rose – Here's the Tea

Tea Tales of the Alhambra

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019 geevesandmaggie

Fun name, isn’t it? Howdy folks, Maggie here. So this scrumptious cup of leaf juice

68bjj5n — an offended Iroh for my fellow Avatar fans

was actually a gift I received from some awesome family friends, shout out to the Guptas. If you guys are reading this, you’re awesome and you have wonderful taste in tea! They brought this back from their Europe travels and I just felt like Geeves’ and I had to share it with you lovely readers. We chose this one today because we felt like its Earl Grey base matched the lovely foggy and grey weather we’ve been having here in Usually Pretty Sunny San Diego, and the hibiscus tang matched the beachy vibe we still have here at school. So with that said, who’s ready to review some tea!? I am!! (Probably wouldn’t be much of a blog if we weren’t, but that’s beside the point.)

This one is not very expensive at 4 dollars an Ounce. found here

Maggie’s Notes:

I’mma give this one a fantastic 9/10, can I get a YeeHaw?!
Honestly, I really don’t like hibiscus. It usually ranks on the Personal Grudge Status. Like, me and hibiscus got in a fight at 3am in the Denny’s parking lot and we haven’t reconciled since. But this tea, thought not making me a believer, makes me over look that grudge for an exception.
The Earl Grey base paired really well with the tartness of the hibiscus.
Also, this one can do it all. I tried it over ice, and whoooo boi, it was good. The rose came out a little bit more, and the tartness of the hibiscus was refreshing.
My reason for this one not being a 10/10 is that the combination of black and green tea, while resulting in a lovely lightness to contrast the normal strength of an Earl Grey, meant that it was hard to steep correctly, and I felt like I couldn’t really steep it for as long as the company recommended without the green tea getting bitter and burnt.
But that’s not a deal breaker, just steep it for a little less time and boom, we’re golden.

Geeves’ Notes

6/10 (8/10 on flavor but see below)
Side note, Maggie said “we” picked this tea today, no, I picked it. I asked her for the fanciest Earl Grey she had because it was grey where we were going to be doing our photoshoot. 😛
This is nice. It has an herby taste, which I enjoy, and the hibiscus is pretty nice in this fresh take on an Earl Grey.
However, you can only get this tea shipped to Spain and Portugal. So while I’d probably drink it again if it was offered, it won’t be offered unless I send a buddy to Granada to pick it up for me. And that is why it is a 6/10, because essentially I can’t purchase it again.
This also is not great as a hot tea. I left mine on the patio for a while because of an accident I had during the photoshoot (I cut my foot open), so I had it chilled from the rain, and I liked that. When given a hot cup afterwards, I was not as thrilled about it. Hence the lower rating.

View here at Aromas de al Andalus (shipping only available to Spain and Portugal).

And with that we leave you, my good tea drinkers. May you never grow sick of your favorite blend.

i.chzbgr-1

Exotic Wedding

January 14, 2019 geevesandmaggie

Geeves here! No, an exotic wedding is not where we went to this weekend. Maggie went home and I did a massive amount of homework (I’m halfway through the semester in terms of homework).

No, this tea is called Exotic Wedding, from the Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants. Featuring lemon, rosebud, and vanilla on Mutan white tea, this light tea is exactly like a spring wedding. We actually got really excited about the photoshoot possibilities, we almost forgot to drink it! That was quickly remedied.

In all seriousness, I thought this was a really nice tea. I can see myself hiding a bag of it in my purse to take to a wedding, and scouring the bar for a lemon slice to toss in.

(Hi This Is Maggie) this is another one of the teas I got on my Wine And Cheese Extravagansa (see last post). And we thought it would be fun, since we are both Single College Girls, to stage a Wedding photo shoot…As you do.(so no we are not getting married) We each had our own take on the Wedding Theme. I went with a traditional wedding look.

Geeves’ Went with a Looke inspired by our favorite band HighStressLevelsOnThe DanceFloor.

She Chimed in with a “Haven’t you people ever heard of spilling some GoshDarned Tea”, I said “No, its much better to face these kinds of Things with a sense of Poise and Rationality”

Geeves’ Thoughts:

9/10
One thing I’ll be honest about it that when I drink tea, I irrationally expect it to taste strongly of whatever is in it. So this I expected to be a teaspoon of vanilla extract, with a strong rose smell and a squeeze of lemon, inside some white tea base. And obviously, that’s not how tea works! But I was actually impressed with how much flavor I could get out of the tea.
Instead of vanilla taste and rose smell, I actually felt like it went the other way. I got a lot of vanilla smell, with a good rose aftertaste. And for the first time ever: I tasted citrus in my tea.
For $5ish an ounce, it’s pricier than what we’ve been buying, but I like it and it’s still a good value.

Maggie’s Thoughts:

a Solid 8/10 from me folks
A really lovely floral blend
I got more of like a Vanilla, with like a smidgen of that goodgood rose, and just a hint of lemon. which is Not what I expected when I bought the tea, but a pleasant surprise. To be over 9000% honest, I really was not expecting to like this tea. Usually I’m not a fan of flavored white tea, but this one took me by surprise. ( in a good way, not like a Surprise… You’re Dead way)
My little detractor is that I would have liked a little more rose flavor. I really dig them florals so twas a little more Vanilla-y then I would normally choose.
Its a good tea for late at night. As you probably have realized our last couple teas have been Black Teas. so loooots of that good good No Sleep Juice. Add that to the prednisone I was taking, and sleep and I went from Good Friends to a dysfunctional pair of mortal enemies who both loathe but want each other. And This tea Does Not Do that. so sleep and I shall be on better terms tonight.
A little more expensive that the others teas. but they are sold by weight, and white tea is far less dense than like any other tea (excluding herbals) so I got a lot more leaves in one Oz in this one than any of the other teas I got. So with that in mind the price difference does make some sense.

Purchase here.

Happy drinking!-G

Go Forth and Panic At Your Local Disco (with tea!! it adds to the mayhem) -M

XO, Maggie and Geeves

Turkish Blend

January 11, 2019January 18, 2019 geevesandmaggie

Hello, it’s Geeves again! My next stop on my tea trip (I wasn’t there for tea, I was actually in town for a symphony) was to Perennial Tea Room. They were very easy to shop; a small store, pretty empty on a rainy day, but very cute with knowledgeable employees. I asked the man what teas were special to their store, and he recommended a few black teas as well as some fun fruity ones.

I chose Turkish Blend because it smelled great and seemed new and exciting for me! Apple, rose petal, and apricot are apparently all common in Turkish teas, and this one had no shortage of those ingredients on a black tea base.

Geeves’ Thoughts:

7.5/10
For a fruit tea, I’m tasting more blackness than fruit, so I’m not a big fan of that.
As a hot tea, the rose flavor is an aftertaste and the fruit is weak. Three hours later, the fruit actually becomes much more powerful, so I’d say I prefer it cold. I need my flavors really strong because my taste sensors are damaged (I can’t tell regular crackers and bacon flavor crackers apart), and sadly this one wasn’t quite that.

Maggie’s Thoughts:

6/10
I’m a HOE for apricot. I got a little bit of aaaaapricot, and some ROSE!!, but not very much apple. like a silent polite apple maybe vibe
I will say though that I really enjoy this tea iced (an odd thing coming from me you might come to find)
Over Ice: 8.5/10; when it’s cold (like one you can crack open with the boys) you reaLLLYYY get more of the promised fruitiness and the rose takes a step down from her spotlight. Regretful, but neccccesssssary (attempts to spell necessary and fails miserably)
It wasn’t too light though. The tea base was sufficient to carry the flavors, and got a little bit stronger when left to sit. All the more reason why ice is the ‘Way To Go’ with this one. (Cue Ice Ice Baby)
It was still a good price for the quality of tea. $8.5 for 2oz is definitely not bad, and I’m sure the more you buy, the cheaper the cost.
One place I really see this tea shining is at a spring party over ice for everyone, which is probably why I’m not super digging it. As I am on Winter Mode (it dropped below 60F and I’m a delicate San Diego flower), I think this is a tea that will deserve a revisit come the Spring Times.

TLDR:

Rating: 7.5/10
Tasting Notes: black tea with a lot of fruits and hint of floral, and fruitier when cold.
Pricing: Fair, $8.5/2oz
Recommendation: Would reorder in Spring!

Purchase here from the most organized small business in Seattle!

Happy drinking!

Geeves & Maggie