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I wish this wasn’t a random and somewhat untraceable UFO. It’s another entry from Atlas Tea Club: Malawi White. It’s notable from the get-go that I am raving about a white tea. They’re generally far too mild for my barbarian palate.

The leaves were broad and flat—happy multicolored leaf confetti. Following the specs on the packet (1 teaspoon/8 ounces; just-barely-boiled water; 3 minutes) yielded a light-bodied honey-colored cup with the personality of peaches and sweet clover. Makes for a lovely break from heavily spiced and flavored winter blends.

A timely start for the morning: I overslept and a hearty cold front arrived overnight. A little spice and caffeine fit the bill, although the base wasn’t quite strong enough to slap my eyes open immediately.

I’d call this a cross between Good Earth’s Sweet and Spicy and good ol’ Constant Comment. It leads with sweet cinnamon, but you can catch the orange peel and cloves as well. I’d recommend for a winter feet-up in your favorite chair instead of a winter wake up on your way out the door. Thanks to Michelle for the sample!

Always a dilemma: too much at the bottom of the pouch for one cup; not enough at the bottom of the pouch for two cups. Dump-it-and-run usually wins. Result was a beastly grizzly bear of a bitter cup, but a little milk tamed the beast and made a really nice tumbler of berries with cream. This will be on the list when we visit Chabom again.

My original reviews for this were written 14 years ago. I can’t remember what I did before breakfast, so no wonder I thought I hadn’t tried it yet!

A friend brought a box for the communal tea caddy at work. I snagged a bag, expecting an herbal version of Constant Comment. (Then I wondered why Bigelow thought they needed to improve on Constant Comment, especially when they have a good decaf version.)

CC doesn’t have hibiscus, rose hips, or chicory; this does and that’s what distinguishes it. More fruity than spicy, but not so tart it’s painful. I’m not regretting the revisit, but I think I’ll leave it for my coworkers.

Happy New Year! Chin up, eyes forward, and on we go!

First cup of the new year was new to me—another entry from Atlas Tea Club: Sunstone Black. As always, I’m a little leery when the leaf recommendation is huge—in this case, per the packet, 5 teaspoons to a 12 ounce pot. I have mugs that size and there wasn’t quite that much in the hand me down, so I dumped it all and plunged in.

As expected, it was heavy and smooth, but strong. Lots of stonefruit, a little honey vibe, but no cocoa as advertised. There’s enough left in the mug to reheat with a little milk. We’ll see if that mixes things up.

Finally got to fill in my gap in my “If You’re a Steepster, You Really Need to Have Tried This” list, courtesy of Michelle. I’m seeing some reviews that call it eggnoggy, and I get that (nutmeg lover here; I think I’m detecting some) and some that call it snickerdoodly, and I get that, up to a point, but snickerdoodle recipes vary. Mom’s had cream of tartar in it, which added a little sharpness to the cinnamon.

Regardless, it’s pleasant straight up, seasonally on point, and once we replenish the half-and-half, will be great with a sploosh.

Performs exactly as advertised. Strong java, subtle maple, and mighty tasty. Thanks, Michelle! There’s a Trader Joe’s we sometimes hit on our Wichita runs … this will go on the “hunt it down” list next trip.

Michelle broadened my tea horizons today with a surprise package including this un-coffee-in-a-bag, and as the temperatures dropped to my standards for “almost needing coffee,” it was perfect timing. I thought Teeccino pretty much owned the coffee-alternative line and didn’t realize TJ had ventured in the same direction.

For those of you familiar with Teeccino, I’d say this is most closely aligned with their plain, unadorned French Roast. Recommended steep time is 3-5 minutes. At 4 minutes, it was plenty strong and maybe just a hair more bitter than Teeccino’s straight-up stuff. Milk would have been a fair addition, but after several days of too-readily-available Christmas candy, a little bite was a welcome change of pace.

Ashmanra tucked a bag of this inside a Christmas card…I saved it especially for the first day of “winter’s back.” Teens this morning and just barely 30 in the sunshine this afternoon justifies pastry, don’t you think?

I didn’t try this side by side with the Twinings Gingerbread Joy I’ve been gloating over all season, but they’re similar. If Gingerbread Joy replicates gingerbread made with buckwheat flour, Gingerbread Festival uses regular cake flour—just a touch lighter, like the gingerbread loaf our Starbucks used to serve.

The only dairy under the roof at the moment is skim milk, which turned it kind of a funky brownish green color (Pantone 787A3F; I checked :) but it added enough creaminess to make the cup into a lovely afternoon snack.