Teavana Giveaway by Make Life Delicious blog

I stumbled on this Teavana giveawya on the following blog. Feel free!

Make life delicious.

Teavana's Peach Tranquility

A fruit tisane. Sadly enough, I'm a sucker for fruiTea things like this that pretend to be tea but isn't. It's just so yummy! :)

Vendor Description:

A delightfully harmonious blend of candied peach pieces, pineapple, lemon myrtle, Roman chamomile, sunflower petals and rosehips create a most peaceful blend. Use 1.5 teaspoons of tea per 8oz of water. Heat water to 208 degrees and steep for 5-6 minutes. 2oz of tea equals 25-30 teaspoons. Apples, candied pineapple, candied peach pieces, sunflower petals, lemon myrtle leaves, roman chamomile, and rosehips.

Fruit bits.

One of my friends gave me this teacup and saucer set as a belated holiday present! It's from Teaopia. So cute!~

Parameters: 1 tsp of dried up fruits and stuff, 6 oz boiling water, steeped forever!

Really yummy, probably a little bit artificially sweetened, but owell, still yum! :) Smells like peaches, taste like peaches! I can't say much about Teaopia's business tactics, as I've notices it's quite lacking in proper administration, but this tea is pretty yum! (A bit overpriced though, as it is only 2oz of dried fruits....)

Teavana's Assam Gold Rain

Vendor description:

Comes from one of the finest estates of the Assam region of India. Famous for its fruity yet malty flavor with a tannic red-wine aftertaste. (FTGFOP-1)(Special)

FTGFOP-1. So imressive.... My first exposure to a higher class assam. Far Too Good For Ordinary People, indeed.

The leaves are full, and in good condition it seems.

The music note tea stainer is cute, no? I got it from DealExtreme.com. :) Either the top or bottom half is a perfect teaspoon!

Teacups were supposed to be part of a set from Teavana, but many items of the set broke, so they gave me a refund, and I managed to salvage these :)

First and second infusions.

Spent leaves.

1tsp tea, 5oz boiling water, 35 seconds, 50 seconds.

The instructions are:

Use 1 teaspoon tea per 8oz of water. Heat water to 195-205 degrees and steep for 2-3 minutes. 2oz of tea equals 25-30 teaspoons.

Maybe I'll try that again next time.....

I really enjoyed this tea. The Maltiness is delish! Quite complex a flavour with mostly heavy fruit and some floral notes. Not sure about the red wine aftertaste though, as I know almost nothing about red wine.... :|

First and second infusions are very consistent, but I can tell that the temperature is too high and leaf/water ratio is too high as well. Great tea! But perhaps even better next time.

Love it!

First exposure to Pu-er

Haven't posted in a while because of busyness from school and everything else. But now I'm back!

I did a little tea swap with one of my friends, I gave her some matcha, and she gave me some pu-er. Not sure about the terroir and vintage, but I was told that this is a very high quality shu bingcha.

Very very densely stuck together :|

Rinsed 10s, dumped out. Then first infusion on the left, second on the right.

Third infusion on left, fourth on right.

The teacups are lovely, no? :) They are doublewalled cups I got from Teavana. They called it Petite Fleur Suspendus, and are now completely sold out I think. :|

Feeling lazy, so just gonna write this way, still understandable.

3.5g, 5oz boiling water, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 63 seconds, 76 seconds. Can probably make more infusions as the taste has not waned at all.......

Spent leaves.

I'm actually pretty amazed. This is my very first exposure to pu-er, and the first time I made it, I was actually a little grossed out by the fungus-y scent and the metalicky strange taste. But after that, I'm actually starting to truly appreciate it for its complexity. Each infusion is more complex and multifaceted than the one before it. It makes me really want to get into learning more about the marvelous world of pu-er..... But I'm poor now, need to finish all my shincha before I dwelve into all that....