Producer: Tea of Life (Amazon Teas)
Origin: Sri Lanka
Brewing Parameters: ~1.6 g, 100°C, 3 min.
Appearance: Small, white/bleached paper tea bags with black tea dust/fannings
Rating: B | 85/100
# of Brews: 1
Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Today's review will be a quick one, since it's just a tea bag and Earl Grey (which I consider to be a daily drink and should be gulped down quickly in the morning rush). I got this as a gift from a family friend for Christmas, and I've been drinking it ever since. While it does looks like kind of a cheap tea (nothing wrong with that), I will admit that it comes in a very nice gift tin with 50 teabags in foil packaging.
Usually, I drink this tea with a decent amount of milk and honey, but this review is going to be me drinking the tea straight. After brewing for 3 minutes (I originally planned to do 5), the color of the tea came out to be a dark amber caramel color, with the main scent being the bergamot oil (which was itself pretty standard - sweet, citrusy, slightly floral). The flavor itself is a bit sour, starting off with an earthy, slightly chocolate taste which transitions into the citrus of the oil. There's a vague sweetness which lingers after drinking, along with a dry sensation that grips the throat (most Earl Greys have this; I'm guessing it's the oil or the tea these producers use).
All in all, I enjoy this tea as my daily drink. Having it straight today– the first time ever, actually– made me realize that it's actually a pretty good tea, considering how sketchy the packaging/labels look (packaging itself looks nice; the labels look like its trying to be fancy but its just very low quality in general). Depending on your preferences, the tea is good either way, with or without sugar. I have no idea where you can buy this, though.
Other Notes
Today's album is the Promise EP by Mark Redito. Together with the Desire album, Mark Redito's music is great for relaxing (I use it to sleep sometimes) with catchy electronic synth and vocals. It even has Sarah Bonito from Kero Kero Bonito featuring in one of the tracks! I actually went to one of Mark's concerts back in August at the DNA Lounge, and it was super fun; there were lots of people dancing and talking with each other, and in general, it felt like a family even though none of us had ever met before. Mark is a very energetic DJ, too, which contributes to the hype (there were a lot of Jollibee chants, because Filipinos).
Anyway, here's what happened recently. First, I watched Moonlight; it's a good movie– a bit slow, but I enjoyed the themes and cinematography. Second, we're entering the final 2 weeks of preparation for the We the People state competition, and I have no idea how that's going to go. We were told by a judge that we're around 80% of the way there to becoming ready, but the issue is that my unit members don't use evidence to back up their points (reasoning is great, but there's really no point to reasoning if you can't give it ethos/credibility). I ended up taking a break from my jobs for the next few weeks in order to spend most of my time practicing for comp civics; I also plan to spend less time in mock trial since I'm the journalist and have more of just a auxiliary position.
Lastly, I actually got first and $200 for that oratorical contest. I didn't plan to; since there were only 3 people competing (me and two guys from Oakland Military Institute), I was guaranteed $75. I only came to present and get paid, but now it looks like I'll be advancing to the District round this coming Saturday. For some reason, I thought a discourse meant that it'd be a conversation; the judges would pick a random topic, ask questions, and I'd answer them. I didn't know it meant that it's a full 3-5 minute speech on a randomly selected topic; I got lucky, though, when they picked the 10th Amendment (since that was the focus of an entire unit for AP Gov). Now that I know what to do for that, I can prepare better; the main criticism I got was that I need to slow down– listening to myself speak afterwards, it was ridiculously fast. Nerves are a bitch. Also, for some reason, I got a Cobra-Kai (the rival school from Karate Kid) vibe from the Oakland Military guys and their teacher, which was kind of unnerving. People want me to become a lawyer, now, too.
So, today I'll just be working on homework for AP Chem, studying for an AP Macro test, reading the Warmth of Other Suns for African American Lit, and doing more comp civics stuff. It's mostly just a work day, since yesterday was comp civics practice in SF and that speech contest. I just plan to catch up and clear my schedule so I can do more practice/studying the rest of this week, woo!
Anyway, here's what happened recently. First, I watched Moonlight; it's a good movie– a bit slow, but I enjoyed the themes and cinematography. Second, we're entering the final 2 weeks of preparation for the We the People state competition, and I have no idea how that's going to go. We were told by a judge that we're around 80% of the way there to becoming ready, but the issue is that my unit members don't use evidence to back up their points (reasoning is great, but there's really no point to reasoning if you can't give it ethos/credibility). I ended up taking a break from my jobs for the next few weeks in order to spend most of my time practicing for comp civics; I also plan to spend less time in mock trial since I'm the journalist and have more of just a auxiliary position.
Lastly, I actually got first and $200 for that oratorical contest. I didn't plan to; since there were only 3 people competing (me and two guys from Oakland Military Institute), I was guaranteed $75. I only came to present and get paid, but now it looks like I'll be advancing to the District round this coming Saturday. For some reason, I thought a discourse meant that it'd be a conversation; the judges would pick a random topic, ask questions, and I'd answer them. I didn't know it meant that it's a full 3-5 minute speech on a randomly selected topic; I got lucky, though, when they picked the 10th Amendment (since that was the focus of an entire unit for AP Gov). Now that I know what to do for that, I can prepare better; the main criticism I got was that I need to slow down– listening to myself speak afterwards, it was ridiculously fast. Nerves are a bitch. Also, for some reason, I got a Cobra-Kai (the rival school from Karate Kid) vibe from the Oakland Military guys and their teacher, which was kind of unnerving. People want me to become a lawyer, now, too.
So, today I'll just be working on homework for AP Chem, studying for an AP Macro test, reading the Warmth of Other Suns for African American Lit, and doing more comp civics stuff. It's mostly just a work day, since yesterday was comp civics practice in SF and that speech contest. I just plan to catch up and clear my schedule so I can do more practice/studying the rest of this week, woo!
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