The Daily Steep

Two Friends and their Tea Addiction.

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Black Dragon Pearls

We'll I'm out of my Black Dragon Pearl sample.. Any recommendations on where to pick up more for a decent price?

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Picked up some Dragonfruit Devotion with the remains of my Starbucks gift card from Christmas. I quickly discovered this tea should be Iced. It gave me a good excuse to used the Teavana infusion pitcher I picked up during their last sale. So here I am, attempting my first cold steep. I don't think I added enough but we will see tomorrow morning. - Nicole (Sorry for the crappy phone pictures.)

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One Name, Two Different Teas. In my first Adagio purchase, I ordered Golden Monkey. I was told it was sweet, and needed little to no additives. I got, tried it, and was underwhelmed. I still liked my Assam blend. It was definitely had a sweet flavor to it, but I didn't feel there was any other big wow factors about it. Recently, thought I ventured to a store in Dallas that is called the Cultured Cup. Very small store, owned by two lovely men. It has a sitting area where you can try their varies teas before you buy them. I asked Kyle what his favorite Black was out came the Golden Monkey. In the back of my head, I was already thinking prepared to be underwhelmed. Except that this tea is extremely different from Adagio's. First off, right away the smell is extremely pungent. Again, the sweetness is there. However, this tea lingers with you. I could still taste it the rest of the day after Kyle brewed me some. It's not a great everyday drink, and I haven't quite figured out what exactly to pair it with, but I do think it's an excellent choice when you need something other than you standard Black.

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200 Followers Giveaway!

As a thank you to my followers I am having a little giveaway! This is only for my followers so if you want to enter make sure you are following Teageekery. 

Likes and reblogs count as one entry each. Feel free to reblog as many times as you want but only the first one counts. 

This is only open to people in the US. Sorry everyone else, but I am unable to afford to ship anywhere else

For each fifty new followers I get I will add something new (tea or perler creation) 

You will be getting a mostly full pouch of DAVIDsTEA Birthday Cake Tea and a Perler Bead 8-bit style bow tie! 

This giveaway will end March 31st at noon (central time) please have your ask box open so I can get your address! 

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Don’t forget to reblog! I am getting close to 250 which means I will add a pouch of Adagio Pu Erh Spice :)

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I have finished off another sample. This time it was Adagio’s Foxtrot. If you have not tried this, you should go grab a sample. It’s not like what I expected it to be.

The peppermint and vanilla tones blend so nicely into each other. The addition of Chamomile makes this a really refreshing before bed tea. In addition to that, it’s extremely creamy for a tea. Absolutely a delight to drink.

- Nicole

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The tea Kayley sent me came in. Today I tried the Chai Gurana, which tastes a lot like well - a liquified Cinnamon Bun without the glaze. It was a bit weak. Then, I finished off the day with my one true love in life - my Coffee pu'erh. I don't know how I lived my life before my sacred coffee tea. It's my everything. It handles like coffee, I add sugar and creamer. It has a bit of the earthiness of a pu'erh, but the aftertaste is all Chocolate. It's the perfect blend. My ultimate - feel good drink. - Nicole

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Grilling and BBQ are very integral parts of Texas. Let's say, Football comes first then Grilling slabs of Meat is a very close second. Often, when I'm grilling I throw wood chips in to give things like Shrimp a nice smokey mesquite taste. This has a point. Russian Caravan is heaven. After making it, I have to stop and just inhale the smoke for a minute. The smokiness follows through in the taste. But, is not as strong as the Lapsang by itself, because this is blended with an Oolong. It would probably best accompany a steak, some ribs, some brisket, mmmmm or aforementioned Shrimp. Anyway, if you are already a fan of the smell of smoke - this is perfect for you. Go pick some up. - Nicole

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A fun informative video of done by Twinings on Russian Caravan Tea (which I picked up last week). Review coming soon!

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Reblog if you like tea.

Any kind. Hot. Cold. White. Green. Black. Rooibos. Herbal. Oolong. Sweet. Unsweet. With Milk. Without. Tea is great.

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Our friend Meghan was kind enough to draw these fantastic sketch of Nicole and I, and I couldn't be more stoked about how they turned out!

Slowly but surely our little blog is growing and I can't wait for the adventure!

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A couple weeks ago a new tea shop, T by Daniel, which is about 20 minutes from my house opened up and I had been meaning to go for a while now. I finally had a chance to pop by!

The shop itself was super cute, pretty busy, and it was their grand opening! I do believe the staff were a little flustered with the days events but they were extremely friendly, kind and helpful!

I picked out a bunch of teas, and am very excited to try them out! Since I can't have any caffeine, (as much as I love tea, I also love my coffee) so I've been lacking my coffee, and even a chance to try David's Tea Coffee Pu'erh.

So when I found (it was their last pouch from a trade show and don't see this on their website anymore) this Coffee Rooibos I was beyond ecstatic. On top of that, the tea was delicious! It has a really nice subtle roasted flavour, and even a welcome bitter after taste.

Definitely a great start to my collection from T by Daniel. The only thing I was really disappointed with was the fact that they weren't putting the 50g of tea in any tins like they were advertising.

- kayley

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This morning's tea: Casablanca Twist from Adagio I can't really taste the Dajeerling, just the mint. Still kind of nice, very mellow and refreshing as a morning drink. - Nicole

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So far all of the reviews you've been reading from us have been from Nicole. But have no fear, Kayley is here. Though I've never been good with words, I'll do my best to explain my experiences with each of these teas.

First off top photo is the tea haul from David's Tea for Nicole and myself. Top row is Nicole's (which should be arriving to her soon), bottom row is mine. Pretty much all of my tea's will be from David's Tea, unfortunately Adagio wants to charge an arm and a leg to ship to Canada. That being said, lets move on!

First up

Currant Affair - I really liked the tartness of this tea, it had really good flavour. It did have a lingering mental taste, which I actually enjoyed.

Crème Caramel Rooibos - I really did not like this tea at all, it smells really good, but doesn't transfer to the cup. It tastes very artificial, not a fan at all.

(Organic) The Glow - This is actually Nicole's tea, and I totally stole some from her. This tea is totally awesome, which is funny because when I was at David's I smelled this tea I passed on it. I definitely need to go back to the store and grab a tin of it. I loved the cinnamon in this tea.

Midsummer Night's Dream - This tea I've for a while, it's a tea I love to have right before bed. I love how the mint mixes with the gooseberry (which usually have more of a sour/tart taste) Always a great fall back tea! Big shout out to Machete for the newest mug in my collection.

(Organic) Pure Vanilla - I got this tea (and all the other rooibos teas) because I recently found out about some health issues and need to stay away from pretty much all teas except herbal and rooibos. I have Vanilla Orchid which I absolutely love. So when I tried this tea I think I had those expectations going into it, and of course I was really disappointed. This tea, much like the Creme Caramel has an extremely artificial taste and not much else to it.

Coco Chai Rooibos - This was by far my favourite tea of the four I brought home. Generally tea's with ginger tend to taste like ginger, and only ginger. But this tea had such good flavour with the ginger and cinnamon and at the end a subtle coconut finish. Totally love this tea, will definitely be picking up a tin.

- kayley

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(My last Adagio order. Yes, I do have a "problem".) Drinking some Assam Melody today at work from Adagio. I should give a little account of my history with Assam. For some reason, I got obsessed with making the perfect “Cuppa” a couple months back. After much research, this lead me to Yorkshire Gold and PG Tips. I do enjoy them. However, the astringency of both is so intense even with Milk and Sugar. And that’s just leaving my Tea Bag in cup for 60 seconds max. (Apparently, the British like their tea to be quick and strong. I commend them for that.) Anyway, when I placed my initial Adagio order I ordered Assam Melody. It’s a blend of Assam and Ceylon. It’s bold, malty, and sweet. But, it lacks the astringency that I find with other Assams/Assam blends. It’s very mellow in comparison. I can drink it all day, and often do. It’s the first tea I reordered and now am a proud owner of a 3 oz tin. In short, a solid black for everyday drinking.

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The last of my Coffee Pu’erh from my 50g sample. I can not even begin to explain the sadness I felt emptying my sample bag…(despite the fact more will be arriving in the mail soon)…

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So, as a Southerner I've grown up with Black Tea. It's what "tea" is suppose to taste like to me, but with the addition of more Sugar than any human should be allowed to consume. I digress though, I am therefore a pretty avid Black Tea drinker. It's comforting, malty, great with sugar and honey. Sometimes, Jack Daniels. But, lately I've been feeling adventurous. So, today I ventured into unknown territory - White Tea.

I made mention on Reddit that I was heistant towards Greens and Whites, because I'm so unfamiliar with them. A couple people gave me recommendations on some teas to try, and here we are - Silver Needle. 

I steeped it at less than boiling (says 195 on the package) and for about 3/4 minutes. I was really concerned about the temperature since my electric kettle is pretty basic. I ended up letting the water cool after it boiled, then steeping the tea with the lid to my IngenuiTEA open. 

My first thoughts were that it was very crisp, and sort of grassy. Very faintly malty, but not in the way that a Black Tea is. Then, I got a phone call and had to take a short break from my Tea. When, I tried it again that's when I realized it was actually rather sweet. I honestly think as it cooled, more of the flavor and other tasting notes started to become more prevalent. 

I ended up having a 2nd cup later because I couldn't really get the taste out of my head. I needed to experience it again, so I also had a cup along with dinner tonight. 

I think I'm shockingly a fan of White Tea. The crispness and the airy taste just is a really nice departure from the crappy Winter weather we are having. It's refreshing like Spring. I can't wait to sit around and enjoy a cup of this one morning in my backyard when the weather improves.

- Nicole

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WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Tea, of course!