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It says Om Tea on the box, by my recollection it is a division of Petit Tea.

If you are afraid of spicy tea, you’d most likely pass on this and that would be a shame. It is assam black tea, cinnamon, and black pepper. When the pyramid hits the water the aroma convinces you this is going to be a powerful blast of flavor. It is but not as the scent suggests. Yes, its cinnamon, and yes the black pepper has adds a little heat hit at the end, but neither are overwhelming, and most importantly you can taste the assam tea. I find that balance pretty impressive.

Started my day with my usual Deluxe Matcha – from Matcha Warehouse (Red Leaf Tea) – in a cold milk latte. This goes perfectly with an everything bagel.

Lunch at Cheddars where I love their iced tea (and ribs). The tea tastes mildly like hoji-cha (but not really) and mildly earthy. There is a nice briskness to it. The best restaurant bagged iced tea I’ve had.

At home now, more iced tea. This is a homemade blend of loose leaf black teas from The Persimmon Tree (I miss them). I use equal parts English Breakfast, Assam, Ceylon, and Darjeeling leaf to make a gallon and a half at a time. Makes me happy.

Barely made it above freezing today and all I’ve had is iced tea. Maybe this evening I’ll heat things up a bit.

Whenever we go to a pitch in dinner (at church – wherever) my wife makes macaroni. The kids devour it. Why? It’s plain Kraft macaroni shells with Velveeta cheese. You know, real macaroni, not some fru fru pasta with a blend of gourmet cheeses and added stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with the fancy stuff, just don’t call it Macaroni around a kid.

That’s the way I am with my Earl Grey. I don’t mind fancier once in a while but it isn’t my idea of EG. This here, 4 year old tin (at least) and all, is plain and simple Earl Grey. I noticed today a bag of Splenda stuck between the tea pouch and the tin. I remember putting it there 1 1/2 years ago on our anniversary. We rented a cabin on the lake and sat on the porch swing watching it rain, while sipping tea. Priceless.

At the time I was so ill with respiratory issues, I thought it might be our last anniversary together. There, I said it. Had it not been for God’s grace and my family nurse practitioner it might well have been. She helped straighten me out. I fired my pulmonologist. A year later I started taking physical therapy to help build up my body muscle to help with breathing. For some unexplainable reason it had the opposite effect. I have spent the last 6 months in a battle. Simply preparing tea became too difficult.

I spent the holidays in the hospital on 15 liters of oxygen. They managed to wean me down to a manageable level to come home. I have since managed to further reduce my levels way down. Today I feel better than I have felt in a very long time.

When I decided I was ready to make tea tonight – first time in a couple months – I grabbed this one. After pouring it into my mug, I noticed the beautiful ruby color. I seriously was overcome with emotion.

Thank You is all I could think to say. I wrote all this to say, notice the little things in your daily life, like making tea, and be thankful.

This is just a cursory review for now. Woke up this morning and realized I forgot to get milk last night. So instead of a matcha/milk latte, I’m having poo. I also had a bowl of brown sugar and maple oatmeal. The oatmeal kind of overpowered the tea. What I can tell you is the leaf had no fishy or otherwise offensive odors. It smelled sweet, clean, and leafy. Once brewed I checked again and no barnyard. It does have a pleasant shou aroma. The taste was clean and mild. It was probably sweet but after the oatmeal who knows. There was a mild amount of leathery notes. All in all, this seems to be a good everyday simple tea.

Who knows how old this tea is? I have no clue. I think I once shared some with Moses. Anyway, sealed nicely in a bag inside the tin. I used a little extra leaf, just in case. Added some sweetener and had a delightful cup of comfort.

This tea was sent to me by Little Red Cup and is the reason I have come out of tea note retirement. I love Yunnan tea. Assam is great when I need to wake up. Ceylon I like with flavors and is my base of choice for Earl Grey. Yunnan is my warm cozy slow down tea.

The leaf looks just like the picture. It is long thin light twists of gold and browns. I pretty much expect the leaf to look this way. What I did not expect, in addition to the malty, honey, scents, is a fruitiness that resembles grapes and a neat pepperiness.

I Brewed this strong (on purpose) and the cup is a deep reddish hue as opposed to the amber mentioned by LRC. The taste matches the aroma perfectly. There is a touch of dryness that may disappear if you don’t make it so strong.

It is a dreary rainy day here, and this Yunnan black is providing just the comfort I need.

Well, that’s interesting. I just read my note for Ahmad Primetime when I drank it hot. It sounds amazingly like my comments on Assam 1860 iced. This one iced is OK but not memorable. Possibly it is just too weak. The color is bright orange/red. Hot it was so dark it had an almost a purplish tint. I have always been a big fan of Ahmad. I am going to take the blame for this one being kind of meh. I am now out of it, so I won’t get another chance to get it right.

Hi Peeps! I haven’t written a tasting note in months. Tea friends have been asking if I’m OK. Summer was so humid. I kind of got out of the habit and I have been battling health issues.

On to tea – I told the wife I was tired of soda pop (whatever you call it in your locale) so she bought a glass container with a spigot. It holds about a gallon and a half and sets in the fridge. Then I realized all she had for iced tea was Luzianne and Lipton. Neither of those would do. I dug deep in my stash and came up with Assam 1860 and Ahmad Primetime. Decided to start with Assam 1860.

The color is a beautiful dark cherry mahogany. Has a good clean smell. I never add anything to my iced tea and this certainly needs no help. I made it strong because that’s how I like it. It is brisk without being bitter. The taste is malty and leafy. I noticed the jug emptied pretty quick. This makes a solid iced tea.

I’m really fortunate that my tastes usually refer beer over champagne. it keeps me out of a lot of financial trouble ;) For me this is everything I want out of a daily matcha. The flavor is slightly unique and solid. It stands up well to milk or sweetener but is drinkable straight. i keep a one pound bag clipped in the freezer and a small quantity in a tin. Everyday begins with matcha and 95% of the time it is this one.

I haven’t been on Steepster for a while. Too hot for tea along with too busy and health issues. This morning I sat on the porch trying to dry out my sinuses. Decided it wasn’t working. Besides I could smell the ash from the Amish home just down the road and it made me crave some Lapsang Souchong. This is a good one – sweet, not too smoky, and not BBQ. Unfortunately the sample does not have the company name on it and I have forgotten from whence it came.

Just stopped in to say hey. Now off to get some Benadryl.