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Note to self: Drinking a whole pot of tea before walking into an exam may not be the best idea in the future. Probably should have double checked that scantron.

Today this tea was as amazing as I remember it being- juicy, smooth, and totally worth it.

I wish I liked Darjeeling teas more. They smell like fantastic, sour-sweet fruit and hay. There’s been a couple that I’ve enjoyed consistently, and a few instances, influenced by steep variability, where a particular sample wasn’t as abrasive as it was previously.

That latter is actually what happened with this Darjeeling. I haven’t enjoyed this one all too much, and was in no rush to make the last cup. Maybe the temperature was lower (around 180F) than it usually is, but it’s so mellow today, like a second steep! It tastes floral, with a bit of sweet fruit and sour citrus. The cup led to the trademark mouth puckering too.

This is so good! I was thinking of getting a variable temperature kettle for school, but sometimes it’s nice to do the guesswork and get lucky! It just shows me that some teas (puerh, chai) have very specific “settings” that need to be met before the “best” of them (for me) is brought out.

I want one of those “I Love Leafhoppers” magnets. They’re cute and our fridge could use some decoration.

Small glass gongfu, short, variable steep style.

Every time I drink this tea I feel like I’m spoiling myself. I don’t drink this often, not because I’m hoarding it- “things” just have to click together first. That’s fine though, as it will last longer that way!

Ok, I need to buy some star anise, among other things, to give this more oomph. Today I made it up chai stove style (which is a silly way to do it as there are no spices in this right now). I plopped in some ice cubes, because why not, and added sweetened condensed milk. It sort of worked. Next time I’ll follow a recipe or something.

Cavocorax gave me enough of this to play around with for a while, which is great because I’ll need it!

This one’s interesting. The flavoring may have dulled down over time, as I’m not picking up much mint. I didn’t think there was any at first but there is something increasingly freshening in the lingering aftertaste, that’s definitely minty. My first impression was of smooth malt balls, actually (maybe that’s the chocolate element). Not a bad cup at all, and it goes well with milk.

Thanks for the sample, Fiddling (I think this one was from you)!

I think I’ve hoarded this strange tea long enough so here it goes- 5min in boiling water.

It smells deliciously bready and tastes almost sweet in a starchy way. This is so mellow- just the thing I need to wind down after this crazy, long day. so many good and bad things happened at school today, but it all ended well. I got to count and eat lots of smarties in Intro to Anthropological Research, and I’m choosing to focus on that.

Thanks for this unique tea, Sil!

I think this one was from Fiddling. Thanks for sending this my way; it’s not easy to get Adagio teas over here!

I’m drinking this in my mug while listening to (maybe too much) Queen, when I should be studying for two midterms tomorrow. Call me sad and indulgent.. All I need to do is turn around and look down- and voilà! There’s the textbook and studying would happen.. After I finish this cup.

this cup is full of low fat raspberry truffles. It’s much more satisfying than reading handwritten notes and goes well with milk.

Grr, I found a pot’s worth of this hiding away in the very back of the cupboard. And here I thought I was done with it.

Having no patience, I dumped the whole amount in a tiny tea bag and put in an even tinier tea cup for 4 min and 30 sec. Ok, this is high concentration actually pretty decent- very sweet and creamy. I think this is the best it’s ever been for me. Bumping up the rating a little.

Sipdown! I’m glad to be under 70 teas but I’m sad to see this one go. After that first pepperoni misunderstanding, I think we were starting to grow close.

Not much in cedar today, but lots of sweet buttery earth- makes me think cinnamon. I’m not sure if that last note is intended or if it’s just because it sat beside Jackie T’s winter chai in my cupboard for four plus months. Either way, the overall outcome is delicious. Thanks again for the samples, Jackie T.

Thanks for the sample, Jackie T!

I did a quick rinse for the fishiness, and then steeped it for about 3 min in my David’s Tea mug (feeling lazy). The flavour isn’t bad, but a little strange. It reminds me of a wood-smoked, honey garlic pepperoni stick, and I can’t shake the comparison. Maybe this isn’t for me but it was neat to try!

Edit: Maybe I was a little quick on my toes. Sometimes I have no patience. I did a second steep for a shorter time period of 1 min 30 sec, which yielded cedar with a sweet floral coating. Midsip is still a tad earthy-sharp, but the finish is nice and smooth. The pepperoni is gone and I’m actually sad there’s not much left now. Thank you for the advice, Bonnie :)