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Another tea from Terri Harplady that I was super excited to try (again, many thanks Terri!). I’ve had the regular Taiwanese assam so I was curious what the upgrade would add. It’s definitely a bolder cup and not quite as sweet. I don’t mind too much as I add a little honey and cream. I’m enjoying this a lot. Someday I want to to have a blind taste test with #49, Tiger, Non upgraded, and upgraded assam and just see what happens.

I’ve been drinking a lot of Fujian black teas or roasty dark teas in the realm of Laoshan Black. I don’t want to burn out on those so I switched it up and had this tea. A much sweeter, honey-ish tea. I haven’t had it in awhile and I was wondering if it was really as good as I thought it was back when I first had it. Yes, it is. It’s so sweet and delicious. Perfect for the afternoon. I need to make sure and get this in the rotation more often.

I like this chai. Nothing fancy, just a good cinnamony chai. I’ve been on a straight tea kick lately but I switched it up this morning. This tea was a nice change. Definitely one of my favorite Masala Chais.

After my delicious mi xian black, I pulled out a tea from my swap with Terri Harplady. I didn’t read anything about it first and just made it. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. It was much darker, richer than I expected. A bit of a shock to the system after the mi xian. Especially since that had been so refreshing and sweet. I think this is definitely more of a breakfast tea. I added a touch of honey and cream and it was super yummy. I’m having the rest of my sample as my breakfast tea tomorrow. I can’t wait! Thanks Terri!

I made an unflavored puerh that I didn’t want to dump down the drain! I know, I’m a very unsophisticated tea drinker, but hey, I’m growing!

I didn’t taste the chocolate that everyone raves about, but I did enjoy the flavor, kind of. It doesn’t have the fish food/barn/ammonia flavor that I seems to alway accompany puerh. It has more of a forest-y/earthy flavor, but not offensive at all. I think have had 3 8oz steeps so far and I’m sure there are many more to go, but I’m taking a break for now.

Overall, I’m definitely glad I got this and maybe this will be my gateway puerh that finally gets me to cross the threshold to puerh lover. I’m not sure. But I have 1oz to play with.

Oh yeah, and my tea came crazy fast. I think within two days of ordering. And Garret gave me 2 large samples of other teas that I can’t wait to try. And the always nice touch of a handwritten note. I am incredibly impressed with this tea company.

I’ve realized over the course of the past few months that I’m somewhat obsessed with this tea. I just love it. It’s perfect in every single way. Yes, the flavors change a bit from harvest to harvest, but that’s actually kind of cool.

Anyway, while learning more about this tea last night via google, I stumbled upon a tea shop(ish) that serves this. And in Portland no less. And has a kids happy hour on thursday mornings. Um. Destiny?

So after the little man’s swim lessons this morning, I packed him and the bean into the car and we headed there. This place is pretty cool. Straight up Portland or Portlandia for that matter. It’s in their backyard and they have built a little cart to serve the tea. When I got there I told the guy how I found them and it turns out that he and David (verdant) go way back to days when this guy used to be a rockstar in the midwest and met david right when he was starting his travels to china. He carries a few different unique teas on the menu but also has a ton of verdant stuff that you can ask for special.

The kids played in the rocks in the backyard and I enjoyed my cup. So happy I discovered this place! They do a chai happy hour on fridays. I doubt I’ll make it to that for awhile, but someday!

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Still rolling through my samples from Terri Harplady and I decided to do a random grab into the pile and see what came out. This was the winner. It’s pretty good. I don’t love it as much as others I’ve tried, but I’m enjoying it. As it cools the flavors start popping out a bit more, so that’s cool. I think the astringency doesn’t work for me though. Something is not quite right, but like I said, I’m definitely still enjoying it.

Another one from the awesome Terri Harplady. This is a smooth tea. Very good. I think the Tiger is my favorite of the two, although I’d be happy to drink either one.

This was the final tea for our little teaventure this afternoon. I made this for her because she said she tried earl grey at a friends house over the 4th and really liked it. And she likes floral herbal teas. And I don’t like either. Good time to make a cup I think i won’t like but that someone else might.

This tea smells weird. Just a funny combo of smells. Steeped it smells even stranger. And the taste? Definitely not my cup. Earl grey is a no no for me, as are floral teas, especially rose. I was surprised that she didn’t like it either, but as a super taster, I think it kind of made her head explode.

But many thanks to TerriHarpLady for sending me this! It made our tea party even more interesting!

This was another one in our mini tea party/tea tasting. I wanted her to try a plain old black tea. I probably should have made her a ceylon or something, but that’s just so boring. Anyway, neither of us were too enthralled and actually dumped out the second steep as there just wasn’t too much going on with this one and a lot more other tea left to drink. But she did make a connection I hadn’t made. The wet leaf smells like, in her words, “what it smells like outside of Full Sail Brewing when you and dad think it smells so good cause they are brewing beer.” And you know what? She was right! That’s exactly what it smells like!