Spiced Fig

I literally nearly forgot to type this up. It's 7:50 pm on Monday the 25th, and I'm starting now. Today has been a weird day.

At least Spiced Fig has no caffeine!

It smells amazing. Exactly like spiced figs! So, basically a very traditional Christmas smell, which I do not mind. It's uplifting and makes me feel happy.






As the picture shows, I used 1 tbsp per pot. I steeped it until the pot ran out. I honestly felt no need to set a time limit on it, since the longer it steeped the better it got.

It's quite a sweet tea, yet light at the same time. Fruity and clovey. I'm not 100% sure how to describe it...



This is taking a long time to write because I keep getting distracted!

I'm not going to restock this tea after this bag runs out. 1) It has nuts and when I move in with Zach it's going to basically be a nut-free house and this tea has almonds, and 2) even steeping it for 40 minutes it's not as strong as I'd like it to be.

If you like/love light and fruity teas, this tea you will ADORE, if you like stronger teas, you'll like this tea, but it won't have enough punch for you.

Lots of love,
L

Sweet Indulgence: Glitter and Gold

v

Let me preface by saying Blogspot was being a dick when
it came to photo placement. I had to settle on where they are right now.
If anyone has any tips, please leave them in the comments.

Ah, Glitter and Gold. This was my first time having this tea, and it was a fairly good pot.

Because the instructions say 1.25 tsp per cup, and I was making a 4 cup pot, I used about .75 tbsp for my pot.
Next time, I'll just go with a full tablespoon, see how it tastes and if that .25 tbsp makes any difference.
Then I steeped it for approximately 5 minutes. Before steeping, it smells like vanilla candy, with a hint of clove.

Once steeped, you can absolutely smell the tea leaves.

Also, you can see a very slight glitter/iridescence from the gold sugar candy that's in it once it's brewed. Especially once I got to the very end of the pot.
Or at least I could. Maybe I'm crazy though.

Let me know in the comments if you can see it to? Verify my sani-tea.

Ha. Haha.
DO YOU SEE THE PUN? DID YOU LAUGH?


Aaaaaand back to the review! 
I tasted this tea four ways: Black, with milk**, with milk and sugar***, and with just sugar.

When it was black, it definitely tasted a little like it smelled, but the tea really did come to the forefront. It was nice, but it felt like it was missing something. Almost misleading.

With just milk, it just kind of made it bland. It was okay, but just...blah and boring. When it was milk and

The best, for me, was when I just added some sugar in (per 4 cup pot it was about 1 tsp). It added that extra sweetness it was missing, while not killing off any of the flavors.

You could almost compare it to a very mild version of Sugar and Spice.

In the end, I really did enjoy the tea. I really enjoyed an iridescent cup of tea, but I prefer Sugar and Spice. And for that reason, I'm not going to get any more Glitter and Gold once my sampler runs out. 

sugar it was basically boring but sweeter.


BONUS MULTI REVIEW:

As promised, here are the mini-reviews for the free tea I got from the Welcome Wagon Bridal Expo!

Earl Grey x2, Peppermint, Jasmine, and Tamayokucha

Two Leaves Tea Company Earl Grey:
You can tell there isn't as much bergamot in this tea as in DavidsTea just from the smell.
It has a more bland taste compared to DavidsTea Earl Grey as well. It just doesn't grab my by the heartstrings and make me want to switch from DT to this.

Premium Tea Earl Grey:

This less fancy looking one actually smells a lot more appetizing. Alas, still kinda bland compared to DT!

Two Leaves Tea Company Peppermint:
Holy cannoli does this smell of peppermint!
Flavor wise, it's a nice peppermint tea. If you want peppermint tea, that is also organic, this would be nice.

Two Leaves Tea Company Jasmine Petal:

Man does this smell of jasmine! It's got an okay flavor, but it's almost SO STRONG it's like inhaling/drinking perfume. I forgot to take a picture of it sooo...here's the empty bag.

Two Leaves Tea Company Tamayokucha:
I have literally never heard of this type of green tea before.
It smells like a very basic green, and tastes like a very basic green.
It is fairly yummy and not finicky when it came to steeping.







Skål and Shine on!
-L

**All milk is skim milk
***Raw Golden Sugar

IF YOU HAVE ANY TEA YOU WOULD LIKE REVIEWED, LEAVE A COMMENT AND WE WILL SEE WHAT WE CAN DO.

Pumpkin Chai

Pumpkin Chai

So, we're at the last of my Fall Tea collection. Kayla already reviewed this tea in the first week of the Fall reviews. But, twice the review!

I love how it smells. It is absolutely drool worthy scent wise!
Om nom nom nom.

It smells almost like pumpkin pie straight out of the oven. You can smell caramel, cardamom and cloves the most.
In fact, I can still smell it lingering around my room. Yum yum.

I again used 1 tbsp to 4 cup pot. So far it's been my best fall back measurement wise. The bag said to steep it from 4-6 minutes, so I steeped it 5 minutes, just because...isn't that what everyone does?

So I had this tea without milk, with milk, then with milk and brown sugar.

Without milk I could taste the caramel the most, then the cloves as a secondary flavor. 

With just some milk I could taste the black tea most. It ended up overpowering things so that it tastes pretty much like milk and basic black tea. Sad days.

With milk and sugar it really blocked out everything but the taste of the milk and sugar.

I honestly liked the tea better when it just had a bit of sugar in it. Added sweetness that rounded out the flavor and made it much more appealing. So this combination was a thumbs up for sure!

Overall, I liked the tea, but it wasn't what I expected. I'm honestly a little underwhelmed. It smelled SO GOOD, but tasted, underwhelming.  Good, but underwhelming. I know I'm really repeating myself on that part, but it's really true. It was nice. But it was ONLY nice. It's scent is it's main redeeming factor.

I really don't think I'll get any more before the fall runs out. I'll spare what I have for a special post down the road. (IS THE SUSPENSE KILLING YOU YET?) But, I personally don't feel it's worth buying a second time.

Skål!

Now I'm going to snuggle into bed with a good book tumblr. 

-Laura

IF YOU HAVE ANY TEA YOU WOULD LIKE REVIEWED, LEAVE A COMMENT AND WE WILL SEE WHAT WE CAN DO.

Sugar and Spice

Sugar and Spice

Just like with Mom's, this is a play by play review for at least the first part.

It's another gross day, it started off raining, so it's damp and chilly. The perfect day to be trying a new tea! My second tasting of the Fall collection; Sugar and Spice.

Opening the bag was heavenly. It smelled like I was baking a steamed carrot pudding. I just wanted to smell it over and over! Or eat it! Damn, now I want pudding. 

I put 1 tbsp leaf to a 4 cup pot and steeped it for about 5 minutes. To be honest, I was listening to Started with a Song By Brett Kissel, and then took out the leaves when it finished playing. He's basically a big cutie from Alberta. And, the song is perfect steeping length.

The other rooms were being
used or had horrible light.

It tastes almost exactly how it smells, just not as sweet. And, thus far, it is the ONLY tea I have enjoyed MORE with a splash of milk and some Sugar in the Raw. I swear it tastes like a cookie if you put in some milk and sugar (or whichever sweetener you like the best).

The milk tones back the flavor of the black tea, which allows the carrot, apple, cinnamon, cloves, and marigold to poke through. Happily, the sugar compliments it with it's sweetness, as opposed to overpowering it. 

Drinking this tea is a good experience, but only one I'd do with sugar and milk. It may have medium caffeine, but I'm finding it quite soothing. 

Oh look! I drank the entire pot!

I think I'll be buying this before fall has run away!

Skål and stay cozy!
-Laura

IF YOU HAVE ANY TEA YOU WOULD LIKE REVIEWED, LEAVE A COMMENT AND WE WILL SEE WHAT WE CAN DO.