Featured & New Tasting Notes

73

I haven’t been drinking tea much over the last week. My 2 year old cat very unexpectedly went into the hospital, and in a matter of days passed. She hadn’t had any other medical issues, and suddenly lost her appetite and became lethargic. What I thought would be a pretty routine trip to the vet, revealed a mass in her abdomen. Exploratory surgery revealed one of her kidneys was completely destroyed, and had to be removed. Everyone thought she would recover, being only 2. However, her body slowly failed over the course of a few days. She was put on oxygen, we were called, and she passed within 15 minutes of us being there.
Everything seems pretty empty and sad. My cats are my world, especially my baby Remi. She was so happy, so loving.

Apologies for the personal tangent, I’m trying to get back into doing things I enjoy (like being on Steepster).

This tea was really satisfying. Really deep cherry notes, and some chocolate maltiness. I only got 3 steeps out of it, before it turned a bit more leathery than I wanted.

tea-sipper

Only two. I’m so sorry for your loss.

AJRimmer

I’m so, so sorry. My favorite cat that I’ve ever had died suddenly from kidney cysts in February, and she was only nine. I still cry about it most days. It’s sad that kidney problems are so common in kitties. I hope you’re doing okay <3

Nattie

So sorry for your loss ): I’m glad you got to be there with her when she passed.

Michelle

Nothing will replace that unconditional love from a furbaby, but hopefully you have some good memories of a fun playful kitten to remember.

Barsomn

The exact same thing happened to my girlfriend and I earlier this year. Salem was about 9 months old. He seemed like a happy little kitten with lots of energy. Little did we know his kidneys would fail.

We were out of town for one night, but when we came back the next day he was pretty much unresponsive and already gone. It is never easy losing a loved one and especially when it seems so sudden and unexpected.

May you enjoy Remi’s memory in peace, tea helps calm the mind in trying times. I hope you can find the solace you deserve.

Martin Bednář

I am sorry for your loss! It is always sad to see pet go.

tea-sipper

I’m sorry about your cats too, Barsomn and AJRimmer. It’s odd some of these cats have kidney failure so young. My older cat died many years ago of kidney failure and high blood pressure but I have since learned NO people food for pets. That cat loved her people food. But how is this happening in cats so young?

amandastory516

Thank you for the kind words, everyone. I’m very sorry for your losses Barsomn and AJRimmer.
Yes, 2 is so young. Remi had quite a rough start. She was actually hit by a car at 5 months, and had a hernia surgery and leg amputation then. There’s a chance the kidney issue is a result of the accident, but there is no way to know.

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72

I am sad about this one… prepared it twice in 3 days, but not impressed for first try nor second attempt.

Rather than almonds I notice only marzipan. I know that marzipan is only from almonds. But it is too sweet somehow, and base teas… well the black tea is boring and roasted green tea (hojicha probably) is not present at all.

I was expected maybe more other nuts as well; not only almonds.

Flavors: Marzipan, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML

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94

Yesyesyes I LOVE this one! Having only drank it once before this sample from VariaTEA (thank you!) got lost in amongst my stash until I went on the hunt for a blackberry tea and stumbled across it again. The scent of the dry leaf is absolutely intoxicating, and it only gets better as the tea brews. Huge chunks of waffle and whole blackberries make it visually stunning, too, and the whole experience is rounded out by the incredible flavour. Even after following the recommended steeping parameters of 5 minutes at almost boiling, there is very little astringency and the black base comes across as very smooth with a honey-like sweetness that really compliments the blackberry note which is strongest overall. The maple is noticeable throughout the sip too, and the fluffy golden waffle comes in at the end, which surprised me. I didn’t add any milk this time, as I was enjoying the bright juicy blackberry notes too much, but I did add a drop of maple syrup and it amped up the waffle comparison by a notch. I just about guzzled my entire mug down, and am about to go and resteep the leaves even though I had planned to move on to another tea next! I think this is the only tea I’ve tried from The NecessiTeas, and it was an excellent introduction. I’ve added it to my wishlist already, checked out The NecessiTeas website to make sure they ship to the UK (they do!) and might be eyeing up a few blends I want to try once this comes back into stock and I’ve got through a sufficient chunk of my current teas.

This gives me Butiki’s-little-sister vibes, which is very exciting.

ETA: The base doesn’t hold up to a second steep, but that’s okay. The blackberry has faded too so now it’s like eating a jam donut.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
gmathis

Ooh, yum!(I may have posted this twice, but this sounds worthy of two yums.)

Nattie

It is definitely yum yum worthy!

Martin Bednář

Blackberry tea which tastes like blackberries? Really it is possible?

tea-sipper

The problem with Necessiteas is they usually have so many things out of stock.

Nattie

@Martin – it’s true! Juicy and fresh (:

Nattie

@tea sipper – ah no! ): fingers crossed this comes back into stock, because it is definitely going on the future purchase list!

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Lovely bit of Gongfu from yesterday afternoon/early evening, after work.

It was good to revisit this sheng, especially since I have a little less than a kilo of it. I haven’t had as much pu’erh lately as I typically do, in favor of other tea types, and I was craving some a lot. It’s still so sweet and fruity with really juicy pear notes, though I felt as though this session had more body and texture to the mouthfeel; a pleasant sort of light astringency over top of a syrupy thickness. A greener ‘edge’ to the flavour overall, as well. Still loving this, and very happy with the value of the quality vs cost! It’s cool seeing those subtle changes to the flavour over some passed time.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_4nScyg-JR/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BReaAIkw79k

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98
drank Hello Sweetie by Butiki Teas
620 tasting notes

Nomnomnomnomnom. Thank goodness this tea still tastes as good as ever! After a day of mostly duds and disappointingly-ageing teas, I am ending on a high note. I even convinced my dad to try it! His first cup of loose leaf ever! He said he’s not keen but he can drink it, which is as good as I could hope for – my father is a very fussy man. I added milk before I remembered I prefer it without, but all that really did was bring the coconut out slightly more over the caramel praline goodness. Adding sugar really makes this one pop. I’m almost out and I will be very sad to see it go, but I need to drink it while it’s still good. The faded teas I had earlier have scared me into action.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
tea-sipper

I’ve been meaning to re-visit my Butiki teas…

Nattie

Do it!! Most of mine are still fine, but a couple (including one of my favourites) have turned bad in the last couple of months and I’m so upset ):

Kawaii433

It could be. I think I’ve been here for a little over a year. I can’t change it on my phone or on my laptop. There is what a get: Error 503 first byte timeout
first byte timeout

Guru Mediation:
Details: cache-dca17781-DCA 1588813068 974986809

Kawaii433

oops wrong thread :P

Nattie

@Kawaii433 – lol! I know what you meant XD I actually did get that message once a couple of days ago but I refreshed the page and it was fine

mrmopar

Enabling your dad is a good thing. Draw him into the fold.

Nattie

Lol, I knew if anything could draw him in it would be Doctor Who themed teas!

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80
drank Banana Grapefruit by DAVIDsTEA
351 tasting notes

I’ve had this for forever but like many others, I haven’t written anything, just rated it. It’s very sweet like some of the other David’s Tea that I bought. I have only bought four so keep that in mind hehe. I have to do a fast rinse before drinking it for my taste buds. After a flash rinse. I brew it as recommended.

The banana is very creamy, that’s what I taste in the beginning. If I don’t rinse, I don’t taste it much but more sweetness. Then at the end of the sip, I get a quick grapefruit note. Neither is really that strong. It’s well-balanced. It sounds like a weird mixture but it doesn’t taste weird and the notes are well separated… meaning I didn’t get a weird muted mix but two distinct flavor notes. I love banana and I love grapefruit so this has always been a nice cup of tea. When I make it cold brew (I still have to do a flash rinse before), I don’t really get any of the citruses but more banana.

P.S. I wish I could change my profile. It’s really old and things have changed >.<. After I made it, I never was able to edit it (maybe once?) other than my picture. Tangent, I know. :P

Flavors: banana, Creamy, Grapefruit, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
tea-sipper

Huh, I wonder why you are having profile edit problems? Maybe it’s a newer member thing? I think many of the Steepster problems have been more with newer members. I wish you could edit it though.

Nattie

I just edited my profile and it worked fine for me, but I have been a member for over 6 years so maybe that’s why. The only problem I’m having at the moment is that my ‘notices’ tab won’t open, so I’ve got 700 notifications every time I log in!

Kawaii433

It could be. I think I’ve been here for a little over a year. I can’t change it on my phone or on my laptop. There is what a get: Error 503 first byte timeout
first byte timeout

Guru Mediation:
Details: cache-dca17781-DCA 1588813068 974986809

Nattie

I did actually get that a couple of days ago, but I refreshed the page and it’s been fine ever since

Kawaii433

Thanks, Nattie. I’ll keep trying. :D

Martin Bednář

I have same trouble with editing profile :/

Nattie

I tried to send a message to Inkling earlier and got the error screen but it turned out that it had actually sent anyway. Maybe try adding a test word or two to your profile and see if it saves despite the error message?

Kawaii433

Nattie, I do that each time. I just tried it now, same thing. I’m sorry you’re having the same issue too, Martin!

gmathis

Private messaging has not worked well for me in Google Chrome, but is fine a different browser (Microsoft Edge is OK, at least on my laptop).

Kawaii433

gmathis, the only way I can private message without getting that error is to save one private message link from an email notification, then I can get to it.

eastkyteaguy

I’ve been making sporadic attempts to update my profile info and have been having problems myself. I doubt that the age of one’s account has anything to do with it, because I’ve been here a little over four years and have the same issues. I can usually receive private messages, but I can hardly ever reply to them. For some reason, I can also not consistently make edits to my postings after submission. Oh yeah, I also still get constant 503 errors when I try to log in, and my content often gets eaten when I try to post anything. Am I the only person having all these problems? I find it hard to believe that I am, but I also notice that different people complain about having different issues with their accounts. I have often found it weird that so many of us seem to express frustration with the varying degrees of frequency and severity of different issues experienced on the same platform.

Kawaii433

eastkyteaguy Nope, you’re definately not alone. I stay logged in for that purpose. Sometimes if something happens and I get logged out, I run into 503 errors and there are times I think I’ll never be able to get back in again. Same with posts. I still can’t talk in the forum either. I can read them though but if I post there, it gives me the 503.

tea-sipper

eastkyteaguy – I was actually thinking that it was easier on accounts MUCH older than four years though – like ten years. But that is just my crazy theory, as I have some of the problems you mentioned anyway.

Kawaii433 – If you ever want me to post something in the forum on your behalf, let me know!

Kawaii433

Thanks for the offer, tea-sipper, I will remember that if I need something posted :D

Mastress Alita

I used to be able to post to the forums on this account, and then within the last few weeks, lost that ability. I made a brand-new, crap account (mastressalitaclone), and that account can post to the forums… so age of the account definitely has nothing to do with what errors seem to manifest for a person…

Kawaii433

Mastress Alita Thanks for the info. That clears that question up.

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Picked this one up because I like the idea of a chocolate flavoured matcha – and I don’t think I’ve ever had a good one, so here’s hoping!

This matcha smells rich, buttery and like milk chocolate in the sample packet but all whisked up the cocoa note is very weak. Though, the texture is super silky and the flavour quite creamy in addition to the overall strong umami profile – I feel as if the base matcha used is actually a nice quality but the flavour is just really lacking for me.

If I was blindly served this, I might enjoy it but I definitely wouldn’t know it’s meant to be chocolate flavoured…

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_xBfAZg7Mj/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnMgGVZmqb8

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93

Sadly I think time has been less kind to this than to some of the other Butiki blends I still have kicking about. My palate is contaminated with the garlic butter king prawns I had for dinner, though, so maybe it’s just being overpowered. My mam surprisingly seemed to enjoy this one, she said it was ‘not bad’ and it got an eyebrow-raise of surprise, which is high praise from her! This is all the more surprising because, like me, she is not usually a green tea fan. The jasmine and anise are still noticeable, though soft notes in a delicate cup, but the pear was mostly lost to me this time. Brewed in my IngenuiTEA to Stacy’s instructions, I’m going to try resteeping the leaves at a higher temperature and with less water to try to coax out more of the brilliance that I know was once there.

EDIT: I resteeped the leaves in less water for 5 minutes at 88 degrees C/190 F and the anise note is much stronger this time around, while the jasmine has faded into the background and I can actually taste the pear now. Still no astringency from the base, which I forgot to note the first time around. Overall I would say this is a more robust cup than the first steep, though still a shadow of its former self.

EDIT AGAIN: I steeped the leaves a third and final time, and the balance of jasmine, anise and pear is much more even now. This time I used boiling water for 8 minutes, and was actually somewhat surprised that the more delicate notes are still present in the cup. There aren’t many teas I would steep more than twice Western-style, but for Butiki I keep going as long as the leaf lets me. I get the feeling that I could probably eke out another very delicate cup or two, which is impressive considering the age of the tea and how mild the first cup was. I’m half tempted to try it and keep going, but it’s just not quite enjoyable enough at this stage in its life, and I’m going to have to drink something else if I’m going to hit my target of a sipdown a day! I only have enough leaf left for one more sitting with this tea, so maybe then I’ll see how far I can get with it.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Inkling

So jealous that you still have Butiki blends in your cupboard! I miss them like crazy.

Nattie

I’ve been hoarding the last couple of cups of most of the ones I bought in their closing down sale, I’m really struggling to let them go!

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92

Thanks so much for the excellent swap, derk! Some amazing teas that I have wanted to try in that package, including the first I’ve ever been able to try from August Uncommon! So very thrilled for that.  I tried this a few days ago, late on the tasting note, but I was drinking this from derk and Yeti from Annie and was feeling quite tea spoiled!!  I’m grateful to Steepster for all the tea buds and the oceans of tea I’ve been able to try over the years because of those tea buds. 
This is GOOD.  A great tea to have on hopefully one of the last colder days of the season.  Apple, yet also savory from the clove and fennel on a lighter black tea base. I love to find an occasional fennel tea.   I debated using two teaspoons for a BIG mug to finish the sample off but I’m glad I didn’t, as the flavor is certainly full and lingering in the mouth long enough to only use one teaspoon. Now I have the extra teaspoon for another day. A great introduction to August Uncommon!
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoon for a mug // 22 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 3 minutes after boiling //  3 min steep

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63
drank Sticky Fig Oolong by 52teas
5272 tasting notes

Sipdown (289)

I was having cheese on fig and olive crackers so I decided to pull out this tea. Alas, I’m mostly getting fruity cinnamon and not much else.

ashmanra

Now I want cheese with fig preserves..,fortunately I have both on hand right now,

Nattie

Mmmmmm cheeeeese

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62
drank Blue Star by 52teas
5272 tasting notes

Sipdown (290)

This is another tea from Sil’s latest drop off. Thank you!

I pulled it out, honestly because I thought it was thematic to go with the tea photo I thought would be cute. Now that I am not moving between 3 houses and other places, it is hard to diversify my #365daysoftea photos on instagram so I try to change them up when I can. Yesterday was a fun day at home as my sister and I set up a gender reveal surprise for her husband. We were limited in what we could do to what we had around the house so we ended up with a chalk drawing in the backyard and blue file folder confetti. We filmed the surprise and that allowed them to make a cute virtual reveal video in lieu of the gender reveal party we were hoping to have prior to the virus. So now that they announced publicly, I thought it would be cute to incorporate yesterday’s fun into today’s picture and this tea just seemed like the right choice. Check out the picture here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_sxtNkg2Gg/

As for the tea itself, it’s not my favorite. It’s a little bit of a spice flavor, though not so much a spicy kick. There is also a cacao flavor that is quite strong and is coming into conflict with the fruitier notes in the cup. It’s fine but 52 Teas has many more offerings I’d reach for before this. As such, I am ok with just the one cup.

ashmanra

Aw, neat! Congrats on the nephew!

VariaTEA

Thank you :)

Martin Bednář

Congratulations!

VariaTEA

Thank you :)

52Teas

Yes, congratulations!

Nattie

Yay, congratulations!! :D

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81

Thanks very much, Meowster!  For a Darjeeling, I would never guess this is a Darjeeling by the flavor profile.  It tastes much more like a straight-forward black tea.  I like the “gold and silver tips” in the description – I agree! The dry blend has very small leaves but the resulting flavor is mostly sweet and fruity quality while still having that brisk black tea characteristic.  Like rye bread, but on the lighter side. One teaspoon is enough! It’s a good tea but not a tea that really fits a Darj craving. Wish I had more to say! But this is an enjoyable black tea if I’m not expecting a Darj profile.
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoon for full mug // 20 minutes after boiling  // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 5 minutes after boiling //  3 min steep

WAIT a minute… why the heck was I expecting Darjeeling from anything about this? Now I’m confused. It’s not in the name or description… sigh. This is possibly not a Darjeeling at all then… which explains LOTS.

tea-sipper

Also, ""Youngest"" is a new Steepster member I just happened to stumble on with a FANTASTIC first tasting note: https://steepster.com/IrascibleGetti

derk

haha at you :)

tea-sipper

Yeah… this tasting note is… unhelpful and uninformed… haha

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85
drank Grilled Pineapple by 52teas
11287 tasting notes

I am a fan of this one. Davids tea needs to make their version more like this one and i might actually buy some haha. Wish i’d picked some of this one up now because it’s a really nice pineapple tea. I think the base tea really does it for me when balanced with the pineapple. Nice job anne! thanks for letting me try this variaTEA!

Roswell Strange

Oh man, the DT Grilled Pineapple was BAD! This one, however, I am a big fan of!

52Teas

Secret: this one was just reblended, it is April’s featured reblend.

Sil

feck. but. but. pandeeeemmiiiic!!!

52Teas

I still gotsta make the teas during the pandemic. People NEED tea! :)

tea-sipper

Yes, tea = essential.

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76

So I’ve alluded to my living situation before, I think, but basically in Fecember, my brother and I left my mom’s house and moved in with my sister. I was at school half the week and then corona happened so I’ve been at home with my sister for 6 weeks while my brother and brother-in-law have been going to work. So that’s 4 adults between the ages of 28 and 31 living together. One is pregnant and all of us are not thin so we can eat. So menu planning is essential to make sure we actually have enough food in the house. Initially we used to only plan dinners from Monday-Friday but then weekends and lunch time we’d sort of just be lost or trying to hobble things together so we started planning for lunches and dinners on Monday-Saturday and we assume leftovers will get us over Sunday.

While some lunches are just us cooking extra of our dinners to have for the next day, some days we plan specific meals. Those are typically on the days my brother is home for lunch since he can be weird about leftovers and he eats a lot. Today’s meal was literal BLTs with no bread (except for my brother who wanted bread and mayo), mostly because my sister’s pregnancy craving is bacon and she needs to be low carb.

So I broke out this tea to add a little extra tomato to the meal. This is one I won and I really didn’t know what to expect. I think I always work myself up for these out of the box blends and then I’m always surprised by how normal a flavor it is. Like this was drinkable and like something I’ve had before. I get basil in the smell and a touch of drying that sometimes comes with fresh herbs. Tomato adds a little sweetness and then the black pepper adds a touch of spice.

It’s not a bad tea. It’s just not what I look for when I have tea. For that reason, the rest of this is going into my swap box.

tea-sipper

Is this one that Anne re-blended recently?

VariaTEA

July 2018

tea-sipper

Ok. I can’t remember if I knew that or not.

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73

taking a break from not working (no my ID still isn’t set up) and entering tea in to my cupboard to have more tea. I have a few of these tea bags so figured i might as well dive in. This is a relatively smooth, slightly astringen black. But i’m ok with it because it’s different! yay! My cupboard started at 13 before VariaTEA’s samples….i’m currently sitting at 50 and still have many, many, many more to add lol let’s see where we end up!

VariaTEA

lol my hope was to pass on the cupboard explosion I had courtesy of Roswell Strange back in December. Plus, you were lacking choices :P

Sil

hey only 91 teas… looks like you were slacking a little :)

ashmanra

I would cry if I tried to enter in my samples and swaps. Seriously. You are amazingly patient.

VariaTEA

Damn…I’ll have to send you 9 more!

Sil

@ashmanra – it helps that my cupboard is small, though i guess i also did it when it was 300+ I just like knowing things are in there.

@VariaTEA – there’s some matcha downstairs i forgot i also have to enter so it’ll be pretty close to 100

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Good morning from the west coast.  

A gentle green tea that can be had upon waking without causing an upset stomach. I enjoyed the entire sample from tea-sipper over the course of last week as grandpa-style brews before eating breakfast.  Clean, sweet, beany-vegetal, nutty and toasty as long jing is known for.  Impressions of cream, grain and apricot. Never astringent.  It did, I think from the amount of loose trichomes, tear up my mouth a bit.  I remember having that issue with long jing in the past. The effect on my mouth cleared up after 2 days of sipping.  The calming aroma and flavor more than made up for that effect.

Thank you, tea-sipper :)

The garden is fully planted. Between the perennial growth and annual plantings, we have:

mandarin orange, lemon, loquats (too young to flower), pomegranate, pineapple guava, strawberries, blueberries, grapevines, honeydew, watermelon, avocado, native currant, quince, banana (it flowers but never fruits)
mints, parsley, thyme, oregano, bay tree, thai basil, cilantro, sage, borage, lemon balm, chamomile, lavender
chives, garlic, leeks, green onion, bulb onions, turmeric, ginger
arugula, chard, amaranth, bok choi, artichokes, fennel
yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, pole beans, beans for drying
sunflowers, roses, jasmine, honeysuckle

And those are just the edibles with multiple varieties of many plants. I don’t even know the extent of our flowers and succulents. I do have 8 or 9 Bay Area native trees and shrubs I’ll be planting today.

Flavors: Apricot, Beany, Chestnut, Cream, Grain, Green Beans, Nectar, Nutty, Soybean, Sweet, Toasty, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 8 OZ / 236 ML
gmathis

Sal-OOT! That’s not a garden, that’s a farm!

derk

It’s amazing how much you can fit in a 1000 square foot backyard. We don’t have much grass :P

Martin Bednář

I need to buy plane tickets to see all those edibles! I agree with gmathis, if you have those edibles and MORE then your lot must be huge!

Amazing, indeed amazing! And I like the note that you have local trees! That’s always better!

derk

Our backyard is probably closer to 1200 square feet. I’ll have to send you some photos, Martin, once everything starts taking off. All the local plants will be going in the front and side yard. Those are surprisingly barren in comparison to the back yard.

gmathis

And P.S. I’ve tried this and really liked it. Dragonwell is my favorite green variety.

ashmanra

Wow. WOW! That’s sounds absolutely awesome and amazing.

Martin Bednář

It’s smaller than I thought. But I would gladly accept the photos :)

Leafhopper

Wow! Your garden sounds amazing!

gmathis

Amen to less mowing!

derk

The best part about having a garden so abundant is sharing the harvest. I can’t take credit for most of the variety because my housemate has been here tending garden from lawn for 11 years. She takes care of layout and some of the planting (we have a lot of inter-planting) and fertilizing. I deal with weeding, the drip irrigation system and building/fixing/moving heavy stuff/breaking ground. We’re a prolific team.

derk

gmathis, dragon well sure is an agreeable tea, though I’ve had some difficult to brew. And as mowing is my job and our lawn ryegrass my most offending allergen, I couldn’t agree more.

derk

My dream is to turn one part of the front yard into a small stonefruit orchard but there’s this giant palm tree in the way.

tea-sipper

You’re welcome! :D I was trying to think of the word for trichomes this very day. haha. AND THAT GARDEN. Wow. That’s a lot of work but I hope you get much reward from it!

mrmopar

I have a feeling this will be worth its weight in gold this Summer. I have a feeling fresh produce will be in short supply. We have ours in the ground as well.

Leafhopper

I agree, fresh produce might be in demand this summer. My favourite Thai restaurant has already run out of basil. Maybe you could start a side business selling herbs, fruit, and veggies!

derk

mrmopar, I wish I knew more about our country’s food supply chain. On one hand, it seems the major US farms produce enough to feed the citizens. A lot (vague, yeah) is exported to other countries. I’ve seen headlines of massive food waste on the farmers’ end because the demand isn’t there. On the other hand, who knows how all this will pan out. So many customers at work are growing gardens for the first time. Our nursery can’t keep up with the demand for seed packs and vegetable starts. I wonder how apartment and city dwellers will be effected.

Leafhopper, I wish it were enough to sell. It’s more realistic to say our harvests feed 2 or 3 of us and supplement the meals of a handful of friends and coworkers. I make a terrible businessperson since I’m more willing to give away everything than make a dollar.

Leafhopper

That makes sense. I’m sure your friends will be extra nice to you this summer. :D

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90

First tea of the day today and honestly a really excellent choice – quite smooth and creamy with a lovely soft lemon that feels like it’s coating the inside of my mouth the same way the sugary glaze on a lemon cake might. Not too sweet, but sweet enough to feel like a special treat for the beginning of the day…

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This blend from the tea box advertises itself as being a non-caffeinated substitute for coffee, yet the main flavor and ingredient is anise?? I mean I like anise in general, but it’s a little weird in this context. I’d rather have a Traditional Medicinals anise-based tea than this one. Everything is ground up very small to be the texture of coffee, which comes out of even my infuser with the tiniest holes. This blend just makes a super murky cup that tastes completely like anise and leaves me confused.

gmathis

So much disappointment for such a pretty name!

AJRimmer

It’s definitely not what I was picturing!

Mastress Alita

I remember once I had a tea that had actual coffee grounds in it, rather than full coffee beans (which I’m fine with, I like the taste of coffee). The texture was so gritty, nasty, and off-putting, even with my best, finest gravity-well infuser, I had to get rid of that tea. Bleeeeeeeeeeech. I don’t know what made them think that was a good idea.

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drank Key Largo Lime by Tiesta Tea
768 tasting notes

Another tea from the box! This blend has that same fake lime flavor that lots of lime teas have, and I’m not a fan. So if you like other lime teas, it’s likely that you’d like this one. It wasn’t super chemically or anything. It was perfectly drinkable, just not to my tastes. Lime flavored food is fine, but I’ve only found one lime flavored tea that I like, sadly.

tea-sipper

What was the one lime tea you liked?

gmathis

It was just a bagged version, but Ahmad had a “Lime and Lemon Twist” that actually led with the lime flavor. Pretty good stuff; however, when I search now, it appears to be retitled “Lemon and Lime.” Hope they didn’t reverse the flavor profile, too!

AJRimmer

That sounds good – I’ll have to keep my eye out for it!

The lime tea I like is key lime sublime from Tebella. It’s such a pretty tea with fun ingredients!

tea-sipper

Okay, good to know!

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96

I’ve been trying a large amount of rooibos teas lately that I expected to dislike but ended up loving. “Surely this can’t be as good as it sounds,” followed by a recoil at the weird medicinal smell of the tea when the bag is opened, and some grouchy muttering when taking a begrudging sip of a tea that actually tastes like liquid dessert without any sweetener. (Case in point: I nearly wretched while making a thermos of chocolate hazelnut rooibos to take to work, but it’s astoundingly delicious to be sipping on right now.)

This one smells aggressively medicinal with a hint of orange peel and some dust in the bag. Pretty sure the dust aroma is from the bee pollen and chamomile. The aroma is even more perturbing when it steeps. However, let it cool down a bit and it tastes like a creamsicle. Sweet tangerine and orange with a kick of honey and whisper of vanilla. It took effort to not chug the rest of the mug when I made it last night. I’m now on the 5th rooibos blend in a row that has far exceeded my expectations and it’s starting to frighten me. Sooner or later, one of these has to taste like cough syrup and mud, and the chance of that happening is growing steeper with every cup.

Flavors: Citrus, Creamy, Honey, Orange, Sweet, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 3 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
gmathis

Like your lemony one, I’ve had variations of the rooibos/orange things and liked them. It seems to be best with ice-cream flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and I would count orange and lemon as well). I have, however, tasted some retch-worthy rooibos chai concoctions.

Eelong

Rooibos is weirdly nice for carrying sweet flavors like that! I’m growing more fond of it by the day. Noted on the chai, though. Even regular chais on black tea bases rub me the wrong way. Too much cinnamon, too much anise.

ashmanra

I am drinking a caramel rooibos iced and sweet right now, wasn’t crazy about it hot but it is okay this way.

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75

This was pleasant surprise.

I took this tea bag with same thoughts about last ones. It won’t be tasty, it will be maybe very spicy, it will be hardly any good tea base.
NONE OF ABOVE
I used even warmer water than they recommend. On the bag is 100°C, I used 90°C, they have on website 75-80°C.

Hardly any matcha? Well, it is in paper bag and some green tea dust is actually going off the bag. So, some matcha is apparently in. It was very spice present too, when dry.

I put the bag in the cup, let it in for minute and half (yes, that short — mostly because of higher temperature and I did not wanted too strong, buttery cuppa)

It was mostly cloves I noticed, but as well ginger and bit of cinnamon. The base was present too! Especially it was quite grassy and not buttery at all. There was little dust of matcha on the bottom, so I was whisking the cup with a teaspoon.

I won’t classify it as a matcha actually. But as green tea with chai? Pleasant surprise!

On the other news:
My granma is going home today afternoon. Actually in the time I am writing this line, she will be in our car and my brother drives home!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Grass

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML
ashmanra

Great news! I was thinking about your grandma yesterday and wondered how she was doing. Glad she is going home!

Eelong

That’s wonderful to hear, Martin!

gmathis

Celebrating with you! Grandmas need to be cherished as much as possible.

Martin Bednář

Thank you everyone! She says that her sight is bit worse (while reading), and still sometimes she forgot a word (like losing a word in sentence in foreign language) and it seems that it was caused by heart arrhythmia. But as I said, it’s still great, especially when she is 79 years old!

tea-sipper

Good to hear your grandma is doing well! A bunch of us tea-people were thinking of her. :D

mrmopar

Good to hear she is coming home.

derk

Hurray!

Martin Bednář

Thank you tea-sipper, mrmopar and derk! She is doing well, yesterday she had few medical check-ups, she get some over-counter medicine including some injections. Her GP was surprised that she had it. Well, we were surprised as well.

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35

Cold Brew Sipdown (294)

Last time I had this, it was like cough syrup. This time it was like bad medicinal rooibos. Normally with caffeine free teas I drink the bad ones just to get the hydration but this was so bad, it got dumped.

What also got dumped? Another cold brew bottle. This time my little one. I fell over while drying…twice…and cracked. So that’s two cold brew bottles broken.

Martin Bednář

Bad day, huh?

VariaTEA

I’ve had better lol

Roswell Strange

Oh no! RIP Cold Brew Bottle :(

tea-sipper

Not another bottle! darn. And I get it with those bad caffeine free teas – at least they are hydrating.

ashmanra

I have been icing my not so favorite teas to guzzle with supper. My husband pushed the last one away and said, “That’s not really my thing!” Ha ha! Mine either, but I drank to not be wasteful, and I didn’t hate it!

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66
drank Birthday Cake by Dollar Tea Club
5272 tasting notes

Sipdown (295)

I wanted an easy sipdown this morning so I reached into my Sipdown Box of single servings and pulled out the first tea I touched. This was that tea.

It is sweet but also a bit astringent. It is nothing special so while it was tolerable while I had it, this was a welcome good bye.

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96

Hello, new favorite herbal! I’m a sucker for good lemon flavors and this definitely counts as that. Lemongrass, lemon myrtle, and lemon peel on a light honeybush background with hints of orange. Mmmm. Perfect as a hot cup of tea in the late afternoon. Eagerly awaiting the end of the work day so I can curl up with a cup of this underneath a throw blanket and relax.

Flavors: Citrus Zest, Lemon, Lemongrass

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 354 ML
Martin Bednář

Sounds good for upcoming summer!

ashmanra

Ooooh, that sounds delicious for summer!

gmathis

I think I have had something similar to that … maybe a 52teas version back when Frank was at the helm … and loved the combination.

Eelong

If you aren’t heavy handed with the honeybush, citrus blends made with it are lovely. Refreshing when they’re hot or cold!

AJRimmer

I’ve been meaning to stop by and check out this shop for ages, but it never ends up happening! This blend sounds great!

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