Adagio Custom Blends, Sami Kelsh

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Recent Tasting Notes

100

I’m writing this while asleep. I mean, my Gosh, it shouldn’t be humanly possible to be this tired. Two blood tests later and I’m on the verge of maybe the doctor having some idea what’s wrong, but I’ve been asked to ring tomorrow to make a follow-up appointment and instead of feeling relieved, I’m just scared. Like, not so much scared that it might be something serious, but scared that it’ll be one of those things they’re totally just guessing at and nobody knows the cause or treatment for, and I’ll spend the rest of my life going in for tests and being put on this or that supplement until they give up and tell me it’s probably stress.

And then there’s the joy of unsolicited medical advice from everyone and their grandma who don’t know jack about your medical history and HONESTLY, THE LAST THING YOU WANT IS A BUNCH OF WELL-MEANING ACQUAINTANCES TELLING YOU YOU’VE GOT IT ALL WRONG AND YOU JUST NEED TO CUT OUT DAIRY OR WHATEVER. STOP.

So, strong tea. Caramelly sweet strong tea with the heady fragrance of cardamom, like warm spiced buns on a chilly afternoon. It’s also kind of making me sleepy, but in that nice, cozy warm cuppa tea sort of way. I do love this tea.

greenteafairy

I hope you’re able to get some answers. I’ve been going through something similar for the past few years without being able to figure out what’s wrong. I mean, of course I’m glad not to have gotten a scary diagnosis, but at the same time the prospect of having to go on like this indefinitely is really hard to face.

Sami Kelsh

Ugh, agreed. I’m really grateful at the moment that my local GP is being really proactive about trying things and regular follow-ups to monitor blood and stuff. Fingers crossed we’ll both find our way to feeling better! hugs

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100

Catching up on some weekend backlog, as I spent most of the last few days alternately whinging at Gentleman about my lack of employment and, well, making googly eyes at Gentleman like the disgustingly cute couple we are.

If we were anyone else I’d be barfing at how schmoopy we are. It’s cloyingly gross.

Moving on. Not cloyingly gross is Vicki blend tea. Vicki’s lovely. I’d been on a real kick of both chestnut things and cardamom things, having had Nine tea shortly before this one, and making cardamom creme caramel for fancy late dessert when Gentleman came up from Oxford Friday night. I’ve done baked custards and flan and stuff before, but never a creme caramel, so I was chuffed to bits when I released the custards from the ramekins and they’d set perfectly with a pretty pool of runny caramel sauce surrounding them! Heck yeah! And cardamom marries so well with caramel flavours.

To that end, the tea. The leaves’ fragrance begins with that gorgeous cardamom warmth, moving into a lingering, almost buttery caramelized nutty sweetness, reminiscent of lovely, freshly-baked Scandinavian biscuits. When brewed and served with milk and sugar, the Irish Breakfast keeps the flavours from becoming overwhelmingly sugary, while the cardamom offers a lively counterpoint to the almost maple combination of chestnut and caramel. It’s every bit as bright and warm and lovely as one would rightly expect from Vicki.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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90

Well, my headache’s gone and I managed one futile job application and did a painting. Ho hum. A cuppa tea while I decide whether I want celery and peanut butter or cup a soup for dinner. Mmm, tastes like poverty.

My one solace is tea. I must confess that I spent most of my cup’s brewing time with my nose buried in the bag, relishing the scent of sweet, sun-dried apricot and floral honey. The tea’s flavour begins with a bold hit of lavender, transitioning into bright, sweet-tart apricot, and ending with a lightly tannic finish: a brilliant interplay of flavours in perfect sync with one another. Brisk, brave, and delicious hot or cold, this is the kind of blend I’d rescue from a burning building without a second thought. It’s like a cuddle from your best friend, and goodness knows, cuddles wouldn’t go amiss round these parts right now.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 45 sec

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100

Wowzers. Okay, so I sort of spent most of today curled up in bed feeling like shaking scum whose organs are trying to murder here slowly from the inside out, instead of, like, getting work done. It’s a miracle I managed to will myself into the kitchen to put the kettle on, really. And when I did, I knew today’s priority would have to be gentle, sweet things that would cuddle my insides and keep me cozy and maybe make me not want to throw up. Peppermint things fit the bill, and this one’s fluffy and playfully peppermint as it gets.

The brightness of the peppermint is tempered a little by the lemon and cream, and milk and sugar elevates the blend to something altogether comfortingly magical. indeed, it somehow manages to strike a perfect balance that’s at once cozy and refreshing. Dodo, you’re marvellous! I feel slightly more human at last! I might even be able to get dressed and leave the house before the day’s through, though that may be a minor stretch. It’s a damn cozy peppermint creamy tea, though.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
keychange

Yuck! I hope you feel better soon. And is this your blend?

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100

I’m so torn between being nervous about the job I interviewed for on Friday and nervous about the job I’m interviewing for on Thursday and being weirded out that the job I have hasn’t phoned me to ask when I can come in to train since they offered me the position weeks ago. I’m going to have to phone them and ask what’s up, but I kind of want to know whether I’m phoning to ask when I actually start working so I can make plans for next month, or if I’m phoning to tell them they’re going to have to find someone else.

I look forward to having things to talk about that aren’t related to looking for jobs. I’ve turned so boring. This was my post-interview brew before I crashed on the weekend with Gentleman. Also, his postcard from Japan arrived today, only a week after he’d actually returned from the UK. It was a beautiful photo of a field of tea! He knows me so well.

This blend gives army cocoa a run for its money. The fragrance begins with a heady dose of deep, dark cocoa, moving into a sweet richness reminiscent of smooth ganache. When brewed with a little milk and sugar, it’s cozy and just a bit sexy, the chocolate underscored by the hint of grassy chicory from the roasty mate and a whisper of hazelnut. The chocolate is decidedly the star here, and it expresses a remarkable depth and complexity, a balance of dark, bitter cocoa and playful sweetness, a lot like Captain Yates himself. I swear that my one solace in this world is tea. This time – when you’re up to your neck in debt with still no job to speak of, and the Commonwealth Prize judges didn’t shortlist your story – this is the time when soldiers are made.

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100

MY EMOTIONS.

It’s been days and I’m still reeling from the weeks of emotional anguish that the last few episode of Doctoroo put me through. And this is in spite of previewing everything a few days early in the interest of journalism. I should have been prepared. We watched it as it aired at my friend’s birthday party in London and when it was done I cried a lot and my poor, long-suffering spouse had to comfort me until I was in a fit enough state to play board games with everyone again.

Also, I baked chocolate, orange, and cardamom biscuits with the intention of using my Dalek biscuit stamp, but sadly, the dough was too soft to stamp out properly so I just did rounds instead. I managed a single, mostly recognisable Dalek. I haven’t been able to bring myself to eat it yet. Maybe tonight.

As for the tea, I dunno, this tea is so massively seasonally-appropriate right now. Warm nutty spice, an almost gingerbreadiness. Chestnut tea just somehow brings wonders to every blend it touches. SO GOOD. I love it with all my heart.

Fjellrev

Aww. Those cookies sound like they taste awesome, at least. Cookie stamps (and presses) can be so frustrating. It’s like they’re designed for specific recipes. Very little room for creativity.

Sami Kelsh

Yeah, as much as I was keen on dorky shapes, I’m even more keen on exploring flavours and textures, even if my biscuits are just vague circle-shapes. Mmm, chocolate-orange-cardamom circle-shapes.

(I also made the mistake of promising my coworkers I’d bring in a batch of five-spice gingerbread next week, so I guess that’s where my weekend’s going…)

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100

MASSIVE backlog from the weekend forthcoming! I’ll try and recall all my tasting notes as I post these, and try not to post them all at once (in part because I should really already be in bed, but whoops).

I mean, I went to Oxford and interviewed for job, and oh, it was so beautiful down there. It was a gorgeous day as well, sunny and warm, and I even saw a deer out by Boar’s Hill outside of town! A deer! You don’t see deer in Salford, that’s for sure. I think the interview went really well! But I’m getting ahead of myself, as this is what I chugged before dashing out the door for the train.

The scent out of the bag immediately puts me in mind of Christmas pudding, all warm spices and an almost sticky, figgy, sweetness, with that sort of maple note from the sweet chestnut. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security, however: beneath the Dalek’s cuddly exterior lies a dark and dangerous brew. That is to say, the tea’s sweetness is tempered when brewed by the spice, and the roasty flavours of the mate and the energetic, buzzy spice of the cinnamon. Don’t ever tell them it’s actually very warm and cozy though, as they may well exterminate you. Definitely don’t tell them it’s really nice added to a chestnut sponge cake batter and served with a garnish of dark chocolate Daleks. I may have done this at Christmas. It was awesome.

Now I’m going to pass out because my face still hurts from stress (even though it was SO lovely seeing Gentleman all weekend after being apart for nearly 4 weeks while he was with his family in Japan – oh yeah, he brought back a set of gorgeous little ceramic teacups for me, they’re so pretty!) so more on the crazy days of crazy as I continue to remember what I drank over the weekend.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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100

The only thing I don’t love about this tea is the way that anything with chamomile in it means that little bits of the flowers get stuck in my strainer and they’re a bit of a bother to scrub out when I clean it afterwards. But more importantly, what I like about it is that it doesn’t keep me awake if I drink it 10 minutes before bed and it’s chock-full of appley, honeyed, floral goodness. How cozy.

In other news, my bank account has descended into the single digits, and I’m not entirely sure what day I actually get paid next, which is, you know, fun times just before Christmas. starts furiously making tea cozies for etsy

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100

I’m probably going to regret going low-caffeine today: while I’m meant to be manically cleaning the flat in anticipation of Gentleman’s return tomorrow night – the laundry’s on at the moment and good Gosh that washer takes bloody forever – I have to be up at about 6 tomorrow morning to get down to Oxford for an interview, so I can’t be over-caffeinating myself and risk not getting to sleep tonight. I’ll probably regret this soon, but in the meantime, it’s a lots-of-things-without-caffeine-in day. Though given that it’s day three or four of my spectacular TMJ-induced headache, we’ll see how long it lasts.

The first thing I note is an enticing aroma of warm honey and apples floating over the blend. The scent and flavour of blend is a mix of tart, bright apple, cutting through warm, fragrant chamomile, and balanced by a finish of sweet, smooth caramel. It has a wonderful brightness that’s lovely with or without sugar, and it’s certainly what I’d choose to drink if my evening at the opera were cut short by a strange man with too many hearts on my operating table.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
TheTeaFairy

Good luck for the interview :-)

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Another tea from Sami Kelsh Sadly this one didn’t taste like much of anything, but to be fair i DID accidentally steep it for like uh 30 mins. What was nice was that it wasn’t biutter…it just tasted like an every day cup of boring black tea, taken best with milk and sugar :) still though, points for not being a cup i had to dump, if a little boring :)

Sami Kelsh

Oh, poor wee Jamie :( I swear to Gosh when you steep him for no more than like 4 minutes he tastes like a gently oatmeal-scented cuddle. Sorry!

But if it’s any consolation, I have a cup of oolong sitting directly beside me right now, and I forgot it was there for like 2 hours.

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81

This is another from my hepatite swap with Sami Kelsh Yes, i AM trying to drink them all today so i don’t have to increase my cupboard too much with the teas from Sami and Dexter lol. I quite liked this one. Sadly, i had it a while ago so it’s not fresh in my mind, but that is usually the case when i’m trying to get my tea drinking on, and work decides to pester me. While i don’t think i’ll ever rate an adagio tea above 85, this one is up there. I like how the tastes in this one blend together AND i’m not getting that underlying “hey guess what? i’m an adagio black tea” taste happening. :)

plus… the peppercorn addition was kinda fun and made this tea a little more interesting to me! :)

Sami Kelsh

Heehee, whoops cupboard additions! But glad you enjoyed this one!

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100

Ok, so the week before Christmas, I finally gave up any attempt at looking like a serious-business professional, bleached the golden blonde ombre ends of my hair to the lightest they would go, and painted a whole bunch of pastel colours in. Tomorrow, I make an appointment for a haircut. I’m a little bit sad. I mean, I did do the mermaid hair knowing I was planning a cut anyway, so it didn’t matter if I damaged the ends or it looked a bit naff or whatever, but I’ve really grown attached to having violet and pink and blue and the-dye-just-won’t-take-to-these-chunks silvery blonde in my hair, that once I’m finished cosplaying brunettes at a Doctor Who convention in February, I may well put some bleached chunks back in.

I was ID’d for a bottle of cider at Christmas. I’m over 30. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I’ve been drinking a lot more heavy, full-bodied teas lately, so made a change and went for something brisk and light this time. I like it because it’s not as full-on EG as some, but rather dry and slightly peachy. I don’t know why artichoke tea tastes like crunchy peaches to me, but it super does. I like it better than a lot of actual peach-flavoured things, really. It’s the sort of peach that plays really well with the green tea in this blend.

Fjellrev

Getting ID’d is a good thing!

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100

Guess who just landed another job interview? Yippee! And it’s a place I’d be chuffed to be working for, it’s in the arts, and it’s smack dab in the middle of all the interesting things. In Oxford. Two interviews less than one week apart, in Oxford, after about 10 months of virtually nothing in Manchester. I think the universe is conspiring to send me south, guys. That’s the impression I’m getting, really. There’s a big part of me that’s super hesitant to leave Oop North, and a big part of me that’s unsure about moving someplace quite small in comparison to Manchester, but a bigger part of me that says THEY WANT YOU, GO MAKE IT HAPPEN. None of this has anything to do with the tea that I am drinking, but the tea that I am drinking is also helping to quietly alleviate my ridiculous TMJ headache that’s been brought on by, oh, who knows.

Oh Narvin, I absolutely adore you. He may at times be misunderstood, but he really is genuinely lovely. The scent upon opening the bag is subtle, but not without complexity: a gentle hint of bergamot is backed by notes of subtle fruit, like apricot or peach, but it’s definitely dry, not sweet. The brew is simple, not overly flavoured, with a brisk, dry mouthfeel: the earl grey pairs beautifully with the bright notes of the ceylon, and just a trace of that subtle sort of stone fruit that still has a bit of lovely crunch to it. I take it with a bit of sugar, of course, because Narvin really is an absolute sweetie. It’s a blend that just makes me happy, just like Narvin.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec
Sil

woohoo! grats on the job interview! good luck!

keychange

Hell yeah on the job interview! also, pay attention to your wise mind :)

TeaBrat

good luck!

__Morgana__

Congrats! Knock ‘em dead! I love the town of Oxford. (And the university isn’t bad either. ;-))

carol who

I feel so inadequate in regards to DW knowledge compared to you! I’ve never heard of some of these characters! Much less consider teas for them. The tea sounds good! I’ll have to find out more than the Wiki info. I’m glad to hear that things are looking up for you in regards to the jobs.

Sami Kelsh

Aww, thanks guys! I’m so nervous! :3

And Carol Who, Narvin is one of the core characters of the Gallifrey spin-off series from Big Finish, which is chock full of Time Lords and political intrigue and is my favourite thing about the DW universe. It was created by my friend Gary, who moved to Australia last fall and I miss him dearly. Narvin is one of those characters who seems a bit dark and adversarial at first, but you come to realise that he’s got the same good intentions as Romana. And he’s played by a sweet Welsh chap called Sean Carlsen who I’m terribly fond of as a human being. Whoops, I’m gushing. I need them to bring it back for a seventh series so I can write an episode where everyone gets to hug.

carol who

I’ve never read/listened to any of the Galifreyian spinoffs. I guess that will be my next mission.

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100

Is there anything funner than wrestling with your wifi in the morning? I don’t think there is. Like wow, so when I run out of bandwidth and go to the Three website to top up for another month, it all works fine until it goes to process my card payment, which has to be redirected through the verified by visa page, which won’t load if you’re out of bandwidth. Well played, Three. I think I spent a good hour refreshing the top-up page before caving and buying a day’s worth of BT Wifi just to get the stupid payment page to load so I can have internet this month. facepalm

I am not a happy camper. Cheering myself with an old episode of Bake Off on iplayer and drinking a cuppa while I decide what to make for lunch out of my diminishing pantry.

Brax is smooth, lively, and comforting. The warm scent of clove and ginger is prominent on the nose, with a sweet undercurrent from the almond. The irish breakfast provides a solid base for the spices and almond, which shift between buzzy, energetic spice and light sweetness. A few sips in, the slight earthy-sweet of the oolong makes its presence felt for a moment. This is a complex tea. the longer you sit with it, the more delicious secrets it reveals to you. If only it would reveal the secret of how to renew my wifi data plan without the website being a little monster…

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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100

This is a sad brew, as I drink it in tribute to the amazing, perennially fabulous Kate O’Mara, who passed away a few days ago. Just a few months ago she had said in an interview that she’d happily reprise her role as the Rani on Doctor Who, and I’d have loved to see that. She was a truly fabulous, glamourous, and warm lady.

It really does smell like BOOM! cherries, sweet-tart and candylike, a little undercurrent of vanilla drifting in and out occasionally. But don’t let that frighten you – remember, the Rani’s not evil, just amoral. Like the Rani, this tea is a master of disguise: beneath the leaves’ potent fragrance lies a more nuanced, interesting brew. Cherry remains the predominant flavour, while the vanilla adds depth, and the hibiscus lends a tart edge. It becomes deep and sweet and tart, mostly cherry, but with something else lurking in the background. A friend of mine made a cup of this when she heard the news, and described it as having an almost spicy mouthfeel, and I get a bit of that. It’s subtle but dark, and powerful, but it keeps you guessing. Definitely a science experiment gone right.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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100

I’m finding myself suddenly craving green teas in the evenings, which I think must have something to do with it finally feeling like springtime out there, and in here: after shivering through a winter without using central heating once, it’s now a cozy 19 degrees in here and I’m finding I need to have the windows open or it’s too darn hot! Yeah, definitely time for refreshing teas, all right. Also, decided to pop along to apply to work at a well-established coffee shop chain today (because GOOD GOD Y’ALL I CAN’T AFFORD TO BE CHOOSY ANYMORE) and they interviewed me on the spot. Seemed to like me, so who knows, maybe I’ll at least be able to earn a teensy bit of a living while continuing to look for, you know, actual work. Blerg.

Also, apparently Bonnie Langford was in town last week with the dancing on ice show that’s touring right now, and I MISSED HER. Would have been great to maybe sweet-talk her into a portrait for People Of Who in a moment of downtime before a show, but never mind.

(I’m still kicking myself for not batting my photographic eyelashes at Bill Bailey when he was in town. Grumpties!)

At least there’s Mel tea, if not a series of interesting and good portraits of the lady who makes Mel come to life. At least Mel remains as bright and cheerful as ever in tea form. Opening the bag, I am greeted with the sweet scent of strawberries, with just a whisper of peach – more reminiscent of dried fruit than sweets, mind you. When brewed, the strawberry is lightened by grassy notes from the green tea, the light sweetness giving way to a sharp, sweet-tart finish. This is a tea that tastes good for you in the most agreeable way possible, light and joyful like a Pease Pottage garden in early summer. Sigh.

I still feel like a muppet for not knowing about Bonnie’s show until afterwards!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec
carol who

Oh to have the energy of Mel. I would have thought this tea would be all caffeine all the time! Strawberry does seem to go with her, :) Good luck on the job!

Sami Kelsh

OMG, Mel on any fully caffeinated beverage would be too hyper to handle! :p

And thanks! Fingers crossed I land something, really! :3

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100

I’m totally stoked about Adagio’s new smellovision feature. Mmm, you can smell new teas from the comfort of home before ordering them! (Pay no attention to today’s date, achem).

In other news, MAN, I am burnt out of this whole job application thing. I’ve been looking for work for so long that I almost fear I forget how to have a full time job! Plus, it’s left me horribly creatively uninspired too, and it turns out that being profoundly stressed about money doesn’t make for the creative outpouring that you’d hope being a legitimately starving artist would. Plus, the tendons in my drawing arm are all inflamed again. Let’s see if I can chase down some anti-inflammatories I must have laying about somewhere.

Oh, but last night, I baked these teeny-tiny two-bite buttermilk scones filled with a strawberry and rose jam, and they’re so lovely! This jam is a winning combination, for sure. I’ll be revisiting the concept when we’ve got a bumper crop of British strawberries, I hope. I’d love to take some of my preserves out onto the market circuit eventually. (Plus, I do enough interesting flavour combinations that fancy middle-class folk like to pay through the nose for teeny jars of them, yippee)

And then there’s Alpha Centauri. Alpha is such a lovely creature. Back home in Canada, somewhere in my parents’ house, is a very large wood panel portrait of lovely Alpha that I did for an exhibition in 2012. I hope they’re displaying it, but wouldn’t hold my breath. The honeyed sweet scent of chamomile floats from the bag like a pillowy cloud of comfort, wrapped in a sweet vanilla lining, warmed by the faintest trace of spice. The leaves yield a delicately fragrant cup, and the flavour is peaceful and warm with lovely depth, reminiscent of fresh apples and honey, with a lightly spiced finish. It’s wonderfully soft and soothing, and has become a favourite of mine to enjoy late at night, or sometimes when things get too frazzled for my delicate nerves. Which is often. It’s the perfect blend for lovely Alpha Centauri.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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100

Backlog from yesterday, because I accidentally napped this afternoon.

Also, paid (I hope) my council tax bill last night, though I’ve a sinking feeling they’re trying to make me pay upfront for the next year, which I’m not comfortable doing because a) I AM TERRIFYINGLY BROKE; and b) I doubt I’ll still be living in this flat by summertime, either because I’m working in another city or because I’ve run out of money and have been forced to leave. So yeah, no. Salford City Council scares me more than anything else in my life, if I’m honest. It’s a Kafkaesque nightmare.

So, you know, a brave heart tea seemed kind of fitting, yes?

There’s certainly nothing quiet about Tegan Jovanka. Opening the bag, the scent is strong and bright, sharp grapefruit cutting through sweet orange. Indeed, orange is the dominant flavour, but made complex and aromatic by the other citrus, the grapefruit and background notes of bergamot. It’s tart and robust, refreshing and juicy, but not too bitter. It tastes like the recipe for a brave heart. But somebody hug me anyway.

ADDENDUM: This one time in Los Angeles I was asked to sign a sample of this tea for former Doctor Who BBC Books guru and current children’s author and now very dear friend Steve Cole. I’d never been asked to sign anything before. Steve made my day. I like Steve. :3

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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95

Whoops – bit of a backlog going now, as I was a busy bumbly bee over the weekend, and didn’t get to do a lot of internetting. Spent Saturday in a fancy crazy Victorian park, then had a picnic outside a garden centre, then visited the garden centre (even though neither my friend nor I have gardens because we live on the third and fourth floors, respectively) and then went for a ramble on a nice footpath past the disconcertingly named, yet actually quite pretty Crime Lake. And THEN we went to the giant mall which was overwhelming and awful so we calmed ourselves with a visit to Marks and Spencer’s food department, which is an island of middle-class tranquility (and if that ginger Turkish delight hadn’t been 5 quid I expect it’d have made its way into my friend’s basket) and then we drove out to a family pub in Wigan that genuinely does exceptionally good food for how inexpensive it is. And then Sunday the clocks changed and I basically napped all day because I’d had too much sun and pasta. Oh, but the pasta was worth it.

This was Saturday night’s brew, as I fancied something cozy and spicy and good.

If it’s possible for a tea to taste clever, Liz Shaw’s blend does. The fragrance is subtle, but rich: dark caramel notes are offset by a fresh ginger kick. The flavour is decidedly academic, but definitely intrepid: ginger and spicy warmth floats over a lush base of caramel, a little cocoa depth, and lightened by the oolong, all grounded by the malty, strong base of assam tea. A warm, complex, robust blend that lends itself well to a liberal application of milk and sugar. Tastes like sassy genius.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Memily

Ohhhh I want.

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100

You know, I tried to do some research as to what types of tea people were drinking during the Victorian period, and man, it’s a challenge. Google “Victorian tea” and you’ll just get the yelp listings for like a million Victorian tea rooms, presumably with delicate china cups and frilly doilies on the tables. And now I really want to go out for an afternoon tea, which is something you’d think I do more often as a dorky tea enthusiast and recent UK resident, but I think I’ve only done once since I got here, and it was only because my friend and I happened to stumble upon a Victorian tea room on a daytrip to Buxton over the summer. I remember my sandwiches were made from Lancashire cheese and caramelised onion chutney. Yum!

So I don’t think they would have had this tea in Victoria Waterfield’s time, but it suits her and her era beautifully. The initial fragrance upon opening the bag is blackberry, fading into floral earl grey. Brewing at a lower temperature, as befits the white peony in the blend, yields a delicately perfumed cup. There’s a definite floral presence in the flavour, balanced by the sweet berry finish, a union of innocence and plucky sweetness. Nothing overwhelms here: it really is such a light, lovely, perfectly balanced combination of flavours, perfect for enjoying over a quiet afternoon with delicate sandwiches and little cakes, or as a treat to yourself after shooting a cybermat point-blank, then putting it in your purse for safe-keeping.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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100

This tea is basically the essence of Christmas tastes to me, in the best possible way. It’s like drinking a warm winter pudding, redolent with soft warming spices and a rich fruitiness from the currant and orange peels, set against a robust breakfast tea base.

And it’s not too heavy on the cloves, which have a tendency to make me grumpy when they’re TOO overbearing, which they can be in some holiday-flavoured things. I mean, they’re there, but so is a good measure of ginger and cinnamon and cardamom. Bang-on, old skool holiday goodness.

(Though I do remember in my cooler, pre-asthma days, when I’d smoke those fantastically goth black clove cigarettes – like, a whole two a week, mostly in the interest of socialising with the other academics who smoked – so many people would comment that they smelled like Christmas time. I found myself sharing a sidewalk with somebody who was smoking one a few weeks ago, and it is a really comforting scent. I just don’t like too much of it in my tea.)

But I digress. The bad news is that my work just sent an email that I’m due to be auto-enrolled in the university’s pension scheme, even though I’ve literally opted out of it FOUR BLOODY TIMES THIS YEAR, and I thought they were supposed to give it a rest for a few years if you say no the first time. I’m sure this will mean there will be a chunk of change missing from my next pay packet that I’ll have to wrestle back from them a month later, which is pants because it’s Christmas and my pocketbook is so strained I’m scared. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAERGH

/nervously sips tea

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100

Oh, thank Gosh. Remember my panic flap earlier? I emailed HR to see about how to do the things without it getting all bad and it looks like we’ll actually be able to sort everything with a minimum of fuss and without me having to do anything scary. Phew!

That was a stress rollercoaster, though – I need comfort tea. That’s where Charley Pollard comes in. Charley, Charley, Charley. I’m so pleased she’s getting a spinoff! Charley’s the best.

Charley Pollard is magnificent. Straight out of the bag, the scent is bold, comforting, and warm: clove and cinnamon dominate, with just a background note of soft fruit. When brewed with a little milk and sugar, the dried-fruit notes of the currant and assam are brought forward to balance the gentle spice, giving the blend an incredible depth of flavour. It really does taste like drinking a warm winter pudding, the clove prominent alongside notes of currant and fig, finishing on a gently spicy note of cinnamon and ginger. This blend has become one of my go-to teas when I need something really warm and comforting. It is made of love.

Oh, and my diet (and cheap) plan of drinking a cup of sweetened tea every time I’m craving sweets seems to be working as well. I’m no smaller than I was just yet, but I’ll get there.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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100

How does grapefruit work so well with oolong? I honestly thought it was going to be slightly gross when I first heard of the idea, and it turns out it’s pretty much actually my favourite thing to pair with oolong tea. In a pinch, I’ve added grapefruit juice to oolong. It’s not as good as Bessie blend, but in a pinch, it works!

Bessie, though. Oh Bessie, you beautiful creature! This tea smells absolutely AMAZING. The dominant fragrance is brisk, bright grapefruit, flanked by the orange and lemon. The oolong lends it a little wholesome substance beneath the citrus. This is one of those uncommon teas I find myself enjoying equally with and without sugar. Bessie’s brisk, energetic, and refreshing, and absolutely perfect.

And I’ve been falling asleep for the past 3 hours because I made the mistake of eating pasta for dinner, which is a recipe for a drowsy Kelsh indeed. Please wake me up, bright tea!

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec
carol who

Bessie! So many DW fans only know the new Doctors, etc. It’s so nice to see someone else who knows the classic characters as well. And the tea sounds good, too. I am so jealous of your DW teas.

Sami Kelsh

I love Classic Who! Sure wish more people did. It’s awesome :) I wish I could TARDIS back in time and write for it.

carol who

I have a several of the DW Missing Adventure books. They have the old Doctors and companions. I just finished one of them, Goth Opera, with Tegan, Nyssa and the Fifth Doctor. It’s set between Snakedance and Mawdryn Undead. They are enjoyable. You really “hear/see/feel” them talking and acting just like in the classics.

Sami Kelsh

I love the books! A friend of mine ran the division that published the ones from the BBC before the new series began. I swear he must have been like 12 when that was his job because he’s not that much older than me. Either that or I’m old and I have a TON of catching up to do in my stupid career. Have you listened to any of the Big Finish audio dramas?

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100

Poor Ben and Polly. They’d for sure get more love and attention than they do if so many of their episodes weren’t still missing. I’d give my good leg for Power Of The Daleks, or The Highlanders, or The Smugglers, or the rest of The Faceless Ones. Oh man. They’re just so much fun. And Anneke Wills is sweet, and they need to get her on more DVD commentaries.

(Fun fact: I quite desperately want to be involved in a production at some point such that I’m asked to be part of the commentary. Or, hell, just let me be the moderator on a DVD commentary for something I haven’t been in, but that’s really old and I know lots about, so I can chat to the commentators, who probably don’t remember squat about having made this thing because the 1970s is all a blur to them now. This is my dream job. At least two of my very dear friends have done this and I SEETHE WITH MILD JEALOUSY AND QUIET ADMIRATION. SEETHING ADMIRATION. But I digress. I’m drinking tea.)

If it’s possible for a tea to be cute, then Ben and Polly blend definitely fits the bill. The scent is precisely that of chocolate-covered berries: rich and sweet, but not cloying or overpowering. The result is a solid, assertive brew possessed of a lovely bright berry sweetness surrounded by smooth cocoa, finishing on a lovely note of balanced black tea. It’s well balanced and level-headed, but there’s definitely an interplay of flavours that’s quite a bit of fun. Indulgent without being overwhelmingly so, the flavours are as perfect together as the blend’s namesakes. It’s a fab brew, all right!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
carol who

Ben and Polly! You are right, way too few episodes. And the tea sounds good, too. :D

Sami Kelsh

It’s a nice flavour combo, sweet but not too sweet and a nice weight to it.

I keep hoping that more missing episodes will turn up (though the animations are a fabulous substitute in the meantime) but, having a friend who works on the restoration team, I also have a primary source who can attest to all the crazy “they’ve secretly found all of the episodes” rumours are unsubstantiated bunk. Sadfaces.

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