Tea and biscuits

Sip a cup of sweet kindness

Green tea, orange peel, safflower, orange essence, love, gratitude

I am really looking forward to this. We presume HW will not like it. 

The orange scent is super faint. I do not detect anything vaguely sweet in the aroma. Steeped it smells like green tea. Okay, let’s sip…

Yes. Orange. Okay. It’s a green tea with orange. 

While i don’t dislike green tea at Hipster Wife levels, this cup is not working for me. It’s light, it’s barely orange, it’s not impressive. Am I so used to mass quantities of black tea that green doesn’t do it for me?  Yet I blend so many straight herbal teas from my own apothecary. I adore the light and subtle flavour of flowers and fruits and herbs. 

I’m just not all that into this cup. It’s like a date. Cute when you meet him, you want to like him, but the kiss leaves you wondering how badly he’ll take it when you tell him this just is not working for you. 

For staying on point for advent, I’ll give this cup 3 out of 5 oranges. 

VW is going to be shocked. I was, in fact, shocked. 

But I legit enjoyed this tea. 

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY HIPSTER WIFE? I’M BLAMING FOOTBALL.

I think that green tea gets worse treatment than other teas. Let me explain this rationale. 

Usually, I find green tea in bags. It’s broken into small dried pieces that are slowly turning into dust. Cheap low-quality green tea is a sad fact of the tea world. I can’t count how many times I have ordered hot tea at a restaurant and gotten crappy green tea. My dislike of it has been borne over years and years. 

The last straw I have to admit was the calendar last year. 

VW here to remind everyone that the Adagio calendar felt like mostly green tea last year. It wasn’t. But it felt that way.

One of the things I have noticed about the PD tea blends is how their leaves like unfurl and look beautiful in my tea strainer. The green tea in this tea looks lovely. I can taste this delightful light tea taste that isn’t stale or not present at all. 

I found the orange very strong in this with a secondary sweet after note. I didn’t add sugar or cream to this and just enjoyed it as it was. 

I was utterly taken by surprise by how much I like this. Thank you, Plum Deluxe, for helping me find my way back to green tea. Even if it’s still on a very trial basis. 

4 complete shocks outta 5. 

Like a beautiful sunrise, celebrate today with this rich, bright cup of love

All organic: black tea, honeybush tea, orange peel, hazelnut essence, love, gratitude

I’m steeping this cup at my desk, my last working day before taking 2.5 weeks off to move and for the holidays. Yes, I’m writing this blog in advance. This sort of magic doesn’t happen on the daily, folks. Anyway, as this is steeping I’m thinking “I’ve smelled this before.”

It’s the honeybush and hazelnut. It’s reminding me of Day 3.

I’ve never been to the west coast. So I can’t say how this tea may be relevant to Oregon. 

When I lift this cup, all I can smell is honeybush. Gods, it’s terrible. I really don’t like honeybush. But it tastes like a hazelnut black tea so… *shrug*

I’m starting to feel like Hipster Wife last year with our Adagio advent calendar. There was so much green tea in there I thought she was going to stab someone. Imma get stabby over honeybush. 

Does this fit the holiday spirit?

Yeah. They put in the orange peel and hazelnut. It’s on point for advent. Do I like it? Not especially. Do I think Hipster Wife will like it?  Yes. LOL. 

Overall I’m giving this 3 out of 5 Portlandias. 

This isn’t a breakfast tea to me. Sorry Oregon but you’re kinda boring. The honeybush ruins the breakfast thing for me. I want my breakfast tea to be a blending of black tea. This misses the mark by a long shot. 

It doesn’t taste horrible. It has a pleasant hazelnut taste that works well with cream. It’s an enjoyable cup of tea. I don’t want to marry it, or run off on a wagon trail with it. I feel like we’ve had this tea before and in this calendar- which isn’t a good thing. 

SWEET BABY SANTA, WE’VE AGREED AGAIN

A tea tipple for festive moments.

Black tea, orange peel, apple pieces, mango pieces, raspberry leaf, raspberries, mango/pomegranate essences, love, gratitude.

To begin with, Hipster Wife can’t drink this. She is allergic to mango. But she has family visiting, so I believe we will have another guest blogger for this cup!

Thus far I have touted the uterine toning benefits of raspberry leaf tea. I have my tubes tied, so pregnancy is not a concern for me anymore. But I wanted to take a moment to mention that some herbalists and doctors think that women who are trying to become pregnant or are in the early months of pregnancy should not drink raspberry leaf tea. Please, as always, discuss herbal teas and supplements with your herbalist/doctor/midwife.

On to today’s tea!

It smells lovely. Fruity and warm. Dried fruits are such a winter holiday staple in baking. Growing up I feel like my family always had crystal dishes of nuts, dried apricots, fresh oranges, and imported Italian candies around at the holidays. 

This black tea (Assam? We don’t know because PD treats the ingredients list like a trade secret) leaves a dry mouth feel. Why don’t they always tell us what type of black tea they are using? So frustrating. Not sure what the intent of adding raspberry leaves is here.  They don’t add a fruit flavour. 

I could not share this cup with either my daughter or Hipster Wife. My offspring is allergic to apples, and Hipster Wife is allergic to mangoes. 

This calendar continues to be on point for the holiday season. While not a tea I’d rave about, this is a good one.  I give this cup 4 out of 5 Black Tie Holiday Cocktail Dresses.

Since drinking this tea would cause me great distress. I have opted to force my sister to drink this instead. 

My niece is all green tea, all the time. Not a huge fan of black tea. So my sister was strong armed into this. I mean asked nicely. NICELY. 

Sis: Do I have to do this? *Drinks mimosa and eyes me suspiciously.* 

Me: Yes. If I drink it… I’ll die. You don’t want my death on your hands do you? 

Sis: For fucks sake drama queen – just give it to me. 

VW note: Hipster Wife is indeed a drama queen.

So I took a sniff of the bag before I dumped it into the strainer. I didn’t really get a mango scent. It wasn’t overly powerful. This baggy did not have any mango pieces in it either. I was tempted to give it a whirl. But, after the events of day 4 and the devils bush I decided no. 

Fuck the devil’s root and it’s itchy, stop us breathing ways.

NAY! Nay I say! 

Me: Do you want sugar or milk in this?

Sis: Don’t you have some weird three taste thing you do?

Me: Well, yes it’s basically science for me. But you’re a guest. 

Sis: I’m a captive. I can’t believe you won that last round with Moist Pussy Goodies. (The category was the worst name for a cat food.) 

HW: We were playing Quiplash 2. I STRONGLY SUGGEST EVERYONE PLAY THIS AT YOUR HOLIDAY PARTIES. 

Me: Haha we kinda shared a brain though cause your Yummy Pussy Vittles was close. Now drink this tea. I added a little sugar. I know how you take your tea. 

Sis: It tastes like tea. 

Me: Is it good tea?

Sis: I am not really tasting mango in this. Just drink it yourself and do your funny tea thing. 

Me: Do you taste anything orange? 

Sis: Eh. Yes? It’s not very strong. It just tastes like strong black tea. There are hints of fruit, but nothing really mango-y or orangey. 

Me: Do you like it? Would you drink it again? 

Sis: I would. In the morning, or late evening. Not in the middle of adult beverages and games. 

Me: So not at a holiday party? 

Sis: My kind of party? No. Yours? Probably. 

I’ve not met HW’s sister, but after this interview, I feel I could party with her.

So this a solid yes if you’re gonna have a swingin happy tea holiday party. If not.. Well save it for when you get home from the party.

A blend of joy. Pairs with creativity, reading & writing, conversation, relaxing

Black tea, Rosebuds, Lavender, Chamomile, Love, Gratitude, Natural Flavor. 

The reading nook blend is our signature tea created for enjoying while perfecting some of our dearest passions: reading, writing, and enjoying conversation with friends.  We basically combine 3 different tea concepts into one: rose black tea, lavender black tea, and black chamomile tea.

One needs a touch of caffeine to keep the conversation flowing, the pages turning, or the pen on the move, so we start this blend with a wonderful cream black tea. We then added rosebuds for creativity and sustenance, lavender for flavor and aroma, and top it off with a bit of chamomile which adds a calming balance to it all. Customers often tell us this is our prettiest tea and it certainly has the top reviews!

Hipster Wife and I are also passionate about reading, writing and chatting! Will we like this one?

First sniff reminds me of my French Earl Grey that I blended over at Adagio. And for reasons I’ve never understood – rose and lavender in tea smells like chocolate to me. 

Lavender and chamomile are two herbs I have always had on hand. I used to make my daughter a tea from them to relax her before bedtime. Chamomile is also a good tummy soother. 

I don’t know what black tea they have used here. It’s smooth, like an Assam. 

The site suggests honey. That is the obvious choice for anything with chamomile, as the flowers add a natural honey-like flavour to whatever they are in. 

I like this one. How much do we want to bet Hipster Wife hates it? I’m giving it 5 out of 5 reading nook throw pillows.

HW: It is currently in my teacup of destiny as we speak. We shall see. 

Friday the 13th has me feeling kinda Madame Leota. (“On the tenth day of Christmas, my Ghoul Love gave to me: Ten telling tea leaves, that swirl with secrets yet to share.”)

So I pulled out my teacup of destiny for this review. 

I love this teacup and I love how the tea looks as it’s unfurling in my cup. 

Immediately I could smell the lavender and rosehips. 

*shuffles through bag* There are no rosehips. Only rose buds.

First sip is joy. I love lavender and it’s probably second to coconut in my favorite things to smell. 

PD really markets these teas usually well. This is one of those. It would suit a moment of time parceled for yourself. I could see myself working on my novel late at night with this in my mug. The flavor is bright and strong as all good black teas should be. I agree with VW that this black tea is smooth and I also think it’s an Assam. 

I want more and I’m so glad I have enough for another cup. 

If you like lavender and black tea this would be a great cup for you. I think I would love this blend more if it had bergamot so I could make an instant London Fog lol. It is really difficult to use lavender well. Too little and it’s lost. Too much and it tastes like soap. This blend is well done. I don’t really catch the chamomile as much as I’d like, but its present as a soothing afternote. 

I can’t wait to ask my teacup a question and have it tell me my future. 

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5 cups of fortune out of 5.