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I’ve had students since 3:00, which is when I started steeping this lovely green tea in my Gaiwan. I followed the instructions (3 sec for the first 3 steepings, 6 for the rest):
First off, the dry smell is like green beans (which for wierdos like me means it’s appealing…lol)

The first steeping of this was luscious! It was like creamed baby spinach, with butter melted on top. It really had the mouth feel of melted butter. I don’t mean that in an oily way, but it made the taste buds that would have tasted butter sing.

I combined the next 2 steepings in my small glass teapot (that looks like a miniature koolaid pitcher from the old commercials) & they were like spring peas & butter on a bed of oatmeal. Not as buttery of a mouth feel as the first one, but it’s still there. The color is a beautiful bright yellow green.

With steepings 4 & 5, it’s more of a green bean flavor, a hint of bitterness at the very back of my tongue, & a creaminess.

Steepings 6 & 7: Bitterness fading, a little astringent, but still has a bright green flavor!

This tea has a brightness to it, like a smile on a sunny day! At the end of steeping, I added a few drops each of toasted sesame oil & fish sauce to the leaves, & it was a tasty, mildly bitter but flavorful appetizer before dinner!

My first tea shipment from 52-teas has arrived! It includes:
Brandied Apricot Upside Down Cake Honeybush
Coconut Cream Pie (Black)
Gooey Butter Cake (black)
Malted ChocoMate

I’m not a big drinker of flavored teas. I’m also not an eater of desserts. So why did I buy these? LOL, I don’t know! It was the brandied apricot upside down cake that caught my eye, I’ll admit. The photo (of the actual dessert) looked so awesome, plus I have a history with brandied apricots.

When I was 15 I had a great babysitting job every Saturday night, & they
always stocked lots of food & encouraged me to eat & enjoy. After a few weeks I noticed this crock on the counter full of wonderful smelling juicy apricots, which I later realized were brandied apricots. I ate a few every week, they were so damn good, sometimes I ate more than a few!

This tea does not taste like those amazing apricots, but it’s a nice diversion. The dry smell is tart & tobacco-like. It brews into a pretty reddish brown. Unsweetened it is so-so. Add a little stevia & it’s pleasant: kind of like yellow cake with apricot preserves spread over the top. I’m sure it would be decadent with heavy cream & real sugar, but those aren’t on my menu. I might try it next time with vanilla almond milk, or coconut milk, but for now, it’s enough. I’m not a big fan of honeybush, but this will be a nice late afternoon tea, for when I want more tea but need to lay off the caffeine.

I really want to like this tea. The title is cool, the ingredients sound good. I know all of the ingredients are top quality. I followed all the instructions. It smells wonderful, & is visually appealing.

The first steep, which I shared with my son Drew, was nice, with flavors & aromas of Tieguanyin, jasmine, & orange peel, but after I drank it my tummy felt funky. Drew enjoyed it.

The 2nd steeping (a few hours later), which was mostly served to my daughter Arianna & her friend, also gave me a quasi-nausea, even though I only took a few sips. They both loved it, saying things like, “This tea is so mysterious! I taste the jasmine, but I don’t know what these other flavors are.”

The 3rd steeping is when the Frankincense really comes out. I have ‘real’ frankincense resin here, which I burn on occasion (I also burn sweet grass & sage on other occasions), & I love the smell, but the taste isn’t really doing it for me. Also, I think my body is saying “no”, because after a sip, I could feel that Quasi sensation again. Ari & her friend really loved it! They totally grooved on the incense smell & taste.

I will put this away for a few weeks, & then try again… If it doesn’t work for me, I can use it as ‘tea currency’ on a trade.

First, thank you SO MUCH to David @ Verdant for sending me this sample!!

I wasn’t on Steepster when this tea emerged, never got to try it, & have always (I say “always”, but I’ve only been on steepster for 29 days, so my “always” is relative to that) wished I could have had the honor. During this last month, I’ve ordered from Verdant ‘several’ times (obsessive compulsive & their tea is awesome), & on the most recent order David sent me this sample, with a hand-written label that said “Original Harvest Golden Fleece Sample – Just for fun!”

Today is a special day for me. I often joke around about 12 step programs & mysterious substances of my youth. Let’s just say that I was very wild & out of control, at one time, & I suppose you could say I was a connoisseur of sorts, at least in the realm of psychotropic & hallucinogenic substances. I’m not going to say it wasn’t fun, because I had a lot of awesome revelatory experiences, some amazing highs, but there were also lows, which I won’t go into here. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “The higher you rise, the farther you fall”.

Today I’m celebrating 29 years clean & serene!
No alcohol, no hallucinogens (believe me, I did enough of those to be able to slip in between realities at will for the rest of my life), no cigarettes, etc, & when you add in food allergies (no dairy, no sugar, no grains (no pastry…sigh…), etc it starts sounding like “No Fun”.
You could say my only vice, my ‘drug of choice’ is tea.
I was contemplating what tea to drink today, & when this sample arrived, I got tears in my eyes, LOL, & gave thanks to the Divine Universe, & to David.

I read the instructions on the website. To brew in the Gaiwan or the basket???? I couldn’t decide…So I asked the leaves, & then I went with a hybrid (I’m sure someone is laughing at this point).

Dry, I smell a mix of Tobacco & chocolate. The beautiful blond leaves brew into a deep golden honey cup! The flavor is rich & smooth, I think of dark chocolate, but it’s deeper, more earthy. I see an old growth forest, & there is a hint of spice. The 1st 3 steepings were done in my favorite cup with the finnum: 1 min, 2 min, & 3 minutes. There was a sweet undercurrent, which I identified in the 3rd cup as sweet potato. Also, my tongue & throat developed a satisfied sensation as if I’d eaten some really wonderful dark exotic 92% chocolate. The chocolate that isn’t really sweet. All of these steepings were full, dark, & rich!

At this point I switched to the gaiwan, so that I could keep steeping these leaves in a smaller amount of water. Now I’m getting a hint of banana bread pudding! I’ve gone through several steepings of this tea, & it is still flavorful, still caramel honey colored. Still tasty.

“Onward through the fog”

Thank you Bonnie for this sample!

I’m not a fan of bergamot. I enjoy the smell, but the taste tends to be acidic to me, which I don’t really care for. Tony, on the other hand, adores it, so I served this tea to him this morning.

While I was heating the water, I smelled the dry tea: It smells pretty heavenly, I’ll admit. Strongly reminiscent of Lemon Bars. They sell those at all the local coffee shops here, & if you haven’t had them, it’s basically lemon curd on a graham cracker crust, with powdered sugar sprinkled liberally over the top. I can’t eat such things, but one time I did bum a little tiny bite, just so I would get the experience, & let it melt in my mouth for as long as possible. Sheer heavenly decadence.

I also took a few sips of the tea before I delivered it to Tony. It was kind of interesting, a nice twist on the Earl. The bergamot is there, but not unpleasantly so, the vanilla-lemon curd taste is more up front. I handed him his tea & went on to savor my cup of Imperial Breakfast Summer Blend (I can’t wait to see what the winter version will be).

Tony’s comment regarding the tea: “It was ok, but it smelled too much like a pastry.”

It’s been a beautiful day! The leaves are already turning here, & my drive to Pere Marquette & back was about an hour each way. The wedding was also lovely. I play weddings almost every weekend of the year, which is good money for me, but I also really enjoy being part of the sacredness of it. Regardless of the lifestyle, culture, & spirituality of the event, all weddings are beautiful. I feel that if you can find someone in this life that you truly love, you should go for it!

It’s always so nice to relax when I get home with a cup of tea. I started the day with Yanxin’s 04 puerh, which I really enjoyed. When I got home from the gig, there was a verdant box waiting for me (oh joy!!!). It contains the newest blends & a few refills (Laoshan black). By far the one tea I was most excited to try was the Sichuan Caravan, so before I got out of the black evening gown & into pajamas, I already had a cup going, & it smells like heaven!

Here’s why I’m so excited about this tea: EVERYthing in this blend is something that I LOVE! Ginger, Elderberries, Licorice root!! I’m fairly new to Puerh, but I’m finding it to be a tea that I crave, very grounding, something I really need in my busy Terri the Harp Fairie life.

So, it smells of all those wonderful spices, & the taste is awesome! Perfectly blended, I can taste all the flavors, & yet none are overwhelming. It has the buttery earthiness of the puerh, with its bright tongue tingling sensation, the ginger & hint of pepper are so warming & soothing to my throat & tummy, & sweet licorice root has a strong balancing quality, which again is always helpful to me. I already know that I’ll have to order more, because this is a blend I will enjoy again & again. Thank you David!

I played a beautiful wedding last night, & it was especially fun because the 2 girls who are now wives had great taste in music! Normally I play a 30 minute set of classical pieces while the guests are arriving. For this union I played a mix of latin jazz & tunes by Sarah McGochlan. Both brides were stunningly beautiful! Now I’m heading out to play a more traditional wedding at Pere Marquette Lodge in IL.

I chose this sample this morning because I wanted a more grounding tea, & I’m finding puerh to be just that: a tea that brings my airy fairyness down to earth!

Dry it smells kind of like an old barn that hasn’t been used for awhile, a well aged compost (which IS basically what it is, but luckily not the kind one would find in a barn).

Steeping it smells of the ocean, & of butter, with a slight hint of dried plum. It also reminds me of the smell of sheets that have been line dried in the sun.

The finished product? Smooth! Smooth & shiny like a piece of obsidian. There is no bitterness, no astringency, but what there IS is an amazing buttery texture, kind of like the corn tuocha, but it doesn’t taste like corn. The flavor is deep, earthy, & satisfying. Also, there are fun tingling sensations on the tongue that make me smile!

I just re-steeped in my to-go mug so I can enjoy this on my 45 minute drive through IL.

It’s been a long & busy day. Lots of black teas in the morning, lots of running around in the afternoon, & then I played for a wedding this evening. I just got home, unloaded my harp & gear, & am ready to settle down, but I wanted something with a little lift, as I don’t plan to sleep for awhile, just to chill.

The description of this tea, & the photo, did not originally appeal to me. It’s a little to happy, confetti, pastel party time looking. I know, that sounds ridiculous…. When I found out the Verdant blends were getting ready to change, a part of me said, “You know, you have to try them all, at least a sample”. “ok”, I said, because I was sort of looking for an excuse to place another verdant order anyway.

I’ve been kind of out of sorts for a few days, so when I opened this tea & took a whiff, it was aromatherapy for me. Sweet, cotton candy marshallow dreams, with jasmine, vanilla, & other yummy flavors. And it is a much more beautiful tea than the photo on the website lets on, very fairy-like (& I like my fairie stuff), very happy looking, which is what I needed this evening.

After steeping, it is a really nice, mildly flavored cup of lightness, like a nice deep relaxed breath. I feel like it’s so well balanced that none of the flavors are really in the forefront, everything is nicely blended. I’m probably going to wish I’d ordered more of this (I think I got 1 oz), but it’s not like I don’t have enough tea around here (if you only knew). I will savor this, probably as a bubble bath time tea, a tea to drink while journaling, & I’ll be sure to have a cup in my sunroom when it snows.

Dry: it’s kind of perfumy-fruity…not something I’d probably usually go for, but I seem to recall really liking it last spring. We’ll see…

Steeped: not so perfumy, more of a cinnamon & pears aroma, & although it’s not bad, the flavor is kind of bland, lacking a any real ‘tea’ substance to it. Pleasant, but not memorable…a drop of stevia helps it out a little.

Now that I think of it, I believe this is a blend that I brewed extra strong & poured over ice. It seems like that’s what I do with most of Teavana’s teas. The flavored ones seem to all have too many ingredients, & rarely appeal to me hot (except for zingeber ginger & thai tea, those are both pretty good).

My son Drew & I stopped by Teavana today to get some more Black Dragon Pearl. While there, I smelled all of the new blends. Most of them are too fruity & acidic smelling for my taste, but there were a few that I’ll think about. Meanwhile, they’re having a special: spend $50 & you get 2 oz of one of the discontinued teas. So I got 4 oz of Black Dragon Pearl & 2 oz of Kamaya Papaya, which I remember liking before. I also got 2 pretty canisters because they caught my eye. For my free tea, they had a bag full of already bagged options, and I picked the Celestial Temple Peaks because it’s pretty (skinny little twisties of gold, black, gray, & various shades in between) & because it smells good. Also, the other choices were mostly flavored & didn’t appeal to me.

Steeped, this is an appealing, honey colored tea, with a hint of honey in the taste & a mild maltiness. It’s not the deep & dark kind of malt & chocolate tinged tea that I go for in the morning, but it’s a pleasing cup, & I am pleased to have it!