drink 43 types of tea

It’s interesting. Still drinking it. Maybe more of the flavors will become evident when it cools more (one of my little problems), but the rosemary is very evident. And i can taste the rose, too. It has rosemary, lavender, rose, bergamot oil, and black tea. i like it. :) It’s another light-colored one, like their Rose Congou. Also needs nothing added, but i imagine milk wouldn’t be bad in it. [Edit: Yes, when it cools a tad, the lavender is definitely more evident.]

i ordered 4 teas (loose leaf) from Simpson & Vail and i’ve tried 3 of them since i got them. Going to try the fourth one soon.

20) Lichee Congou – just lychee black tea. Really nice. Naturally sweet without adding anything. Very nice.

21) Rose Congou – this is my favorite of the S&V ones so far. It’s wonderful and i highly recommend it! It’s just black tea with rose petals. Very light and delicate. Very rosy, too. Light colored tea. Needs nothing added.

22) Summertime Earl Grey – it’s supposed to be peachy, and it is. Is that peach in there? It’s wonderful! i love it. Needs nothing added.

Well, i was at Raley’s looking for a bottle of (hopefully Twinings, but i knew that was impossible) peach black tea, but i ended up getting a bottle of Hansen’s lychee black tea. i’d never tried this before, but the stuff in that bottle was great. Sort of like eating candy in an odd sort of way. Dang, that was good. Maybe i’ll have to get some on its own (loose or bagged) and try that.

18) Tetley’s British Blend: i had tried it once years ago with honey and lemon when my throat was in agony once. Didn’t like lemon at the time and it was strong, so i didn’t like it. However, i tried it again and it was great! i drink it now when i can. Nice with or without milk.

i’m just putting this bit in here because i thought someone might be interested in this. Recently got a pint of Haagen-Dazs’ green tea ice cream. Didn’t think it was bad. Others may or may not like it. Others may or may not like green tea ice cream.

i can’t believe i didn’t add these before! It’s been a while since i’ve had them, but i’ll say what i remember about them.

16. Republic of Tea’s Man Kind Tea (blueberry green tea): Not bad. Pretty strong. Wouldn’t go out of my way to get it again or anything. It was a sample bag from RoT.

17. Republic of Tea’s Pomegranate Green Tea: Maybe it was the kettle adding something to the water, but i’d never noticed that problem before or since then. It was another sample bag, so i didn’t try it again. The texture was what was weird – it didn’t have that simple watery texture, and it tasted bad. Might have just been one bad try and others might like it.

Plain red tea. Not bad at all. i like it, though it’s not my favourite. Something about it is reminiscent of the puerh i’ve tried (which i haven’t drunk more of because the smell bugs me), but it’s a lot tamer and the taste that is reminiscent of the puerh, while being a bit weird, isn’t enough to turn me off.

Pretty good. Rooibos tea mixed with masala chai spices. A very good flavor. Very spicy and nice. No sugar or honey required. Still, i’d like to find a plain rooibos in town to try red tea out on its own.

i’ve had this before, but it’s been years. Since i still have several bags of it left, i decided to try it out. Verdict: a bit old, but not bad at all. i remember this being good when it was new.

10) Bigelow’s Constant Comment tea: i like it. Orange spice black tea, basically. Seriously nice!

11) Celestial Seasonings’ Sugar Plum Spice tissane: It was a red color, which i thought was kind of odd, but it was great. Gave me an easy feeling while drinking it.

12) Celestial Seasonings’ Gingerbread Spice tissane: Actually, i haven’t had a full cup of that yet, but i some of Mom’s cup. It was pretty good. This and number 11 are Christmas teas from C.S., so they may be coming out again soon. i don’t know.

Just make the 5000 Mile Chai the way the directions say (although you can change the measurements for however much you want in the end) and add a teabag of the C.S. per cup into it when the water and loose tea mix starts to boil the first time. Take out the teabag after a few minutes or even just leave it until the whole thing is strained out at the end (like i did) for a great, tangy masala chai. That’s it. The Tao of Tea directions call for milk, but i bet soymilk or other milk alternatives would be ok.