2252 Tasting Notes
I pulled in the photo of the bagged version of this tea; I have loose leaf at home: this is also the company that once put out my gold standard favorite strawberry tea ever, but I can’t see that they are currently purveying anything.
At any rate … we did a carry out lunch in support of our favorite restaurant: a mom and pop Thai place. Ahh…after days of my lousy cooking, fresh pud thai and tamarind chicken! And though I am not much of a jasmine fan, for some reason, I craved this for dessert. It is exactly what it says it is. Decent green tea with jasmine. Since this isn’t a regular drinker at my house, that is absolutely adequate.
I finished the cup to the last drop several minutes ago, but the scent is still there. Maybe that’s it — I just needed a good sniff of spring!
Sounds like a lovely meal! We tried to support our little Chinese restaurant which is just a few blocks away, and after the phone rang for a really long time I checked online and saw they have closed temporarily to stay safe. I hope they make it through this financially,
We are trying to support our local shops too. This has been a hard time for them.
Eelong sent a sample of this my way, and this morning, it’s a perfect antidote for the glooms outside.
Steeped it in my ToastTea thermos, and managed to retain enough self control not to break into it until I had arrived at work (yep, still here; part of a skeleton crew keeping the lights on). It was so-o-o-o worth the wait! One light, golden-brown cup of sweet clover and hay, and I was able to coax a viable second steep out of it. Extremely drinkable and pleasurable.
So glad you liked this one! It’s one of my personal favorites, such an easygoing cup. :) Can’t get to the inbox again, but I just got your package in the mail and I’m so excited to try everything! Thanks for the generous selection. <3
I just pulled some of my favorite odds and ends that you might not have seen or have readily available. Have fun!
First backyard mow of the season tonight—the yard is never quite the same two years in a row: this year, it looks like sweet clover and those weeds with the little purple flowers are the winners (I had a friend who called ’em “Mousie in a Canoe.” She was right. Turn them sideways and you can see it.)
So I think the weeds and dandelions subliminally influenced my evening choice. All the same, this is gentle, mellow, and peachily fragrant. A good spring steep.
I hope it will turn into flowers here soon too!
Wishing you some warmth and sunshine, inside and out! Milder weather and time outdoors is good medicine.
Serendipity! A friend just shared an article about my “mousie weeds.” I like that much better than “purple dead nettle.”
I see the mouse in a canoe.
Neat! It is not a familiar weed, but I see it likes alkaline soil and ours is very acidic. Perhaps that is why I haven’t seen it. I will be looking for “mouse in a canoe” now, though.
This was a treat from Eelong…luscious thick leaves that were at least half a hamster long (no, I don’t know why I chose that unit of measurement, but that was my first impression and I’m sticking with it!)
I neither measured nor steeped scientifically or precisely, but this was a very forgiving tea anyway. Had the gentle graininess of honey wheat bread, and although I was likely influenced by the “purple” in the moniker, the fruitiness I detected was grapey. A lovely serving of toast and jelly to accompany me out the door.
We jokingly call Revolution varieties Truck Stop Teas because we first found them at the local Flying J/Denny’s and were surprised to see such a sophisticated selection rather than food service grade stuff.
Revolution has made this one deliberately fruity and peachy. I have often compared the flavor of good oolongs to Juicy Fruit chewing gum, but this one is so sweet, I’d call it Fruit Stripe Gum flavor — you know, the 30 seconds of flavor you get until it goes away. Very tasty and pleasant.
This, however, does not make the husband cut. Way too fruity. His oolongs must be toasty and oversteeped enough to bite your tongue. So far, his only consistent request is for inexpensive Bigelow bagged oolong. Eh, I tried.
Elsewhere, a friend of mine has been posting “daily joys” as a reminder that there is still joy to be found when you ponder it. Mine yesterday was a few hours of bona fide sunshine to walk in and watching neighbors try to pose their six-week-old husky pups for a photo session. I’ll be watching for yours.
Daily joys! Yesterday I made myself tear away from news and take pictures of tiny, tiny weeds blooming in the yard. It felt so good!
My husband is working non-stop since last Friday to prepare quarantine facilities at the military base. So it stays on my mind a lot. I am working on the whole “keep calm and have a cuppa!”
Many of my music students have opted to cancel, so I have more time on my hands, too. but it will all pass!
Daily joys? Does it count I was productive and did few pages of my semester thesis?
Drank some few nice teas?
Did not went mad?
Actually the last one was toughest one. As everybody else is working from home, there is not much space to study. Moreover I felt like I am nanny of the house. Do cleaning up, vacuum the carpet in the living room, bring some food, cook – like I am having a holiday, but I am not!
Productivity and a clean house—definitely!
I repaired a new coworker’s bicycle Wednesday. Thursday I don’t remember anything. Friday night I read a long and loving email from ashmanra (yours is in the making, gmathis). Between yesterday and today, I slept 16 hours. Today, I wrote a letter that needed to be written for months.
Sunday—one laundry basket full of teaching supplies that had been blocking my hall closet for (ahem, a while) now somewhat sorted and dealt with, although I still zigzag at that particular spot even though there is nothing to zigzag around.
Monday morning—-SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!!! I was running out of yellow clothes.
Wednesday serendipity: on my route to work (yep, still here)—two young deer standing in a fence row next to a field of Bradford pear trees in full white bloom.
That must be wonderful view gmathis. Kind of I envy you :)
We’re right on the borderline between prairie and the Ozark foothills. Ten miles north and west you get flat pastures and wheatfields; Ten miles south and east you get gentle, rolling mountains which should be covered with dogwood flowers in a couple of weeks.
My work setup isn’t favorable for anything that requires attention, so I never do green teas there unless they are bagged. This is a viable option. It’s toasty rather than spinach-y and seems to be pretty forgiving on time and water temp. Perfect for this purpose.
Eldest loved the green mint one but it was discontinued. She has a gift for falling in love with about-to-be-discontinued teas.
Ditto, but amend that to “about-to-be continued ANYTHING!” Tea, erasable highlighters, cookies, pizza sauce… Our Natural Grocers still has a few of these steep by Bigelow varieties. I’ll have to see if I’ve reviewed the Dandelion Peach. It’s tasty.
It could be the sheer delight of putting my feet up in the sunshine after a high-intensity adventure with kids (more on that in a minute), but my first sip of this novel tea made me go “ah-h-h-h-h!” with eye-rolling pleasure. Sweet strawberries and cream, even without adding milk. Separately, I’m not getting the rum or coconut, but together, this is sweet, creamy, fruity magic. Flavor holds up reasonably for a second steep as well. I’m putting this on my “next trip” list in a larger quantity.
End of tea review. Adventure time:
Eleven kids, four adults, five breakfast casseroles, one coffee cake, 35 dirty dishes, three boxes of plastic gloves entirely used because “these are getting slimy,” one dead battery on the church van and an accidental triggering of the burglar alarm at the homeless shelter. My little team was on sausage-browning patrol. Your heart would grow three sizes like the grinch watching these kids doing grown-up sized acts of service. Mine’s about to bust.
Orange-ly juicily lemony, with ginger that warms your throat all the way down. This has steadily climbed up my list of evening favorites, especially when I’m in need of a little coddling.
