Tearunners

Another tea box tea! It’s so fun to watch the pearls unfurl, so I used my one clear mug for this. The flavor was pretty strong and classic. It was a little bitter at first, but that mellowed overnight. If you want a tea that’s strongly flowery, this might be the one. It’s one of the better flowery teas I’ve had.

It has been so blessed hot lately. Normally we have around 10 days a year in the 90s. In the first 16 days of June we’ve had 6 days in the 90s. Ugh! Even th air conditioner does completely cool the apartment on those days. But i suppose 82 is better than 92!

Made a jug of iced tea using this leaf. Wow, excellent flavor, no bitterness or astringency, and almost sweet on its own. Some straight black tea are just icky iced because they are so bitter/strong. Those benefit from a splash of flavoring or lemonade or even sugar, altho i avoid added sugar. This one is lovely. Didn’t even need additives to be drinkable.

Today I finally made the switch from morning coffee to morning tea. At first I was going to brew a cup of North Winds, which is one of my favorite straight black teas, but I decided to try one of the straight blacks from my recent Tea Runners box. It is a Sri Lankan tea

I liked this one. A lot. It is very smooth. I didn’t get that faint bitter after taste that I sometimes get. I added 1 teaspoon of leaf to 10 ounces of 205 degree water and steeped for 4 minutes. along with one small lump of rock sugar (about the size of a pea) I can imagine this one iced. Pretty tasty.

i like it strong and i like it with a high caffeine content, so this tea is spot on. i taste mainly malt and nothing much else, which is fine with me. it can withstand a splash of milk without losing flavour. it’s a good morning cuppa. this is the last of the teas from my Tearunners March subscription. i hope you are staying safe, home and healthy where you are.

this is absolutely lovely tea. it’s strong and the sweetness goes with the malt very well. it can handle milk without losing flavour. a mere hint of astringency. the black currant flavour is subtle but resonant. and unique.

dear friends, i’ve departed from my precious black teas for a bit to try this oolong. i haven’t had a lot of oolong teas so far. i adore milky oolong by World of Tea, but that’s another entry.

this is a delightfully bright tea with a bit of zing and a lot of flavour. i can taste the hint of oolongy-ness, how do i describe that? sort of milky/buttery?
it’s also got a smokey flavour as well. the aroma upon first nose sniff when it’s still dry is very plummy but the taste is more peach than plum. this tea feels very kind and friendly on a rainy day in Ottawa and is a good distraction from the free floating anxiety of these sad and worrieome times. i hope you are safe and healthy where you are, my friends.

greetings everyone. i hope you are staying safe and healthy during this pandemic. it’s scary, eh? (I’m a Canadian so I say eh, heh). i am grateful for my husband, even though he has to work during all of this, as i’m sure many others here do too, or have loved ones who are at work or caught up in travel bans, in hospital or home sick – hugs!),
i am grateful i have food and shelter and wish everyone could have both.
i am also grateful for a large supply of tea!
but sadly, this Irish Breakfast doesn’t really pass muster. it is too perfumy, acidic, lemony to taste like Irish Breakfast tea to me. it’s light. i like a darker, stronger taste alas. it’s the completely wrong taste for Irish Breakfast.

The second tea I tried from my tearunners subscription box. To me, this one had no flavor. I carefully prepared it according to instructions. As it cooled a faint bitter note emerged. I don’t know if the flavorless bit is just me and my stupid anosmic nose. It might be. This one certainly sounded good. I’m a bit disappointed in the two teas I’ve tried so far. And I don’t want to be! I will try this one again another time. I generally do not add sweetner to my tea, but maybe I will try that next time. I still have two straight black teas to try so I’m not giving up on TeaRunners. Since I paid in advance for 6 months I can’t give up yet ;) But I think I’ll try an old favorite later tonight.

i confess that i don’t really drink iced tea and i’ve brewed this one as hot tea . it’s a sunny and cold February afternoon on a Saturday. i live in a place where winter is a six-month-long affair. i see no point to iced tea now or most of the time. tea, for me, is meant to be hot and comforting whether in February or July in a/c. this is a very plain tasting tea and i’m good with that. it’s strong with a bit of an astringent aftertaste that brightens it.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – June 2024 Tea #8 -A white tea

I am NOT accomplishing these sipdowns as fast as I would like this year.  uh oh..  But I’m still drinking tea and enjoying it, and that is what matters.  This tea is now gone.  It was okay as the last sip disappeared, but you can’t fault it for being an old tea at this point!  Those tiny pearls sure did unravel.
2024 sipdowns:  48

‘Samurai’ Traveling Teabox – Tea #13
I don’t think I’ve ever had white pearls?  They’re smaller than black dragon pearls, but bigger than most rolled green teas.  The flavor is light and delicate, despite unraveling to quite a large amount of leaves.   The first steep wasn’t as flavorful as I’d like, but the second steep, oddly enough (this is the oddest tasting note ever) tasted like Necco candy hearts… maybe the lemon ones.  I don’t have any of those around despite it having just been Valentine’s Day.  But a very distinct and obvious flavor of lemon candy hearts.  It’s the weirdest thing.  Sweet, with hints of lemon.. I’m accustomed to some white teas occasionally tasting like lemon.  But I could swear there are melted candy hearts in this mug and it certainly didn’t taste like this in the first cup. The third cup was back to tasting like the first, like actual tea and not melted candy hearts, so I don’t know what magic happened with that second steep. I wish all of the steeps were like that.  Maybe with precise steeping parameters.  This is currently on sale, if anyone is interested.
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoon for full mug // 40 minutes after boiling  // 3 minute steep
Steep #2  // 22 minutes after boiling //  2 min
Steep #3 // 12 minutes after boiling // 2 min

after having returned from groceries this afternoon, i made myself a mug of this tea. the first taste and lingering taste is sweet cane sugar. the aroma is earthy when still unwatered and malty post brew. i forgot to reset my kettle from 100 to 93 C for this one. i’ll try it again at the right temperature. but right now, it isn’t doing much for me.

it’s another sunny cold morning in February. i’m drinking a mug before the arctic expedition to the grocery store. this tea has such a delicate flavour that i was going to write it off as bland, but as i let it cool, i notice a caramel taste that is quite pleasing. it is smooth, probably a good afternoon tea, if you don’t mind high caffeine. i might try steeping this longer next time to see if more of the flavour can be teased out.

this is an absolutely lovely tea. i’m drinking it post tai chi, post lunch on a cold and sunny February afternoon and it reminds me of summer. the first taste is sweet and blue/black berry ish and the lingering taste is pine. it’s a delicious blend. i suspect it would make a fine ice tea as well. i’ll let you know in july.

i adore this tea. it is silky, robust and tastes lovely with milk. there’s a hint of sweetness but not so much as to overwhelm the inherent Ceylonesqueness of it. if i didn’t have so many different teas to choose from, i can easily imagine drinking this as my regular tea. it’s perfect for mornings. it’s gentle but still strong.

the bergamot flavour is strong and the tea is quite sweet. it’s not the best earl grey i’ve ever had and it’s not the worst. it’s not a show stopper. at 4 mins steeping time it should be fine, but it has a slight bitter oaky aftertaste that i’m not sure goes with the spirit of earl grey

this tea is what i imagine a cello would sound like if played in the woods amidst a forest dense with trees, a little light coming through from the sun. it’s lovely. light yet a hint smoky, sweet yet solid. i think i’m in love with this tea. i haven’t felt this much love for a tea since my darlings Irish Breakfast and Lapsang Souchong. mmmmmm. here’s the sound the tea evokes for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpE94_RoOro

a subtle and delicate tea that evokes a summer’s eve as the sun is just beginning to set. the floral taste is an undertone to the citrus and the sweetness. the citrus remains as a sustained note. while i don’t taste the lavender strongly, i can tell it’s there.

a silky smooth sweet and delicious tea that is good for breakfast or for later in the day

the best part of this tea for me is the aftertaste which is a tad fruity and sweet, with some astringency, making it bright in the mouth. perhaps i haven’t figured out the proper steeping time but aside from a hint of powdered cocoa taste, the tea tasted very much like straight hot water, except for its aftertaste