Lapsang & Raspberries

Not in the same cup. Although looking at today's title, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea to try. A nice, sweet fruity taste paired...maybe not with traditional Lapsang, but a lighter smokey tea, like Bohea or Black Dragon?

I have to say, I'm a little annoyed that Teas, Etc has been out of both Raspberry Tart and Bohea every time I've gone to order for the last several *months*. This does not bode well for business, in my opinion. However, I have found replacements that seem to be working nicely, so no lasting harm, I suppose.

I like raspberry tea, but not enough to drink it "just because". The fact is, it helps alleviate certain female ailments to the extent that I've come to rely on it heavily from month to month. So I finally searched my other favorite tea retailers and found an herbal tisane at Adagio called "Raspberry Patch" that includes dried raspberries. I wasn't sure if that would work, since the leaves have more of the substance that's supposed to help, but I mixed a bit of it with the Harney & Son's Supreme Breakfast that I'm not fond of, and it both improved that tea and worked as a nice painkiller, so win-win!

On the Bohea front, the replacement I've found is a blend of organic black tea (?) and Lapsang, which results in a nice, mellower smokey tea for those days when a full on campfire isn't really necessary. Black Dragon from Tantalizing Teas is excellent...and I think I just might try mixing it with a little of that raspberry patch tea next month to see how it turns out!

As for my Tea Words - I've been failing miserably on those. I've been drinking excellent teas lately, so perhaps I can get back into the groove here soon...

In the meantime...what's in your cup?

Tea Words: Feb. 17 - 23, 2013

Elyse's Blend - Harney & Sons
2/18 @ 8:30am - Light, mellow, meh.

Boulder Breakfast - The TeaSpot
2/18 @ 11:15am - Burnt, over brewed, yuck!

Yunnan Puerh - Adagio

2/19 @ 8:30am - Mild, uneventful

Pink Grapefruit - Teas, Etc.

2/20 @ 8:30am - bright, refreshing

Harvest Spice - The Tea Spot

2/21 @8:30am - sweet, dry

Yunnan Noir - Adagio

2/22 @8:30am - deep, rich, smooth, heavenly

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I managed to keep track of some cups this week, and as you might have noticed, the week didn't start out very well tea-wise. Weds and Thursday were okay, and then Thursday night I got my two tea orders from Adagio and Tantalizing Teas. Hooray! Good Yunnan tea never tasted so fabulous - it had been too long.  

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this week's sipping...no more back-of-the-cupboard cuppas for a while. What's in your cup this week? 

Tea Words 1/12 - 1/19

A little better variety this week, anyways...and a wee bit better attention to detail too, methinks:

Yunnan Golden Puerh - Adagio

1/13 @ 6:00pm: Layers, Depth, Pepper

Chocolate Chai - Adagio

1/13 @ 9:30pm: Light spice

Cashmere from Tantalizing Teas (with a pinch of H&S Supreme Breakfast tossed in)

1/14 @ 9:00am: Smooth, caramel, vanilla

1/15 @ 9:00am: light tobacco, easy

1/16 @9:00am: smooth, warm, comforting

Florence - Harney & Son's

1/14 @ 1:30pm: Brisk & deep

Caramel - Tantalizing Teas

1/15 @1:30pm: Uh, eew!

Boulder Breakfast - The Tea Spot

1/17 @ 9:00am: Astringent (weird!)

1/17 @ 11:15am: rough, thin (brewed one minute less. How could this possibly happen with puerh?) 

1/18 @ 12:30pm: Rough, bite-y, okay

Supreme Breakfast - Harney & Sons

11/18 @ 8:30am: Strong muscatel, darjeeling? Nilgiri?

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Cashmere was definitely my winner this week...and my salvation when other teas just weren't really doing it for me. There's something about rooibos blended with vanilla that gives it this smooth, creamy caramel flavor I really enjoy, and of course the black tea adds that very necessary kick of caffeine in the morning.

My disappointment with the brand new pouch of Boulder Breakfast received this week was confusing. From what I remember, the blend of puerh, black tea & chocolate was very smooth and mellow in the mornings, but this batch so far hasn't had any of that smoothness I enjoyed before. Was it my faulty memory, or did they change the recipe? I'll never know, I guess, but  I may not order it again. Puerh should never get bitter or rough, and I tried brewing less with no difference. Annoying!

The Yunnan Puerh was pretty darn tasty, but I only have a tiny sample tin and no money to order more. So I'm hoarding that.

And interestingly enough, when I was at home Friday rather than rushing off to work, I actually could taste some of the individual notes in the Supreme Breakfast. It reminded me of a strong first-flush Darjeeling (very strong) or Nilgiri with muscatel notes. I'm not a fan of first flush darjeeling (I prefer second or even third, personally), so that explains why I don't particularly care for it. But I did need a quiet morning with nothing else going on to identify that...interesting.

All in all, it was an okay tea-week....though I really wish I could stock up on some of my old standby favorites. A couple more weeks until payday, and the tea cupboard won't look quite so bleak. Until then, I have plenty of Cashmere, thank goodness...

Tea Time: English Breakfast Extra Fancy from Tantalizing Tea

Thanks for joining me again for weekly tea reviews. After you've read the review and made yourself a cuppa, you may be interested in checking out my weekly flash (very short) fiction at The Variety Pages. This week's story actually features tea, so it's a nice match, I think. 

Also, check back this evening for a contest announcement...

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Now, here's today's review: 

Brewed 5 minutes at 208 degrees in porcelain cup w/metal strainer. 

I'm not normally an English Breakfast drinker, but when Tantalizing Tea sent me a free sample of this with my order last month, I couldn't help but try it.The scent in the package wasn't all that strong, but that's pretty normal for most English Breakfast blends I've tried. As you can see above, the leaves are very nice looking, a sort of deep chocolatey brown that is very appealing.

Once stepped, it has a nice texture - thick and pleasant on the tongue. It's got good flavor for an English Breakfast, though it's still a little too much on the astringent side for me. It's earthy with a definite high note, but it falls just short of a full-bodied flavor, and I'd certainly recommend it for anyone who likes a good English Breakfast (or just likes tea on the stronger side - my husband liked it pretty well).

Whether you plan on purchasing this tea or not, I'd urge you to check out the Tantalizing Tea web site. Not only do that have some really nice teas on offer, their tea ware catalog is superb!

Until next week, happy sipping....