Tea Cozy

So I need to do a little grocery store run, and I’m holding a list at the moment, which simply says “bananas. Tea filters” on it, and if that doesn’t sum up a great deal of my grocery life, then I do not know what does. (I take it back, I do know what does. I will get home, suddenly remember the six other things I wanted to buy but did not, and then promptly forget to write them on the next list.)
(I use the paper filter for my work tea drinking- there is nowhere to clean a strainer at work, so it simplifies life. I am all for the simplification of life.)
That’s a fairly long winded way of saying that I brought the spare filters I had at home to work, and drank some of this tea. Its a busy week in the office, so tea is required. Plus I suspect I’m not fighting a cold. Argh.
I’ll need more tea filters asap, I can tell.

I find I like lavender most when its cold, and specifically when its raining. So bingo, hey presto, a perfect cup for today.
Today it was more lavender than earl grey, but as that’s what I was in the mood for I’m not going to fuss.

Do you ever just sit and think about how lovely tea is, and how happy you are to drink it, and how wonderful that there is a world of tea, a history of tea, a culture of tea?
I do. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, thinking about all the tea rooms I want to visit, the tea houses I want to experience, the books about tea I want to read. I’ve been thinking about the flavors I’ve got currently, and the ones I want to try, and the just total, enveloping niceness that is a good cup of tea.
What loveliness.
I’m sipping this, which is full of sweet lavender today, and feeling happy that such a wonderful thing as tea exists in the first place, and that I get to share that vibrant culture with all of you.

I’m dragging today. I am very sleepy this afternoon, and a strong cup of this was called for.
I seem to have hit a very sweet spot in the bag. Its really, really nice here!
Ahh, a nice thing on this tea drinking day.

I have discovered a huge cachet of lavender in this scoop. Nice! I like lavender, so its a nice thing.
It makes this particular cup very mellow indeed. I can certainly get used to it!

This is a very aromatic tea. So much so, that when I left my office to grab the mail, and came back, I had a deep and satisfying breath of lavender, even though the cup was already drunk.
Not a bad way to make a Thursday a little easier.

I’m in a lavender mood, today. I’m wearing a lavender based perfume (again), and very happily drinking this as a work cup of tea.
What is it with weeks when you’ve got Monday off? Tuesdays are always bonkers.
This is just the right amount of soothing and peppy to help me through a very busy morning.

I felt like lavender today. Maybe its the pouring rain that inspired me. I for some reason really love lavender when its raining.
So I’m wearing a lavender perfume today, and this lavender Earl is my first cup of the work day.
Its a really nice balance, with neither the bergamot nor the lavender taking over completely, which I appreciate. It would be easy to have this blend be unbalanced.
As it is, I am sipping away happily, and wondering what warm and delicious thing I’ll make for dinner. I am feeling cozy. I wish I didn’t have to be at work!

So I currently have two Lavender Earls in the cupboard. Both were gifts, interestingly enough!
I decided, as I am exsausted, that I would bring a different black tea with me to be a work tea (other than the disappointing Candy Cane Crush that I’ve already got there), so this was tucked into my bag and away we went.
First order of business was to brew it up, and you know? I prefer this to the other Lavender Earl I’ve got. That one is sooo strong that I keep thinking its a mislabeled Lapsang with lavender instead of an Earl. This is a much gentler incarnation of the blend, with the lavender and bergamot in a good blend, not overpowering, and not medicinal.
Its going to be a lovely work cup, I think.

Sipdown no. 2 of the day. Wahoo!
This was really nice. A peppery, pleasant chai. Very warming and good.
I’ve really enjoyed it, and may very well get more sometime in the future. It would be great on a really cold day.
But today, a much needed sipdown!

Whoops, oversteeped this today. Normally its quite rich and peppery, but the black base is bitter today.
Oh well.

So I may have bought more tea. Maybe. Possibly. Conceivably. And my cupboard may have bloomed back up to four pages (noooo!).
So the working on the teas continues on apace!
Another cup down on this strong, pleasant tea. It is great as a work blend, as it really jolts one out of any stupor that paperwork may create. Pep in the step!
I shall reign over this cupboard yet!

Yep, I like this one. It might even be a repeat someday in the cupboard. Spicy, without being overwhelming, and very warming, it seems like a great fall/winter blend.
It will also be sipped down soon. If I have a cup a day I should be done with it easily by the end of the week.
Is it wrong to already be plotting the next tea to be brought to work? I am finding the plotting to be most enjoyable.

The morning was cool enough that I felt full blown enthusiasm for a cup of tea when I first entered the office. So, trusty mug in hand, I brewed up this guy, and spent a happy morning working and sipping.
This has surprised me. I was not expecting to like it as much as I do. The flavors are good, the base decernable despite all the chai spices, and its a properly warming cup.

I am trying to make cold weather come with the power of my mind. I do this every year, trying to force the cold weather to arrive, stay, or get colder by engaging in autumnal rituals. I wear fall colors. I take my jackets out of storage and look at them significantly. I drink teas with warmer flavor profiles.
This will be my next sacrifice on the altar of autumn. Peppery, rich, the perfect thing for a brisk morning! Now I just need a brisk morning to drink it in….

I am cultivating a new thrill in my life- the thrill of sipdowns, and the idea of curating my cupboard.
I spent my morning looking at my teas, deciding which would be the next to come with me to my office, as I have a new formula of two black teas and one other tea, which I am finding suits the office very well. Plus, being almost literally trapped in a room with these teas makes it easier to sip them down, furthering my curation cupboard goals.
This is the tea that made the cut. It ticks all the boxes- its been ignored in my home cupboard, it has been in the cupboard for a long time now, and it needs to get sipped down. So along it has come!
And my first working cup of this was really nice! Its spicy, but not overwhelming. I get the pepper, but also a good balance of chai spices, and it feels very autumnal to me. That’s good, as I am trying to force autumn to come.
I don’t actually have a ton of this, so it may be a quick sipdown, a week or two if I have a cup every day, but that is great news.
Its almost time to order the fall teas!

Just when I think I’ve got a handle on this whole “number of teas in my cupboard” thing, whoops, I find teas I have not logged. Gosh darn it, I’m never going to get out of the 90’s. And that’s gonna be a problem, as I totally am going to want some teas during black Friday sales.
So, this is a tea my uncle gave me for my birthday, from the local small tea shop. I’m getting a little more into chai, and I love black pepper in food and recipes, so I was well interested to try this.
Its quite a strong blend, and the pepper is most certainly a factor. I can really taste it. And while I love that flavor in cooking, I’m a little uncertain about it when it comes to tea.
I don’t hate it, but its a spicier tea than I’m used to (usually drinking sweeter teas), so I’m glad I’ve got a few ounces of this, as I want to play around with it.

And that has killed off this blend! Huzzah!
Well, that’s not entirely fair. It was a perfectly decent little blend, but vanilla is my favorite flavor, so I tend to want the very best out of it.
This was only just ok, fading into meh when I ran out of leaf. It was best overleafed.
I shall not be buying more of this, in future, but it was harmless to try.

Of course, now that I’m ready to be thoroughly cozy as the rain falls down around me, the weather has decided to stop.
Well, that’s just how this week is going, I suppose!
Still, this was pleasant to drink as a lunchtime brew, even if the sun has decded to make an appearance.

In attempt to curtail the tiny headache I still have, I figured I’d have some more caffeine. That helps, sometimes. Sometimes, of course, it makes it much worse, but this doesn’t feel like that sort of headache.
Alas, its not decreased the headache (time to turn to a headache pill), but it was pleasant enough to drink, and really, what more can I ask of tea?

Todays cup of this was not bitter! Yippee!
I watched my steep time a little more closely, and that turned out well!
A nice mild cup for my early afternoon.

I love vanilla tea. Its one of my favorite things, a good vanilla black blend. I am constantly questing for them, and am formulating a theory that a company can be judged by the quality of its simple vanilla black blends.
This one leaves a bit to be desired. Its got vanilla flavor, but it doesn’t harmonize as I’d wish with the base. The base itself is a little bitter, which made the tail end of the sip not a creamy sigh, but a scrunched up sharpness.
This will not be the ultimate vanilla. The quest continues!

I am always questing for a basic (and yet fantastic) vanilla black. I’ve come across some really good blends, but nothing that has yet fully earned the title of “cupboard staple”. So I pick them up almost aggressively, when I spot one that seems a likely contender.
This is a blend from a local tea shop, which is a cute little place. They have some English tea imported, and lots of teaware, and some of their own unique blends, which I picked up a good helping of the last time I was there. This is one of them.
And its ok. My first cup of this was perfectly decent, but nothing to sing about. I’ll drink it down without problems, and probably some pleasure, but its not The One True Vanilla Black.
Do you guys have a good vanilla black recommendation?

Tea Cozy’s Sencha is boldly vegetal, but not so much that it turns you off. The tea itself is a grassy green color, moderately dense, and leaves your water a delightful spring green. Overall, one of the better senchas i’ve had.