Featured & Popular Tasting Notes

Oh, MzPriss, I don’t know how you do it. I would DIE with only that much sleep. But this is an excellent tea for the middle of the night….the morning….the afternoon lol

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this one yet…I love the new vanilla too! ( 3am? We are creatures of the night…)

@mj – I don’t know how I do it either, but I’ve been doing it so long, it is just how it is – but hey! at least I have good tea to do it with

@TFI can’t believe you haven’t reviewed it either!!! and yeah 3 am – we really are creatures of the night. I get some books read that way though :)

Yep, thank god for tea and books! Lol, I went to bed at 5 and it looks like I’m up now! Oh well, at least I don’t have to go to work, so no complaints here. And I,m like you, been going on for so long, I’m used to it!

It’s impressive! My brain does not work if I get less than 7 hours of sleep, which makes lab activities pretty difficult….plus it makes me pretty cranky. I guess I’m just a big baby when it comes to sleep haha

You know, for the most part, I love my life pretty well. I am fortunate to have a job that while extremely intense and stressful, I love it, I’m good at it and I work with really great people, I live in a place I love, have sweet little house with a HUGE yard and a great garden and I’m really lucky with my the friends I have – but seriously – not being able to sleep reallyreallyrealyrealyreally SUCKS it and I envy those of you that can. I would give up a significant amount of things to be able to sleep.

I had a serious struggle with insomnia for about a year. It is an awful feeling and I sympathize with you MzPriss. All you want to do is sleep and your body/mind will not let you. My husband could fall asleep in 2 mins once his head hit the pillow so he never understood. I hope you are able to find ways to get as much rest as you can.

Awww thank you. It’s been going on for years and I manage it, but I’m really envious of people who can sleep. And having GO in the middle of the night and a good book helps :)

@MzPriss, are you reading anything good lately?

I have been a Creature of the Night for most of my life. When I was 6 I was prone to wander in the middle of the night. It started with wandering around my house (mom was a very heavy sleeper & dad was in the navy). I’m hypersensitive to a lot of things, including sounds, so I loved (& still love)the silence, plus everything looks so amazingly different in the dark, there is a soothing quality to a lack of color. My wanderings took me into my back yard, then into my front yard. All around the neighborhood. I laid in the damp grass, looking at the stars. I became life long friends with the moon. It came to a screeching halt when my friend Jill spent the night & we went for a full moon stroll in our PJs. We played on the school playground, walked all over the place, then some lady asked us why we were out at night.
“She was spending the night & got scared, so I’m walking her home” I replied (creativity has it’s perks…including the ability to make stuff up, just like that!).
She kept driving around the block, so I slipped into stealth mode & we went into my next door neighbor’s backyard, thinking we gave her the slip. When she was gone, we silently crept back into my house, & tried to go to sleep.
Next thing you know, the doorbell rang, then Mom’s voice, “Terri…”
Busted! That lady had called the cops!

I go through periods of late nights activities, & if I start to do anything, especially of a creative nature, after 10pm, I’ll be up til 3:00. But I have noticed as I’m getting older that I require at least an average of 7.5 hours of sleep. I can get by on 6 for a few nights, 3 occasionally, but my body really needs the rest.

Oh terri, we have so much in common…I’ve been that little girl too…still am I think. You were right, you do have some fairy blood! LOVE your story, thanks for sharing :-)

OMG this kind of freaks me out that we all have this in common. I used to do what my vraother called “waking the house”. She had an old house with creaky floors. I believed that I knew where all the creaks were and that she didn’t hear me when I did all my roaming. Although she thought I stayed IN the house and just walked around – I always always went outside and walked around her neighborhood. It was a small town and I would walk around, climb up into the big oak trees, play in the park and I spent hours upon hours upon hours looking up at the moon.

I have no idea what a “vraother” is. That was supposed to be grandmother. I hate doing this from my phone :)

@mj – I’m reading a yoga book right now called “The Subtle Body” and I’m also working my way through that tea shop mystery series. The Indigo tea shop one. I do ’t think her writing is all that great and she gets a few tea things wrong – like the being stores in glass jars – but they pass the time OK. What are you reading?

Ok…this is freaky. My story is at my grand parent’s farm. Acres and acres of land. I’d go bare footed also in my nightgown with the dogs and climb the the apple trees. I’d just stay stay there and look at the moon.

You gals, your stories are amazing :-)

(And I can’t get passed vraother, I’m snorting out loud!!! )

Yeah – bless my heart, I’m laughing too.

Seriously? You girls are the only people I’ve ever known that did this besides me! Unless you want to count adults with Alzheimer…

ROFL!!!!

My vraother (I decided to embrace vraother) wanted my mom to take me to the doctor because she was worried that I “walked the house” all night long and thought I was sleep walking and might hurt myself. I was totally awake and I like outside at night. When we lived in the country, my hub and used to take futon mattress out onto our top floor deck and sleep out there if the Mosquitos weren’t too bad.

My own vraother would sometimes join me :-) no wonder I,m an insomniac, I got encouragement!

Awww, the futon thing is adorable…

I go sleep outside in the Gazebo all the time…especially when it rains.

LOL I sleep on my back screen porch when it rains. It just never rains here enough anymore :(

And I LOVE that your vraother did it with you! That is awesome!!!

I never night-wandered, probably because my parents put a healthy fear of being abducted/and or murdered into me (you can’t blame them; they both worked in law enforcement and saw a lot of terrible things). I did, however, like to go out and swim in the pool late at night, but my mom or grandma was usually with me. I got away with NOTHING lol and even when I thought I got away with something, I found out years later that my mom knew and just let it slide.
MzPriss, I’ll have to check that tea shop series out! I just finished the second book of The Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss. It was ok, but not great. I needed a stand in for game of thrones and it’s kind of like that.

My mom started giving me a nightly ‘hot toddy’ of warm milk with a bit of brandy in it, to get me to go to sleep. Of course, this is before they realized that alcoholism is genetic, hahaha.
Pretty soon I was coming to let her know I was ‘ready for my hot toddy’, & she realized maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. When the brandy bottle ran dry, that was the end of hot toddies…

So cute! What’s your secret of keeping garlic ! Mine stunk the house and hubby said its either him or garlic. I bought a lot on farmers market

Those bunnies are so adorable :-)

Just read your Golden Monkey/breakfast post, now this one – I’m jealous of both.

Oh, those bunnies are so cute.

Boychik, I’m hanging it from the pipes in the basement, at least for now. There are photos somewhere in my FB page of the first garlics & shallots I harvested this year & braided. So the soft neck garlics are being braided, & the hard neck ones are just being hung up from string until they dry out, & then I’ll cut the stems off & put them in a basket, I guess.

Ok I have to put them in a basement otherwise … I don’t mind the smell actually but I have allergies. I should look up pics on FB

While you’re there, friend me!

BABY BUNNIES!

We have so many rabbits in my neighborhood already, it’s ridiculous. They aren’t even hardly afraid of people, they are out all day, but at night it’s like they are taking over the place, they are everywhere.

Makes me think of my time at UVic. It got to the point where the university set up a spay/neuter plan for the rabbits. Catch, fix, release. They were burrowing under a couple of the old buildings, but people got so upset with the idea of a cull.

We also have foxes, hawks, owls, raccoons, & coyotes in the area, & although a lot of people are freaked out about that, I personally love having so much wildlife around, & of course rabbits are food for all those other creatures.

We ended up with one or two cougars living on campus, which was a little worrisome because they can be large and dangerous cats. Puma. Those things. :)

We get reports of mountain lions in St Louis county every so often. :)

I’m so excited for my order to arrive from MissB too. Eeee!

That is AWESOME because I have some waiting for me at my mom’s.

Second steep is good too. I got 2 cloves in my tsp so it’s a little clovey, but if you keep an eye on that you can mitigate the overpowering effects. :)

this sounds EXCELLENT. reading this made me happier.

Did you get some too? Or did you want some? Or has MissB already packaged some up for you? Also… when are you meeting up next week because I want to come over and see everyone?!

Heh. The Simpson & Vail stuff – all of it – smells delicious. My kitchen smells like I’ve been baking and making candy all day! I have a huge box here for JustJames, and blanking out if there’s any Gingerbread in there for him… if there isn’t, I’ll put some in.

yeah only downside to S&V teas – they are SUER strong smelling and will contaminate your other teas in swaps…just be careful of that hahaha

Tin foil, Sil. Not just for hats anymore. ;)

..or windows heh

Yeah just fair warning. I know with our order from ages aago it made my whole house smell…had to lock them down in tins and containers heh

I’ve already transferred one into a tin, and am emptying another tin today for the other. :) I only got two, and I’m so pleased with them!

Is tin foil the trick? I had to remove the Apple Cinnamon Coffeecake from my cupboard for fear it would “infect” my other teas.

If you can’t get hold of odour proof bags, or use tins, then yes. Tin foil works really well. Try to get the thicker stuff or it rips super easily.

yes tinfoil is great! it’s how i wrap my matcha swaps now…inside a bag then bag into tin foil :)

Ooh, thanks for the warning, OMG. I love cloves anyway but it sounds like this one is balanced with other stuff too. Don’t want pickled beets in your tea. :p

My mom commented that the parcel was quite strongly scented, especially the root beer. Tinfoil it is!

Root beer is probably the most strongly scented one, that I can tell. The (beautiful!) paper bags don’t do a good job of keeping the smell contained, however after having my stuff here next to me for a day or two now, I’ve noticed the smells have dissipated. I will however have to pack these all up well in tins and whatnot. Already thinking of ordering more, especially the candy cane, which is just available for a limited time.

ummmm….. absinthe is booze, is it not? the banned hallucinogenic one from france (in its legit form)….. there’s no mint in it, is there? 9so clueless, lol)

okay…. yes mint, (teachable moment for james) but holy hell…. also pure grain alcohol and WORMWOOD?

It’s not entirely banned! We bought some when I lived in Alberta because I wanted to see what the fuss was about! It had some wormwood in it as well, but now a days you can’t get ones with enough wormwood to make you hallucinate. (apparently)

I was only able to drink HALF a shot and even that was a struggle. My friends had 2-3 and it was enough to really mess them up. That’s enough for me!

You can get it in BC, or you could a few years ago, but maybe not with the wormwood.

i have a friend with a friend who has a legit/legal distillery in the EU. it’s not allowed to be exported. not to anywhere in north america at least. you can buy the name and the soft stuff in liquor stores…. the real stuff (again i’m clueless) one shot equates to several hits of acid, apparently.

Yikes. Yeah I think I’d be afraid of that!

yeah. i know a few people that travel to the EU in order to indulge. soooooooooo not my thing. nice enough individuals, but we aren’t close, lol. i hve no prob saying chemicals like that terrify me! and (surprise, surprise) they think i’m allergic to them anyway.

ARE YOU WATCHING THE XMAS INVASION????

=0)))))))))))

I WISH!!!!! We have company and I’m the ONLY WHOVIAN HERE. :O
(Until TK gets old enough that I can get her to watch them with me. I’ll probably watch it at 3 AM once I’m alone!)

so many things i want to say but won’t…….!!!!

Tony set it up to record for me. I’ll watch it tomorrow when he takes a bubble bath (yes, real men take very long bubble baths).

you better believe real men take bubble baths! although to be honest i prefer bath salts…. but that’s just personal preference. =0)

we drink wine and tea while bathing too…. and if we have waterproof phone cases we play video games! =0P

happy 1000!

Ha! Tea Sipper’s the only one on the ball!!

HAPPY 1000! (wow)

My parents got some absinthe with wormwood in it at a BC distillery.. :) Also, Merry Christmas, Happy 1000, and eat all the cookies you want. :D

w00t happy 1000!

i missed this somehow. grats on reaching 1000 lady :)

Plus they send fun little presents with your orders. This one came with a plastic horse head finger puppet :)

haha awesome!

I have several pins, a couple of sheets of stick on tattoos, & a coaster :)

i never got anything in my first order with them :(

I love this one. Also try Caravan w/ bagel creamcheese. Best combination for me.

OMG I WANT A HORSE FINGER PUPPET

The horse finger puppet is slightly creepy. Cool, but slightly creepy.

64 left; why don’t they go on sale!!!

welcome back! I’ve missed reading your reviews.

:) thanks

It sounds truly “nonpareil.”

BTW: Fun? I would weep if I had to do anything more complicated than turn the computer off and on again. And sometimes then.

Welcome back! Congrats on the new computer!! Upgrading can be a pain, but it the long run, it’s SO worth it.
This tea sounds interesting too! :)

Have to tell on myself – when we were installing the RAM, I commented how amazing it is that they could pack 8 mb on one little stick. My son looked at me and said, “What is this, the 90’s? They’re GB’s not MB’s!” Yeah, that’s why he was there. lol. Once the hood is closed I can generally figure out how to make software and hardware work together.

LOL, so exactly how old was your old computer?

Uhm, well, I could still run DOS games. lol

LOL!
My first computer had half a mg of Ram, can you believe that? That was before Windows, & everything was just DOS commands.

Memories. My first computer ran on DOS 2.0. It had been my uncles and he totally ripped off my mom when he sold it to her. Oh well.

My first computer was a Commodore Vic 20. When was that – early 80’s?

The fried computer we just replaced actually had 1 GB RAM. I just had a brain fart and it amused my son.

Another true story – when I was working I helped introduce CAD computers in to our office. The first units were IBM machines and cost $20k each + software, in mid ’80’s money. We had 3 of them networked to a single 70 MB hard drive. yes MB. The IBM guy told us we would never need anything bigger. How times have changed.

yyz, my dad sold me that crappy computer, LOL. He didn’t think I’d ever need anything more. He included a few games with it, with the favorite one being something called ‘FaceMaker’, I think.
I made him buy it back a year later, once I had a chance to look around & realized just how crappy it was.

Good for you Terri, my mother never said a thing to my uncle…
Sadly he sold it to her in the early 90’s. It was his second computer, before he got into Macs and after the commodore he built from a kit! Still better than the one one of my friends was reminiscing about where you would have to download each page of an essay onto cassette or it would crash. My uncle did include software, some games and an interesting diskette of early virus’s.

A diskette of viruses? LOL!

It sounds as though you had an amazing time! also interesting to read the comparison of the demographics. And I’m glad the hangover is on its way out!

I did have an amazing time! For me a concert is really my happiest place. Music is just such an important part of life for me. Thanks, I’m glad the hangover is pretty gone now too. It really is interesting to see the difference in the younger and older sections. I couldn’t help but think, yep I’m old enough to be your parent though to a lot of the people that were around me.

OMG, the hangover was totally worth it I’m sure (but glad you’re feeling better!)
Hey, this guy is 56 years old, he could be most people’s grand daddy in the audience and yet he’s so NOT out of place!! Does he still play “Cars”?
Sorry about your foot still hurting, but I so agree that concerts are meant to be experienced standing and jumping, no place like a concert to make you feel young and alive :-)
(I’m always part of the “older” section too but I don’t care, lol!)

Feeling great now. He really isn’t out of place. I think his voice is even better now than when he was younger and he has such a great energy on stage. Yes!!! He played cars yesterday. Got to hear Are Friends Electric, Cars, and Down In the Park! Those are still my favorites. The song selection was outstanding.

i have a fond memory of going out to some goth night thing on a whim years ago with my now-husband (which is so funny for me to do because my husband and i are big squares) and at the end of the night they blasted “are friends electric?” and “metal” among other things and we had such a great time. a week later husband gave me a mix tape full of the songs we were happy to hear that night (they also played iggy pop’s “the passenger” and BEF’s “optimum chant”!) and whenever any of those songs come up i get happy and lovey dovey all over again. so i can imagine actually getting to hear that live (!) and dance and scream must’ve been awesome!

and i agree, i barely drink anymore (thanks, tea!) but on the occasion when i do and wake up feeling funky b vitamins and tea and something carby for breakfast help a ton!

ifjuly-Aww, what an awesome story! It really was fun to scream sing and dance. Gary Numan is just starting to grow on the hubby and he does get excited for the older songs. I’m not much of a drinker myself. It only took me 2 beers and 2 shots to get the hangover.

^Also, mix tapes are the best!

when i get bored sometimes on long car rides i try to come up with mix tape songs for very specific themes. /nerd and aw, that’s the best when the partner gradually gets into something you love! and yeah, i’m a total lightweight now bc i go months without drinking, too wrapped in tea—3 beers and i’m already lightheaded and about at my limit! crazy. but cool too, i suppose i can joke now i’m a cheap date. :b

Love themed mix tapes! That’s awesome!

I’ve done a lot of mix tape trades with people from all over the world. So much fun!

I haven’t tried this one specifically, but the more my tea palate expands and matures I have found that Sournenee is one of my favorite estates. They actually have a website for the estate that is apparently maintained by the estate, not a reseller, which is something I haven’t found much of when I just do searches on the estate names. Their store is somewhat frustrating as they seem to have products that I would like to try, but can’t see a way to put them in a cart and they don’t give a whole lot of detail – like I’m not sure what flush they are selling… :) But interesting nonetheless. And the overnight packages sound really cool. :)

http://soureneetea.com/

nice! thanks for sharing lady, i’ll have to check it out :)

(i think your web browser might be broken? i was able to go and add something to my cart…)

No, I can add stuff. But if you look under Tea Chest/Specialty Teas, they have things there that are described as though they have them there at the estate, but there is no indication that they sell them through the site. Or at least I can’t find a product in the store that would correlate with the things in that Specialty area. Probably just my misunderstanding – they may be talking about specialty teas in general, not specifically things they produce.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

oooh, I want to go stay there :)

Blarg, I’m not a big fan of estates doing that but oddly enough it doesn’t look like they are selling their Black Blossom, which we are about to add to our website.

Oh, good! That’s the one I wished was in their store. Plus, I’d rather buy from somewhere that I’m not paying shipping directly from India. :) And again, I’d prefer a site that went into a bit more detail, like what season the tea is from.

And I must have placed my order just a hair too soon! Ah, well. I’ll probably be out of something else soon enough and have to place another order! :)

Nicole-The one we are selling is 2nd flush from 2013. We were late to the game on that one. Initially, we were selling this version but once I tasted the Black Blossom, I decided that we needed to switch. So this tea isn’t being sold anymore but the Black Blossom will be.

Nicole-If you want to add some, let me know. I could price it out for you.

Yay!

Sil – Glad you like it!!

Black blossom….mmmmm….

That website is pretty new. I always google tea estates and I know it wasn’t around last flush. The teas up for sale are almost certainly 2014 1st flush.

I have been thinking about this tea for the past few days. However, I am trying to get through my swap teas first and then I can return to my stash so no Banana Pudding until then.

It really is delicious and worth looking forward to!

It can be my reward tea for getting through my swaps :)

It tastes like banana medicine? Oh man, I love banana medicine!

It absolutely does! people will either love it or hate it.

What medicine do you take that tastes like bananas??

Usually Penicillin is banana flavoured.

Yeah. I don’t think adults ever get the banana version though, sadly. :(. I’d take that shit to work in a timolino.

It’s probably good that they don’t make banana medicine for adults. I mean, I do still get earaches (so much fun waking up not knowing which side you’re going to be deaf on that day) but if I had access to banana medicine, I’d constantly just be overdosing myself because I couldn’t keep to the recommended dosage!

Ear infections sound awful. And yes, I’d be in a constant state of overdose as well!

I keep reading the name of this tea wrong and it kind of freaks me out each time….I’m reading “Banana Black Pudding Tea”….. ew.

Lol :)

Haha!

Hahaha :)

Oh my god. I need to order some soon. It is on my planned order, but I might have to hurry it up. :P

i would advise more than .5 of an ounce. also zero no scent of flowers before you wonder.

Thanks James. I’m partly waiting to order because my last order with Nutmeg Cream and Champagne Cider has a sample of Hello Sweetie. And while I have no doubt I’ll love it, it means I may need to tweak my order to include some. But also, I may be going in with CrowKettle for a larger order to get free shipping.

This is such a lovely tea

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday :D

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you!

Yay! Happy Birthday, drink all the things with the sprinkles!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to you!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pov2sK_C3sY!!!! Hope the nails come out, they sound cute!

Thanks, everyone!

Happy birthday! : )

Messy, but sparkly. Whee! http://instagram.com/p/nLaE76x5Iq/#

Cute, very night sky-ish. :)

I really want to do galaxy nails. I just did this in about 10 min last night, though. Maybe next week I’ll take the time and get all fancy!

I don’t think I tried anything older than 2005. Wow, I’m so curious. I have to try it, TeaTiff send it to me in that surprise package fr Butiki. I just don’t have that special time to fully appreciate this rare tea.

I have some of this, waiting to be sampled :)

Stephanie-Real interesting to see your notes on this! I can definitely see the “essence of tree” notes! I was contemplating adding a smoke note to the description but it ultimately left it out since it was hardly noticeable on the first steep and with some rinses I wasn’t even getting a smoke note and I didn’t want to turn people away from trying this puerh. Glad you enjoyed it! :)

grrrrr terri imma stamp my feet at you!

Sil, I’ll start a new box for you…

oh no… no no…i’ll just place an order with stacy. haha that will get me less teas lol

Stacy for 100 ml gaiwan should I use 5 g, 7g ???

boychik-How long are you planning on steeping it? If you want to do longer steeps 30 seconds, 2-3 grams should be sufficient.

For shorter steeps, I would do about 5-6 grams.

I never measure anything when I gongfu brew. Mostly just eyeball the amount of room the tea is taking up in my gaiwan.

Short steeps. I think I’m bad when measure my tea. Since I don’t have a lot and I want it to be perfect that’s why I’m asking. My thinking in general that there is no bad tea, I just didn’t make it the right way…

Wow, great note!

Gah! Lol

This sounds good….so love a good chai

Sounds great! Can’t wait for more new straight teas to be up on the website :D

Sil-i’m pretty sure we added a sample of this one for you.
CelebriTEA-I’m so excited for the chai too, just not sure what direction to take it in.
Stephanie-Thats about it for straight teas. We just added the banchang and only have one more black Taiwanese tea left.

Banchang time! Wheeee!!!!

Banchang! :) so good!

This sounds amazing. I’m already working on the list for my next order from you, and my first isn’t even here yet.

Cheri-Glad it sounds good! Hahaha. :)

It rocked my tea world!

So glad you enjoyed them! :)

Oh, yay!! Was wondering how this one would work out.

Onto the shopping list this goes…

Nvm. Apparently it was already on there.

lol. weeeeeeeeeeeeeell…. i kindof have a bag. as long as a letter envelope doesn’t offend i could ship a bit off as a teaser? =0)

That is very kind of you. And I would hope letter envelopes are inoffensive as I use them to :O

Perhaps there is something I can send in return? Let me know! I will be going to the post office tomorrow so if anything tempts you I can have it sent out in no time.

I HAVE ENOUGH TEA FOR A WHOLE SEMESTER! lol. but, i’ll ask a favour? can you review the mityana tea for me if i include it? honestly. they need whatever feedback you honestly have. =0)

Of course. I review all the teas I drink :) And are you sure there is nothing at all I can send? I see Transsiberian Chai on your shopping list and I have about 40 g of it upstairs :P

I feel a need to play cheerleader again. Do it, VariaTEA! Send James the tea! :D

hahaha OMGsrsly, it might already be in the envelope…shhh

lol, geez. i can’t think of a chai i didn’t want to try. that would be lovely. thank you! OMGsrsly… now i see you with tea bag pom poms :0P

this sounds SO good.

That’s an idea, James! Maybe for Halloween!

i want a picture!!
Aimee Popovacki… you’re back! it’s a great tea. my favourite simpson and vail so far.

lol ya finally, but i’m behind in reviews haha… i dont even remember like half of what i’ve drank…. i definitely want to try more simpson and vail.. i’ve heard good things : )

LOL re tea Gschwenasdaposdinfoasdfklna. I feel that way about the name too. ;-)

:)

Have fun in Chicago…again…

going to be so peeved if i don’t get to go to St Louis because of other ppl’s ineptitude!

So that’s still undecided?

It’s so good with a shot of whisk(e)y and some honey… :D

I’m keeping my schedule open, just in case.

I am trying to get it settled as quickly as possible. :(

Sil, did I miss something and Canadians can sign up for steepster select now?

I noticed she was a sneaky Select member! I’m guessing she’s getting it shipped to her tea mule…

haha well, it’s a weird “i’m not sure what’s going on” sort of thing. I tried to take advantage of Jason’s offer on the free box for my tea mule so she could try out some new teas. As a thank you for all that she does. The code and everything didnt’ work, it was all wonky… long story short..uh i’m now the proud owner of a hideous orange growth, but only for a month or so unless my tea mule wants to continue with the box. I will wait until canada i an option.

Aww yes. Another fruit juice type tea for cold brewing on my list. :) Which other ones do you like from there? I’m almost out of a few of my favourites, so I’ll need to stock up with something..

I think my two favourites would be Berrylicious and Summer Fruits, with this one trailing behind. They both feel like they have more going on, although this is quite good too. I also had Juicy Cherry, and it was good, but it has rose, so you may pick up on it? Creamy Rhubarb was ok but I wouldn’t get it again.

Rose is OK as long as it’s not the main ingredient! :) I wouldn’t go for a rose tea, but the Fauchon teas are totally fine. I’ll definitely check out those other teas!

Now I have another company to check out for more teas to cold brew.

If you want stuff, I can pick it up and mail it for you. Or get MissB to mail it for you because I think she has an account. They don’t have an e-commerce site…

That is a very kind offer. Although I have so much that it is probably for the best that a company is inaccessible. I shall keep that in mind if I ever get desperate though :)

It might just mean more swapping in our future! :)

I thought you could email her an order? But I’m not sure how she would take payment. You’d think they’d take PayPal.

I think they do credit cards, but shipping starts at $14.

$14 shipping…ouch. However, I am always happy to swap :)

Me and Bayswater have yet to interact in-person. ;)

We should make plans to go out there after you’re through your work-crunch, MissB! That could be fun. :)

Gross, I didn’t think shipping would be so much. :(

And MissB, you just have to go sometime! It’s so nice to be able to smell everything.

I’m trying to imagine cinnamon and lavender together and totally failing in the attempt.

cinnamon and lavender…how’s that working out? a creative pairing, no doubt. i imagine this to be a clash of titans. did u enjoy this one?

Its kind of interesting, the lavender I have is quite a spicy one. In some sips they kind of create their own unique entity, while in others the cinnamon is kind of woody cinnamon hearts and the lavender comes off slightly powdery compared to some of my other lavender experiments. Mostly its a sweet spicy mix with a touch of brightness.

I’m actually enjoying it. I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but for some reason it was in my mind to try it.

Haha! I like reading about your little alchemy blend testings :-)

Oooh, interesting. I can see lavender and ginger being nice together… the cinnamon makes it a little scary, haha.

I’m not sure if I like it as much as the lemongrass, lavender, ginger but it did taste pleasant to me, I think I want something to deepen the base a bit, but I really liked the last half cup. I might add it to the coconut experiment sometime maybe I can get lemon pound cake with lavender ( I have had that before).

hahahahahaha so should I take the sample of Japon out of our swap or leave it in?

Also, did you end up getting anything other than Japon?

Feel free to take that sample back. :P Yes! I also got Je t’aime, Magicienne, and Grand Amour. Would you like some in the swap? They’ve already shipped (gasp!), so they’ll be here before the S&V we’re waiting on. :)

haha I tried Grand Amour and it was good but not for me. I would be happy to try some Magicienne though. I got a sample when I saw them and stupidly made it before realizing I was sick and couldn’t taste anything.

Of course! I will definitely add that one in. Eee! New teas!

Yay! Does it make you happy knowing that you have Japon on the way and you no longer need to hoard the sample??

Magicienne is my fave! Japon is a close 2nd .

I have a feeling it is really good but I could not taste the sample for the life of me. I was so mad.

Coconut loaf? Share recipe if it turns out well? :) It sounds tasty.

VariaTEA I am thrilled I no longer have to hoard haha! I ordered the 2×1.6oz option on amazon since it ended up being $5 less than the option with the tin. I was also thrilled about that haha. Also, now you will have another chance to taste it!

Stephanie Thanks! As if I could be more excited haha.

Nicole I definitely will!

Coconut loaf sounds exquisite.

Oh, that’s awesome! Was the shipping costs reasonable?

Cavo the shipping was just over $10 for 5 packages of tea at 1.6oz. each. The tins were slightly more to ship so I opted for the packages of Japon since I have an abundance of tins.

Want.

I need this tea in my life…shopping list.

Those are the best rooibos teas – the ones that don’t taste like rooibos. :P

Heh, unless you’ve received more tea in the last 24(ish) hours you now have less tea than I do :P But I’ll remember you like this one (I hoped you would because of the pistachio).

I just bought 15 new teas!!

With your 52Teas order? They don’t count yet – not in your cupboard atm ;)

No. I was not including that. I went to DAVIDs and CaesarsTea today and bought 15 teas in person. I have a problem.

If I include the 52 teas than you need to add an additional 19 on top of that.

My hiatus has been going pretty well, I must say :) Though, there may be 19 in total on the way to me, heh… RiverTea + Keychange + Cavo + Moraiwe + “Take It Away” thread.

I grabbed 10 g so I will cold brew that and see if I am left with anything to try it hot. I also grabbed Guava Cadabra and intend to cold brew it.

I like Guava Cadabra too, though I’m surprised you got it because of the hibiscus.

I tried Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait as a cold brew and enjoyed it so I decided to give Guava Cadabra a try that way just to see what happens. I figured if I grabbed 10 g that wsas probably just enough for one bottle cold brewed and so its nbd if I am not a fan.

So I just realized I commented here the response I meant to put on my Countess of Seville post. I was wondering where that went. Haha.

I didn’t even notice it was on the wrong tasting note! :C

That’s because our conversations transend boundaries :P

I wish the smokiness wasn’t there, that was the only thing preventing me from loving this one. At least I have LB. :)

That’s too bad, but at least the LB is always a great tea to have!

Stranger still, the last two times I’ve had this there’s been no smoke…. So it seems to be bouncing back and forth for me…

haha It’s such a light hint so maybe that’s why? It was more so in the first infusion if I recall…and either way, is such a tasty tea! Perfect for huffalumps as well, I heard. ;-)

haha hefflumps love smokey teas. it’s true :)

I knew it! :)

Yay! I sent you the rest of mine, but I’m getting ready for a Butiki order soon. :)

I gave in and added some to my Butiki order so if you are in need, I can send some your way :).

Haha thanks! I think I’ll survive. I have so many teas to get through as it is, and more on the way.

Says the girl with only 47 teas in her cupboard to the one with 122 :P

Hahaha! But I have a tiny wee cupboard! Half my Tealux and HI orders are “hidden” in my swap box so J doesn’t suspect cupboard “spillage” haha! You’re doing so well with your sipdowns though. :)

…says the girl with 122 teas in her cupboard where the girl with 150+ can hear…

haha. Courtney, I like how you are hiding teas. Luckily my roommate does not mind but I imagine when I move back home I will have to do the same.

And Sil, remember back when I hit 200 and said I was aiming for 150 and you suggested 175 :P. Go big or go home! Though, I got new teas today so I thought you would be happy.

ya ya you’re so awesome..blah blah kidding :) I’m just happy that i made my goal of 150 this month…since anytihng i’m bringing back from florida is “march” leaves me with quite the jump to get to 140 for the end of march, but i can do it!

I probably shouldn’t say anything or tea might just appear as it does to you :P. And you almost always hit your goal so I am sure you will get to 140 by the end of March.

*Cough*200+*Cough* I win. And by win, I mean lose. But also win.

Ooh I was just dithering over this one before I put in my matcha order hah.

I hope your eye heals up quickly!

Despite choosing the highest level flavouring for it, it barely tastes of anything? Maybe a little like bee pollen, but nothing too noticeable. So I’d only order it if you wanted it for the health benefits, but if you want something with a noticeable flavour, don’t bother.

And thanks! It’s just more of an annoyance than anything else. I wash my hands A LOT so what gives.

That’s what I surmised from all the tasting notes haha. I went with Rich Berry Pie instead. :)

Thank goodness your defence was yesterday haha!

Which level of flavouring did you go with? It seems like distinctive is more than enough for the fruit flavoured ones, lest they start to taste a little on the chemical side. But that sounds like one that should have a lot going on in the flavours!

Haha you’re right. It would have been such a stupid thing to postpone something over.

I went with delicate. I’m not brave enough to try higher levels of flavouring quite yet. This is only my second ever order with Red Leaf because I drink matcha so slowly. I also wish you could pick and choose with the deals which ones you want at a higher level. Although, perhaps a quick email could sort something like that out.

What was your thesis on, if you don’t mind me asking?

Yeah, I think that’s why they have different kinds of deals, so if you want them at different flavouring levels, you could perhaps split them in half and get 5 + 2 in delicate and 5 + 2 in robust. But then you end up with tons of matcha haha. I’ve really slowed down on the consumption too. The only way I rip through it is if I get into the habit of making multiple cold lattes on a daily basis. I once finished 30g of French Vanilla in less than ten days!

As for my thesis, I’m looking at a gradual sound change that has been occurring in various varieties of North American English since the 18th century. I’m seeing how far along the change is in the variety of English here, and conducting quantitative analyses with several possible factors which tend to affect rates of change in language. Sounds boring, I’m sure. :)

Less than 10 days, that’s crazy! I think that’s the trend I’m heading towards now though (though perhaps not quite so fast). I am loving the cold matcha latte. I was off milk for just over 7 months, so now I’m diving back into it. May as well start with delicious matcha flavours.

Haha, if it interests you that’s all that matters! Does that involve the sort of sound change that accents would produce? I thought perhaps it was in the biology field and I’d have someone to nerd out with. :P

Fjellrev, that sounds so cool! I love that you’re doing a quantitative analysis. :)

Courtney, phonological variation is part of a puzzle piece which comprises speakers’ different “accents” haha.

OMG, yeah, that’s kind of the funny thing about linguistics. No one really knows much about it, assumes it’s about learning random words in a dictionary, when in actuality we conduct experiments, test hypotheses, analyze spectrograms, some even work with ultrasound, etc, so quantitative analyses are pretty much a standard thing. :)

You’re doing SCIENCE! :D I’m used to non-science degrees being really subjective things like history and english. Haha. Archaeology has quantitative aspects, yes, but writing papers is a lot of BS-ing! “Based on this, a possible interpretation might be…”

Haha yeah, I think most people associate humanities with history and English, which further makes you think of subjective BS-ing indeed. There are some subjective aspects to linguistics too, depending on the sub-field. Interestingly, here, you can get either a BSc or BA in linguistics, but regardless of what you do in grad, it’s a MA. Yet back at U of A, they grant a MSc in linguistics, and up until the mid-80s, all ling degrees there were granted as BSc’s. So weird.

That’s actually fascinating. It always struck me as more subjective than quantifiable. Granted, I don’t spend a lot of time contemplating linguistics haha!

I will try this one day. I have it on my wish list! :)

Have you been stacking up the points on their site? :D

Can we talk about ‘mineral’ notes in tea? Are they like mineral notes in wine, i.e. anything from, say, granite to chalk, or is it more of a metallic taste?

I typically get an almost metallic-like rocky note in oolongs such as the one in this blend.

Is it red wines that tend to have more mineral notes? I’m allergic, so I never thought of it in that way. :)

No, they are present in both whites and reds. I find them far more often in whites, but that’s probably more of a personal thing. =)

Okay, metallic-like AND rocky. Good, thank you!

This is pretty illustrative of why I find the term ‘minerality’ a little hard to pin down when it comes to wine (towards the end of the page). It’s so random! http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/style/tmagazine/06tdirt.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

Oh interesting, I wonder if mineral notes are more present in the drier wines then. I prefer off-dry.

That’s a really interesting article! I’ll have to try to pay attention to these subtleties next time I have wine, which is rarely.

No, I don’t know anything about points on their site.

Seriously? You sign up and every day when you log in, you accumulate points. Then you can use them for rewards like coupons and infusers and stuff. Plus I recently found out that they still offer sample sizes. So ultimately, they make ordering really easy. :)

Even if you haven’t bought? Really? Huh, might have to look that up.

Yep! You just create an account with an email address and you’re set. Plus if you have Twitter, or link it up to your FB, you can accumulate extra by tweeting and liking their page.

Nice!

Happy Steepstervarsary!

Happy happy!

Yay! Happy Steepsterversary! :)

Yay! Happy anniversary :)

Yayyy!!! :)