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My experience with the first steep of this yesterday was not really pleasant. To me it tasted salty, soapy, & hinted of bleach. Bleckckck

I’m giving it a 2nd steeping, & there is more flavor, but it still isn’t something appealing to me.

I gotta go run around all day. Maybe I’ll try one more this afternoon.

One of my first tea trades was with the lovely Azzrian, who must have read (or intuited) my bio regarding peach tea, because she sent me the most amazing array of peach blends! When I opened the box, the scent of peach was enough to put me into a blissful coma (not really…lol). So, I secretly open that box just to get a whiff at least once a day cuz it smells so good & relaxing. I’ve also been sipping some of those peach brews…I love peach!

Every morning I start off with a cup or 2 of plain black tea. This was one of the non-peach teas in the box, & I felt that it was time to drink a ‘different’ black tea from all the other ones I’m rotating through.

I couldn’t really smell the dry leaf, the outside of the baggy was permeated in the lovely scent of peach, but the brewed tea is a deep red, no peach flavor. Its a nice black tea with malty notes & a good start for the day. I kind of wish I’d brewed it a little stronger, but thus is life. Thanks Azz!

I already reviewed this tea once, but I just have to say it again:
I love it!
It’s so warming, so grounding, so perfectly tasty!
I go through tons of ginger every year, in foods & in teas (by itself & combined with Astragulus & a few other things). I love ginger, I love licorice root, I love Elder Berry. I also love the Pu’er that brings them all together. I’m on the 3rd steeping, & the color & flavor are still perfect!
This is my favorite Verdant blend to date. I’ll be ordering this again…and again…and drinking it often!

Before I made a cup of this, I made a cup of the previous Eight Treasures Yabao, just to fully experience the difference. The Summer version is so damn beautiful, so dainty & colorful, so fragrant, that I feel like a fairie princess while steeping & drinking it. It looks like Spring!

The Winter blend is heady with the aroma of a pine, juniper, & redwood forest. It smells kind of like something I could rub on my chest to help my breathing. It smells like something you should drink when you are under the weather, something you should drink to avoid being under the weather, & it is! This tea is loaded with herbs that support your immune system, that are anti-inflamatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, & detoxifying.

Call me a wierdo, but I love the unique taste of Burdock root. I always eat it in the fall. It’s a potent blood purifier & an excellent tonic for the kidneys, liver, and lungs. Juniper is also a great tonic for the kidneys, which tend to suffer in the winter. I drink elderberry regularly, especially in the fall & winter, for it’s antiviral properties. It’s great for the digestion & respiratory systems, and Holy Basil, also known as Tulsi, helps to keep the lungs clear & is a natural nervine.

So as far as I’m concerned, this tea is a winner!! Even if tasted like crap, I’d probably still drink it.

The good news: I love the taste!
It’s an unusual tasting tea, there’s a mild camphor/pine essence, with a bass note of slightly bitter & earthy burdock, balanced by the oatmeal taste of the Yabao & the sweetness of vanilla, & jasmine. It’s an amazing combination that is both intriguing & soothing. This is a blend that I hope to drink often.

Thank you, Ms Bonnie, for this interesting sample!

First, I don’t know what brand this is, but when I entered blue unicorn, Shanti Tea came up, & the picture looks right, so I’m just going to go with it.

It’s a cool looking tea! I love the ‘horns’, they remind me of those catapillar crysallis thingies that I used to see when I was a kid in California. They didn’t smell like anything to me dry.

I had 2 horns, so I put them in my little glass teapot & added hot water. They took turns floating up & down & releasing little air bubbles. I’m sipping the first steeping now, really just killing time before I meet 2 of my kids & my Man for lunch.

This is Ceylon tea, which in my mind means not particularly exciting. I get that Ceylon is the Champagne of teas, & is suppose to have a light & bright flavor. Call me unsophisticated if you must, but I tend to lose interest quickly.

The taste? I’m only on the first steeping, which honestly has kind of a salty & soapy vibe. When I get home I’ll run it through a few more steepings, as the horns have only barely started to open. For now, I’d rather drink water.

I’ve reviewed this tea before & it is delicious. As a chai, I especially like that it leans a little heavy to the ginger side, rather than to the cinnamon end of things. My sister, MsWhatsit, reviewed a chai yesterday, commenting on how cinnamon tends to take over the show in most chai formulas, & I’m in agreement with her.

This was steeped in a 2 part process. First I filled my mug about 2/3 full of hot water with a double portion of tea. Then I heated enough coconut milk (from the can, not the carton) to finish filling the cup, dropped the tea in there to resteep, & strained in back into the cup, adding a little stevia. It’s a VERY creamy chai latte!

It’s bubble bath time!

I’m not usually awake this early. I worked at my desk last night until 1:00am, answering emails & cleaning out my email boxes, a task that was long overdue (& still not complete). Then I did a few pages of Cryptograms to try to shut my brain down from thinking. Somehow it didn’t work, & I tossed & turned all night, having conversations in my head, to do lists, & other BS. I finally gave up & got out of bed at 5:45, a rising time that is unheard of in my life! I was hungry, & irritable from brain activity. So I got up & made breakfast: Fried apples with cinnamon & fried pork with cabbage. Both of my sons also got up & breakfast was served in shallow bowls, it a yin/yang sort of presentation. It was good.

Now I’m having tea. I love the way this tea foams on top every time I brew it. I’ve reviewed it before, & it’s definitely on my top 10 list of teas right now. I find myself rotating through several different black teas, & today it is this one. Richly Malty, deeply satisfying with a dark chocolate undertone & a peppery quality, this is a savoring tea, perfect for the morning. I feel like I’m getting away with something!

I got this sample from Verdant a while back, just finally getting around to trying it. I had students all afternoon, so this was brewed gongfu style, as recommended on the site, initially for 2 – 4 secs per steeping, adding a little time as I went along.

The dry smell of the leaves was salty. Once the tea was wet a sweet floral & almost melon-like scent arose. It steeped to an appealing honey apricot color. With each steep, I took a sip or 2, then dumped the rest into a mason jar, which eventually ended up in the frig as chilled tea (no ice).

The early steepings gave a hint of apricot sweetness & an earthiness that brought to mind a mossy forest in the Fall. There is a slight bitter edge, & in subsequent steepings the taste of cloves, or some similar spice, emerged. Several steepings later I got the puckery mouth-feel & aftertaste of having eaten a grapefruit.

I added 1 drop of stevia to the last cup & then I found the honeydew melon taste.

Not my favorite tea from Verdant, but an interesting change of pace!

I drank my first cup of this tasty blend this morning. I do enjoy a good Genmaicha, & this one is superb! The toasty roasty rices remind me of those really thin rice crackers that I’ve always loved. Top that with a bowl of carmelized green beans, & you have this tea. Mildly sweet, very soothing & satisfying. I think this would be awesome for breakfast with a bowl of fresh fruit, sitting in the early morning sunlight, breathing in the start of the day.

This is a tea sent to me for FREE as part of a FREE tea giveaway offered by Pekko Teas. I’d like to thank them for this generous offer, & for their delicious tea.

http://steepster.com/discuss/3389-pekko-teas-free-steepster-exclusive-give-away

I served this tasty tea on Monday to one of my students, & yesterday to 3 out of 4 of my children & a friend, and they all enjoyed it. Today I’m savoring a cup alone.

I closed my eyes & took a whiff of this high quality ceylon tea, & I pictured an orange, laying on a bed of rose petals. There is a very mild citrus aroma, a hint of rose, & a clean & bright tea-scent underlying it all.

I steeped a cup. The color is beautiful, an orange amber liquor. This is not a deep chocolate grogg (which, I admit, I tend to favor), but more of a sophisticated lady, where teas are concerned. The flavor is bright, with a hint of orange, and a little clove to make your tongue tingle. It’s quite nice!