As some of you already know, I am a big tea drinker. Iced tea, hot tea, Afternoon Tea [gotta love those scones, little sandwiches, the desserts, etc], tea by myself, tea with others. You get the picture.
I really miss the tea shop that I went to while living in Durham. And with it being only a mile away, I was there all the time. Besides learning the proper [best way] to fix tea, I quickly grew to love the loose tea that are a better grade than the regular stuff made by L&*%$n or the store brands [I'm not spelling out the L name since I don't want to get into any kind of legal problems]. I really do believe that many people that say they don't like tea, haven't had it brewed properly. It's definitely not a tasteless, bitter drink. And there are so many different varieties of tea [black, green, white, pekoe, pueher [sp?], varying caffiene levels or even without caffeine] grown in a variety of locations with various growing conditions from around the world. And of course, there is a variety of flavored teas as well, along with the herbal 'teas' [also called 'tisanes' because though they're LIKE tea, they don't have any of the tea plant in it]. And rooibus [also called red tea] is another great drink grown from a very similar plant as tea but is only found in South Africa. It doesn't have any caffeine and provides all kinds of healthy benefits [so healthy, it's even given to infants without any problems]. Personally, I'm not too crazy about the plain rooibus but do enjoy the flavored ones.
I've been running low on tea so I've been restocking some--I can't go through this cold, snowy and icey winter without my hot tea [I drink cold tea year round, too]. Yesterday morning, I had some iced chai. Today I had a holiday tea blend [by Harney's and Sons, one of the good tea companies]. I wonder what I'll decide to have tomorrow!?
If anyone would ever like to join me for tea, do let me know!
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2 comments:
Well, I'm one of the uninformed tea drinkers who, from time to time, bought a L***** blend and was always left feeling underwhelmed by the flavor. I figured it had something to do with my love of coffee and pickles.
I knew there was hope as I always enjoy the tea served in Chinese restaurants.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago. In a mall in Sacramento I wandered into a Teavana store. They offered a tasting of a tea blend that just knocked my sox off. It was a caramel flavored black tea and roobios blend. And they said they always add (and recommend) a hint of their chunky raw sugar. $50 later I'm home with a good supply of both the tea, the sugar, and a pot in which to brew 16 ounces of loose tea, and I'm loving the experience.
So, I agree, with good tea it's a whole different experience.
Mary, I'm so glad you were able to try some GOOD tea! And it must've been good since you even brought home the tea and a tea pot, too.
Tea pots are really nice to have. The one I use most of the time in the cooler weather is a 2-cup pot. When I'm having tea with any of my meals, its nice to be able to have that 2nd cup without having to get up and make another one. In my iced-tea moods, I used the 4 cup pot as sometimes I'll drink it hot in the morning but then finish it as cold tea as the day goes on. There are some teas that are wonderful as cold or iced tea [some of the fruity ones come to mind off the top of my head right now].
I do have some flavored tea that you might like to try, Mary. Let me know when we can get together sometime.
Denise
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