The Floral Teapot

Tea Drops have to be one of the most unique tea offerings I have tried.  I first came across them in a small little boutique and thought they were so interesting!  Basically Tea Drops are comprised of finely milled tea, spices and sugar that has been compressed.  Once a drop is added to boiling water the tea dissolves and you have an "instant" cup of tea.  This is such a fun concept and how convenient to be able to just have several tea drops in your bag and pop one out when you want tea since one can find a cup of hot water almost anywhere. I have sampled all of the flavors but today I am having Citrus Ginger. The Packaging:   When I purchased my Tea Drops from the boutique it came in a very nice wooden box.  The lid slides off to reveal the Tea Drops.  Inside are 8 Tea Drops.  The flavors are: Vanilla White Tea, Citrus Ginger, Sweet Peppermint and Rose Earl Grey.  I really like the wooden box, and, on the site you can purchase i...

Today I am trying Raspberry Limeade from Teavana.  This is a tea blend of Raspberry Balsamico (Which I have reviewed on the blog) and Limeade Twist.  I feel that Teavana tends to get a bad rap in the tea community and although I have been subject to their pushy sales tactics in the past I have found that since Starbucks acquired them they are must less pushy.  Also, Teavana makes some amazing blends!  At any rate, this tea is best prepared iced.  As it starts to warm up I gravitate towards fruity, iced teas so this one sounds perfect to try! The Packaging:   I purchased this as a set of 4 Poolside Teas.  It came in a foil resealable package.  I did put mine into a tin to keep it fresh. The Ingredients:   candied pineapple pieces, apple pieces, grapes, hibiscus flowers, orange peels, elderberries, juniper berries, rose hip peels, natural and artificial flavors, orange slices, lime pieces, pineapple chips, lemon slices, strawbe...

I was contacted several months ago regarding a tea product that I had been actually considering purchasing so it was fate that I was to try it!  The product I am referring to is Okuma Nutritionals Wu-Long Oolong tea.  Now this is an oolong tea that supposedly burns fat by helping to increase the metabolism.  I followed the tea regime for a month (each box has a month supply, so 60 teabags).   The regime is designed so one drinks on cup of tea in the morning before breakfast and then another cup in the afternoon.  In order to keep my test of this product controlled I kept my normal diet and exercise the same. The Teabags:  The tea comes in standard tea bag form.  The tea is the standard teabag with the tea in CTC form (crush, tear, curl).  The box does not indicate what type of paper is used for the tea bag.    The dry smell:  the dry teabag smells almost like a mild black tea The steeped tea:  The tea steeps...

I love this time of year when the Spring and Summer goods start to come out.  I love the bright colors, the fun prints and the fun, fruity flavors.  DAVIDsTEA always has such fun collections and this years Spring collection, although very small, is still very cute.   Take for instance rustic mugs that the released with this collection. I like the way that they incorporated a bit of Easter into the tea ware with little bunnies hidden inside the mug. One of the teas released with the collection is Sunny Citrus.  I have heard that this tea is a re-promote but was slightly reformulated.  The official description on this tea is " With hibiscus, pretty little flower sprinkles and a twist of juicy orange, this sweet and tangy blend is like a cup of liquid sunshine." The ingredients:   Apple, hibiscus, sprinkles, currants, blackberry leaves, rosehip shells, orange peel, sunflower petals, safflower petals, mallow flower petals and natural flavourings. ...

Ok, so this is a tea that has interested me for some time now.  It is an herbal blend laced with balsamic vinegar, juniper berries and dried fruit.  Not your normal herbal blend. The ingredients are:   Apple pieces, grapes, hibiscus flowers, elderberries, juniper berries, strawberry slices, rose petals, red currants, artificial flavoring, raspberries, blueberries, Balsamico vinegar di Modena. Preperation:  I steeped the tea according to Teavana's recommendation of 2 spoon fulls (I use the Teavana measuring spoon) with boiling water steeped for 5 mintues.  I did not sweeten it. Color:  The Tea steeps up a beautiful red color, almost a deep red wine color. Smell:  The steeped tea smells of berries, the sharp vinegar smell has become less dominate  Taste:  This tea tastes very interesting.  The first thing that hits the tongue is the tart, almost acidic taste of the hibiscus and vinegar.   The back taste is a subtle re...

Today I tried another one of the DAVIDsTEA Valentine teas, The Earl's Valentine.  Now I smelled this tea in store and didn't detect any bergamot, that characteristic earl grey smell, and it didn't even dawn on me that this tea was an iteration of an earl grey tea.  I should have realized as DAVIDsTEA calls their other earl grey varieties "the earl" as in The Earl's Garden (which is a fruity earl grey).  So, I was a bit surprised to taste the tea and discover it was another version of an earl grey. The description:  Some people swear by chocolate and roses on Valentines Day.  We say there's nothing dreamier than tea.  But, with this romantic blend you don't have to choose. The ingredients:  roasted carob, black tea, chocolate, rose buds, cornflower petals and natural and artificial flavorings The dry leaves:   This is a beautiful tea, full of rose buds and blue cornflower petals although it almost reminds me of the look of potpourri! ...

I love mugs and cups and am always a sucker for new and fun things!  DAVIDsTEA has some very pretty and fun teaware coming out as part of their Valentines Day collection.  I picked up 3 mugs and thought I would share them with you! The first mug is a beautiful Valentines nordic mug.  Nordic mugs are my favorite mugs as they are a larger size to hold more tea!!  This mug features a pretty red, pink and gold heart pattern around the mug and the lid has a red and gold heart on it.  It also has the traditional silver tea infuser, however, I think a gold infuser would look better.  I will probably use one of my gold infusers in this mug.  The mug is not microwavable and should be hand-washed, no dishwasher on this one!  The box also says to not soak the mug.  The mug is so nice!!  It is $23 US. The next mug is one that I have been trying to get my hands on for a while now ever since I saw it featured in a DAVIDsTEA PR persons Instagram...

White Chocolate Rose (WCR) is an interesting Valentine's day tea from DAVIdSTEA.  The tea is beautiful with curled white chocolate shavings and pink rose buds, such a romantic tea!  It smells just like a Crabtree and Evelyn Rosewater perfume I used to wear, it smells exactly like It!  You can imagine by apprehension on this one as i don't normally like perfume or floral-laden teas.  This is a black tea so I hoped the maltiness would balance out the floral notes.  Ingredients: black tea, White Chocolate, rose buds, natural and artificial flavoring The dry leaves: smells just like rose perfume.  It is a beautiful tea full of white chocolate and rose buds The steeped leaves: a lighter rose smell with beautiful rose buds peeking out from the black tea.  The white chocolate was melted The taste:   I was surprised with this one.  The black tea definitely balances out the rose.  In fact, the rose is so mild, it reminds...

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the new DAVID'sTEA Valentine's Day teas.  The first one I am reviewing is Berry Romantic.  This is a fruity oolong.  The description says" a romantic, strawberries and cream tea, strewn with pretty flower petals." Ingredients:  apple, oolong tea, cane sugar, blackberry leaf, gomphrena petals, jasmine, strawberries, rose, natural strawberry flavoring and artificial flavoring. The dry leaves:  smell like a strong sweet strawberry and look almost like a birds nest the way the ingredients stick together because of the added sugar.  I steeped the tea at 195 degrees for 3 minutes (although DAVIDsTEA suggests 4_7 minutes which I think is too long).  The steeped tea:  smells like a strawberry scented doll i had when I was young.  The first thing I taste is the oolong in the top of my young, that slightly green characteristic oolong taste.  The after taste is of very subtle berry.  I don'...

I love peppermint.  I always have.  Every year at Christmas one of my gifts would be one of the peppermint patty sleeves that they sell at the holidays.  I am always excited to try new peppermint teas, especially when they have chocolate in them!  Todays review is of DAVIDsTEA Read My Lips tea.  The ingredients are: black tea, peppermint, pink peppercorns, sprinkles, natural and artificial flavouring.  The description says: "Okay, this is probably the world's best chocolate tea.  Honestly.  Better than dessert, its the definition of irresistible." It is a pretty large claim to say that it is the worlds BEST chocolate tea.  The tea smells like chocolate peppermint lip balm, just that kind of artificial chocolate smell with the peppermint.  The tea is very pretty to look at: a nice black tea with pink peppercorns, lip-shaped sprinkles and little chocolate kiss pieces.  I have had this tea on several occasions, each time I am a b...

I was contacted several months ago to see if I would be interested in reviewing products from a company called The NecessiTeas.  Of course I said yes as I love trying new teas!  The nice thing about the company is that all teas are hand-blended in small batches.  This results is very fresh tea!  One of the teas I received was Old Fashioned Spice Cake.  This is a black tea loaded with yummy spices like coriander and cardamom.  The ingredients are: black tea, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, cardamom, orange peel, coconut, almonds, rose petals, cocoa, cloves and natural and organic flavors.   The description reads: "Warm and comforting, simple and timeless, this old-fashioned spice cake is a new autumn favorite!  Get cozy with the warming spices of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and sweet bakery notes of almond cream.  Add a splash of milk and sweeten to taste."  The first thing I notice about the tea is the smell.  Teas with co...

I enjoy tea blends, but, nothing beats a fantastic straight tea.  Black teas are my favorite and I love to try new ones.  It is amazing how teas that come from the same tea leaf can taste so different based on the where they are grown!  Today I decided to brew up some Wild Black Yunnan from DAVIDsTEA.  This is a black tea from Yunnan Province, China.  The tea description is "Purists rave about the perfect flavour and finish of these limited-edition leaves from the wild-growing trees in Yunnan's forests." DAVIDsTEA Wild Black Yunnan The leaves of this tea are a mid-tone black color with some golden tips present.  The smell is a sweet, earthy black tea smell. The dry tea leaves I brewed the tea for 3 minutes at 212 degree water.  The first steep resulted in a perfect cup of black tea, a mild tea flavor that was smooth and delicious.  The second steep was slightly weaker but just as tasty!  This would be an excellent morning or after...

Ok, so, I have been pretty behind in blogging which is sad because I actually love to write.  I was one of those people in school when given an assignment to write a paragraph I would write two pages!  At any rate my new years goal is to blog once a week regarding tea related things.  I love sharing my love of tea with others!