WHAT THE WHAT?
Clearly, I chose to revisit Steepster at both the wrong and the right time.
On the one hand, I’m so absolutely STOKED about the new update. On the other hand, between the discussion board and the live feed and the tea cupboard and the fact that I really need to rescale all of my ratings, I. Can’t. Seem. To. Log. Off.
To the review, Ryokucha is back in my life and I feel complete again.
I got my Samovar package in the mail the other day and I nearly wept for joy. I have come to rely quite heavily on this stuff in the morning. It’s got a sense of SUSTENANCE, you know? Combine it with oatmeal and I can chug along for hours. Especially because the amount of caffeine in this is balanced absolutely perfectly for those mornings when I know I need to get some serious crap churned out.
The taste is roasty and full. Occasionally there are hints of brine in the taste, which are balanced by moments of sweetness in the aftertaste. The matcha is what I think is mainly responsible for the brilliant green this steeps into, and aside from being responsible for the nice caffeine boost it gives it adds a nice sense of texture. I think it adds to the substantialness the tea has. [You get most of the matcha at the end of the drink, of course.] I’ve also somewhat recently become more accommodated to sencha and I must say that I think the sencha they use in this is damn good.
And the smell? I actually started off almost being turned off by the smell. Which eased into being apathetic to it. And now, I love it. Mornings when I don’t get a little Ryokucha feel empty, which probably means I’m addicted. You heard it here first.
I just want to add two things to this.
1. Samovar’s running some sales on their website right now for selected black and white teas. Also, the code cozytea will get you 20% off through December 1st.
2. Jillian and Angrboda [and any other non-US Steepsterites], I sent Samovar an email that included an inquiry about their international shipping prices and let them know that the shipping fees are deterring you folks from trying them. I have no clue if anything will come of it, but one can hope!
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LOL, the site’s slogan should be “Steepster: We Suck You In and Take Over Your Life!” XD
Thanks so much for the email to Samovar on our behalf, BTW. _
Ditto to what Jillian said! I’m pretty sure I’ll be spending more time at work watching the Latest Activity feed than actually working.
I’ve been on the Samavar website, and it says that this tea no longer exists! D: What does this mean?
And I completely agree with you about the insane activity on this site right now. It’s quite delicious. And it’s making me crave tea all the time. I’m tempted to have a cup right now, but I really need to sleep!
@Jillian No worries! I’ve got to look out for my peeps! [I feel like peeps should have a z tacked on to the end of that, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.]
@Auggy I KNOW. IT’S LIKE THE SITE’S ALIVE.
@teaplz O noes! They ran out! Dag! I sincerely doubt they’re going to stop carrying Ryokucha, but I know that they just transferred to a new warehouse so they’re probably working out inventory. If they stop carrying it, I’m going to have to crack some skulls. Mama needs to fix her habit. Also, tea > sleep. Come on, now.
sigh It’d just be some decaf bagged tea, and I had nightmare experiences today with this, so I’m not sure I even want to bother (see my tealog and its horrors for details!). I don’t have any loose leaf tea in the house. That’s right. I’ve never even brewed loose leaf! Blasphemous, I know. I’m new to this whole tea thing. I’ve been wanting to order the starter set from Adagio, but I can’t decide on which sampler! Blarggg.
Eep! When I discovered good loose leaf it was like I’d crawled through the cupboard into Narnia.
From a personal point of view, adagio has a tendency to rate kind of “meh” for me on the loose leaf scale. On the whole, I prefer Rishi, Harney & Sons, or the light of my existence – Samovar. But there are many people on here who luuurve Adagio, so who knows?
If you’re looking for a sampler set, I’d recommend trying to find one that’s got a good variety of tea types [a green, a black, a white, etc.] so you can get a foundation going unless you already have a good sense of what kind of tea you like to drink.
This thread. I love it.
Oh thank you, you’re a sweetheart! :D
LOL, the site’s slogan should be “Steepster: We Suck You In and Take Over Your Life!” XD
Thanks so much for the email to Samovar on our behalf, BTW. _
Ditto to what Jillian said! I’m pretty sure I’ll be spending more time at work watching the Latest Activity feed than actually working.
I’ve been on the Samavar website, and it says that this tea no longer exists! D: What does this mean?
And I completely agree with you about the insane activity on this site right now. It’s quite delicious. And it’s making me crave tea all the time. I’m tempted to have a cup right now, but I really need to sleep!
@Jillian No worries! I’ve got to look out for my peeps! [I feel like peeps should have a z tacked on to the end of that, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.]
@Auggy I KNOW. IT’S LIKE THE SITE’S ALIVE.
@teaplz O noes! They ran out! Dag! I sincerely doubt they’re going to stop carrying Ryokucha, but I know that they just transferred to a new warehouse so they’re probably working out inventory. If they stop carrying it, I’m going to have to crack some skulls. Mama needs to fix her habit. Also, tea > sleep. Come on, now.
sigh It’d just be some decaf bagged tea, and I had nightmare experiences today with this, so I’m not sure I even want to bother (see my tealog and its horrors for details!). I don’t have any loose leaf tea in the house. That’s right. I’ve never even brewed loose leaf! Blasphemous, I know. I’m new to this whole tea thing. I’ve been wanting to order the starter set from Adagio, but I can’t decide on which sampler! Blarggg.
Eep! When I discovered good loose leaf it was like I’d crawled through the cupboard into Narnia.
From a personal point of view, adagio has a tendency to rate kind of “meh” for me on the loose leaf scale. On the whole, I prefer Rishi, Harney & Sons, or the light of my existence – Samovar. But there are many people on here who luuurve Adagio, so who knows?
If you’re looking for a sampler set, I’d recommend trying to find one that’s got a good variety of tea types [a green, a black, a white, etc.] so you can get a foundation going unless you already have a good sense of what kind of tea you like to drink.
This thread. I love it.
Oh thank you, you’re a sweetheart! :D