Here's the deal

I've been on a modified diet (not weight loss related, allergy related) and haven't been straying from my strict food/drink list to test some theories out.

So, no tea for a few weeks as I get some things sorted. But I love you guys, and I miss posting.

Wish me luck on the allergy hunt.

Aura Teas: Yunnan Pu Er Small Tuocha

 

Steep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients : Ripe Pu Er Tea leaves

Aroma: Smells like darjeeling, smooth, floral, rich.

Packaging: Tea is packed in a clear baggie, leaves are in a fiber ball.
 
Tea Leaf Quality: Large deep rich whole leaves.

Taste:   Funny story! I thought (illogically) that I could just throw the ball in the tea cup, WRONG. So I strained it in a large strainer and poured it into another coffee cup, and while I was washing out that coffee cup, my wonderful husband decided to pass wet chicken over my cup into a bowl... He warned that my tea filled cup "might" have raw chicken goop in it, so there goes my taste test. It smells wonderful, and I had a teeeensy taste, where i felt it tasted like a malty darjeeling, but I didn't get to really sit, sip and think about it. 

-1 hubby... Kudos to me for my smooth moves that got the second full tea cup sitting alone in a busy kitchen.

On a happy note, I will have fresh home made chicken tortilla soup within the next 15 minutes. +1 for my husband.

Aroma: 10/10
Packaging: 10/10
Value: 10/10

Taste: n/a
Tea Quality: 10/10

Overall 10/10

SALONTEA: The Fashionable Dandy - Earl Grey

Steep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients : China black tea leaves, rare bergamot oil

Aroma: Smells exactly like Earl Grey, more citrus-y than most, and the bergamot does smell strong and maybe, spicier?

Packaging: Tea is packaged both loose and bagged, loose tea comes in a tin, bagged tea comes in triangle fiber sachets, in a large clear box.
 
Tea Leaf Quality: Quality tea, large black tea leaves.

Taste:   As we should know by now, my favorite tea - ever - is Earl Grey. This tea had me hoping high (high hopes, get it?...) and I have to say maybe that is why I was disappointed. I'll start by saying Tracy knows her stuff when it comes to her SALONTEA, and her other flavors have blown me away. This blend was bland. A bland blend ...bland blend. In all seriousness, this tea tasted like watered down Earl Grey. I let it steep for the full 5 minutes, (I am sorry I don't have a picture of the tea, and for the horrible quality of the pictures I do have, I was having camera issues, and had to use my iPhone) the tea was beautiful dark brown/black. I had all reasons to believe this tea would be amazing, and I just feel scammed.

Aroma 9/10
Packaging 10/10
Value: 8/10

Taste 6/10
Tea Quality 10/10

Overall 8/10

I will be back I promise!

The holidays have been crazy at my house! We will be working and traveling this month, so shelovestea will return in the new year with some new stuff!!

Sorry I'm a slacker :-(

See ya in 2011!!

Stash: Holiday Chai - black tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Blended black teas, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, ginger, gingerbread and Jamaican rum flavors, nutmeg oil.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like a holiday explosion. All great holiday dessert spices wrapped into one tiny little bag, what will they do next? After steep tea smells like a warm holiday dessert explosion.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes.

Taste:   Woah, a gingerbread man, a pumpkin pie, a shot of rum, and spicy eggnog all in one. So rich, so warm, so calming. I snuggled up with my mug after I added my tea crack, which is why I don't have any pictures of it with the creamer..er crack. I still tasted this tea hours after I finished it. It is perfect for a rainy or snowy day snuggle. When I go snowboarding this & next year, I will pack this tea for sure.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 9/10

Overall 9/10

Stash: Holiday Chai

Stash: Christmas Morning - black tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Assam, Ceylon, Keemun, Sumatra, Jasmine.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like Christmas Eve.. or just amazing jasmine and exotic  ceylon and sumatra. YUM! Rich, sultry, sexy (yeah I called tea sexy AGAIN) and just yum.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and deep colored tea flakes.

Taste:   SEXY! A well-balanced blend of malty (from the assam) and sweet (from the jasmine) the hint of floral sweetness blends with the brisk malty-ness (yeah) into a more complex blend than I expected. Subtly spicy, sweet, floral, smooth, delicious, and uh.. all things great. Tea had so many layers and they all hit you separately with each sip, also the mix of the taste and the strong (also layered) scent is fantastic. This shouldn't be a holiday only tea. I would stock up year round, if I had the cabinet space. 

When I added my french vanilla creamer (I will now start referring to this as my tea crack) I was impressed at the balance of the vanilla and the tea flavor. The vanilla didn't overpower the flavor, it added to it perfectly. 

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 10/10

Overall 10/10


Stash: Christmas Morning

Stash: White Christmas - white tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : White tea, peppermint, ginger root.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like spearmint gum, after steep it smells the same, but amplified.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes.

Taste:   It taste like spearmint gum. I know there is peppermint in it, not spearmint, but the mixture of the white tea, the peppermint and the ginger root make this tea an amazing clean, sweet, fresh, minty, and all that good stuff - tea. Just YUM. I added french vanilla creamer and BAM, my new favorite drink was born. Seriously, I need to order 365 bags. Also note that the "plain" tea picture has some creamer in it, oops. I got too excited by the smell and original flavor that I had to add creamer right away.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 10/10


Stash: White Christmas