Various Artists

My husband and I just recently got a van, so now I can get out of the house when he’s at work! Today I went to the mother’s group I’ve been eyeing in the church bulletin for the last several months. I really enjoyed it and the boys wore themselves out playing and are both taking naps now : ). I made a travel mug of tea to take along. I threw in some cacao tea – both vanilla and plain, cream and vanilla black teas, hazelnut honeybush, a bit of chai spices and some sweetener. It steeped for a couple of hours, but it was quite good. A bit bitter, but it had a rich dark chocolate taste, with hints of black tea and cream. I definitely count it as a win!

So, today I decided to mix together Adagio’s Vanilla and Cream Black teas. I assumed I would probably like it since I like both separately, but wow, I was not expecting them to taste as good together as they did. The Cream tea on it’s own is one of my favorite black teas out there, but the base has a tendency towards bitterness. The Vanilla doesn’t have as much of a problem with bitterness, but it’s a little boring in my opinion. Together they are greater than the sum of their parts. Creamy vanilla goodness that was naturally sweet with notes of dark chocolate. It kind of reminds me of the smell of a vanilla latte- smooth and sweet and rich. It makes me wonder what this would taste like with cream and sugar, but I didn’t want to risk ruining this cup to find out this time. Maybe next time. I have a feeling I’ll be drinking most of the rest of these teas this way.

Cinnamon Bun Tea

4-6 oz boiling water, 1 bag Pau D’Arco, several dashes of cinnamon, French Vanilla creamer and Milk to taste. It tastes delicious, and remarkably like a cinnamon bun!

Blended a teaspoon of Green Rooibos, the last of my Mandarin Orange Spice (less than half a teaspoon), and a few clementine peels. It was pleasant and warming, but not really anything special.

My first tasting note since the baby was born!

Made a cup with 1/2 tsp Mandarin Orange Spice (Celestial Seasonings), 1 tsp Peach Tranquility (Teavana), 1 tsp chai spices, and a few pieces of clementine peels. It tasted quite good, lots of orange and spice, so very autumnal and festive, but the peach flavor seems to have gotten lost. I’ll have to try it again with a bit more peach.

The baby was born Thursday afternoon after a relatively easy labor. I’m home from the hospital and feeling pretty good, which is a welcome change from my last son. My toddler has been kind of clingy, but seems to be taking well to being a big brother. The first thing he did when he met his new brother was give him a kiss (so cute!). I’ve already had several cups of tea, but mostly things I’ve reviewed before. So nice to be back!

My husband loves sweet tea. Lately I’ve finally gotten around to start making it for him, mostly because I got an awesome tea brewing pitcher at a sale at Teavana. I’m alternating making it with dirt cheap black tea, and more interesting (and expensive) stuff. This time I used 6 teaspoons Vanilla Oolong (Adagio), 5 teaspoons Cream flavored Black tea (Adagio), 1 teaspoon ground Vanilla Beans (Mountain Rose Herbs), 1 teaspoon Xylitol, 7 Tablespoons sugar, and 8 cups water. I cold brewed it, and it turned out quite nice. It was too sweet for my personal preference, but aside from that the flavor was very interesting. My husband said it tasted like a sweet vanilla coffee drink where you can’t really taste the coffee. I think I would really like the combination with less sugar. The cream and vanilla flavors complemented the black tea very well.

Tried a variation on my pregnancy blend. I used raspberry leaf, apple chamomile, a honeybush/rooibos blend that I had added some vanilla extract to, a bit of ginger and some xylitol. It was somewhat sweeter, and the hay notes were much stronger. I really couldn’t taste much of the grassy flavor of the rasberry leaf this time. I was pleased though, since the apple chamomile and honeyroo were blends that I didn’t really like on their own.

I’ve almost finished the Pregnancy Tea I ordered, and I have a bunch of raspberry leaf from Rose Mountain Herbs, so I decided to try making my own blend. For my first attempt I added a bit of peppermint, a few small pieces of clementine peel, and a couple dashes of ginger. The flavor was fine, but it immediately triggered my heartburn, so I took a few sips, then dumped the rest and tried again.

For my second attempt, I added 1 tsp raspberry leaf, 1/2 tsp honeybush, 1/2 tsp chamomile, and a couple dashes of ginger. It was quite good, with a mild yet complex flavor, and it cleared up my heartburn right away. It tasted like a warm summery meadow- grassy, with undertones of hay, wood, flowers, and a hint of ginger. I think I’ll keep this base recipe and try adding different variations to it.

I tend not to enjoy chai that I buy premade, as it tends to be much too sweet for me, but while driving to the beach I was at Sheets and craving Chai, so since they have a whole bar of things to add to coffee I bought a teabag and added spices, flavored creamer, and milk. It was quite good. And it gave me a nice burst of energy to keep the trip from exhausting me too much.

This evening I made a blend for my husband. He asked for a Vanilla Hibiscus blend. I was a bit dubius, but used 1/4 tsp. Hibiscus, 1 tsp ground Rosehips, 1 tsp ground Vanilla Bean, and 1/4 tsp Xylitol. It was delicious! The tart, fruity taste of the hibiscus and rose hips were really nicely balanced by the earthy vanilla. My husband decided I had put in too much sweetener (he loves the super-sour taste of Hibiscus), so I ended up drinking most of it! I will likely make this again (though probably not till after November, as I get heartburn in the second and third trimester of pregnancy).

(Backlog from last night)

This week, an Instagram tea friend gifted me with one of the nicest care package I have ever received. Teas, teawares, gemstones, silk pouches….I was overwhelmed.

This person is a wonderful being…

Most of his teas are pu’erh, unique and very special cause you can’t just go and purchase them…they are for the most part private reserves.

Among all those puerh teas, there was a pouch that just caught my attention. Flowers!! Chrysanthemum buds that he blends himself with rose petals.

Not only is this blend the prettiest thing I have ever seen, but it also tastes like heaven. IF you like florals of course.

I am a notorious insomniac. He told me this might help me relax at night. I was skeptical, cause really, no infusion ever helped me before.

Well guess what…it did help! After quite a few steeps, my eyes became heavy and a soothing wave of relaxation started to flow inside of me.

I brewed it in a small glass gaiwan, and it steeped forever… I had to stop and go to bed.

This is such a nice discovery…Tea people are just the best peeps I know!

Pics:

http://instagram.com/p/vsXV4Fwh6s/

http://instagram.com/p/vsYI3lwh9i/

albertocanfly and gmathis, this is totally your fault ;-)

All this talk about mint has inspired me to brew my favourite. Had to wait for my wild mint to grow first. I tell you, this recipe requires a lot of skills…you need fresh mint, boiling water, and a clear glass mug.

That’s it folks!

This is what you do. You fill the cup with LOTS of fresh mint, leaves and stems. I usually take one large bunch so everything is attached together. My personal favourite is sweet spearmint.

Poor some just boiled water in a glass mug in order to watch the show. Don’t cover, just watch the leaves dance, they will become a vibrant emerald green. Wait a good 5 minutes and start sipping. Don’t remove the leaves, the tea will become even more flavourful as you drink it. Will never become bitter.

I learned to do that about four years ago in a Thai restaurant. When I asked for mint tea, that’s what they brought me. I fell in love with it. Who knew mint tea could be so easy and so much more flavourful this way!

I planted my own mint that summer…it still grows and has become a bush. I can have sweet mint tea all I want, it’s so relaxing and helps me feel at peace, especially at night.

For those who have never experienced mint that way, a must try :-)

You know those wee little packets of enough black Chinese tea to make a big cup that only have Chinese writing on them so you have NO idea what they are? I’m having one of those now. I really wish I knew what it was. It’s nice and chocolaty with lots of body. I got a shitload of these little bags one day and I’m glad I did as they will be good for my travel bag and the tea stick.

I still have some sheng leaves left from yesterday that I will likely be getting back to today. Right now, I’m being MzMicrobe. Terri has inspired my microbiologist side. I’m working on: Root Kimchi (recipe by Terri), milk kefir and water kefir using my new kefir grains. After lunch I’ll be making some blackberry cobbler with the blackberries from my garden with a batter using almond flour and a recipe thoughtfully provided by Terri. In between I’m trying to organize my tea.

Custom blend: Harney & Sons Chamomile and Harney & Sons Yellow & Blue

I decided to reinfuse the spent sachets of these two teas and together they produced a fine second brew! I actually like this ratio of chamomile to lavender better than the Yellow & Blue alone, which sometimes seems too heavy on the lavender—depending on my mood.

This is my very first entry under the Random Steepings category. I came up with this idea while lamenting the lack of chocolate in my glass of Chai Diaries Chocolate Chai. Here’s the combination:

1 sachet Chai Diaries Chocolate Chai + 1 sachet Harney & Sons Valentine’s Blend

The result is okay. I noticed the chocolate chips in the Chai Diaries sachet this time, which I did not take note of last time. Now I am wondering whether the reason why I did not taste chocolate was that the sachet did not contain any chips? It was a good glass of chai, but not at all chocolatey.

This time, with a sachet of H&S Valentine’s Blend, the brew is predictably more chocolatey. It should be twice as strong teawise, but it does not really seem to be—though I may pay later (at 3am) for drinking a double dose of caffeine at 6pm!

I also see that there is one of those foody oil slicks (à la Teavana) along the surface of the liquor. The chocolate chips, by the way, were completely whitened, having been exposed to air. They looked old, and I am not sure that they are helping much here. In fact, they may be hurting.

I’ll stick to drinking Valentine’s Blend on its own in the future. Or maybe I’ll try it combined with Kusmi Spicy Chocolate…

(Blazing New Rating #65)

Update on me
Nothing but the regular stuff lately. I have been on a decline again and my health has been keeping me out of the kitchen. Hoping to be better again soon, but my finances are in shambles and stuff just doesn’t seem to want to work out for me. I try to keep busy and keep positive but sometimes it’s so hard.

I did find that antique tea set at a yard sale the other day that I posted about on the forum. (http://steepster.com/discuss/8144-antique-tea-set-find) And that cheered me up a bit. But lately has been so hard. I want to start tasting the free teas I got from … Oh now I can’t remember. A company sent free tees for reviews. I’m going to start tasting them and reviewing them soon. I just haven’t had energy the last few days.

Regarding that, I’m hesitant about posting this here, but I really have to try to get the word out and I don’t have a lot of channels. I started a fundraising campaign over at YouCaring.com with the hope of managing to raise the funds I need to actually receive the medical treatments I need. I’ve been hesitant about doing this for a long time, but I’ve exhausted other options. With my health getting worse, it’s become less and less possible for me to make the money in other ways and now I need treatment badly.

So if anyone here is interested in donating to help a fellow tea-lover who has been through hell, or if you can’t donate, if you could at least share my campaign, I’d really appreciate it. Regardless, thank you for reading this, and sorry for bothering you here.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/hope-of-recovery/206559

If I said I was sending you a tea any time recently I just sent it out today. :)
Carol who Cheri Cameron B Mandy Tea is on the way!
I didn’t buy tracking numbers because they’re a buck a piece now.
So if you don’t get it within a week ish, let me know? Okay :)
It should arrive in 2-4 days.

As for tea, this morning I didn’t have time for tea so tonight I’m going to have some again. I am thinking I want another caramel matcha latte.
Red Leaf Teas, my only complaint with you is you don’t offer samples on all your matchas. If you did, I’d be ordering SO MANY right now. >_< I HAVE to have more of this caramel tho.

OMG http://www.arborteas.com/pages/vanilla-chaiscream
Arbor Teas accepted my recipe submission guys! I’m stoked! :D
Go check out the recipe for my Vanilla Chaiscream and make yourself some! :D
If you try it, please tell me what you think! :D

Ah the beautiful catch-all. This is useful.

I just wanted to post today to say I haven’t had any tea today.
It’s crazy no? I got up and wanted a latte, but things have just been so weird and busy today that I never got to it. I plan on sneaking to my sister’s bathroom later and borrowing her garden tub to take a luxourious hot bath with a latte in hand (I’m thinking Birthday or maybe Blueberry decaf if it’s late by then), playing some Sequentia, lighting a candle and incense and reading some more of /Skin Game/ by Jim Butcher on my Kindle Paperwhite.

Boy I can make myself sound fancy for a broke, out-of-work artist…
I guess when you take join in the cheap stuff… ;)

Well, I may just follow that up with getting my wifey to pamper me up with some foot cream and biofreeze on the joints afterward. Yeaaah… >_< Gosh I sound old.

I swear I’m not! >_< Not very.

Anyway… I am taking a few days off from trying new teas as I have been hankering hard for the stuff I really love since I have done nothing but try new ones for the past couple weeks. I really wish I could afford an electric kettle right now. I want one so badly. Making tea takes entirely too long for as often as I want to drink it.

This is another one that isn’t actually a tea, but is a beer made with tea! Schnozzleberry Griffin by Shorts Brewing Company, my favorite Michigan brewery.

It’s an American wheat ale with oolong and blackberries. It’s outstanding. It starts out blackberry and finishes roasted oolong.

It’s also storming like crazy now. The power has blinked at the brew pub several times. Hopefully the B&B still has power.

It’s been a night of good beer and great company.

This was a hodge podge made from all my used Butiki leaves from yesterday with lots of ice overnight in my carry mug.

Unfortunately, my allergies are kicking my ass and I couldn’t really taste much. I got a lot of nutmeg at the very end. It did feel creamy in my mouth, so that was good. I really want to try this again.

I figure I could at least log this one. I had Odd Side Ale’s Afternoon Delight beer tonight at the bar. It’s got berry tea in it. I wasn’t that impressed, though. It does taste like berry and like tea…kind of like iced tea that was made from tea bags that sat in the tea too long. Oh well. It was interesting, and I only tried it because it was the tea beer.