Sunday, March 25, 2012

Teaopia Creamy Nut Oolong

The story of how I came across this tea is a bit funny. Several months ago, I was in the staff room at work and noticed a bag of Teaopia tea sitting on the counter next to the coffee maker. Thinking it was one of my bags of tea that I had left out by mistake, I read the label and saw that it was Creamy Nut Oolong, not in fact one of mine. I put it back on the counter, thinking that whoever had left it there would take it home. Flash forward several months, and that bag of tea was still sitting there. That's when I decided that whoever left it there obviously did not want it anymore, and I took it home for myself. WOW!!! What a surprise! It smells and tastes so nutty, I love it! The oolong tea itself is quite mild and smooth, and the added flavour is just right. I never thought I would be a big fan of a "nut" tea, but I'm loving this one! Definitely being added to my "to buy in large quantity" list!

CREAMY NUT OOLONG

This high grade Chinese Oolong contains apple pieces, caramel bits, almond pieces, safflower, sunflower, mallow flower and natural aromas. This delicious Oolong is a nut lover’s delight. The natural inherent nuttiness of the Chinese Oolong combined with the addition of almonds and caramel make this tea a must try. Great for multiple infusions, infuse the first cup for under one minute, and the second and third infusions at 1.5 minutes.

DavidsTea Snow Bunny

DavidsTea Snow Bunny is my final tea from the Winter Collection (I really had to get them all reviewed now that Spring is officially here and the Spring Collection is out in stores!). This is another black tea that smells both fruity and nutty.

ingredients
Organic: black tea, walnuts, banana, calendula marigold petals

Make tracks
Cold mitts putting a damper on your winter fun? Don’t worry. Go ahead and frolic. You can warm your hands back up with a hot cup of this delicious black tea blend. Imagine a thick, warm slice of banana nut bread. Now imagine you could have all that nutty sweetness in your mug right now. With big pieces of banana, toasty walnuts, and pretty calendula petals, it’ll keep you hoppin’ all winter. One sip and you’ll get a warm fuzzy feeling from your head right down to your fluffy white tail. 
 
I tried this several times, steeping for different amounts of time and different amounts of tea, but I just can't seem to like it. I don't know if it's the banana, or the black tea itself, but I just can't get a good flavour out of this that I enjoy. You win some, you lose some!

DavidsTea Three Lemon Green

Mmmmm, DavidsTea Three Lemon Green is the next tea on my list. 

ingredients
Organic: green rooibos, lemongrass, lemon peel, lemon myrtle and calendula.

Lemon, lemon, lemon
Love lemon? This organic green rooibos tea brings together lemongrass, lemon zest and lemon myrtle to create an over-the-top lemon extravaganza. It’s completely delicious when iced, and particularly soothing when drunk hot with a spoonful of honey. Plus you’ll find that the green rooibos adds a fresh, natural sweetness for a perfect lemonade twist. 
I'm a lemon lover. After reading the description of this, I was keen to try it, and I was not disappointed. Its lemony goodness is great both hot and cold, and I've added it to my list of teas to be bought in large quantities.

DavidsTea Apres Ski

Another part of the Winter Collection, Apres Ski is a deliciously light black tea.

ingredients
Organic: Fig pieces, black tea, burdock root, orange peel, Saigon cinnamon, calendula petals.

Hit the lodge
What’s the best thing about a day of skiing? Hanging out in the ski chalet. Being outside in the snow is fun and all, but nothing beats thawing out in front of the fire with some good company. We recommend you reward yourself with this rich, fruity black tea. With big pieces of fig, orange peel and cinnamon, it’s just begging for a little splash of brandy. Hey, it’s cold out. You may as well indulge. 
 
I wasn't sure about this when I read the ingredients (figs? Reminds me of my student days in Spain, eating honey and fig-flavoured pastries. Yuck!). Anyway, not being one to shy away from trying something different in the world of tea, I brewed up some Apres Ski and boy, was I surprised! It's very light, not needing anything added to it. It also travels well to work in my thermos, which is a big plus. I haven't tried adding brandy to it, like the website suggests, but it sounds like a good idea for a cold winter's night!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

DavidsTea Cherry Potion

Cherry Potion is another white tea that I cannot get enough of. I love the cherry flavour of this tea, and the smell is amazing. From the website

It’s magical
Do you believe in cherries? We do. Especially potent little acerola cherries from Brazil, bursting with sweet, juicy flavour. We’ve blended them with a little mango, white Bi Mu Dan tea, and hibiscus blossoms for an irresistibly tart and fruity elixir. Just one sip and POOF! You’ll fall under its deliciously golden spell. It’s magical to the last sip
Like the Strawberry Fields from Teaopia, this is another light white tea which I'll be going back for to buy in a larger quantity. I can't wait for the summer so I can drink this iced!

Teaopia Strawberry Fields

Ahhhh, an oldie but a goodie! Strawberry Fields was the first tea I bought at Teaopia and I found a small tin of it sitting in the very far back corner of my cupboard (I cleaned out my cupboard and put all of my teas into a huge cardboard box in my closet). From the website

This aromatic White Tea is a combination of White Tea, apple pieces, currants, hibiscus, melon cubes, strawberry pieces and strawberry slices. Enjoy the delicious flavour of strawberries all year round with Strawberry Fields tea.

I love this tea! White teas I enjoy because they're light and delicate. Add in some fruit like apple and strawberry and you have a delicious, light tea that's refreshing, hot or cold. When I get through more of my stock, I'll be going back to Teaopia to get a large tin of this, it's that good.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Tea Presents

Okay, I know it's been a while since I last posted...can I say that I've been busy drinking tea? ;-) I've got a couple of pictures to share today. The first one is the assortment of tea I received for Christmas (thank you to my friend Brianne and my sister Erica for all of the Twinings!), and the second is of the new tea thermos and mug I got in the mail yesterday from Stash Tea 



Two weeks ago I attended the 6th Annual Victoria Tea Festival with my mum, and we had a great time sampling all of the different teas. We ran into my friend Kate and listened to a presentation by Murchies on the history of the company and how they blend their teas. At their Victoria location, they have over 10,000 different tea blends recorded in their big book of personal tea blends. Yes! I said over ten thousand!!! Next time I go on a tea run, I'm going to head downtown to Murchies and check out their wares for sure!

On another note, I'm planning my 3-week trip to Scotland and England in July, and as you can imagine, I'm trying to locate the best places to have tea :-) If you have any suggestions of where I should go, please let me know. The towns/cities I'll be staying in are:

Glasgow
Oban
Inverness
South Shields
Gainsborough
Upton-upon-Severn
London

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

DavidsTea Advent Calendar Day 13

Day 13 is Ginger Turmeric Tonic (not listed on the website) which is a low-caffeine green tea. Ingredients: Ginger, genmaicha (green tea, ...