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I have had good masala chai. I have had bad masala chai. I have never had perfect masala chai…especially in latte form. I notched off this new little gelato/espresso place called Affogato in the St. John’s neighborhood of North Portland. It was adorable, the gelato was delicious, but their chai…dear God…their chai!!!

It was perfectly balanced. I’m one of those that doesn’t like a masala chai to be too spicy or too sweet. Call me crazy. This was a very even keel blend. It was a ginger-dominant blend, but that was in no way a detraction. Call me a convert. Wow. Too bad it’s quite a distance from my side of town.

My full review of the shop can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/18/late-night-lattes-and-gelato/

I got this at the end of last week via the Canton Tea Club, and I’d completely forgotten that I had tried it before. In fact, it was the very first pouchong/baozhong/whatever I ever sipped. I actually had to refer back to my old review to recall what I thought of it. (HERE: http://www.teaviews.com/2011/01/20/review-canton-tea-co-pouchong-4/)

This time around, I actually opted to treat it more like an oolong and gaiwan it. It was a far more floral and buttery drink when done with short, successive steeps. Far more preferable to the toasty profile of a western approach. As a result, I’m boosting the rating up.

There’s a lively discussion going on as to whether it’s a green tea or oolong on the Canton blog: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/canton-tea-club-week-2-that-pouchong/

I’m firmly in the oolong camp…but I will settle for “groolong” as a sub-category.

Trumpets heralded.

Angels sang.

Faeries danced.

Greek choruses intoned.

My heaven, this was perfect.

Taster notes? Who needs taster notes…angels singing!!!

A full review, though, will be pending on www.teaviews.com

This was a personal blend created using Tao of Tea’s Yunnan Tippy South Cloud, peppermint, orange peel, and osthmanthus. No idea what I was thinking, but it looked cute. Taste-wise, I can definitely tell you that peppermint was the wrong choice. Spearmint or plain ol’ nana would’ve been the way to go. That said, it holds up well with the “fair” category. Needs work.

For the full story of how “Bob” came to be, read here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/13/blending-bob/

This tea scares me. More out of fear of what to think than…er…genuine fear. It’s CTC-grade, bitter as all heck, malty, and it kicks me in the skull. Normally traits that I wouldn’t like in a morning cup o’ black. Just so happens, I may have been wrong. (That happens a lot, actually.)

This tea is Excedrin in a cup – a headache reliever with a wallop of caffeine. But, dang, does it ever need milk.

Thank you, Courtney ( The Purrfect Cup ) for this sample.

I’ll admit it…I’ve been drinking.

No, not tea-drinking, the “other” kind of drinking. It’s currently about 1AM, and I just got done with a two-pint night after an exceptionally crappy day. How crappy? Oh, one of those debt-looming, still-unemployed, hemorrhaging wallet sort of days. Closing the night off with one of my delectable sheng pu-erhs seemed like a wonderful nightcap. Fitting that this should be my last of this particular batch.

You might be wondering where the taster notes for this update are. Eh, I’ve done two others; you already know I love this stuff to death. It’s far more robust than the average sheng, but not overly robust like a shou pu-erh. I will miss it, heartily – like its taste.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a story about sex, drugs and spaceports to write.

EDIT: DONE! The story I was working on while drinking this: http://www.lazyliteratus.com/1750

I know…odd.

This is my second time having this. And it was just as excellent the second time around as the first. Granted, they probably over-steeped it a little bit, but that’s the great thing about a damn good black – it takes a punishment with poise.

This was my tea of choice for a clandestine meet-up with a fellow tea blogger – An International Tea Moment. You can read about that here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/10/meeting-a-tea-moment/

Er…if you wish.

I acquired this little puppy through my membership to the Canton Tea Club. I knew that wasn’t a wasted effort. The first tea write out of the starting gate was a Nilgiri green! Nothin’ excites me more than notching off a new type of tea from a region I didn’t did this certain type.

Upon opening the bag, I was greeted by a really unusual scent – salty-sweet seaweed. It reminded me of those Japanese seaweed snacks one can pick up at an Asian mart. The leaves were huge – not the type I usually associate with Indian teas, probably large leaf assamica.

Taste-wise, it was really peculiar – somewhere between a Korean daejak, a Darjeeling green, and a Mao Feng…but more delicate. It easily lasted two infusions, and did quite a wake-up.

For more information on it, read Jane Pettigrew’s blog here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/week-1-green-twirl/

I actually acquired this at the Northwest Tea Festival this year. Love events like that where you can taste before you buy. This is an unusual post-fermented tea in the fact there’s no harshness to it at all – compared to the other non-pu-erh hei chas I’ve had, anyway. It lasted a good seven or eight infusions, and its deceptive gentleness was counteracted by a wallop of caffeine. Necessary fuel for a five-hour long writing streak.

Said writing streak was my coverage of said Northwest Tea Festival, which can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/07/my-first-tea-fest/

Having a heck of a time getting started on anything awesome today. Lost out on a writing gig that I was in over my head for. Temp agency positions are scarce…and it’s a Friday. Well, at least my tea will be good. I love this stuff. I want to cuddle with the gaiwan I put it in.