Brandon Tea Club

A week from today I will be turning the ripe old age of 22. It feels like it’s taken forever to get this old, but at the same time, every year seems to go by faster. Sort of. Some parts seem to take longer than others.

But we don’t have any time for philosophizing about how fast life goes by, because my birthday present from my parents this year is gonna be TEA, and lots of it, so we should talk about that at length.

I sort of vacillated on what to ask for over the past few weeks. I mean, maybe I’m a bit old to be asking for anything for my birthday, but hey, might as well work the system while I can. I have no shame.

After rejecting several options (including a sexy, sexy Midnight Purple Nintendo 3DS) I decided to either ask for tea or another yixing teapot. My dear Mother (who is the only one I can ask directly since Pop works up north 75% of the time) firmly rejected buying me an $80 tiny teapot, but oddly enough approved me buying $100 worth of tea and her reimbursing me. She could have saved 20 bucks, but I guess the idea of a pot that small costing that much money sort of gets her goat. Ah well.

I decided to spend the whole shebang at Rare Tea Republic, since I’ve been so impressed with their products and service, and I’ve bought pretty much everything I can from @gingkoseto and she’s probably sick of me by now.

Anyways, here is what I bought:

-Goomtee Muscatel Valley FTGFOP1 1st Flush (Yes, again. I bought 100g this time because I LOVE THIS FRIGGIN TEA OKAY)

-Jun Chiyabari FTGFOP1 1st Flush (I liked the Himalayan Spring Evergreen, and @jackie informs me that their black tea is even better. We’ll see if she’s right!)

-Sandakphu Spring White Tea (I forget why I added this in here. Variety, I think, plus curiosity as to if this white tea stacks up with the Chinese whites I love so much.)

-Temi SFTGFOP 2nd Flush (This is a pretty old tea, but the sample they sent me was still balls-kicking strong and pretty tasty. Plus the price, less than 9 bones, was right)

-Jun Chiyabari Himalayan Spring Evergreen (This one looks familiar, don’t it? I have a real affection for this tea, so much so that I’ve been drinking it over my beloved Chinese greens. Don’t think I’ve abandoned my former loves, though, I’m just going through a phase like we all do).

So those six teas came out to a little over 100 bucks with shipping, and I see they added…

-Chamong SFTGFOP1 Tippy 131

…as a sample. Considering how big my order was I’m surprised they didn’t throw in a few more samples, but I imagine that their supply is tight, and I’m pretty spoiled by Gingko’s massive sample sending anyways. In any case, thanks for throwing that sample in there, RTR! Considering your sample of the Temi 2nd Flush caused me to buy some, you just might have me on the hook for more Chamong.

Another thing I’ve noticed about the samples they’ve sent is that the tea is getting to be around a year old. Considering it’s black tea it isn’t a huge deal, and samples are a good way of turning on customers to the fact that older tea doesn’t mean shitty tea.

I’ve babbled on enough. Until next time, True Tealievers!

-Happy G