Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chilly = Chai

It's frickin' freezing today.  Nevermind that it was warm and raining yesterday, today its windy and way too freaking cold.

Thank you NS weather. :/

Today is the cold kind of day to grab a hot cup of tea and stay the fuck inside.  And on a cold, cold day, there's really nothing more comforting than a nice cup of chai.

Right now I'm sippin' on some Masala Chai at World Tea House.  I wouldn't have come all this way just for the tea in this weather, but I was already downtown anyway and thought that I might be meeting a friend for burritos.  I wouldn't want to let someone down when they want a burrito, would I?

I hope it's not this cold tomorrow.  I've got people to see tomorrow!

Oh well.  If it is, I can start doing like I did last year and pour myself tea in my travel mug on my way out the door just so that I can keep my hands warm.  Tea = Liquid mittens. <3

Anyway, that's all for now.  'Til next time!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Merry Teamas!

It's been a while, but I've got so much tea to talk about!  Holiday related tea, in fact!

First of all, Tea Nog Lattes at World Tea House.  I know I mentioned these before, but they are worth mentioning again.

I will miss you when you're gone egg nog.  Oh, I will miss you.

For a present from BAD, I got a bag of Licormint tea.  It's fantastic!  I haven't tried it out iced yet, but I really want to.  If you sip it it tastes far different than if you gulp it.  There's a big difference in taste when it's hot, when it's cold, when it's kinda lukewarm, etc.

One of the Lattes I had at World Tea House was the Coconut Cocoa Pu-Ehr Nog Latte.  OMG. IT. TASTES. SO. GOOD.  I mean, the nog lattes are basically heaven in liquid form, but with the coconut cocoa, IT'S PRETTY MUCH THE BEST THING EVER.

Speaking of coconut cocoa, guess who got a tin of it in her christmas tree this year?  And when I say in, I literally mean "in".  It was wrapped in purple tissue paper and placed in the branches of of my purple tree.  Apparently she went and asked Haleigh (who was working that day) what my favorite was.  Oh World Tea House staff, you know me so well...

Anyway, I think my mom just likes to hide things in the tree to see whether or not I'll notice them.  Luckily, this time I noticed!

I also got a tin of "tea" from World Tea House, which is just an empty tin that I can fill with tea of my choice later, and a $10 gift certificate.  Hurray!

Today I'm sipping on an absolutely lovely Monkey Nog, which is egg nog with chocolate monkey (rooibos, bits of banana and cocoa nibs).  The rooibos with the egg nog just makes it so smooth tasting.  This is absolutely lovely.

And while this isn't directly tea related, I also got a mini cupcake maker for christmas.  Tea party with adorable cupcakes?  Oh yes, I think so....

That's all for now.  'Til next time!

Friday, December 9, 2011

We interrupt this streak of lazy non-posting to bring you this update:

World Tea House.

Chai Nog Lattes.

NOG Lattes.  As in, with egg nog.

Chai Nog Lattes on special.


I've only been waiting for this time to come around again ALL FREAKING YEAR.

BUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!


Now back to our regularly scheduled laziness.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Sweet! (Hot Sweet Cinnamon, that is)

Well, I was running late so I didn't get to go to World Tea House before starting dance class tonight, like I usually do.
But that's ok, because there's tea from World Tea House at Serpentine Studios! For Free*

*With the cost of, ya know, dance classes.

Anyway, today is extra special because there's a thermos of Hot Sweet Cinnamon and one free comfy chair.

In the lounge area of the studio there are lots of cushions and seats, but there is one seat in particular that is really comfy, and it is always taken.  Except for right now.

Aw yeah, Hot sweet cinnamon and the comfy chair before dance class.  Life is good.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Ninjas, Mugs, and A Tiny Robot Invasion

As always, I usually try and get my christmas shopping done early, and I pretty much get everything from Think Geek, because as much as I love giving gifts, I really, really, really hate christmas shopping.

As always, a few days after I place my order, there's a new discount code e-mailed out that I could have used, and more stuff that I would have ordered.  Curses!

Oh well.  The majority of the mugs I wanted were in stock, and this year I did manage to get myself some ninja-shaped cookie cutters.  Everyone will get mugs and cookies.  They may even get the cookies in the mugs.  That depends on how difficult I want to make things for myself when it comes to wrapping.

This, plus some robot tea infusers that I can get from World Tea House, and this might be the geekiest christmas ever.


...No, I think the absolute geekiest christmas I've ever had would be the year I got the nomnomnom lunchbag and katana umbrella, but since I no longer "run with that crew," I don't know if that particular brand of magic will ever happen again.

Bah, when it comes to brands of magic, I've always preferred The Black Mages. And Wiki pages too, apparently.

Anyway, it'll be both the second geekiest christmas, and the most teaful christmas ever.

But enough about that shit. (Seriously, now that I'm done shopping I don't want to have to deal with it again until the day before I have to give out gifts when I'm frantically wrapping everything.)

Today's teas were:

Rooibos Vanilla
Lemon Ginger Mate
Re-steep of the Rooibos Vanilla.

Yesterday's:

Hot Rod
Rooibos Chai after hula hoop/dance class.

(Speaking of Dance stuff, this is going on tomorrow night and I am super excited. :3)

For now I think I'll re-steep this cup of rooibos vanilla.  I doubt it'll turn out to be much more than warm flavored water, but even that would be better than no water right now.

'Til next time.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

One Tea, Two Tea, Free (ish) Tea!

For the last few days, instead of starting off the day with a cup of Hot Rod (World Tea House), I've been starting with a cup of my new favorite, coconut cocoa pu-ehr.  I swear, this stuff brews at super speed; It goes from clear water to black-as-my-soul (when I'm not looking at kittens) in no time at all.
Add some milk and it's roughly the colour of my soul whilst I gaze at kittens.

Normally, I don't like to add any milk or sugar to any teas, but the coco-choco tastes great with a little bit of both.  Of course, it tastes great on its own too, as long as you don't steep it too long.
It gives a good second steep as well, which I found out yesterday after heading up World Tea House for my lunch break.

Funny totally un-related story:  My mother packed my lunch and left it for me.  I picked it up as I was about to leave, realized I had forgotten my phone, and went back to get it.  When I went back I put the bag with my lunch down, and ran around to find my phone.  Turns out it was actually already in my bag.  I grab my lunch on my way out and head to work.

I had grabbed the wrong bag.  This was not the nice, fresh lunch my mother had packed.  This was an old bag that should have been thrown out a small eternity ago.  I didn't realize until I opened the sandwhich bag and my (horribly stuffed up) nose protested that I realized my error. Ew ew ew ew.  It quickly turned into a Burrito Jax kind of day.

Lessons to be learned from this not-at-all tea related story:

Don't bring old lunches home if you don't actually plan on eating them. That's really gross.
Look at your food before you start eating it.
Burrito Jax is our saviour.  Also, the spicy food helped clear out my stuffy nose, so there's the silver lining.

Back to the tea:

While I was chowing down on my burrito, I had a cup of white guava ginger.  I wanted white because I needed one more white tea to fill out my adventure card to get a free tea but I always have white coconut creme, so I wanted to have something different.  Phil said that ginger was good if you were sick.  I mentioned that it might not be the best idea if you have a sore throat, unless you've got some licorice in there.

Anyway, my throat was feeling better, and the white guava ginger isn't super gingery anyway, so that's what I had.  I'm really not a hard sell when it comes to teas, am I?

After work I headed up and met with the usual gang, one of which was also germ-infested and getting over the cold too.  I still say that I caught it from him.  He says he caught it from me.  We may never know the truth, but rarely is the truth ever actually necessary for settling arguments.

After that there was nachos, ice cream, painkillers, and much bitching about our city's mayor, but that's another story.

That's all for now.

'Til next time.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Some helpful advice, and some whining. Mostly whining.

I'm sick.

GAAAAAAAH, I'M SIIIIIIIIIIICK! Someone come tuck me into bed and bring me soup and fuss over me until I feel better. WHINEWHINEWHINEWHINE!

I suppose I should be grateful really.  This is the first time in over a year or so that I've been this sick.  Sick enough for the cold to last for more than one day anyway.  Yay immune system!  Now if only you could hurry up and get rid of this current cold a little faster...

The place I work is open today, which is Remembrance Day.  Nothing else is open, because it's Remembrance Day.  It is absolutely miserable outside, and some of the streets are flooding.  There's renovation for a cafe going on in the same room as me, and it is really, really loud.  I don't get a lunch break today because no one else who can watch the desk is in the office, because it's Remembrance Day (which is also the case for every holiday, because I work every holiday.)  And I'm siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

None of this is actually anyone's fault, of course, it's just a really crappy combination.  One that makes me wish I was home, still under my covers.

To comfort myself I brought my tin of coconut-cocoa pu-ehr.  Oh yes, I bought a tin along with that awesome purple tea-cozy that I mentioned in the last post.  I'm sure I'll have a pic of it some time.

Oh yes, helpful advice.  As much as I usually recommend ginger tea when you're sick, I should also mention that if you have a sore throat, ginger is a bad idea unless there is also some licorice root blended in there somewhere, or unless you like having a burning sensation in the back of your throat.

Then again, maybe the burning means it's good for you.  I dunno, I'm not a doctor.  I'm just going to avoid it next time I'm sick.  Unless there's licorice.  Licorice fixes everything that ginger doesn't, including ginger itself.

Except a case of whining.  I don't think even licorice can fix someone who whines all the time. *sniffle*

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

COCO-CHOCO-CHOOCHOOOOOO!

Two BIG THINGS that I MUST share:

1)  I didn't have any tea yesterday.  Not a drop.  Not even a cup of the many teas that I have at home.

2)  The Coconut Cacao Pu-Ehr Latte is on special this week at World Tea House.

ALKSDJFALDKFJALSDKJFAL;DJKS!


I just finished a large one.  I may just go get another.  Or maybe I'll go get a white or oolong tea, since I need some of those to fill out my tea card so I can get a free one...

...One that I'll probably use on another Coconut Cacao Pu-Ehr Latte. XD

I'm also going to get some more tea to take home, and an awesome tea cozy that fits my teapot perfectly.  They were made by the amazing UberWench. (Seriously, what can't she do?) One of them is purple.  Purple.  I can't not buy this.

In other news, everyone that I'm getting gifts for this year is getting a mug.  Way to ruin the surprise, right?  The real fun will be in everyone seeing which mug they got.  I wish I knew someone who would really appreciate this that doesn't already own one.  I don't consider myself a big enough Dr. Who fan to get one for myself, as nifty as it looks.

Oh, but there are still plenty of mugs for everyone.  It will be a very muggish christmas.

Anyway, that's all for now.  'Till next time!

Friday, November 4, 2011

LATTE LATTE AAAAAA!

Tried the coconut cocoa pu-ehr as a latte, like I said I would.  I had it with soy.

I think I now know what heaven tastes like.

I always thought heaven would taste a bit more like clouds and sunshine, personally, but no.  It tastes like a chocolatey latte.  I have to admit, it's not quite as coconutty as a latte for some reason, but it's still SO EFFING GOOD.

That's right, it's so good it makes me censor myself, for fuck's sake.

My only little bit of advice would be to add some sugar.  Honey has too much of it's own flavor, and the latte on it's own, while still pretty good, is perfect with a little bit of sugar.  It's like hot chocolate without being sickly sweet.

New. Fave. Latte. <3


Oh yes, and here's a quick list of tea I had yesterday:

-Forgot to make tea before leaving, suffered through an eternity of tea-less work until my lunch break
-Coconut cocoea pu-ehr latte for lunch.  Large.  And I finished it all during my break too!
-Hot Rod to go.  I needed something to keep me a little bit perky during my shift last night.

Today I've started off the morning with hot rod (World Tea House) again, and I'm sure that I will get another coconut cocoa pu-ehr latte for lunch again today when I wander up to World Tea House.

From now on though, I will refer to it as "coco-choco latte."  Because "coconut cocoa pu-ehr", while correct, is a bit of a mouthful.

And I know I missed a couple of days, but I really can't remember what I had.  Probably more coco-choco lattes.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Ah, a day off

No work = no morning shuffle, or a least a greatly reduced amount of morning shuffle.  I didn't have tea this morning because I had no real urge to be awake any earlier than I had to.  Spent the entire day moving music around, cleaning up the old laptop, and just organizing my virtual stuff.

But since I hate going to my dance class without getting some tea first, I decided to head to World Tea House first.  Maybe if I come here early enough, I won't be late to class like I usually am.

My very first tea of the day is a pot of rooibos vanilla at 7:00 pm.  Wow.

And that is about all I have to say.  Maybe I would have enjoyed watching things take forever to be copied if I'd had some tea?  Maybe.  Everything is better with some tea.

'Til next time.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Whatever works, right?


Wasn’t feeling great yesterday.  Ended up getting a sore throat, a kinda stuffy head and just generally drained.

The good ol’ ¾ ginger ¼ licorice worked pretty well for two of those things, at least.  Cleared up my head and definitely helped my throat.  Didn’t wake me up any, but since there’s no caffeine, I wasn’t really expecting it to.
There’s really only one problem with it:  It doesn’t actually taste that great.  It’s not bad, and as far as sore throat cures go it’s probably one of the best, but as a regular cup of tea?  Not really a fan.  I love ginger, and I love licorice, but together it’s just…blah.  Maybe if there were more flavors blended in or if it was the just ginger, then I’d like it a bit more.  I guess I’m very all-or-nothing when it comes to my teas.  And by “all or nothing”, I mean “many or just one.”

After that I had a cup of hot rod, and was basically a lazy ass all day.  I must have done something right though, because once I was done what I call “the morning shuffle” I felt pretty bright-eyed this morning.

The Morning Shuffle is when I first get up in the morning and I can’t quite manage to walk correctly, so I just slowly shuffle around the house with my eyes still closed.  It is best not to try and talk to me at this time since all I can manage are grunts and whining noises, and I usually can’t actually understand what anyone else says to me.  This morning I think my mom said something about supper while I was still in shuffle mode.  I’m honestly not sure what she said.  I didn’t get to ask again because she left before I got out of The Shuffle.


I know that a nice cup of tea would get me out of The Shuffle a lot quicker, but since I, unlike my mother, don't have any way to program anything to make my hot beverage of choice for me so that it's ready for me before I’m actually awake, I don’t bother.  By the time I’ve made the tea and it’s cooled down enough for me to actually drink it, I have to leave.  If I take a cup of tea that I made earlier with me to work, by the time I get to work it’ll be cold.  Instead, I just wait until I’m about to leave to make my tea, and let it cool down on the way to work. This way I'm not disappointed by not getting to drink my tea while it's still hot and I also avoid having to do anything more that might tax what little mental power I have in the morning.  Plus I usually get to take a nap on the bus.

See?  Public transport has its upsides.  Just imagine what would happen if someone driving a car tried to do the same thing.

This morning I cuddled a nice warm mug full of Hot Rod while dozing on the bus.  It's a pretty good way to start the day when you can get a seat.

Right now I'm at World Tea House for my lunch break again.  It went from nice autumn weather to "Get ready for winter, motherfuckers!" overnight a couple of days ago and it hasn't warmed up since then, so I decided that some nice, hot tea was needed today.  Masala Chai it is.  Spicy like my attitude, and black as my heart.

Okokok, the tea isn't really black.  It's more of a dark brown.  I do drink it without milk or sugar though, so in a sense it's black.  It's a classic fave of mine, and I know I've blogged about it in the past.  Last winter, around the time I started this blog, it was what I drank pretty much every morning.  (If you don't believe me, just go back and read the entries from last January.)

Every chai from every tea place is always a little bit different.  I like the Masala Chai here because it's a pretty good balance between spicy flavour and still tasting like tea.  Sometimes you end up with basically straight black tea, sometimes you end up with a bag full cinnamon.
At World Tea House at least, there are two kinds of tea with "chai" in the name:  the masala chai and temple chai.  The temple chai is a bit less spicy and has a hint of vanilla.  I prefer that one iced, since it's a little sweeter.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I'll go get my hot rod re-steeped as usual and head back to work. 

'till next time!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

SNAAAAAAAAKES

I was up late last night sewing rubber snakes onto a hat, finding out that the hat was too small, trying to sew them onto a scarf, having them fall off the scarf, figuring out that I could attach what I had already sewn to a headband, ripping up skirts, and generally hating everything.

I really should have had some tea.  I mean, why the hell didn't I drink some tea?  The situation had everything that usually calls for tea:

I was stressed
I was trying to get something done
I was trying to stay up late

These are all awesome reasons to brew up some tea.  Why the hell didn't I drink any tea???

Anyway, I had tea today.  I had tea and finished my snake headband, had some more tea, and actually had a pretty good day despite not having had much sleep.

Hurray!

Anyway, today there was Hot Rod, then more Hot Rod.  I didn't get a lunch break today, so I didn't get a lunch break, so no tea for me.
It is now currently "after work" time, and now I'm enjoying a pot of Hojicha at World Tea House.  It's a new one at World Tea House.  It's like the Kuchika twig tea.  It tastes like roasted bark.  I hate using the term "earthy" but this is pretty damn earthy.  More bark like than pu-ehr which is more "earthy" in the sense that it tastes a bit like dirt.  Delicious dirt, but still dirt.

I had a card full, so I got myself a free cup, too.  Yay!

In short, today was a good day.  Even if I never want to see a rubber snake ever again.

'Til next time.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

There's really nothing to report at the moment

Nothing that is both tea related and particularly exciting has happened to me lately.  Other than forgetting my travel mug at the Studio again, that is.  Whoops.  Plus I forgot to keep track of what I have been drinking for the past few days.  Double whoops.

I know that on Tuesday I had some sort of oolong tea at the studio during dance class.  I suspect it was peach oolong, since that what was being served the next day.  The fact that it tasted like an oolong is also a pretty good hint. I helped myself to a mug full both days.

Today I had a cup of hot rod to start the day and a cup of coconut cocoa pu-ehr for lunch.  I forgot to get my hot rod re-steeped on my way out.  I was in a bit of a rush because I had to get a cup of tea for a co-worker before leaving, and I had left it until the very last moment.  I'm a horrible procrastinator...

I actually meant to get a latte at lunch, but I ended up getting a cup instead.  I've got a full adventure card waiting for me at the tea house, so many next time I go I'll finally try the the coconut cocoa pu-ehr as a latte for free(ish)!  Or maybe I'll try the speciali-tea this week, the Raspberry Creme.  It's so hard to choose!

Anyway, that's all the news I have for now.  I've just put the kettle on, so I should have another cup of hot rod pretty soon.

'Till next time.

Monday, October 24, 2011

New Tea Smash?

Hey world.  I'm at World Tea House, and though I managed to finish little bits of what I needed to do, I didn't actually finish everything.

Oh well.  Maybe if I stay up late enough tonight I can get it all done.  I just can't let myself start shimmying.

Anyway, I decided to try out another new tea to the tea house, Super Green.  It's sencha with matcha.  When it brews up, it is bright how-is-this-even-natural-hulk-smash green.  It tastes like a high quality green tea.  I think it smells a bit like fried chicken.  But that could just be me.  I seem to be the only one that thinks this.

I think the taste is  a bit too much for me by the end of the second cup, but if you were a fan of the taste in the first place, you'd probably love it right till the end of the pot.

When it comes to the re-steep though, it kind of looses a lot of it's super-powers.  It seems to have calmed down into a regular-ol Bruce Banner.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing in my case, since it's a bit less intense of a flavour, but I don't think I will be buying another pot of it unless I happen to have a specific craving for it, since it is one of the premium teas, and thus a bit more expensive than the regular ones.

In short:  Not bad, but not my favourite, personally.  If you like a very, very green tea, this would be perfect for you.

Next time I'm here to work, I'll just get a pot of silver needle.  I always love silver needle.

'Til next time.

Sunny with a chance of productivity.

...K, so there are a few things I really, really need to get done.  There are other side things (like my budget spreadsheet) which would be really nice to get done, but don't really have a deadline.

And I don't want to do any of it, because I have the attention span of a - Squirrel!

....Uh, so yeah, I don't always get as much work done as I should.

But I'm pretty sure that I have filled out yet another adventure card at World Tea House, and so I will go, use it, get a pot of a premium tea that can re-steep a billion times and get. down. to. work.

As much as I love writing, I hate writing when I have to, you know?

Anyway, the problem with this plan is that as soon as I start actually getting any work done I'm going to run into someone I know and start chatting instead of working.  Because that's what always happens at the tea house.

You might even wonder why I'm still trying to get any work done when I know that there is a fairly large chance that I won't get anything done while I'm there.  The answer is because there is still a chance that I can get something done.  There is a chance that I may be able to concentrate if I just get enough tea in me first.  There is a chance that I might even be able to talk about what I'm writing with whoever else pops in.  There is a chance that no one else I know will show up at all.

And there is absolutely no chance that I will get anything done if I go home.  I will turn off all the lights and dance around in my living room, shimmying until I am tired, then I will waste time online, then I will go to bed at a time that makes me feel like an old lady, especially since I don't work tomorrow.

Trying to get any work done at home just never works.

So.  The tea house it is then.  Tea and work, and a chance of actually getting anything productive done.

Oh, right, and I should probably give a quick list of the tea I've had to drink:

Morning, Hot Rod
Lunch - Earl Grey
Afternoon - Re-Steep of Hot Rod.

When I go back I will probably get a pot of Silver Needle, rather than trying out the new Super Green.  I'm not in the mood experiment, I'm in the mood to work.  Or at least, I'm in the mood to want to work.  Or rather, I'm int he mood to want to want to work.  Yeah, that sounds about right.

Til next time.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Weird how my mood works...

And how simple it can be to raise or lower it.
This morning I was back to the cranky, stab-happy person I was yesterday, and now I'm feeling fantastic.

I was running late. Again.  On my way out the door, I went to grab my backup tea mug because I had left my usual one at the tea house last night.  Anyway, I went for the backup mug and found that it was dirty (which worries me because I haven't used that mug in a whiiiiile.  I'm afraid of what might be growing in it right now.)  In a rush, I decided to just bring a tea pinch and a tin of tea with me to work.  We have a kettle at the desk, so it shouldn't have been a problem.  I almost put the tea pinch in my purse but after seeing how many other things were in there, (laptop, deodorant, nintendo DS, books, wallet, a pair of shoes, etc.) I decided to put it in the bag with my loose (and ridiculously comfy) dance clothes to keep it from getting crushed....

...And then I forgot that bag at home.  I was tea-less, and didn't have proper clothes for my lunch time hula hoop class.

Eventually I made it to World Tea House and I grabbed another coconut cocoa pu-ehr, but I got it iced this time.  It is really good iced.  I still have to try it as a latte.

While I was there I picked up my mug that I had left there the night before...


Hurray!

Now I've got a mug full of more coconut cocoa pu-ehr.  Why so much of the same tea?  Because it's chocolatey tea, and both chocolate and tea are the keys to happiness.

Well, those and a bowl full of homemade curry squash soup made by my mom.  With that for a lunch, my mug returned, and a chocolatey tea in my system, it's pretty much impossible for me to be cranky.


PS:  It is hard for me to twirl a hula hoop around my knees at the best of times.  It's pretty much impossible for me to do it while my skirt kept getting tangled.  Not that I could have done it very well in pants anyway, but at least I wouldn't have tried to get the hoop spinning with one hand while trying to hold up my skirt without flashing anyone with the other.  Talk about awkward.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Somebody has turned the cranky up to 11 today.


I’m going to try and write this out without murdering anyone.

I’m working on this cup of ginger mint tea right now because I usually try and limit the caffeine consumption during this time of the month.  I don’t know if it actually helps at all, but it FEELS like it helps, and that’s enough for me right now.

Except that mornings have suddenly become an enormous struggle to not punch everyone I see in the face.  (Except my mom of course.  No matter how cranky I am, I would never want to hurt mom.  Because I know that she would make me suffer for the rest of my life.)
Caffeine is very good for random face-punching prevention. Ginger mint is not really as good for that, although my tummy was feeling a bit wibbly wobbly earlier, and now it seems to have settled, so I guess it’s a good thing I have my ginger mint with me.

I brought a tin of Hot Rod (World Tea House), just in case.  For the sake of everyone else’s face, you understand.  My stomach may end up being calm as a silvery pool of water on a windless day, but my mood definitely isn’t. If I get too stabby, hopefully that will calm me down enough to put down the letter opener.

You know what I think will fix all of this?  That coconut cocoa pu-ehr I posted about earlier.  Chocolate + Tea = everything I need to calm down. I don’t care if it isn’t caffeine free I want it anyway.

I got my cup of goodness.  I feel significantly less like punching faces now.  The cup + one toffee oatcake has lifted my mood significantly.

Actually, I just really want some chocolate.  And a nap.  The chocolate at least, I know I’ll have time for after work. The nap, not so much.

Here's to not stabbing people.

Friday, October 21, 2011

And once again from The Tea House

Drinking at World Tea House again.  Just had a pot of ginger mint mixed up.  I was feeling crampy and gross, and I'm hunting for rubber snakes which I can't seem to find anywhere.  This medusa costume idea of mine may never happen.

Right now, I'm chatting with my friend, because that's what always happens when I come here.
What's kind of funny is that despite the fact that I'm typing this right now, he hasn't stopped talking.  I wonder if I can type everything he says right now...

Nope, can't quite do it.  Obviously, I need to work on my typing speed.  This new keyboard is still slowing me down.  Plus I really need to work on some bad typing habits I have...

But anyway, the tea! This pot of tea I just got was just what i needed.  It kind of brightened up my day.  I needed a hot drink, but I didn't feel like having any black or green tea.  I wasn't actually nauseous, but it still made me feel better. :3


Moral of story:  Ginger Mint fixes everything.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

I'm done messing around with this

....for now anyway.  I'm sure in a few days I will find something else that bothers me and fix it, only to end up completely changing the layout again.

Oh well.

There is absolutely nothing tea related about this post.

Now that I've regained the will to blog...

So.

I originally had a bigass post all done up, and one little finger twitch had me closing the page.  With no prompt if I wanted to leave, and nothing recovered when I came back, it was all lost.

I hate having to go back and do something over, so here's the short version:

Was inspired by the tea hair rinse described here at Crunchy Betty (seriously, love that blog liekwhoa) and was asking Phil at World Tea House which would be better to get a concentrated tea:  To steep the tea longer, or to use more tea?  He said that since I wasn't using it to drink, I might as well just steep it longer.
Then he said that you could even simmer it for a while.
Then he said that you could even just boil it down to get everything out of those tea leaves.

Thanks for the beauty tips, Phil! *gigglesnort*

So a good boiling is what I did.  I boiled down some black tea, and after I was done boiling it down to a bit less than one cup, I added some honey and lemon. After washing my hair rinsed it out with the tea rinse and had myself a lovely, lovely bath using the rest of the coconut milk and some more honey.  Used a little bit of the tea concentrate with some water and used it as a toner, since tea is astringent.  Mostly I tried it because a) I had some already and b) it smells about a million kajillion times better than apple cider vinegar.  After all that, I was pretty much soft as a baby's ass from head to toe.  Managed to stay that way when I woke up too, although I was significantly less damp by morning.

Don't ask me what tea I actually had to drink that day, since I had a list of it all, and then lost it with that little finger twitch.

Anyway, yesterday I had a pot of Hot Rod while at home, which I re-steeped once, and a cup of lukewarm rooibos chai while I was at my dance class.  A new pot was needed by then, but the tea balls couldn't be found. Oh noes!

Today so far it's been:

Pot of ginger-mint (I drank that in the morning instead of Hot Rod in the hopes that it would clear up my nose. It kind of did.)
Cup of Vanilla Black at work. (I was in a rush after my yoga class, which was just before I started work today, so I didn't get a chance to grab a cup of tea at the studio like I usually do.  That's too bad since it was White Coconut Creme today - one of my favorites!)
Cup of a new tea at World Tea House: Coconut Cocoa Pu-ehr.
Re-steep of the vanilla black

That's where I'm at now. Now I must talk about the new tea:  It's not actually up on the shelves yet, but I got to try a cup and I must say that I really, really like it.  I don't mind the usual dirt taste of Pu-ehr, but it's not my favorite.  This though is a nice chocolatey tea with a bit of coconut.  It's like the cocoa and pu-erh just kind of blend together.  I would absolutely love to try that in a latte.  I think it would be fantastic.

That's all for now.  Til' next time!

Live, from Serpintine Studios!

Aw yeah, guess which awesome studio has wifi!

So, I had a big long post about tea that I'd had and a tea hair rinse and toner I made, but I lost the entire post and I haven't had the will or time to re-write it since then.

So instead, let me talk about a dance studio that I go to.  It's Serptentine Studios.  Right now I'm taking two bellydance classes, a hula hoop class twice a week, and I mere minutes away from my first yoga class here.

What does any of this have to do with tea?

They serve tea from World Tea House here.  And every time there's a new pot of tea, it's usually met with  great joy.  Which makes me wonder:  What is up with bellydancers around here and tea?  Is this a common thing in other places, or is it just Halifax?

Anyway, I just finished my cup of ginger mint to clear out my nose this morning.  Now I'm off to fill up on a fresh cup of White Coconut Creme.  Yay tea!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Live, from World Tea House!

Hello, it's been a while.

Like, a long while.

Like, a looooooong whiiiiiiiiile.

But that's ok, because I still like tea, and I still want to write about it.  Also, I now have the ability to update my blog WHILE I'M OUT DRINKING TEA.

....as long as I have my laptop with me, anyway.

Like right now?  Cuppa Earl Grey.  It's perfect for rainy days, of which we are supposed to have in abundance this week.

Besides drinking tea, I've also used it in a few other things like cookies and even a face mask. (My skin was baby's ass soft afterward, btw)

In short, I am back, drinking more tea than ever, and better able to keep track of it all.  Expect lots of posts.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

I've been busy doing stuff.

Ok, I haven't really been so busy that I couldn't update ever, and I haven't actually been keeping track of what I've had to drink every day.  Here are, however, a few notable experiences I've had lately with tea:

Russian Potatoes.  I've been saying I wanted to try them for a while, but I only just got to trying them now.
Oh, and my ability to write a recipe down is pretty shit too, so forgive my vague instructions.

First try went...alright.  I used some of my Russian Caravan from World Tea House.  The idea was to brew it  strong, but got impatient and didn't really wait long enough.  Plus, I was using my friend's IngenuiTea Teapot and for those who don't know, the tea comes out of the bottom when you press it up against your cup (or in my case, pot of mashed potatoes).  I accidentally pressed it up against the side of the pot while trying to put it away and splashed way more tea than I actually wanted.  I ended up with rather watery potatoes.

So I made it a stew instead.

Russian Stew!

I'm staying at said friend's place for a bit, so I didn't have as much food to choose from as I would like.  I just threw in the few veggies I had around, and some leftover chicken mom had given me.  The veggies were all steamed ahead of time and then thrown together rather than actually cooked in the stew because I had never actually intended to make a stew in the first place.

So, my recipe for this looks a bit like this:

Cook Potatoes.
Make tea
Get impatient with tea and add it too early
Mess up and add too much tea
Give up and throw everything in one pot
Eat.

It was actually pretty delicious.  It made my chicken taste smokey. <3

Oh, note to anyone considering this, do not brew Russian Caravan (or anything else with a Lapsang Souchong base) in a plastic pot without immediately rinsing it out. I had to give it a looong bath.  Live and learn I guess.


Second attempt went much better.  Basically I didn't mess up on all the things I messed up on last time:

Brew tea ahead of time.
Start mashing potatoes first.
Only add enough tea to make them more mashable
Do whatever the heck you want with your veggies.
Serve with other things.  And corn.  Always with corn.
Nom.


Up next, cookies!



So, I decided yesterday that I would make cookies.  I was going to bake something, and it was going to be delicious.  Nothing would stop me from baking something, nothing.


Also, I haven't baked anything besides apple crumble in forever and I basically have no idea what the fuck I'm doing.

Yesterday was vanilla almond cookies with a bit of Earl Grey. which eventually just turned into one giant cookie while baking. Live and learn....

So, next time I want to try making a chai-spiced cookie (possibly with some black tea added, but probably mostly just cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom).

I also just picked up some matcha powder for baking.  A quick google search brought me to This Blog where I found a recipe for neat looking matcha cookies.

The matcha cookies are next on my list of things that I will bake.  Nothing will stop me.  Except maybe work.  And wedding showers.  And cleaning.  And more work.

But once I have some free time, I promise you, there will be more cookies. >:|

And in the future: Cupcakes.  I will make adorable cupcakes someday, just you watch me.

That's it for now.  I will share more news on my tea-cooking when I have more news to share.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Victory will be mine!

But before I talk about my inevitable victory that is one free cup of tea, I will share the tea I've had for the past little while:

Aug 6
Started off with masala chai (in the McGuyver'd mug that I posted about last time)
Had a cup of Rooibos Vanilla for lunch
I didnt' write it down, but I'm pretty sure I had a re-steep at some point of the chai.  Or not, maybe I'm just remembering wrong.  That happens a lot.

Aug 7
Surprise! Guess who didn't get a lunch break with not notice! Again!  If you guessed me, YOU GUESSED RIGHT.
So I went to get a pot of Ginger Tea after work to get un-cranky before heading home.  It is never a good idea to face my mother while cranky.  No matter how cranky, how pissed off, how totally bitchy you are--even if it's totally justifiable bitchyness-- She will beat you.  She will out cranky-you and she will utterly destroy you.

So yeah, tea was a good idea.  I got a little bit more writing done.  Writing the past few days has been really frustrating; A little while ago I sat down to write and two children's stories popped out of my head.  They're cute little stories, but I have no idea where they came from.  I don't even know any young children that I would write it for.  Weird.
Anyway, since then it's always seemed like a let down when an entire story doesn't magically manifest itself.

On to other more tea-related things:  VICTORY! My adventure card at World Tea House is full, so Imma get me a free cuppa today.  Assuming I get a lunch break that is.

You know what's really, really awesome?  Lunch breaks at the times you're told you'll get them.  Not that I'm still cranky or anything.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Like a warm blanket

I realized this morning that I had forgotten my travel mug at work.

So I just grabbed another travel mug.

When I opened it up to make sure it was clean, I was hit with the smell of Masala Chai, and I thought "Hey, it's been a while, Chai.  I'll choose you today."

I forgot how comforting Chai is in the morning for me.  It's like a warm fuzzy blanket.  Only, you know, liquid form, and a lot less comfortable to actually cuddle (although my mugs do often double up as hot water bottles when I am stiff or cramping.).

There was just one problem.  The basket wouldn't stay up out of the water.  (DUN DUN DUUUUUN)

This isn't hugely surprising, I think this was the first mug I got out of my small collection, and it didn't really stay up all that well when I first got it.  Add a few drops on to cement and I'm kind of surprised this thing even closes properly.  The real problem was mostly that I didn't notice this until I was on my way out of the apartment and didn't have time to transfer to another mug.

But then, out of the corner of my eye, I see this bright pink paperclip, and then...



Now I can enjoy my comforting tea.  I just need to make sure I don't poke myself in the face with a paperclip while I do it.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Tea and Moneyz

K, this was supposed to be part of the last post, but I think it could be it's own.

I R Broke. I need to buy less tea, because I need to buy less everything.  So, to help cut down on my spending, I'm switching to cups instead of pots when I go out for tea, and no more after work tea unless I a)already plan to meet someone there or b)didn't get a lunch break.

Sigh.  Why can't my hangout spot be my livingroom? The food and tea there is free(ish. Not really.)  I've even got a couch. It's a nice couch. You know what's great about couches? People can sit on them. Comfortably.

Anyway, another fun thing Phil just came up with is a card for the tea house:





Now, this isn't really going to save me oodles of money, but it'll get me a free cup every now and then, and remind me to try different types of teas more often. :3

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go update my pretty spreadsheets. :D

Tea...well, tea.

It's a quiet day today, so I'm going to get caught up with my tea journal now:

July 24
-Cup of Hot Rod
-Iced pot of Chocolate Monkey

I wasn't sure how the Chocolate Monkey would be iced, but it's nice.  I don't think I like it quite as much iced as hot, but it's still a great option on a hot day.

July 25
I forgot my mug at home. Again. :/
I eventually got a pot of iced Vanilla Berry Truffle. Very, very nice iced. :D

July 26
I don't think I did anything on the 26th.  I sat around and played Disgaea all day.  It was glorious.
For supper mom had "Regular" (Tetley) tea and I had a pot of ginger/mint.  It's good for upset tummies, but it's also just really nice to taste. :3

July 27
My last day of belly dance classes for the next little while, so I knew I'd be in Halifax anyway.  I decided to head over early and have some Silverneedle.  I really, really like it, and it resteeps so well, but I don't usually get it because it's a bit more expensive than the regular teas there.  I feel like it's a waste if I don't have enough time to go through a few re-steeps.
I did happen to get a pots out of it this time, and when I ran out of time, I gave the rest to 42 (the tea pirate, remember?)

July 28
...I actually can't remember.  I'm pretty sure it was a pot of Earl Grey.  I think that was the day a friend came in afterward and also got a pot of Earl Grey, which I found amusing.  I could be wrong though, that could have been another day.

July 29
-Cup of hot rod in the morning
-Pot of iced temple chai for my lunch break.
-Probably a re-steep on the hot rod, but I forgot to write it down if I did.

July 30
-Cup of Hot Rod in the morning
-Pot of Assam in the afternoon
Didn't finish the pot in time, so I put the rest in my mug. :3

July 31
-Cup of Hot Rod in the morning
I usually forget about the tins of Zhena's Gypsy Tea also available at World Tea House, but one particular Tea Pirate  recommended the Peach Ginger. I had a pot of it, iced.  Uh, yum! Super peachy!
Word of advice though, be careful when smelling it, especially if you've just opened a new tin.  Little bits of it will fly up your nose and burn a bit, in that special gingery way.
-Re-steep of the Hot Rod for the road.

That's all for now. :3

Sunday, July 24, 2011

INTERNEEEETZ

Hey, there's been another gap in posting.  This time it's because I don't really have teh interwebz at home at the moment, and I don't always have time to write up a blog post at work.  Except I seem to have enough time right now.  Hopefully.

Here's my tea for the last little while:

July 18
Cup of Hot Rod
Ginger Black with Extra Ginger
Re-Steep of Hot Rod
Pot of Assam, which I got in a to go cup because I totally lost track of time and had to go to a couple workshops.  I'm still finding bits of glitter on stuff.  It's awesome. <3

July 19
Pot of Rooibos Chai
An awesome rainbow-but-mostly-purple cupcake.  World Tea House has some different cupcakes, and it is a struggle not to eat them all up just because they are there and PURPLE.  Hell, I think I might go get one today if there are any left...

July 20
Yeah, I totally forgot to keep track.  I know I must have had some tea, because I had belly dance class later that day and I would have popped in for tea first, but I can't remember what I had.... Oh well.

July 21
Iced Earl Grey.
I forgot my mug and I had to work late, so I got the bag to re-steep at work later.  And then I forgot where I put the kettle, so I didn't get to have any more tea at work. :(

July 22
A pot of Earl Grey with a bit of embarrassment (note to self, do not bring new people to the tea house unless you want them to potentially meet all of your friends all at once.)
I also got some Hot Rod in my travel mug to go before I headed out TO SEE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL. OMG IT WAS SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD.  I'd rant about it, but it really has nothing to do with tea.  On the plus side, I ran into a friend I haven't seen in a year at the show.  In fact, I spied him from half-way across the seating area in a crowd.  I'm still not really sure how I managed that, but hey, I did.  Hopefully I'll be seeing him again later today. Yay!  Maybe I should bring HIM to the tea house.  He'd probably fit in with anyone else I'd run into there.

July 23
I was soooooo tired that I needed an extra cup to get started in the morning.  So I had a cup of Hot Rod, and then I had another cup of hot rod once I got to work.
For my lunch break I wanted to catch the pride parade, so I went up to World Tea House and grabbed a large Rasberry Black to go, and watched the parade in front of Venus Envy, and then went back to work with a few extra beads, stickers, and pieces of candy. :)

And that's all for now.  'Till later!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Whoopsies

Yesterday's Tea:

Cup of Hot Rod in the morning
Pot of Breakfast Blend at World Tea House, which I re-steeped once.

I think the breakfast blend is the most like what I remember"regular tea" to taste like.  Only, you know, better.

So, my grand plan after work yesterday was just to go and get one pot of tea.  Just one.  I'd stay for maybe an hour, get some more writing done, and then head home in time for supper.  This was the plan.

What actually ended up happening was someone else who knows Phil came in and started chatting with me, and then more friends came and we chatted, and then I ended up getting my pot re-steeped, and more chatting, and...

Yeah, I was absolutely starving by the time I got home.  Luckily, mom hadn't eaten either, so we chowed down on some pizza.

Whoopsies.

The plan today is also to just go straight home before I'm tempted to spend more money I don't have on tea.  Except I'll probably go to the tea house, and then I'll probably feel bad about it too.

I think the main reason I don't want to go straight home is just because I want to hang out with people today.  It's so nice outside, and there's a chance I'll get to chat with someone I know if I go, but I also know that a) I don't have money, and b) I could just as easily meet these same people by, you know, actually making plans to see them.  I should really do that.  It might be nice to go swimming with a few friends sometime. :D

Unrelated:  FIVE DAYS UNTIL I SEE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, WHOOOOOO!

Wow, this post didn't really have much to do with tea at all, did it?  Whoopsies.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

AH MUNNA EET CHOO!

Yesterday's Tea:

Pot of Rooibos Chai
Re-steep of the pot of Rooibos Chai
A cup of a re-steeped pot of Peach Oolong that BAD shared with me (Thank You!)
One fucking delicious cookie.

K, so I bitched a lot about how I couldn't actually afford anything.
And then I went and had more tea at World Tea House.
I was actually pretty good, I only actually bought one pot

And a cookie.

In fact, this post will mostly be me talking about this cookie.

I was debating whether or not to buy the cookie.  I had already gotten a burrito and I really didn't have money to waste on anything, let alone a cookie that I shouldn't be eating anyway because I should be watching what I eat--

Wait a sec, wait a sec.  Wait one motherfucking second.  Was that me worrying about my body again?  Was that me seriously trying to talk myself out of a harmless cookie because I didn't feel good about my (fabulous) body?

Fuck that shit, Imma eat me a cookie. NOM NOM MOTHERFUCKING NOM!

So I did.  It was delicious. I have no regrets. K, that's not entirely true.  My wallet has some regrets, but the rest of me does not.

Am I always going to go eat sweets every time I catch myself feeling bad about the way I look?  No, but when I really, really want a cookie (and I really, really did yesterday, though I'm not sure why), I'm not going to let my lack of self confidence create a lack of deliciousness.  Besides, it's not as though I always want cookies and cupcakes anyway, I just really had the urge for one right then.
Normally I don't even think the cookies there are that good.  Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, but I don't think they're post-about-it-in-a-blog good, you know? (Unless you have a cookie blog, of course) The cupcakes are good enough to blog about, but that might be because I just love the colours.

Anyway, I think my stressing about the issue before finally nom-noming the cookie made it taste that much better.

Alas, now if I ever catch myself wanting another cookie I can actually be truthful when I say I can't afford it.  My waistline might fare a bit better because of this, but my taste buds will not. Le cry. T_T

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Catchup and news

Past few days and stuff:

July 10
Cup of Hot Rod
Pot of Iced Vanilla Black
Pot of Iced Lemon Verbena
Re-steeped the cup of Hot Rod

July 11
Cup of Hot Rod
A large cup of Ginger Black with extra ginger root added (Can't bring pots out outside. Probably for the best, even if they were allowed outside, I'd probably smash them all)
Pot of Earl Grey.

July 12
Didn't keep track, forgot it all.  Whoopsies.

July 13
Supposedly Monkey Picked Tea.  I gave Scarlett Sparks a bag for a gift a while ago, so she brought some over for me to try.  I made up a pot, and later I re-steeped it.  I really like it.  To me it almost tastes a bit like chocolate, but not quite.
I also had a cuppa ginger after a belly dancing class.  I must be more out of shape than I thought, because today my legs are all noodly-ouch.  Anyway, I kinda felt like something kind of burny-feeling (to drink! If I was feeling burny anywhere else I'd talk to a doctor!) so ginger it was.

That's all I've got for now since today is still going on, and I'm sure there will be more tea before the day is through.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot, my news and stuff.  I finally decided that I want to go back to school next September, and I even decided what I'd like to take.  What does this mean?  It means I'm actually going to try and save money for the next year instead of spending it all on tea and burritos.  It means I'm probably going to make more spreadsheets.

It means I'm not going to be buying as much tea out.

But don't worry, I'm still going to go for my lunch breaks!  I need something to do for my lunch.  For my tea consumption, all this means is that I'm not going to go up to write after work, run into someone I know and then not actually get any writing done anyway.

Not that this has been happening as much lately.  Past few times I've gone to the tea house I've actually been able to get some writing done?  What's up with that?  Maybe we all just realized that we needed to trim our tea budgets.

So, that's really all my news for now.  'Till later!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

It's Oh So Quiet

But here I am.  You know how I've been bitching about getting a little notepad?

BEHOLD:






For those of you who can't read horrible writing captured by a crappy phone camera, it reads:

July 10
Morning: Hot Rod

Because that's all the tea I've had so far.

So yeah, rejoice! I now have no good excuse for forgetting what tea I've had, which means I'll (hopefully) stop avoiding posting for fear of not having a "perfect post, which means I'll get to bitch more.

Soyeah, that's all for now.  In the future, I will post more about tea and booze, about adorable dogs, and my need for caffeine.  For now, there's just a notepad.  Oh, and this quote:

"What temperature?"
"Green!"

Only when talking about tea does that exchange make any sense at all.

'Till later