Global Tea Time

This tea was blended to represent South america, especially Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. I have certainly seen reference to yerba mate with regard to South America. I remember seeing a video talking about laying out on Ipanema beach and getting iced yerba mate tea with lemon juice. I can't say that I know a lot about yerba mate because I haven't gotten to the parts of the world where people drink it. It is not from a tea plant, but it does have a lot of caffeine in it. I also know that it gets bitter if it is not brewed correctly. This blend has green tea and lemon added to it. My nose was greeted with a light, citrus scent when I opened the bag. I figured that I could use an imaginary day at the beach considering that we got our first big winter storm of the year - and the winter storms have kept on coming. I now know that ice quakes  are a thing. I didn't feel the shaking in my house, but I did hear them. I know someone who lives in a trailer, and pretty much ever...

"Cultivated and consumed in South Africa for centuries for its healing properties, this herbal teasan, also know as red tea, features rich earthy vanilla notes." Apparently they felt that the only way to describe this tea is with a run on sentence. Perhaps they were just excited about going to South Africa. I would like to be there right now. It's summer there, and we are in our umpteenth winter storm. The predicted snow fall is 5-8 inches today. When I checked the road conditions (out of curiosity, not planning to go anywhere), most of the roads in the state were completely covered, with the southwest portion marked travel not advised. While I sometimes think I would get out some during these storms when I lived in town, last week there were some roads in town that were so horribly drifted it took the city longer to get those roads cleared up than the country roads. On well, I guess I'm stuck at home drinking tea. I brewed a cup, and took a sniff. I can pick out ...

I've certainly gotten my mileage out of my Moroccan tea cups even though I got them after I "visited" Morocco on my blog. You have to admit, they have the best cups so far, at least for aesthetics. This particular Moroccan mint blend is herbal, so it is a great tea for the evening. According to the package, this is also known as "nana mint", and has a light and lively sweet spearmint flavor. First off, I hate what is known as spearmint in the states. Thankfully, this tea does not taste like that. Mint teas are tricky. They either taste sweet, and minty, or kind of musty. It's hard to predict which way a mint tea is going to go. This brews for 5-6 minutes, which is a long time. The mint flavor comes out absolutely perfectly! I find that even loose leaf mint teas are a bit unpredictable (usually loose leaf teas are better quality and better flavor than bagged). I might have to add this to my list of bagged teas that I will drink. I've never looked to...

This tea, of course, is for China. According Numi's description, this tea originated in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and was reserved for the Imperial Court. Jasmine flowers are laid atop green tea leaves, and their scent is naturally embraced. I couldn't resist scattering a few jasmine pearls around for this one. The instructions on the back of the bag say to steep for 2-3 minutes as the scent of spring fills the air. Considering we just got our fist big snow of the winter yesterday, I'm totally ready for spring! Today, when I post this, we've had several snows since then - in only a few short weeks, and survived actual temperatures of -24 F on Wednesday, to waking up to 42 F on Sunday morning. I noticed the perfume of jasmine flowers as soon as I poured the water over the bag. I had my immediate fear of the feeling of drinking perfume. Either I'm getting used to jasmine tea, or high quality tea is way more palatable than the cheap stuff (yes!), but I liked t...

This tea is described as Assam black tea and sultry spices. Chai, of course, is India. Granted, the word chai is widely used in many countries for tea. The description says that it is black tea with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and other spices. When I brewed a cup and sniffed it, I thought it mainly smelled of cloves. I was also glad I left a little room at the top of the cup, because I knew I wanted some milk in it because the cloves were so strong. Milk adds a nice creaminess and cuts the flavor cloves to make a smooth cup of tea. I did do a second brewing on the same bag, and tried it plain. It definitely needs some milk. On the second brewing, I did get a hint of anice (and if you look at the bag, star anise is featured). Thankfully, a hint of that flavor could be ignored, but I don't like anise on its own. Overall, this is a very good tea for milk, and does have a spicy flavor.

Today's tea comes from "Jolly old England". I have no clue where that phrase came from, and I don't care to Google it. British tea is pretty well known, and from previous blog posts, you know that I had a version of it in Kenya. Well, more the Kenyan interpretation of British tea, but I do notice in British TV shows, the characters always refer to the tea being "well sugared", especially when given to someone who is under stress or doesn't feel well. Since it's me, there's no sugar in sight. While they are also know for liking a milky brew, I'm taking my tea straight this morning. Thanks to the internet, I know that some Brits take their tea that way, too. I used my covered tea cup to brew this one up. I know that many people are adamant that tea should be covered while it brews, so this seemed all too appropriate for today's tea. While it is not the ubiquitous PG Tips, it is a nice blend of black tea, perfect for waking up on a chill...

Today's tea flavor was blended to evoke the flavors of Italy. Bergamot has long been a flavor name thrown around that meant nothing to me. It has long been associated with Earl Grey tea, but I've never seen it used anywhere else. I finally got around to googling it, and discovered that it is a lumpy citrus fruit. The description on the tea calls it bergamot orange. Google also indicates that there is bergamot herb, related to mint, and bergamot pears. I guess there's a reason why it has always been a little confusing to me as to exactly what bergamot is. When I opened the tea bag, it was clear what kind of bergamot was used. A light citrus scent wafted out of the bag, along with the scent of tea. The package describes it as being strong enough to handle milk, yet mild enough to be served alone. I took my tea straight up. Earl Grey may not like the name of this tea (who wants their aging to be pointed out?), but I enjoyed having a cup of it.