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(really boring note here, sorry)
Hmmm, let’s see, what did I drink this weekend? We went camping south of Yosemite, and I swam in a lake that was full of sparkly flecks of pyrite or something. It reminded me so much of Glitter & Gold, but unfortunately I didn’t have any with me…
I had a sample bag of Lupicia’s Caramel and Rum, which was absolutely delightful to wake up to in the woods. Tried Harney & Sons Mint Verbena, which was also nice but kinda just tasted like mint to me, not that I ever drink just mint so I had nothing to compare it to… Drank one cup of Ahmad’s English Breakfast, and one cup of Revolution’s (I think?) Earl Grey Lavender, which was the only bright spot in an awful Sunday morning…
I started off the day with a random, reaaaally old bag of White Peony that no one was quite sure they wanted to drink… it turned out far more pleasant than I expected, although I did find it to have a very strong raisin-y note that no one else seemed to notice…
My dad’s coming back into town today, and I must admit I’m feeling a little anxious. Historically, we haven’t exactly had the most pleasant interactions… I’m drinking a green tea with hibiscus that my grandmother brought over from Russia, and it’s doing nothing to calm me down, but it did go fantastically well with the lemongrass and black pepper chocolate we got from the jazz festival, so I guess that’s the little spot of joy that I’ll hang on to for now.
Today I got dragged out to the Fillmore Jazz Festival, which was actually pretty cool, despite my general aversion to large groups of people. Unfortunately, it meant that the morning was rather hectic, and I didn’t get to enjoy my nice cup of tea.
I did try a blend attractively titled “Flailing Princess” from, I think, T-We Tea? at a booth at the festival. It was a darjeeling with rose petals and coconut, and it was actually rather tasty, although nothing spectacular. But the concept and the packaging were both cute, and I might have purchased it, if it wasn’t so expensive… So, I guess that counts as my new tea for today?
I wanted to have something tasty to enjoy at the gig tonight, so I brewed up an interesting iced chai that included the following, all sipdowns:
Adagio’s pumpkin spice, or something like that
Adagio’s Thai chai
Teavana’s cha yen Thai
Seems like there was another one, but now I can’t remember
The resulting tea is tasty, but nowhere near as strong as I had hoped. It’ll do though.
Now I want to watch MASH re-runs! :)
@Veronica… i know. whenever she drinks this tea the song for the opening credits is stuck in my head for days. alan alda! get out!!!
I actually did watch MASH! I remembered I have two seasons of it on DVD, so I popped one in and watched while folding laundry. How could I forget that Charles was a tea drinker?!?
hahahahaha….. i forgot about charles being the tea drinker, lol!
It was such a great show, its only fitting that it have a tribute tea, even though it’s a random suicide blend every time!
Big Sipdown!!
Leif & I combined the last of Sakura Allure (Teavana), Apricot Green (Adagio), & Peach Zinger (Teaves) into an iced blend.
The resulting tea is tart & tangy, & in all honesty, a little acidic for me, but Leif likes it. Thanks again Michelle.
I’m now at 301 teas, BTW.
What to sipdown next?
Major Sipdown!
Leif & I wanted a large batch of ice tea to drink all day, filling the gallon jug with the spigot on the side (which we forgot always leaks…I hate those things). So we didn’t have enough of any one thing, but we had lots of odds & ends that we never drink. Here is the list of teas that were combined & used up:
Tarocco Ruby Orange – Teavana
Wild Sweet Orange – Tazo
Lemon Zinger – Celestial Seasonings
Mango Tango – The Tea Spot
Earl of Grey – The Tea Spot
Organic Tangerine White – Frontier
Lemon Verbena – from my herb garden
Sweetened with Stevia
The resulting brew is Fruity, tart, & tangy! Also very refreshing when you come in from the garden!
Haha. I love this entry. And I didn’t realize you created the Random Steepings bleind either. Very nice!
:D
I made the random steepings page when I was really too busy to enter all the teas I’d drank that day, so I just entered them all together on one page.
While Leif & I were concocting our iced tea today, I said it would be a suicide blend (do they even use that terminology anymore? I think we originally used it for slurpies who’s flavors were combined into one cup, or soda or something).
I turned to him and said, “Suicide is Painless”.
Then I knew I’d have to enter it into steepster.
Of course, most of the steepsterites probably never watched “Mash”, so for those young people, “Suicide is Painless” is the name of the Mash theme song. (Neither of my college aged sons has ever heard of the show, so looks like we’re gonna be doing a Netflix film festival soon).
I’m pretty sure Loudon Wainright III once sang this during the show or maybe the movie. Anyway I remembered hearing it.
:) Well I might not have been watching tv when MASH was on the air live, but we’ve been watching the re-runs over dinner for the past few years. :) Great song – great name for a random tea mash.
I loved the song. My daughter combines her sodas suicide style whenever we go to a restaurant. Sonic still uses the term as well.
MASH is wonderful comfy-old-tennis-shoes TV. Some of the best wordplay in comedy writing I can think of. I loved Colonel Potter. (Saw Loudon Wainright recently on a Sat. Night Live Season 1 DVD; he performed it then.)
Sipping down TWO Butiki Teas today. Drinking my last serving of White Chocolate PTA now (SO many white chocolate chips in this cup!)
Later on I will have my last serving of Flowery Pineapple Oolong cold brewed :D
Project Drink All the Butiki Before it Goes Stale is going well!
:)
I always have such a hard time finding a balance of ‘keeping this for a rainy day’ and ‘drink this before it goes stale’. Sigh. But, good job!
I’ve heard a few people complain of their Butiki’s going stale…hence my effort to not waste them Courtney
I would say at this point, the flavored teas are no longer good. If they aren’t stale, they have all at least lost quite a bit of flavor unless they were vacuum sealed.
Doesn’t that mean it’s time to come back Stacy?! Please!! ;)
Stacy has spoken! Sip them down NOW if you still have some folks!
Let the Sipdown Parties begin!
@TeaNTees-I’m afraid not. :(
Today I am drinking a very tasty shou puerh sample from a friend. It is a MYSTERY puerh because it was from Grandness on Aliexpress…anyone able to read it? :)
Merry Christmas Steepsterites!
also…this is my 1,000th tasting note!!!!!!! throws confetti
I was torn on what tea to review for number 1,000 so I decided to cheat and not really make it a tasting note exactly. Right now I am sipping some delicious rice shou and later on I will drink more of the 2014 Damn Fine Holiday blend. If I have time I will try my sample of Carol from Lupicia that CameronB sent me :)
We are heading out of town to visit inlaws soon so most of my tea has to be portable!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season <3
Hi Guys!!!! I’m back from vacation :D
Is Steepster done acting up?
I am glad to be home where the good tea is. I was able to drink one decent cup each morning while on vacation but that was it, and since the water wasn’t excellent they were really only mediocre cups…
I did however find a place to buy a couple of teas in Vegas. My husband and I stopped at http://artisanalfoods.com/ and my husband picked out a couple of spices we can’t get in town and I got a little 100g 2010 Menghai shu brick (my first shu cake!!!) and a 20g package of Phoenix Dan Chun yellow tea which I am excited about. It was hella expensive but sounds delicious. I think they source their teas from Silk Road but I couldn’t find either one on Silk Road’s website. Anyway, I’m drinkin the shu now and it is really good!
I had over 1,000 notifications here when I got back, so please let me know if I missed anything exciting because I’ll never get through all of them! I’ll respond to my PMs soon though.
Missed you guys! :D
UGH bummer! I took a chance and bought an Asian tea I knew nothing about…so now I have several ounces of Vietnamese Lotus green tea and it is GROSS. Like, I’ll probably throw it away. At least it wasn’t too expensive.
Someone else was just talking about throwing away their Vietnamese lotus green tea! That stuff must be truly terrible
LOL
You win some, you lose some! ;)
Lol, mj, you are referring to James, I’ve had that one also from Tealux, it was TERRIBLE and I got rid of it too. But I’ve had another unknown one that was really good, so that’s right Stephanie, you just never know!
It’s my birthday!!!
I’ve had a nice relaxing morning so far. Woke up and made a cup of Laoshan Black (yum) and made a Dutch Baby with fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar on top (also YUM). Then my husband gave me some of my gifts…all were tea so far LOL!
He got me the Starbuck’s matchaccino copy from RedLeaf, and a HUGE box from Butiki including-
The Black Lotus
Blackberry Lime Guayusa
Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black
2009 Banchang tree Puerh (having that one now, SO GOOD!)
Kenyan Silver Needle
Stacy also threw in some excellent samples! Birthday cake (totes apropos) the NEW Chocolate Espresso with Strawberry Cream frosting (OMG can’t wait) and the phase one butterscotch chai trial, and a new Taiwanese Black! Thanks Stacy!!!
Tonight I’m going to a neat local event the call Zoo Brew. They close the local Zoo for the evening and people pay to get in and there are a TON of booths with food and beer samples of all sorts. My husband is actually in the local homebrew club so he will be there with 5 gallons of his donated beer (an Amber Ale) serving samples to the masses. The homebrew club booth is always the MOST popular…these guys are fantastic brewers but they can’t SELL their beer without the proper licensing, but they CAN donate it to events like this! People go nuts for their unique and tasty beers :) Anyway should be a great time if it doesn’t get rained out!
Happy birthday!
Sounds like a great start to your day! Way to go hubby on the gifts! And I love Dutch Babies, especially with honey. My mom has always made them for her kids on their birthdays. Wish there was a way to make them delicious without half a stick of butter.
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday, enjoy your tea. As an ex-homebrewer I’m sure the Zoo Brew will be a fun change of pace for your taste buds. Have fun!
Happy birthday!!!
Happy Birthday Stephanie, have fun tonight :-)
Happy Birthday!! Sounds like it’s already off to a great start!!
Happy Birthday!!!!!
Happy Birthday! Sounds like a lot of fun!
Happy Birthday, Stephanie!
Thanks everyone!
Dustin I will PM you my Dutch Baby recipe, we can compare notes :)
Happy birthday! Hope you have a great time at the Zoo!
Happy Birthday! Hope you have a fantastic day! Your hubby happened to mention that the teas were for your Bday, so had to throw in a sample of the Birthday Cake. FYI, the Butterscotch Chai is not going to happen. Just feel as though it is not right but it tastes great with sugar. Have fun at the Zoo Brew! That sounds awesome!
Happy Birthday amazing tea friend!!!! Have lots of fun !!!!
A late happy birthday to you! Butiki for birthday – perfect! We have something for kids called the Zoo BOO around here. haha.
I had Indian buffet for lunch and ordered a chai with it. Not the best tea ever but it went really nicely with the meal. SO FULL NOW! Buffets are dangerous!
hehehe, but so good ;)
probably a good time for a nap ;)
Now I am back at work and you’re right Terri, all I want is a nap. Buffet was a BAD PLAN! :P
You got some mint tea around?
I just dug through my tea desk. No mint…I’ve got straight ginger tea, or some shu. Those are my best bets I think!
you can even mix them up
Yeah, I think I might try that :)
Indian buffets are the best! The hubby and I are meeting some friends out for Dosa night tonight. For $12 you get all you can eat dosas, with 25 varieties. I’m going to be feeling like you soon. Hahaha.
I love Dosas! My husband and I made them once. They were trickier than most Indian dishes :) But so good and thin and crispy once we finally got it right!
Oh you gals made me hungry…now all I can think about is eating Naan bread dipped in Dal!!!
Stephanie-Nice! I’ve always wanted to make dosas but they look tricky and we don’t have a great flat grill.
TheTeaFairy I think lentils are my favorite part of Indian food. I love beans and lentils and Indian dishes are the BEST.
Stacy, my husband has a cast iron pizza “stone” (our ceramic ones kept breaking) and it worked perfectly for dosas.
Was it the place by the mall?
Nope, Marzipan that one is no longer a buffet :)
Stephanie-That sounds like it would work perfectly.
Buffets are the best way to go in my opinion! Love the choices.
I’m drinking a rose puerh tuocha this morning. It was in one of the Butiki Educational tea boxes, but I forget which one!
It is drinkable, but nothing special for sure. Kind of boring and not much rose flavor but it isn’t revolting or anything like that. shrug
I was thinking of the pu’erhs you’re sending this morning. I hope they show up soon!
Aww man, still not there? Hmm, well let me know in a week or 2 if they still haven’t showed and I’ll try sending another batch :(
No worries! It’s not been overly long or anything. I am actually just getting excited to try some new teas haha.
I am excited to hear what you think about them, too!
Butiki educational traveling tea box #2
Puerh #7
What IS this??? I’ve never tasted anything like it! It is fruity, has some faint malty notes, and vaguely reminds me of a ceylon black or a Darjeeling? I am perplexed! Quite tasty though whatever it is and I never would have guessed it is a puerh. It is light amber colored and not very dark brewed up.
is it possible its like this?
http://steepster.com/teas/nepali-tea-traders/32680-ruby-puerh
I do not know, but I emailed Stacy so hopefully I will know soon. 2nd steep is even fruitier!!!
Sounds interesting!
Stacy said it MIGHT be the 2009 banchang sheng she is adding to the website soon. I will just have to order some and compare my notes, but as apricotty as this is I bet that’s what I’m drinking!
I will have to keep a watch for this one.
Today I am off work, and having fun with the Butiki educational tea box #2 while I work on carving a new block print. Just finished 5 half cups of different first flush darjeelings http://twitpic.com/e2lpl1
Next I am trying puerh #7
Trying to decide if I want to do a side by side of all the Kenyan teas in the box this afternoon :)
Fun times!
Be sure to try that red jade one in the blacks.
Oh right! Thanks for the reminder :)
Did you see that weird green one, with the short fuzzy twists?
Yes! Snagged some for later…
I just sent off the Butiki box 1. I really enjoyed it. When do you have the opportunity to try a bunch of teas to see which of a certain type you really enjoy? It certainly was educational!
