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Yay Saturday! But not just ANY Saturday – an August Saturday with a noon temperature of 64 DEGREES that I am NOT working! The world has lost its mind!

I am celebrating this day off by drinking a huge mug of this. I just sent a sampler of breakfast teas + finum strainer to a friend and can’t wait to get her reviews of them. She has just discovered tea and her descriptions are quite entertaining – my favorite is the Irish Breakfast she referred to as a ‘sassy minx’.

Maybe after I get her into the breakfast teas I’ll send some dessert ones her way. This one would be a top choice – the little I have left – because it is one that is so true to its name. Coconut and pie. Add a little milk and sugar and a good day becomes fabulous.

Happy weekend!

The parameters on this tea (the same as the other SBT’s) yielded a surprisingly weak tea. It was light colored and watery and I didn’t really get any discernible tea flavor. It was that same candy-saccharine note in the iced earl grey that I wasn’t fond of then either.

Couldn’t finish this one, sadly. I’m glad I tried it though.

It’s been quite a while since I had this – and it’s a backlog from at least a few days ago.

Followed the recommended parameters on this and added some milk and sugar. The orange has faded from this but the chocolate is still there. It tasted a bit thin even with the milk and I didn’t get much marshmallow in anything but texture.

Wasn’t a terrible cup, but I do think its lost something to age. I really need to drink my stash faster…

Backlog from a few days ago.

I got a gorgeous new mug! I’ll have to change my profile picture to it, eventually, when I manage to get a few more minutes to do so. It’s a bit bigger than I’m used to but I don’t mind – more tea at once!

I made this the way I normally do, milk and sugar and yum – the perfect addition to breakfast. It went perfectly with some gluten free lemon streusel muffins I’ve found at the store. I think I’ll have to reserve that cup for when I have plenty of time on my hands – it’s perfect for relaxed, weekend sipping…my favorite kind.

AHHHH. Steepster hates me. I’m so behind on notes and whenever I manage to get on it manages to be down.

This is the most recent tea I’ve had and I made it iced like before. It smells GREAT dry and it tastes good with the 4 tbsp. of sweetener to 1/2 gallon (my typical ratio of sugar to tea when iced) but it doesn’t quite sing. Not quite sure what else to do, except go a little heavier on the leaf next time – I used 15 g. so I’ll up it another tsp. or so and see.

I think I have enough leaf for a few more cups so I’ll be revisiting this one soon!

I got put on standby for work a few nights ago and was settling in for a night of Buffy (I’m 10 years late on this show, I know) this tea, and a slice of pie when I got called in. GAH!

But I had an hour to get there and I live 5 minutes away so I just took my time and enjoyed this cup. It was perfect! 2 tsp. leaf to 10 oz. water with some milk and sugar and I was drinking heaven. There was strong apple and cinnamon mostly but some weak pastry notes in some sips.

I ended up having a really good night at work and I like to think it was because I at least took the time to fully enjoy this. I should honestly remember to have a cup every night before I go in!

Alright, time to deviate a bit from my 52teas habit. I bought an Upton iced sampler a while back and it has been waiting patiently for me to have a go.

I am a huge iced tea drinker. I drink iced tea more than hot tea, actually. Especially in the summer. I made a half gallon of this using 15 g. leaf, my normal amount of sweetener, and steeping for the below parameters.

I think it’s the darjeeling in this giving it a more delicate taste. It doesn’t have the typical briskness of assams or straight ceylons. This would be fine if I’d held back a little on the sweetener, but I feel like the sugar overwhelms a bit here. It has the potential to have a stronger flavor, so maybe a 4 minute steep with less sugar will do the trick next time.

Withholding a rating for now, but I will be revisiting the rest of the sample relatively soon I’m sure!

I picked this over the banana pudding from 52teas (my other contender for breakfast this morning) only because it really started smelling like cinnamon toast. This one has never quite realized the dream of tasting like french toast to me, but I’ve got at least half the pouch left so I’ll keep trying.

(side note: I hadn’t smelled the banana pudding black tea in a awhile and it knocked me off my feet with how puddingy and bananay it was. Maybe I’ll drink that later today…)

Today – 1.5-2 tsp. of leaf to 8 oz water, 2 oz. milk and 1 tsp. of sugar. Steeped for around 4 minutes. The result?

Whoever said it tastes like the Pumpkin caramel cheesecake, yes. That is this cup. I loved that tea but that was not what I wanted this morning. No bread notes, just heavy on cinnamon and a caramel flavor, which I’m guessing is intended to be syrup. You are so close, tea! Just get me some toasty bread flavor!

I have so many notes to catch up on – I hope I can remember them all!

This is a backlog from a bit ago, and I have to say I was disappointed. I think my standard amount of sweetener made it too saccharine tasting – and it became having tea with my sugar rather than some sugar with my tea.

The smell of this strongly resembled cream soda for some reason. Since there was no carbonation though all I could think about was flat cream soda. That’s what this resembles most closely. Flat soda is just nasty to me, so that’s the reason for the lower rating.

I didn’t really get much bergamot sadly-shame because I was really wanting to try that iced. It seemed to get buried underneath the taste of sugar though.

Ah well, this won’t be a rebuy but that’s okay – they can’t all be.

MMMM.. bergamot and vanilla are an intoxicating combination. Had this in the morning with a slice of strawberry peach pie. I’ve almost mastered crusts, I think! The secret is lard. Well, for me it is, anyway – nothing else has gotten close to the flakiness.

Anyway. This one preps flawlessly every time if you go by the company’s directions: 1 tsp., 3 minutes. Shorter than I usually steep my black teas but I think it would definitely be too bitter otherwise. Still one of the best Earl Grey Creme’s I’ve tasted.