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Decaf Vanilla Chai

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While I had some milk in the house, I looked through my decaf options and found that I had another tea that would pair well with milk. Decaf vanilla chai. The ingredient list looked pleasant. Cinnamon, ginger allspice, and vanilla mixed with black tea. I opted to brew the tea bag in a smaller volume of water, and add the milk after. I don't remember if I microwaved the tea after adding the milk to make it warmer. I'll admit it was a couple of weeks ago when I made this, and I'm just now writing it up. At least it was still in March! Back when it was warm. Our winter seems to be inverted. It was warm, warm, warm, and now it's cold, cold, cold even though we are getting ever closer and closer to April. This tea was fantastic with milk. Smooth and creamy with a pleasant flavor of vanilla. Now I suppose I should get my behind up and dressed to go grocery shopping. I remember back before I moved to the country I would always be making little trips to stores when I was ti...
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Double Spice Chai

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I recently had some milk in the fridge, and decided that I should look through my box for some tea that would pair well with milk. Double spice chai sounded like a good candidate. I tried a swig of it before I added the milk. I would say that the spice blend was clove forward with cinnamon next. Overall it was a fine tea without the milk. The addition of milk knocked the edge off the spices and made for a very smooth, enjoyable tea. Given the time change last night, now I wish that there was a double caff tea in this collection. Okay, honestly there isn't enough caffeine in anything to make this next week tolerable. Now to go continue my efforts of bringing order to this home now that I bought a nice big shelf for the second bedroom.
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Acai Berry

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A few years ago acai berries had their time in the spotlight as a super food. I don't know if it still has that health washing or not. I don't really pay attention to those things anymore because I just can't take the blatant consumerism coupled with BS claims. I did however get a couple of acai berry tea bags in my Christmas box of teas. The other night I kind of wanted something, so I made a cup. It several of the decaf teas in this box have hibiscus in them, and this is one of them. The brew is the expected bright red. I'm not terribly fond of hibiscus. This had a strong hibiscus flavor with a bright berry note. I've been working on making a copy of my phases of the moon doily. It took the better part of the month of February to make it. I think it was probably 20 hours or so of work. Then I modified a pattern to make a gift for a friend who likes aliens and UFOs.
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Decaf Earl Grey

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It's winter. Life is crappy in winter. I'm drinking my way through the decaf side of the box faster because I'm craving something warm to drink in the evening. I find it vaguely entertaining that this has a lavendar pouch. I've seen versions of Earl Grey with lavender, but this is straight Earl Grey, but the decaf version. Sometimes decaf teas, especially black teas can have an off flavor. It's been a while since I had the regular Earl Grey, so this tastes like a run of the mill bagged Earl Grey to me. A friend who has helped me with a lot of stuff wanted a copy of my phases of the moon doily. While this one was much faster to make than the original, I estimate that it still took somewhere around 20 hours. I found a background that I like for framing it. One more thing to do today. I have a friend coming over this afternoon to work on crafts, so hopefully I will get it done then.
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Mao Feng

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Mao feng is a light, Chinese green tea. It has a pleasant scent, and a long, narrow leaf. This is what just over 3 grams of leaf looks like. That's about the equivalent of 2 teaspoons of a cut tear curl tea. This looks like a huge amount of leaves, but imagine how few of these leaves would fit in a teaspoon, or even a tablespoon. This is the type of leaf where you really need scales. It makes a beautiful, light brew, and can be brewed a few times. It's a very light, refreshing tea. Now I'm facing a dilemma. I have a code for 10% off an online purchase from my favorite tea shop. Do I order tea again? I just got some 2 months ago, but I just finished drinking up my favorite winter tea. I could also get some of my favorite spring teas in the box. Cherry sencha and ryokucha sound so good right now, along with more of my beloved ginger puerh. I wonder if they will offer a 10% discount for St Patrick's day. Otherwise, the next discount won't come until May for moth...
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The Himalayan

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Today's tea comes from Nepal. Specifically the Himalayan mountains just over the border from Darjeeling India. It is billed as being very similar to Darjeeling teas, but the rules for foods from specific regions of the world apply so it cannot be called Darjeeling tea. It's slightly cheaper than Darjeeling tea, so I decided to try a bag since I just bought a home, and was looking to economize on my last tea buying trip. In the winter I tend to crave black teas. Technically this is a black tea, but it's lighter than most black teas. In the depth of winter, I also tend to crave teas with a floral note to them. This is the only time of year I will drink jasmine tea even though I'm not a huge fan of it. Something about the cold and dark makes me want a little whiff of summer. I got this tea as a compromise. Darjeeling teas usually have a floral note to them without being overwhelming. I set up my Himalayan tea to brew several times using a gaiwan. The first brew had a f...
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Super Irish Breakfast

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I don't know what makes a regular Irish breakfast super. Maybe it's a breakfast that is really really Irish instead of average Irish? Maybe it's just better than most Irish breakfasts? I guess I'll never know. You know that this is Irish because the package is green. Usually green packages are for green tea, but this one is black tea. I wanted to use one of my mugs with the ceramic tea strainer in it, but I didn't want smaller bits of loose leaf tea floating around in my tea. By the time I was making this tea, my 16 oz tea pot, my gong fu set, and my 12 oz teapot were all in need of washing. In my defense, I went out with friends the night before, so I was tired from staying up late. As for the tea, it was pretty much your run of the mill black tea. I would probably need to brew some other black tea blends and try them next to this one in order to figure out the differences. After a frenzy of lace making during the holidays, I took a little break. Now I'm b...
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