Violin in C Sharp

 It's been nearly two months since I was in the mood to try out one of my new blends from August Uncommon Tea.  When searching through my cupboard this morning for what I wanted to drink, however, this blend called out to me. I've been in the mood for smoky teas of late - but I wanted something more complex in flavor than a Lapsang or a Russian Caravan, and the write up on this made it seem like it would fit the bill. When I opened the bag and took a whiff of the blend, I immediately wondered if I had made the right choice and worried that after brewing I might have to throw the entire pot out.  Why you ask?  Because the nose on this blend before brewing is ALL CHERRY ALL THE TIME.  I feared from the scent that I was going to have a pot of tea that tasted like cough syrup. As soon as the water hit the leaf, my fears didn't dissipate, but instead changed.  The initial hit of water sent up a scent something akin to the scent of pipe tobacco and turned my stomach.  Thankfully,

For Christmas, my mother gave me a tea sample set from Oliver Pluff & Co., which is a small blend company out of Charleston, South Carolina that seems to specialize in historical blends.  The sample set she gifted me was "Teas of the Boston Tea Party" - blends created to recreate as closely as possible the tea blends dumped into the Boston harbor in the 1700s before the American Revolutionary War. Needless to say, as a tea nerd and a history nerd, this gift set appeals to me greatly and I have been super excited to try the blends.  The blends come in little test tube like containers that sit in a little cherry wood display.  It's a very nice design.  It also comes with a little card that describes each blend.  This time, I decided to dive into the Lapsang Souchong. First off, when you open the little test tube, the aroma of the blend hits your senses like a big ol' mac truck of SMOKE. Of course, since this is a Lapsang, I expect the smoke - but this particular ble

 I was gifted with a beautiful hand curated collection of teas from The Republic of Tea and this is the first flavor I'm trying from the collection. First off, before we even get to the tea itself, I have to comment on the packaging.  The feel of the super slick wrapper is tactilely satisfying to a surprising degree.  I seriously stood there while the water boiled after I'd taken the tea bag out and just rubbed the two sides of the wrapper together - only my kettle beeping brought me out of it.  It was lovely. So, the package says to only steep the tea for 30-60 seconds.  I tried the tea after 60 seconds and while the fragrance of peach had fully infused into the water, I didn't find any actual flavor.  Now, I know for a fact that my palate is far more keyed to Green, Oolong, and Black flavors - but still, it just tasted like water. I decided to give the steep a bit more time and did a full 3 minutes as though it were a Green.  The result was that I could then fully taste t