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Cycling through the cold, cold weather may be starting to get to me. Come on, immune system, hang in there!!

I’m not sure what it was – perhaps simply the spur of the moment – but something about this tea enticed me enough to try out something new.

The peppermint definitely keeps me awake (more so than caffeine?!) and leaves a sharp, cool sensation on my tongue. But something’s not right in there – I’m thinking it’s the white chocolate. The result is something uncannily creamy—no, fatty? “Rich” would be a more euphemistic way of putting it—and with a touch of sweetness, although it’s the sugar-mixed-with-fat kind of sweet. This is not what I’m looking for at all.

At least it keeps me awake.

I enjoy a good variety in my cupboard. Unfortunately, this means I cannot buying too much of any one type at once would be a terrible idea, both for my pocket and shelf life, so I usually stock up in bags of 10-25 grams – which isn’t so bad, considering each cup only uses up ~2g. (Oh, the schadenfreude of watching the salesperson measure 10g of everything on my list for me!)

Nonetheless, the time will come when I decide to walk in-store and buy a piping hot cup of tea. There was an outdoor Christmas lights event on Saturday in Halifax, so after a bit of shopping I wandered into a Davids to find something to keep me warm for the show. Finally, I walked out with a cup of Butterfly Jasmine in hand.

Hand-rolled/wrapped leaves have always been enticing to me but are understandably expensive. By the gram, Butterfly Jasmine is easily one of the three most expensive tea Davids has to offer (the other two being Gyokuros). I’m normally a little cautious about jasmine teas because, like vanilla extract (albeit to a less dramatic extent), I find they usually smell better than they taste. The lady behind the counter told me not to steep it too long, and she was right. The tea was perfect.

It’s decided: I’m going to stock up on some jasmine greens from now on.

Nothing serious today. Just left a cup on the table and had quick sips between lines of “code”.

Eventually it just cooled down to room temperature, and although I wasn’t really focused on it at all, from it I still felt a pleasantly light and refreshing bit of calm to keep the mind sharp.

Particularly for something initially intended today to be drunk mindlessly, I am satisfied.

There is too much shame in throwing away unused tea leaves. I honestly cannot remember how this single teabag snuck into my collection, but here it is and today seems alright for a small risk.

Upon opening the package, it smelled like an old hotel room. Not the best of signs.

As for the taste itself: the ginger is there along with the lemongrass, and it compliments the green tea, but it’s so…. tepid. The water, yes, perhaps, but the ginger! It does create a quick warming sensation at the back of my throat and later cools it down, which would be nice if only it weren’t so fleeting! I can feel the ginger, yes, but can I taste it? Yes also, but not enough. With ginger, I want something a spicy wake-up call, not an afterthought. But then again, this bag’s been sitting around for who-knows-how-long.

In a dire pinch, the tea is not all that bad, but a more rewarding alternative is not at all difficult to find.

Props to the ginger.

I do love that fulfilling taste of toasted grain, with that mild grassy base. They just go so well together. Really makes me feel all zen and renewed. Today, I found the amount of rice just perfect for my needs.

What’s more, it makes me reminisce the happy days when I still lived close to good sushi all around. (I noticed this was unmistakably the general variety they serve at the sushi restaurants – is this a tradition?)

I’m also searching for a really good barley-based tea, especially since this steep used up the last bit I had in my cupboard…

Oversteeped again! Not to mention, the leaves themselves have been stored for… two years now, I believe, albeit in good conditions. Please accept my humble apologies, O Gracious Tea Gods.

Just kidding. Creamy Nut Oolong was my first personal loose leaf (outside of Yum Cha and my mom’s stock), and I loved it oh so much. I bought 50g of it from a Teaopia promo coupon and slowly savoured my way though it, but when I found out Teaopia would soon be no more, I went right back and bought another 100g for my stock. This was long before I realized that I cannot go through so much tea within its ideal shelf life, or that they even had shelf lives! Ahh, the fond memories.

Still, even though today’s steep was a bit too strong, there’s nothing I really don’t like about it. It’s rich and smooth, with the caramel nougat doing pretty much all the work but the leaves below are still distinctly there to balance it all out. One of the few “dessert” teas that I enjoy, and great for relaxing. (I avoid over-multisteeping with this one though, because the magic all disappears once the candy melts.)

As I work my way through my dwindling old stock, I pine again for the good Teaopia days.

Not sure why, but this one tastes better today. Maybe it’s because I’m still stuffed from a hearty Thai curry lunch. Or maybe I’m just focused on work for a change. Or maybe, it’s because I’m down to my last teabag-ful and won’t be restocking until next semester (gasp!). Regardless, I am satisfied with this steep: a solid, cleansing tone with notes of fruity peach to keep things interesting, but not overdone. I’ll have to get another flush in to get the most of it before the self-imposed hiatus.

Now back to work.

I cannot make an honest comparison because I’ve yet to taste rum straight-up – but still, this smells divine. It’s warm and smooth and comforting with a good book, maybe even bundled under blankets. Mmmmm.

I’ve made it a rule to always keep a stock of pu’erh available in case I ever feel the emergency urge for a nice cup of Hong Kong style (or at least pseudo-) milk tea. Today, I went for it.

Funny, because I tried it before using this tea, but I swear something is off, not that I was shooting for authenticity here (“chocolate orange”-flavoured milk tea??). First of all, I couldn’t taste the flavours quite right— but that might have something to do with all that milk I poured in there. For one, I don’t normally have milk/cream (or sugar, really) with my tea, but… well, let’s just say something went horribly wrong with my milking technique. (Or, I shouldn’t have tried it with regular milk. Or, it could have just been a bad idea to begin with.)

It’s going to be a while before I attempt to make my own milk tea again.

Well, here we are again! As wonderful as I think this tea is, it may be about time I throw in some more variety into my office stash. Really, one of the toughest things about relocating every few months is having to be conscious of how much stuff I’m accumulating – which, unfortunately, includes my lovely tea collection. Boo.