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Okay, so this is the only tea that I’m going to log from my trip. We found a tea stand in the China area in Epcot’s World Showcase. As an adult, the joke among my family is that we’re supposed to “drink around the world” as you go through the world showcase. I had just talked my husband out of trying a flight of tequila in Mexico (there was standing room only and my feet HURT), so we had to start with the alcoholic tea.

The drink was a mango green tea bao bing (which is an asian slushie), and they add plum wine to it. I love mango green tea, I like slushies, and I LOVE plum wine. Sounds like a winner! My husband and I technically split it (because they do wine tasting in Germany and we didn’t want to get too drunk), but I don’t know that he got to drink much of it. I couldn’t stop drinking it.

So, I didn’t really get that earthy green tea taste, but I got a TON of sweet mango and plum taste. I couldn’t taste the alcohol because of the sugar.

Oh boy, though, it was excellent.

I almost bought a Yixing tea pot in China for $90. I’m glad I didn’t, since I found the same set online for $50. Wow, don’t buy teaware in Epcot!
http://www.mrslinskitchen.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=17820

We found another tea stand in Animal Kingdom (in Asia). We bought chai slushies from there (it was hot and we couldn’t stand hot drinks). They were average.

So, I’ve been in Orlando, FL with my family all week. I’m not going to bother trying to log the tea I drank while I was gone. I took some bags with me (Lupicia and Stash), but nothing that I only had a bag or two of, just stuff that I have plenty of so it’ll get logged at another time.

My Mom also bought me a cute tea ball that she found. Here’s a picture I found online of it: http://www.yourwdwstore.net/Disney-Tea-Ball—Mickey-Mouse_p_8196.html

So, I’m back in the office today, and congested and not feeling well from the travel. This tea sounded like it could help me feel better – peppermint for the headache and ginger for the upset stomach.

I taste peppermint, but not ginger. That’s fine, I wasn’t sure how they would mix. Perhaps there’s a bit of ginger right at the end.

It’s a nice tea, but more something that my husband would drink than me, I think.

Zarafina: black, loose, medium
sweetened with rock sugar

There’s a strong musky honey note dominating this tea. Detecting the pear taste is difficult, and I’m realizing that I much prefer teas flavored with actual bits of whatever rather than flavor oils.

I got this as part of Golden Moon’s sampler set, but I won’t buy it.

After several FAILS this morning, I went to an old friend. I love how fragrant and light this tea is. It’s very delicate, and just wonderful.

I only have 2 more bags and then I have to switch to the non-special grade for a bit. Not sure what the difference is there, but that’s what they had last time I placed an order.

Design a Tea’s Pumpkin Chestnut was so awful I ended up throwing it out. I figured that I might as well try the other sample I ordered from them and get it over with.

When I opened the package, the bright smell of pear hit me… hmm, this one might be better than the last. It’s rooibos, so I’m not sure what I was thinking mixing rooibos with apple and pear. Oh well, let’s see how it tastes.

The aroma is very sweet and fruity. The taste is also fruity, but not obviously pear or apple. Just sorta sweet.

It’s a middle of the road tea. Not bad, but not really good either.

Edited: It’s developing a strange aroma as it’s cooling. I think I’m headed for the kitchen sink with this one, too. Bleh.

No pumpkin flavor. Just black tea and (I suppose) chestnuts. sigh

Made as a “dirty chai” this time – half a cup of coffee, half a cup of hot water.

WOW, the ginger is really coming through this time. All I taste is ginger (and not the sweet gingerbread flavor, but real ginger). This is really peculiar. I know there’s coffee and spices and cream and other stuff there, but I’m not tasting it. The ginger is totally overwhelming it.

Tonight I remembered to drink something without caffeine. Go me!

The first time I had starfruit was on a family vacation during high school to the US Virgin Islands. Starfruit reminds me of the bright blue seas and days spent SCUBA diving and snorkling. I wanted a tea that would evoke memories of that sweet fruit and that vacation.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Oh, it’s not a bad tea… but it’s base is chamomile, and the flavorings (not actual fruit bits, just flavorings) aren’t strong enough to break through the chamomile. Chamomile is awfully strong… it was an odd choice for this tea, I think.

So, the major taste here is chamomile, then if you look for it you can find orange. Starfruit? Maybe in my imagination.

Again, it’s not a bad tea at all… just not what I was expecting from the name.

My Stash order arrived last night. This was part of the holiday sampler.

Yum, this is good. Taken with a bit of splenda.

I wasn’t terribly impressed with the packaging (cheap paper bag), but I was curious since one of the flavors listed is “Jamaican rum flavor”.

I know Chais are supposed to have milk, but I’m not much of a milk drinker, and I like this one pretty well even without it. Perhaps I’ll try it though with the other bag that was in the sampler.

I like it because it’s a smooth chai. It doesn’t beat you up with its spices, but the spices are still there.

Much more green tea taste than I was expecting – I couldn’t even detect any rice in this one. I suspect my husband will be drinking the rest of the box.