyone out looking at me, but hey.
I’ve brewed it up, and it is very nice. I do get the spices, but there is a touch of that creamy pumpkin as well.
I steeped this for five mintues, but I’m going to try it next time for four, and see if I can coax out even more pumpkin flavor!

Sororitea Sisters sent me a sample of this to review. I really wondered how I would do this one because I do not drink coffee. It is way too bitter for me and I don’t want to doctor it up with milk and sugar.

What a nice surprise this tea gave me! It smelled like coffee and tasted a lot like coffee, but it wasn’t bitter at all. A coffee drinking friend had it with me and liked it so well that I sent the rest of the packet home with her and I ordered four ounces for me.

I am really eager to have my daughter and my future daughter-in-law try it since they love coffee.

I had this tonight with cinnamon toast as my late night snack, because it is caffeine free and I don’t have to worry about being kept up all night! Yay! Plus it is hearty and therefore it was a great beverage to cut the sweetness of the cinnamon toast and clear the palate.

I have a feeling I am going to be ordering a lot of this one.

Finished off this one today – not making nearly as much progress on sipdowns today as i’d hoped, but such is the life when you have a conehead dog lol