ANOTHER GIFT OF TEA!!! From ITO EN!!

So I got this package in the mail from Chris, a friend from LARP, and open it up to the most awesome blends from ITO EN!

"ITO EN (North America) INC. was founded in May 2001 with the mission of introducing ITO EN's line of green tea products and establishing a green tea culture and interest in in the United States and beyond.

In 2002, the Teas' Tea line of natural, unsweetened bottled tea was launched. The product line functions as the centerpiece of ITO EN (North America) Inc. for it upholds ITO EN's principles of Natural, Safe, Healthy, Well-Designed, and Delicious. The product was first introduced through wholesale distribution in New York City and the Tri-State area.

The breadth of ITO EN (North America) Inc. is increasing through the development of new beverage and loose leaf tea products, the expansion of its distribution network to a national level, and the growth of its ecommerce operations. With the attention of industry, the media, and the public, ITO EN (North America) Inc. is well on its way to making green tea a true part of the new American culture." - from the About section of the ITO EN website

I would like it stated now that I am ruined forever for other "green teas"as I have now had the most delicious mix ever!  The Green Tea you see in the package above and the tea you see below is a Matcha and Sencha blend.  It is delicious and aside from Matcha I have had in tea ceremony which is possibly the greatest experience ever, this was just downright amazing.  I cannot wait to buy MORE!

I am also very excited to try the other teas as Chris said the loose leafs came highly recommended.  Thank you very much Chris!!  VERY appreciated!

Virtuous Teas!!! A GIFT CAME IN THE MAIL!!!

Mitzie and Eric sent me an amazing gift!  The store is Virtuous Teas, Inc in Newton, Massachusetts.  I am so thrilled to try these, the package they came in smelled great and now the drawer where I am keeping these bags smells just as great.  Thank you to my awesome friends!!!

I Created a New Blend for The Constantine Fandom - All Trenchcoat & Arrogance

My personal tea blend, All Trenchcoat & Arrogance, is available for purchase.

Mambo for the smoky, savory aroma Toasted Mate for the 'full-bodied character' with tobacco and chicory hints Gunpowder for the smokiness and coconut because it may be a good compliment but it's also off the wall. All of these seem to be John in a nutshell.

Uncouth Barbarian Drinking Tea From My Batman Coffee Mug

Earlier I felt like having a cup of tea but didn't want to open the dishwasher to get my tea cups out...so I used my Batman coffee mug.

Not a big deal but I had to share.

Blood Orange Tea is Fruity! Deadpool Approves!

I came home from work and immediately needed to wash "the work" off. After my shower I had a delightful "relaxing" tea called Evening Plum. It was a gift from one of my staff, Jennifer. It is very nice with Chamomile, Lemongrass,and Plum.  It was just right for the mood I needed after a short but stressful workweek.  After that I thought I would try another new tea from Adagio, a fruity tea since fruity fit the happy mood I wanted to be in.

I find blood oranges to be delicious...so of course this tea hit the spot!  Blood Orange tea from Adagio is an herbal tea with blood orange peels, hibiscus, rose hips, and natural orange. The hibiscus adds just the right spiced but smooth taste to make the orange sing. It smells delicious and tastes great. Because it is a fruity tea I added a small amount of raw sugar. I am going to try some tomorrow without sugar but I am sure it will be just as delicious.

Orange is usually something I use to pick me up or wake up but currently just being a flavor I very much enjoy is a great boost to my mood. I definitely suggest that if you like herbal teas and orange - this should be a choice in your tea selection.

Now off to bug Alex about his travels and escapades in Europe and watch David play DA:I

History lesson on Pu-Erh or Harley and Emily drink some tea

So I am drinking Pu Erh Chorange

As the name would probably lead you to guess, this is a Pu Erh with Chocolate and Orange.  Didn’t guess that right off?  That’s ok, neither did I.  This is part of the Terra Sampler I received, which is a mix of various Pu Erh blends from Adagio Teas.  The ingredients of this blend are Pu Erh tea, orange peels, cocoa nibs, natural chocolate flavor, blue cornflowers, natural orange flavor.

So, small history/tea lesson since I have been drinking a lot of Pu Erh tea recently, thank you Terra Sampler:

Pu-erh originated thousands of years ago in the Yunnan Province of China, where large-leaf tea trees (Dayeh) grow. Its history relates closely to the tea trade between China and other nations (notably Tibet), and it is named for the town from which it was originally sold en route to other countries (Pu'er City). It was originally compressed into shapes for more efficient transit, and it acquired its dark color and flavor due to natural fermentation in transit to its final destinations.  Fermentation is a tea production style in which the tea leaves undergo microbial fermentation and oxidation after they are dried and rolled.  Pu Erh is named after the trading post for dark tea during imperial China.

In traditional Chinese herbalism, pu-erh tea is considered to open the meridians, 'warm the middle burner' (the spleen and stomach) and be beneficial to 'blood cleansing' and digestion. For these reasons, it is often consumed after heavy meals or drunk as a hangover cure / preventative.

Well this tea certainly brews up easily, 5 minutes steeping and the water is now a dark color and a nice chocolatey aroma rises from the pot, citrus tones from the orange add a nice accent to the smell.  I liked the first and second cups, though orange and chocolate is not my usual “cup of tea”.  I worked in Hershey and specifically for the Hershey Company, I know the smell of chocolate versus cocoa nibs.  This smell is a mix of both, though definitely on the side of the cocoa nib taste which is unsweetened and a bit more earth to it.

Pu Erh blends to the rescue!!

Pu Erh Tahiti and Pu Erh Hazelberry- well hello nurse! These two blends are just wonderful and delicious, and I cannot get enough of them. I've added a drop or two of honey in one cup then raw sugar to another. The added sweetness just makes the fruit taste bloom. The Tahiti has coconut notes and the Hazelberry has strawberry. Oh my goodness, wow, just right.

Today at work was a usual Thursday, stressful and a challenge to cover all of the projects with the limited staff...so I needed something to mellow me out. While neither of these flavors are mellow, they gave me the right boost to my mood to help me through the day. So if you are looking for something "exotic" and just downright tasty, these should fit your need.

Pu Erh Tahiti - Where Have You Been All My Life?!?

I don't even have words...I am in love with this blend. I will post more about it tomorrow because right now I am feeling happy just drinking my tea and sending happy FB messages to friends for the positivity thread.

Omg more tea!!

It's so good it gets the coveted honor of being in my Mount Holyoke College Alum mug!!!

Thank you Jean-Luc!

You guessed it. I'm drinking Earl Grey, Adagio Teas Earl Grey Moonlight to be specific. The mix has black tea, orange peels, blue cornflower, natural vanilla, natural bergamot flavoring, and a cream flavor.

As I am a huge Captain Picard and his love of "tea. Earl Grey. Hot" is the favorite of trekkies everywhere to quote and make memes about apparently. I also like my earl grey hot but with this blend I have added some raw sugar and some cream.

Let me just say, I am on cloud nine. Yum. This definitely makes up for the earlier tea let down and is a wonderful way to calm down while keeping awake at work. The snow is still coming down and the traffic looks like crap but I am warm in my office with a good cup of tea and that makes my world OK.

Live long and prosper, my friends. And because I have to throw in another quote "Make It So!"

Pu Erh Spice...not a favorite but still kinda OK

So...we have found it, a tea I am not fond of drinking.  It is a very strange feeling.  I opened the pouch and the fragrance hit me immediately.  The aroma is not unpleasant but it has a strange spice scent that just seemed to overpower anything else in the pouch, I am assuming it is the aniseed and cinnamon bark, not sure though.  When I put water in, I started to smell a leathery scent, which normally isn't one I react badly to but isn't really something I want to drink.   I think this is my first cup of tea, let alone Pu Erh I do not like much. Without milk and honey the leathery tanning taste is too much for me, I don't generally like feeling like I am drinking a leather store.  Probably harkening to my work with leather for LARP armor and really not being a huge fan of the wet leather and tanning smell every day.   When I added creamer and honey it mellowed out and I was able to enjoy the spice a little better but it was definitely a disppointment.

Today has been the usual hurry to make up time kinda work day and I really need to make another tea to settle me down.  Have to make up for the lack of enjoyment for the Pu Erh Spice.  Other than that, I've been getting updates and photos from Alex while he is in Istanbul, I would love to be there.  So I told him he has to send me photos so I can live vicariously.  As a student of religion and a huge history/cultures crazy person, I could tell you any number of facts about Istanbul, about the rise and fall of the Ottomans, the international relations of Turkey in the modern age, etc.  Most of all I want with a huge portion of my heart to see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.  A million other locations within Istanbul as well, but those two in the majority.  They won't be in Turkey long before heading to Germany and ending in Berlin.  A very cool vacation, if you ask me.

Ok, well my lunch is done and I should be getting back to work, stay safe out there everyone.  It has started to snow and in true central Pennsylvania fashion no one can drive, the roads look like crap, and all of the schools panicked before the first snowflake even fell.  *indulgent sigh*  I am going to stare out the window and watch the snow fall between actual work and maybe have a cup of Earl Grey.

Snow is so pretty.

Inauguration Day and TEA DELIVERY DAY!!!

Today was Inauguration Day in the State Capital, so my office was closed that visitors would have a place to park.  I had seen my package from Adagio was supposed to come in today, so I was excitedly checking the mail a lot.  Nothing all day.  David asked if we wanted to go do anything today and I asked that we go to a tea shop, maybe get a new tea ball or something, maybe even a new tea pot.

So I checked teamap.com and the Tea Forte "locate a shop" and found that there was a Tea Forte vendor at the West Shore Farmers Market shops.  We drove to the Market shops and I went happily upstairs to find this hidden oasis of tea-happiness.  I was very disappointed to find a chic yuppie store for ladies with way too much money and nothing else to do.  I won't list the name of the store, but let's just say I will never be going there again.

So I got home and made myself a pot of Chai, that was the perfect thing to drink at that moment, just picked me right up after a crap attempt to go tea shopping.  It was a simple Chai from Twinings, prepared with some Half & Half and raw sugar.  So with a Chai in hand,  I then started making my new 9 drawer cube for housing all of my teas.  The screws are so small I had to use a small screw driver which tore into my hand, my middle finger and thumb are bandaged up at this point and hurt like heck.  But I got the organizer drawers together and moved all of my teas into it.  No small task, but pretty awesome to see all of the teas.  At about 6:45pm the mailman rang the bell and I ran out to collect the packages.  Both the shipments from Adagio and the Whistling Kettle had arrived, so I ran back into the house and proceeded to open everything at once.  Below is the picture of all of my tea samples, isn't it beautiful!?

I put everything into the organizer and having all of the different teas available is just wonderful, I am so happy and excited.  This is going to be so much fun, reviews to begin tomorrow!

Barrani Drink/Potion Blends

Had guests yesterday and this morning, so I was a bit distracted.  Now I can get back to going tea crazy and filing you in along the way.  hehehe...

So I was mulling it over, thinking of what I was going to have my Alliance LARP character, Aishling Fir Darrig, do this year and I decided with my new love of tea I would make custom blends that could be used in my new Apothecary kit I am making.  So I have two Barrani Drink/Potion Blends created thus far, I plan on making a bunch more. VERY EXCITED!!!

I Command You to Sleep

Adagio Teas

This tea/potion will "cause the drinker to instantly fall into a deep sleep"

Chamomile, Lemon Grass, Spearmint, and Lemon Balm are all known to assist with sleep, so what better to brew into a sleeping draught for your slumbering needs.

I Command You to Awaken

Adagio Teas

This drink/potion "will awaken the drinker from any effect" 

Rooibos, Ceylon, Assam, and a nice addition of Honeybush should wake one up with a good citrus burst, add in the spicy heat of ginger, and you ll wake up with a smile.