thepuriTea

Sip down! No way I’m going in to work on 3 hours of sleep…so maybe, just maybe I can catch up on some of my single cups that have been inviting to be had.

So final verdict on this Assam? It’s not the variety I really enjoy. It’s not a bad cup but its the wrong kind of fruity and it borders on being a little bitter/astringent even steeped at a lower temperature and brew time. I’m glad I tried it, but I’m not sad I’ve finished it up :)

I had this in the morning in my travel mug. It’s part of the joint order that Terri and i shared. I have to say on the whole, this is a fairly average cup. It’s not bad, it’s not great…sort of middle of the road for me in terms of assams. What does that mean? I’ll finish it up, but not order more and it’s another one to cross off my list of “all the teas!” :) thanks terri!

i mega oversteeped this and it is still freakin delicious!
i’ll still drink some down and then add some more hot water to mellow it a bit, but seriously this is a good yunnan. the dry leaf smelled VERY honey to me. like sweetener-added in the most delicious way.
i’m so so glad that i have at least 2 big cups worth left from what Shelley_Lorraine gave me in a swap. this is a tea i could get tea drunk on cuz i’d just have cup after cup after cup!
thanks for helping me through monday.

The 3rd sipdown of the day! (315)
The aroma of this tea is so nice & fruity, like stone fruit mostly, but also with a raspberry essence. There is also a really nice dark chocolate aspect, as well as hazelnut, especially in some of the middle steepings. Near the end it takes on more of a woods & rock kind of flavor. There are still plenty of steeps in these leaves, but I’m going to put them in a jar of water in the frig & let them brew there for awhile, as I think this will be tasty cold!

I started sipping on this earlier, Gongfu style, using 5G of tea to 4oz water. I did one rinse, which I sipped but discarded, as it was weak.
The dry leaf smells wonderful! Roasted Stone Fruit, raspberries, a hint of dark chocolate.
The wet leaf also has a very sweet & fruity aroma.
The initial flavors on this tea, however, were more like wood smoke or a woody incense. There is also a flavor of roasted nuts, predominantly hazelnut I would say, & a little bitterness. The fruit was there, but more in the background. Gradually those initial flavors subsided, making way for more of a sweet & subtle stone fruit taste.
I think I might try doing a cold brew with this, to see if the fruitiness becomes more prominent, although I enjoyed it as is.

Sipdown!
I’ve already reviewed this one several times. It’s a lovely yunnan type, twisted into snail coils, sweet & rich. I polished it off this morning, making a 16 oz dragon pot, steeped at 4 minutes, & then resteeped at 6.

I’ve been inundated with music to practice, life in general, & although I’m sure I must be insane, I will begin my nanowrimo project tomorrow at midnight, or maybe friday. We’ll see.

I’ve been enjoying a pot of this while teaching my first student of the day, a young lady who just won the “Ms. Metro St. Louis” title, which included here playing a very short 90 seconds piece on Harp.
I, of course, totally detest the beauty pageant scene, LOL, but if that’s what she wants to do, then I’ll do everything I can to help her play well. She’s actually a lovely young lady, taking 18 hours of college, working 3 part time jobs, & doing all kinds of other extra curriculars. In June she’ll go to the miss Missouri pagaent, so today we picked out her piece for that, or a few pieces to consider, but I’m pretty sure we agreed on the one we both like the best. :)

This tea is lovely. It’s a sweet & malty black bi Lou style, rolled up into little snails. I’d describe it more, but Tony is picking me up to take me out to a surprise lunch, then I have to go teach at UMSL, so no time to tarry here!

Backtracking – this was my first cup of the day, which I thoroughly enjoyed, including a resteep which I drank out in the garden while clipping weeds. My favorite garden tool is a pair of fiskar scissors. I just clip weeds at the surface, then leave them laying there to decompose.

This is a lovely tea, but I can’t really comment on it’s profile, other than maltiness, as that was hours ago!

For those who haven’t ordered from thepuritea yet, each of their teas are offered as a 1oz sample, or in quantities of 4oz, 8oz, & 16oz.
The sample comes in a little pillow box with 2 foil 1/2 oz packets. I ordered several varieties this way to split with my awesome tea sister, Sil. It will be easy to just tuck her foil packets into the next package I send to her. No baggies required.

To use, I just cut the end off the little bag, remove the amount of tea I want, then gently fold it over & tape it shut. Alternately, you could put it in a baggie, or if you have a little tin sitting around, put it there.
They give free shipping if you spend $50. Also, if you buy 4oz or more of a tea, they send you a free sample of the same tea, so you can try the sample & if you don’t like it, you can send the unopened bag of tea back for a refund. I think that’s a pretty cool deal :)

This tea is a sweet malty golden yunnan curls type. I brewed it twice.

The first time, I used a Tb of tea, steeping for 2 min, & then 3.
The first steep was deeply malty with a little, smooth & fruity. The 2nd steep had a wood element to it, & pumpkin seed essence. Both were richly flavored with a little butteriness to the mouth.

Then I tried a heaping tsp, steeped for 5 minutes. Wow! Malty, fruity, yummy, not a hint of bitterness, & in the background the distinct taste & tongue-feel of licorice root! Totally unexpected! It doesn’t have the sweet aftertaste of licorice, just the forward taste, if that makes sense to anyone, LOL.

NOTE Ignore the licorice comments, & read further comments below. :p

It’s August!
Last night I did my monthly tea inventory. I’m starting the month at 343 teas, a nice palindrome number. This includes samples, trades, & teas I’ve ordered recently…tea hiatus group, I think I need an intervention. You may all have to come to st louis & babysit me for a week to keep me from ordering anything else!

So, I’m starting the month with a plan for many many sipdowns! My son Leif started the ball rolling by polishing off the last of the Earl Gray Moonlight from Adagio. I continued the trend with this Golden Yunnan, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I’ve already reviewed it a few times, & although it may not be as awesome as the Golden Fleece, & it doesn’t really look like the photo, it is still a very drinkable & tasty cup of tea!

Teacount 341.

“Honey, I’m Home!”
And I’m so glad to be here. I got home last night, & I am convinced that the state of Florida hates me & wants to kill me. Every part of me was hurting…kidneys, guts, head, etc. I felt that way all week, with most of my symptoms gradually getting worse each day…aughghghghg.

18 hours later, I feel remarkably better, with all of the irritation gradually melting away. My appetite has returned as well. I put myself on an emergency GAPS protocol, ingesting only homemade stock (my freezer is full of single size portions) with freshly picked greens added. My guts are starting to work again! WHEW!

And finally, a cup of tea that tastes good!
(Falls to her knees, kisses the earth, reaches to the Heavens with a tear in her eye, & cries out to the Divine Universe), “Thank You!!”

The main thing I know about tea is how much I enjoy drinking it in it’s many forms. That’s not to say that I haven’t learned a few things, but the majority of my interest in tea is in enjoying it’s wonderful flavors, aromas, textures, even the novelty of it’s appearance.

I ordered some samples from thepuritea.com recently, & this is one of them. When I think “Golden Yunnan”, my mind say Dian Hong. I’m expecting something along the lines of Golden Fleece, which is the most wonderful & decadent Dian Hong I’ve ever had (& probably ever will).
Of course, my mind tends to be overly optomistic, LOL.

In actuality, this tea is a mix of gold, olive, black, 7 various shades in between. It doesn’t really look like the picture on the website, but that is not to say that it wasn’t nice to drink. The sample size is a little pillow box with 2 foil envelopes in it, each holding roughly 3 Tablespoons worth (about 12 grams) of tea. I treated this like I treat most yunnans: Use more tea for less time.
1 T + 8oz X 1 min (resteep @ 2 min, then 3, then 4)

It is a pleasant, malty, honey tinged, lightly buttered cup. The 2nd steep was even more so. 3rd began to fade, 4th = oh well….

Next time (if I remember) I will probably do 2 steepings of 2 & 3 minutes. All in all, it was a pleasant start to my tea drinking day!

I received this in a swap with Shelley_Lorraine. It didn’t have any brewing instructions so I dropped about 5 little pearls in the basket and hoped for the best! I assumed this tea would have a similar flavor to other black pearl teas I’ve had (dark, chocolatey, malty). But this doesn’t have any dark chocolate notes, maybe a little milk chocolate as it cools. Its a pretty decent tea, but I like other black pearls better.

First cup of the day, but I feel that I under-leafed this one, so I’m not gonna say much about it yet. Also, I haven’t drank my nettles for a few days & the downside of yesterday’s beautiful outdoor wedding is the allergy backlash that is muting my taste buds this morning. Nonetheless, I do feel a promising fullness & hints of a tea that is nicely bassy, if you know what I mean.
More will be revealed!

Additional Notes
We went to breakfast & I brought the rest of this sample along. I estimate it at 2 tsp, & it made for a nice cup. Nothing spectacular, but enjoyable. I’d like to say more about it, but that was hours ago, so that’s it for now.

And it is a sipdown!
This has been a tasty pearl, sweet & a little fruity, & I’ve sort of hoarded this last cup for awhile, knowing that the company closed & there would be no more. It is sad when companies don’t make it, but sometimes you just have to let go, right?

I’ve got a couple of swap boxes to pack up today, & I want to thank the people I agreed to swap with for their patience. December was such a crazy busy month, in a good way, but still very exhausting, & then I kind of hid out at Tony’s for a week or so. So I feel like I’m just finally getting my feet back on the ground, & I’ll have to take off running soon because I have my big annual Birthday Gala performance in a couple of weeks, & all I’ve played for the last month or so has been HoliDaze music. Gotta pull out my lead sheets & brush up on my Jazz, start warming up my vocal chords too, update my website, & promote the event so people will come! If you build it, they will come! :)

This is the ‘Pearl’ tea that proved to me that all pearl teas are not the same. This one features a sweet fruity richness, along with a little malt & a dark chocolate finish. I’ve enjoyed this tea, & have enough for one more cup, which I might send to a friend, still not sure who, & then it will be a sipdown. I’m sorry to see this company go.

I’m enjoying a much needed day off! No practicing today, no students, no gigs.
Last night’s concert was wonderful. We had a full house, including several of my students (who took up the entire front row), & I also saw some friends I hadn’t seen since my kids were young.
I played Midwinter’s Canon, a piece I wrote a few years ago that is a fusion of Canon in D & In the Bleak Midwinter. (A sample of it can be heard on my website www.harpsinger.net) I also played a piece I composed for this event, still un-named, though she called it Winter’s Light on the program, I think. Then we played Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, for harp & choir, which includes a Harp solo in the middle. It all went beautifully! And just like that, my hard work is done! I still have a few Xmas eve services to play, & 2 weddings during the week after Xmas, but none of those require much preparation.

Now the tea! As a fan of ‘pearls’, I’ve enjoyed this tea. The flavor profile of this one is different from the others, & I know there are people who think all pearls are the same, but I have found this to be incorrect. This one has a malt & fruity profile, very smooth, a little chocolate. I’m going back for the resteep, & am sorry to say I only have enough of these left for maybe 2 more sessions.

In January, I want to line up my entire pearl collection & do a real comparison, finally. I think right now I have these, teavivre, mandala, & Teavana. Anybody got any from anywhere else? Should we designate a pearl sip off day? :D

This has been a crazy week, with early morning gigs every day, followed by 3 – 4 hours of practicing like crazy to get the Ceremony of Carols down. Saturday I practiced for 4 hours, took a break for a few hours, then practiced another 3 before collapsing in my bed. Yesterday I practiced 2 more hours in the morning. The first performance, with the McKendree University Choir, was yesterday. Although I’ve worked my fingers to the bone, it paid off the the concert went very well. I’ll play this same concert with a different choir on the 21st, & I will continue working to perfect my parts between now & then.

BUT today I’m mostly on vacation! I started my tea drinking with these pearls, because I hadn’t had them for awhile, & I don’t really have much to say about them, other than I enjoyed them.
6 pearls + mug X 3/resteep 5

Home from the rehearsal.
6pearls + mug of hot water X 3 min (resteep 5 min)

All I can say is Thank you, I needed that.

Some of us have been talking about comparing all the ‘pearl’ teas to one another. This one is nice, bold enough, but with sweet fruity nuance. I steep 6 pearls in 12oz for 3 minutes, resteep for 5. The first steeping is sweet & malty, the second holds just a little bitterness but is still very drinkable. I think maybe last time I drank them I said I was gonna try a single steeping of 4 minutes, & I forgot to do that. Maybe next time…

I spent the afternoon prepping the Here’s Hoping TTB for travel.
It’s full & ready to go!!
Tea Sipper is in for a real surprise! Heheheheh
I also prepped the BBB Box, which going out to Sil tomorrow!
So drinking this tea was my reward, & it was also my pleasure!

I crawled out of bed this morning, make a cup of this using 6 pearls at 5 minute steep, drew a bubble bath, & … morning nirvana, folks. The tea was perfect for the moment, sweet & malty. That’s really all I can say!

Look what I found in Tony’s cupboard! I also found some Vanilla Caramel Assam (Butiki) AND a secret stash of Bilbo Brew (Adagio)!

We’re hanging out having a PJ day, being couch potatoes. Right now we’re watching “Ray”, for the third time. Jamie Foxx is so awesome in this movie.

This is tasty, malty, & a little fruity.

This was my first tea of the day, hours ago, & I’m just now getting around to posting. I don’t really have much else to say, but they are tasty. :)