Violin in C Sharp

 This is not what I expected it to be. Let me explain.  I knew academically that Darjeeling varies greatly from one flush to another, but I had no idea a First flush would be SO different from the second and third flush Darjeeling that I'm more familiar with. The aroma is slightly dusty, but since I couldn't think what a Darjeeling is "supposed" to smell like, that didn't give me my first clue that I was in for a new experience.  My first clue was when I poured the leaf into my measuring spoon.  Look at it!  Even the leaf looks different than what I'm used to.  Some of those rolled leaves look GREEN.  Since when is there any green in a Darjeeling?  Darjeeling looks like a black oolong!  Doesn't it?? ..... Apparently not.  After a full 5 minute steep, this golden tea liquor was the darkest this first flush Darjeeling ever got.  Color me confused! I suppose I should pause here to talk about what a flush is.  Tea plants go dormant...

 This one was quite the surprise.  I made it late at night because a house guest was looking for a tea that would help her sore throat and this seemed like it might fit the bill. As it is a Turmeric tinsane, I was predisposed to not like it.  I admit my prejudice against turmeric tinsanes. This time, I knew that the little stick bits were ashwagandha and I prepared myself for the strange hybrid of licorice and sassafras.  Of course, I also looked and saw what I thought appeared to be lemongrass - but I waved that off as my culinary brain getting in the way of my tea brain, because of course lemongrass wouldn't be in a tea blend...... The color, of course, was yellow as hell thanks to the turmeric.  I expected nothing less. The flavor - surprised the hell out of me.  Turmeric was NOT the dominant flavor for me!  Instead, it was almost a root beer sweet licorice top note with a black pepper finish and a lemongrass aftertaste. I mean... what the hell?...

 I am SOOOO glad that I did not drink this yesterday before the festival. #1, because I did not need a reason to loose my spot near the front to use a nasty port-a-potty and #2, because this is an AMAZING festival hangover blend.  It is EXACTLY what I needed today. Alright, back to the start - I was so happy when I opened this chai and could both see and smell the cloves and black pepper! This is a lot like their India's Original Masala Chai from day 2 - but with added vanilla.  It is delicious - even when I overbrewed it on the first steep.  (yes, a sin, I realize that).  Even over steeped, the astringency was not overpowering (like so many types of chai can go when over steeped).  The mistake of over steeping DOES hide the vanilla a bit.  However, adding a touch of sweet condensed milk into the mug brought the vanilla right to the forefront of the flavour where it had a lovely party with the clove, pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom.    Of note...

  Don't worry, you didn't miss a post - I skipped Day 8.  I promise I'll go back to it when I'm more in the mood for another turmeric blend. So, a basic Assam - nothing to get my expectations up, but I expect it to be a nice late afternoon tea break. Looking at the leaf though.... perhaps there is something here to get excited about?  Those are some nice golden tips I see there which implies that this might be a second flush Assam and not an early summer first flush.  I could look it up on the Vahdam website... but I'll steep it first.  The color alone will let me know if it's a first or second flush as first flush Assam is much golder in color and second flush is darker and redder. Yup, we're definitely working with a second flush Assam.  Oh goodie!  Why am I excited?  Well, most basic inexpensive Assam is first flush - no golden tips, no deep reddish color.  The second flush is picked later in the season.  Because it has longer to soak...

  I honestly had no idea what to expect from this blend. Based on the name alone, I thought perhaps something like the Day 1 Himalayan Green but... somehow.. sweet? Looking at the blend in the spoon.... confused me.  There is a lot going on there.  I could identify the Green Tea of course, as well as the cardamom, and turmeric - but there is a leaf in there that isn't the green tea leaf that I couldn't identify, as well as chunks of root that puzzled me.  I thought maybe... mallow root?  I decided not to investigate until after tasting. The color was... murkier than I expected.  It was almost the murk that I have come to expect from a pre-sweetened tea.  I assure you that my brow was quite furrowed as I stared and studied this during steeping. Flavor - the first thing that assaulted my palate was SWEET.  Dear god the sweet!!  And it wasn't sugar sweet it was.... sugar free sweet?  It was such a powerful sweet that I couldn't taste AYTHIN...

  After Day 2's AMAZING Masala Chai, I was beyond excited to try this blend. After all, the Masala Chai was stunning and I love a good Cinnamon tea as well.  I anticipated that the combination of the two would be divine. When I opened to tin to give a sniff of the pre-steeped leaf.... I got my first hint that the combination might not be as magical as I hoped.  While the blend smells lovely and spicy.... there is something.... off balance about the fragrance.  Looking at the leaf I saw the cardamom, and the cinnamon...... and not a hint of clove or pepper.  Hrm....   I tasted this straight off the steep expecting that it would need milk, as most good chai does.  Straight off the steep it tasted far more like a pure cinnamon black tea than any sort of blend that I have come to think of as a spiced chai.  I added a bit of it and some milk to a tasting glass.... and still found it lacking.  It felt.... thin, and flat.  I added Italian Sweet...

  By the time I got to a place in my day when I had the ability or energy to brew a cup of tea, it was far too late to do a black tea, so this had to roll over to the morning of the next day.  It was a good choice to do so, because this was a WONDERFUL way to start my day. I admit to being excited by just the name of the tea blend.  I do love me a good Earl Grey, and I love a nice citrus note to my tea as well. The appearance has a lovely twist to the leaves, and the aroma on the dry leaf is simply.... bliss.  The bergamot is SO strong on the nose - but in that tasty way that makes me want to dive into the tea. As you can see, it steeps to a lovely dark color.  The aroma of the tea liquor kept that lovely sweet lemony bouquet from the bergamot and whatever type of black tea they use in the blend gave the brew a nice woody note to the fragrance. The flavor.... was divine.  I like my Earl Greys bergamot heavy and this certainly was.  Often, bergamot in a...

  Today's offering is another high altitude selection - again from the Himalayas.  I am most used to Chinese Oolong, so I am curious to taste the difference. The aromatics on the nose of the dry leaf is... not what I expected.  It's warm and inviting but has a hint of.... chocolate? on the end note.  I am concerned.  Chocolate is not what I want from my tea flavours. Steeping gives me a darker color than I'm expecting, but that's not a bad thing.  I am partial to a dark black tea after all.  The aroma of the actual tea hasn't changed much from when it was dry... except that the worrying chocolate end note is gone.  Instead, there is something.... not quite floral.  It reminds me of herbs... I think. Taste:  It almost tastes... closed?  I think I might want to put a bit of honey, which feels wrong for an oolong but.... I still find myself seriously considering it.  Alone, it's a nice quality serviceable oolong - and I enjoy it.....

  First off, let's talk about the title they've given this blend.  For all the complaints I see from folk about "chai tea" being redundant since chai is the word for tea..... I'm betting this blend name is equally as frustrating.  I say that because tinsane is the name for what most folk call herbal tea.  It's actually the more correct term since an herbal tea doesn't contain any actual tea.  Hence today's blend is Tumeric spiced tinsane tinsane. Mini pedantic rant over - on to the actual review.  Like the chai I had this morning, this blend has a generous portion of cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and black pepper.  On the dry leaf, those spices are present yet entirely overshadowed by the turmeric.  This is utterly unsurprising to me.  Turmeric overshadows nearly everything to my nose.  As a result, I admit to being biased against this blend before even steeping it.  Still - I pressed forward. The color was as golden/ yellow as I expec...

  So, I'm still absolutely in love with the little tins these tea portions come in.  They are so satisfying to open and hold. Today's tea is one that I was excited for when I first opened the box to see the tin, but even MORE excited for once I took a whiff of the blend inside.  The clove, cardamom, black pepper, and cinnamon hit my nose like a seduction with no one spice being more overpowering than another.  The balance in itself smelled appealing. As you can see from the scoop, this Masala is Assam based (nothing looks quite like Assam). As such, I went in expecting a full bodied tea that would balance the heavy spice inclusion.  In that respect, I was not disappointed. With a 5 minute steep, I got this beautiful dark color and took my first sip.  The flavor was muddled, tight, busy, dry and .... unpleasant.  Not at all what the nose had promised.  But then I remembered - traditional Indian Masala is meant to be served with milk!  (Well, a...

 Another year, another tea advent calendar!  This year, I caved to the intriguing adverts on my Facebook page and bought myself a calendar from a company called Vahdam - which I think is an Indian based company.  The packaging is STUNNING and eclipses every other tea advent I've done to date.  The outer box is heavy pressed paper/cardboard with a nice smooth coating and two magnets to help it snap closed.  I love that the boxes are in order instead of all mixed up (a thing so many advent calendars do which actually really annoys me).  Each box contains a little tin which is individually sealed with a plastic safety seal that has enough loose leaf tea to make an entire pot.  This means I get to share the daily teas with the rest of the household and get multiple palates worth of feedback! So then - on to the first day of tea!! Day 1 is a Himalayan Green Tea (see how pretty the little tins are!!!)  Now, when it comes to green tea, I'm most familiar ...