Happy New Year!

I decided that one of my new year's resolutions would be to get back to blogging about tea (as you can see, this page has been sadly neglected!).

Yesterday my friend Ina and I went shopping in Nanaimo, and found a tea store called Tea Desire. We were offered two samples of tea, and I loved the first one we tried. It's a flavoured green called "Morning Spirit" and it is delicious!! The smell is fantastically fruity and it tastes so good. This is one of my new favourites.

I'm drinking more greens, whites, and oolongs now than black, herbal, and rooibos teas, so I'm looking forward to trying more teas from Tea Desire - I just wish they had a store here in Victoria (but they do ship within Canada and to the US!).

Ingredients: Sencha green tea, rose flower and sunflower blossoms, natural flavour.

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!

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.