Spice Traders and Teas

So last week I had a doctors appointment. It was fairly routine, and, at the time, we had some good solutions for the small problem I was currently having. They took some various samples, however, to run the basic levels of tests, and they got in touch yesterday.
One of the tests has come back bad. Its now a question of just how bad. It could be something that is handled easily, in a few treatments, and then I’m on my way again. It could also be something that could have some very serious, long term health problems.
Its not cancer, I’ll throw that out there right now. My life is not in danger, as far as I know. But if its progressed pretty far, then it might have changed what will happen to me for the rest of my life in a fairly significant way.
I feel a little blank, and a little upset, and a little worried. I’m not quite sure what happens now.
I’m not really sure why I’m telling you all this. Because you are friends, I guess, and my immediate circle of people are not going to get told until I have a more conclusive answer to “how much will this affect my life”.
So I drank this today because I wanted something soft and gentle, and this fit the bill.
I don’t know if that means I’ll be here a lot more, or a little less. I know I shall be needing tea at this time.

I wanted chai this morning, and by gum I was going to have it!
This is a mellow chai. The vanilla eases the spices into the tea, and the whole effect is very light and pleasant. Its a pleasure to sip.
Its not an overly invigorating tea, but rather one that gently wakes you up. This is a quality I like in my morning cups. Well, usually. Sometimes you want to have your very socks blasted off.
So, thus chai’d and breakfasted, I am ready to face my day!

Its always a little intimidating to be the only one who owns a tea. Its also a bit of a thing when you’ll be writing the very first review. I somehow feel like I’ll have done it wrong somehow…
Anyway.
Its the first cool morning of the season, and, unfortunately, the last as well for a while. Back up into the 90’s tomorrow! But I thought I’d take full advantage today, and guzzle this tea.
And its quite nice! The vanilla flavor is there, but it doesn’t overwhelm the chai spices, or make it too sticky-sweet. Its a nice balance.
The whole cup tasted somewhat mild, but that was alright. I’ll take a cozy sweater tea on a chilly morning!

The heat has not abated, and my days are now super long, with rehersal and everything. I leave my house (in the heat) at 7:30 a.m. and get home (in the heat) at 10:00 p.m. Did I mention its going to be 107 today?
So I’m tired, and hot, and cranky, and its only Tuesday, and I brewed up all my remaining leaf of this to form my breakfast pot of tea.
This blend has served me well in its time in my cupboard, mellow, with a very subtle sweetness, and just a generally nice cuppa. I liked having it!
But, in my sipdown summer questing, it is over today. Sipdown!

I had a really nice weekend, with both World Wide Knit in Public day, and also a high tea meet-up with some old friends.
Also it rained!
Alas, the weekend is over, and its back to work I go, where I have already accidentally printed a 178 page document that I did not mean to print.
Sigh.
This was my morning cup, which was the smooth and almost chocolate tasting cup I have come to expect/ enjoy. Not much left of it, but it coaxed me through the morning with great style.

I woke up too early this morning, which is a cruel joke. Fortunately Tuesdays have enough time to brew a small pot of tea, before I hustle off to work.
This was my choice today, and gosh but if it isn’t a nice blend. Its got an almost chocolate quality to it, but its never heavy, and it does not change flavors as it cools down. I drank this with great satisfaction today.

How is it only Tuesday? Surely I have lived longer than it only being Tuesday? Surely it is Thursday, or better yet, Friday? Yes? Yes?
No? Drat.
I made this as my morning pot, and as I drank it I considered that if I’d ever actually had rum I’d have a better idea if this lived up to the name. I’m not much of a drinker, so I really don’t think I’ve ever had rum.
But this tea is nice, malty with a hint of something fudgy in it. I liked it a great deal this morning, where it made me feel cozy and warm.

Have I ever actually had rum? You know, I’m not sure I have. But, as I bought this tea at a pirate festival, rum seemed appropriate. And the leaf smells gorgeous! Rich, dense, almost like chocolate.
It tastes quite nice. Very rich, with a maltiness to it, and something that feels a bit like chocolate. I enjoyed it very much this morning.

The dry leaf for this smells lovely, with an almost chocolate like richness to it. Very smooth and pleasant.
It looses some of its depth when brewed, but it was actually a really nice, almost creamy cup of tea. I’m glad I’ve got this to play around with a bit more.

An afternoon, reviving cup of tea. And a continuation of sipdown madness!
I have liked this one. I really like currant blends, and this one was light and had a pleasant juicy quality.
I liked having it. I don’t know that its worth repeating, but I did enjoy it!

Its going to be even hotter today (sob), so I am reaching for the trusty fruit blends.
This brewed up very light and weak this morning. Not really a strong kick into the morning.
Ah well.

Ahh, Monday. And its going to be a busy Monday, too. Bleh.
I wanted something fruity, so I brewed this up. I love currant tea, and this is a nice, but uninspiring specimen.
But it did the job of waking me up very well!

Its one of those mornings where I woke up to hear the rain on my roof, and spent the morning moving lightly through the world, not quite able to focus.
This tea was good for that. I didn’t want anything stronger today, nothing with such flavor as to pull me out of this. It gave me just enough pep to get going, not enough to dislodge me.
I love black current blends. Currents and tea go very well together, in my experience, and this is a perfectly presentable version of the type. It has a good current flavor that never gets overwhelming, and it keeps things interesting over a fairly basic black tea base.
A good way to start today.

Whoops, I did not mean to drop off the face of the earth like that, its just been busy!
I didn’t expect to be working this week, but got called in last minute, and have spent the whole week running around the area, subbing for people. That’s great, I need the hours, but it does rather cut into the free time. I havn’t even had time to add the teas got in a swpa from Super Starling! yet. Blah!
So, a quick and easy cup of this in the morning was what the doctor ordered. Its not the most potent Current tea I’ve ever had, but its flavors are pretty nice. I won’t argue when I find a cup of it in front of me.

A few weeks ago I found myself at a pirate festival. No, really. People dressed up and swashbuckling and even a sea battle! I love that sort of Ren Faire stuff, and the pirate twist was fun.
My significant other had to laugh, because as soon as I saw the booth with the tea jolly rodger (a teacup over crossbones), I was lost to the group, and spent a good quarter of an hour pouring over blends and having earnest tea conversations with my fellow piratical tea enthusiasts.
This is a local company, apparently, and I am always delighted to find new tea merchants. After discussing a great deal with both the staff and the people who had drunk these blends before, I made my selection, and rejoined the scurvy masses, tea in hand.
This was one of those blends. I love black tea and fruit blends, I could drink them in every season (and, honestly, do), so I thought their black currant would be a good test of the waters.
And, well, its fine. It does not have the full bloom of the currant flavors that I would hope for, but its still a decent cup of tea. I’ll sip it down no problem.
I can’t wait to try the other blends I picked up!

Wonderful smell! The scent is full of the aroma of berries. Watching the tea bag infuse in my glass teapot was also exciting as you could actually see the dark tea steeping out into the water.
The taste left something to be desired. It tasted much more like leaves (and not tea leaves either). The berry taste simply was not as prominent as I was expecting.

I’m pretty sure this is the tea I’m drinking. I got it from Lariel and there’s no company name so I’ll just assume.

This is another of those tastes like watered down juice concoctions that I sometimes like and sometimes don’t. This one is too tart for me, which I think is a combination of the cranberry and the hibiscus. I usually don’t like cranberries unless they are highly sweetened, and just a tsp of sugar into my 14oz mug doesn’t cut it but I don’t want to add any more sugar than that. So now I drink down the rest as fast as possible because I hate wasting tea. Glad I got to try it though, I’ve never had a tea from this company before.

The aroma isn’t much, but it’s got it where it counts: flavour. The flavour is not overwhelming, but at the same time, it is bold enough that you can definitely taste the awesome raspberry flavour!

An excellent tea that just seems to drip with flavour.