Time For Tea

High Tea


March 5th, 2010

(no subject) @ 02:11 pm

[info]seanlily:
I've just had a cup of Moroccan Mint Green Tea by Choice Teas. Not so good, it's not strong enough for my liking.

Has anyone tried one they liked?
 

August 4th, 2009

(no subject) @ 03:28 pm

[info]chimerawinds:
What teas or tea help you rest at night? What tea just makes you smile? What tea does one enjoy at high tea? :)
 

July 19th, 2009

Out of iced coffee @ 03:07 pm

[info]chimerawinds:
Current Mood: contemplative

But I'm not a fan of iced tea. However in rearranging the kitchen earlier, I have a stockpile of some really nice teas. :) I think I'll put on the kettle and enjoy a cup or two of a nice summer sweet fruity tea.
 

June 30th, 2009

doing some research @ 10:02 am

[info]chimerawinds:
Current Location: bedroom/office/study zone
Current Mood: chipper

I'm going to be doing some research on tea and the benefits. I'll post my findings this week.
 

Really is time for tea. @ 09:59 am

[info]chimerawinds:
Current Location: bedroom/office/study zone
Current Mood: creative

I haven't been feeling well lately. I'm thinking switch from coffee will be good for me. So today instead of drinking coffee at the office, I'll have some nice tea for the rest of the week and see if I don't begin to feel better. My green/rose tea sounds nice. :)
 

May 26th, 2009

Swapping Teas anyonw @ 01:05 am

[info]chimerawinds:
Current Mood: content

How many of you want to participate in a tea swap? the way it would work is you comment to this post saying you would like to participate. You also add your likes and dislikes for tea as well as list any allergies that you might have. The comments will be screened because you also have to supply your email contact address and your mailing address.

I will randomly pair you up with another person interested and you have one month to find a tea (and/or accessory) to mail to the person you are swapping with and they send you something. Once your swap goes in the mail, make a post letting the person know it was sent. It is best if a confirmation number is sent in the post.

Also note if you are willing to ship internationally if the occurance ever arises. We'll do one swap a month and it will be themed somehow. Like June's swap might be memories associated with tea. You mail your favorite tea to someone and they enjoy it making a memory of their own.

A similar gift swap was done on LJ and it was successful. also, only participate if you want. No need to participate every month if you don't want to.

How does this sound to everyone? I'll go ahead and screen comments on this one.
 

May 20th, 2009

Ok, Favorite tea and why... @ 12:36 am

[info]chimerawinds:
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: contemplative

I have a few favorite teas and you might first think of a flavor thing when I say favorite tea but for me "favorite" tea is memories. The first tea my DH and I shared together was a black tea blended with rose petals. I also love green tea with rose because I have shared that one with a coworker. Favorite teas inspire not only memories but feelings. I love a nice cup of chamomile at night because even in the summer time I feel like I can curl up in bed with a good novel and just relax over the tea. Tea isn't so much a beverage as it is a mood setter and an experience all to itself.

What is your favorite tea and why? What special emotion does it evoke in you?
 

May 19th, 2009

New maintainer? @ 07:41 pm

[info]moreteadk:
If anybody wishes to take over this community and perhaps try to breathe some life into it or use it for whatever else they feel like, please let me know and I'll hand it over.

If nobody wants it, I'll most likely end up deleting it instead.

Any takers?
 

April 6th, 2009

Steepster @ 06:01 pm

[info]moreteadk:
This is me at Steepster.com

Steepster is a website I just discovered this morning when someone else posted about it on a comm. I signed up almost immediately. The purpose is to use it as a sort of tea-log where you can keep track of which teas you've tried and make a small comment about whether or not you liked them and such. It's sort of like Goodreads or Shelfari for books, only this is with tea.

If you sign up, do feel free to 'follow' me if you wish, or leave me a comment here with your username so I might follow you. I'm expecting I'll make good use of that place.

I hope.
 

August 25th, 2008

Whittard of Chelsea Strawberry @ 03:59 pm

[info]moreteadk:
I have found it! My ideal strawberry fruit tea and I got it totally by coincidence.

I have found it! My ideal strawberry fruit tea and I got it totally by coincidence.

Recently I made trade with someone through some tea comm here on LJ. I can't remember where it was or what their username was, so you'll forgive me for not being bothered to go look it up.

Anyway, I got two fruit teas from Whittard of Chelsea. One Lemon and one Strawberry.

Trader didn't like them much and had even bought them cheap because they were past their fresh date. So far I've found the lemon tea okay and the two in combination make a really very nice iced tea.

Today I've made some of the strawberry and it's really very good. It's sweet and fruity, it's just like I had hoped the strawberry/cream tea would be. You'll have to excuse me for not providing a full-out review, but I just can't be arsed to write one right now.

I don't have any milk, but I totally want to try this with milk in it.
Once I've finished this cup, I'll try the next one with a bit of caned sugar. ETA: Success! Sweet and soft-drinkish!
I've also got a bit of lime that I'll try to add.

I'm not sure how Whittard of Chelsea range on a scale of quality, but I must say I've had only good experiences with the brand so far.
 

June 28th, 2008

Trade? @ 06:07 pm

[info]moreteadk:
I have in my possession a sample of rooibos with chocolate and mint, purchased at a local tea-shop where I live. The blend is called After 7, presumably because it's supposed to resemble After 8 chocolates.

I've got 10 grams. It should be enough for about two pots, I'd say.

I didn't care much for it, but as I really hate throwing tea out I'm offering it up for trade. (I hate throwing tea out so much that I'm actually willing to pay for postage to get rid of it!)

Normally I'd say whoever came first got it, but this time I think I'll say that I'll keep the offer up for a couple of days and whoever offers a sample of the most interesting tea gets it. I don't want a big amount, I just want enough for making two pots or so. An equal amount of what I've got to send out.

This is what I've already got (as well as an absolutely wonderful lapsang souchong that haven't been added to the table yet) If there are any of these that others that you'd like to trade samples of, just let me know. I've only got small amounts of many of many, so I might not have enough to trade. Just ask me.

(Due to customs regulation, I'm not sending anything to Australia. Sorry)

I'm crossposting this all over the place, so if you're interested, have at it. :)
 

May 18th, 2008

(no subject) @ 10:06 am

[info]alazif:
I just wanted to share the great tea I recently got from EnjoyingTea.Com: Jasmine Dragon Pearl. It has a good, clean taste, and is light but strong. It complements a sweet dish nicely.
Their Indian Mocha Chai is also good, though it's not really mocha-y, and the cherry flavor is very faint.
They have a wide range of tea samplers for a reasonable price and a page with different recipies, too.
 

May 12th, 2008

Kusmi @ 08:22 pm

[info]moreteadk:
A few weeks ago I bought a sampler pack with ten teabags from Kusmi. One bag of ten different teas. For those unfamilier with Kusmi tea it's hideously expensive, come in pretty pretty tins and is supposedly very good quality tea.

I've tried six of the ten by now, and I must say this although I know I'm probably going to make myself wildly unpopular in some quarters.

I think that Kusmi tea is largely overrated.

This is what I've thought of them so far.

Darjeeling no 37 - Kind of bland and not really something special.
Kashmir Tchai - Drinkable with milk for someone like me who really doesn't like chai and will avoid it where possible. Very sweet though, and one cup was more than enough.
Prince Wladimir - Spicey. And I don't much like spicey tea at all. In combination with citrus fruits and vanillla, I just found it a very odd combination.
St Petersburg - Perfumed. It has red fruits in it but it doesn't taste like it has ever been anywhere near real fruit. I found it pleasant but synthetic and not something I would connect with the reputation of excellent quality
Russian Morning no 24 - Like with the Darjeeling. Bland ong nothing special.
Anastasia - This is a blend of Ceylong and China black with essence of bergamot, lemon and orange blossom. That description made me think Lady Grey. And that's pretty much what I thought it was like. Perhaps the name was just to stay in the Russian theme, which then makes me wonder why they still call Earl Grey Earl Grey and not Tsar Nikolas.

I still have four bags left to try, English Breakfast, Green jasmine, Green tea with spearmint and Earl Grey. I'm not expecting greatness.

All that aside, I did see a few other teas on their website that I'm interested in trying. Like for example green tea with seaweed! Or a black tea with apple. I've never seen an apple tea before. At least not one that didn't also involve quince or cinnamon.

Kusmi website
 

May 5th, 2008

Latest teas @ 06:21 pm

[info]alienor77310:
Current Mood: bouncy

My usual tea provider on the farmer's market has some very nice lightly flavoured blends.

- Colomba Corsica: black and oolong teas, flavoured with chestnut, fig and mandarin orange. It also features blue and orange flower petals, but they're not mentioned in the description. The oolong makes it "greener" than my usual teas, but not excessively so. I like it that the perfume is not overwhelming.

- Liaisons Dangereuses, a.k.a. Pacific Star: black tea, flavoured with cherry, strawberry, caramel and vanilla. As above, the flavouring is delicate, not masking the tea.

And in the strong flavour category:

- Liquorice: black tea and liquorice extract (the pure, black, shiny stuff). Totally in your face and I love it.
 

May 4th, 2008

(no subject) @ 07:52 pm

[info]seanlily:
Current Mood: sleepy

Bought some new tea today. Both a Republic of Tea, one a kiwi pear green tea and the other an acaia berry green tea. Nothing really fancy, I needed it for work, and I'm trying different green teas trying to find one I really like. I've had mixed results with Republic of Tea so fingers crossed.
 

May 1st, 2008

Lover's tea @ 09:29 am

[info]chimerawinds:
Current Location: the office
Current Mood: loved

Today is my 2nd wedding anniversary. Needless to say I'm in a lovey/gushy mood.

Lover's tea

Equal parts of white tea, jasmine petals, rose petals. :)
 

April 24th, 2008

Wheee! @ 08:24 pm

[info]chimerawinds:
Current Location: work
Current Mood: cheerful

A tea journal! I have a nice bag tea I'm enjoying lately. Tazo Berry Blossom White tea. Delicate white tea with hints of blueberry and white cranberry. *sigh* It is quite lovely. :)

I also have a wonderful organic herbal at home that is a loose tea someone gifted me with but I'll have to look at it when I get home in a few minutes. It's really very nice to drink and I even give some on to my baby daughter once in a blue moon. I drink that one seldom as I'm trying to make it really last. I looked up the site and they have all kinds of wonderous teas. I'll post the site info later tonight.

Nice to have this community here.
 

April 20th, 2008

Fruity teas @ 10:07 pm

[info]moreteadk:
A while ago I got interested in fruit teas again, and bought a few. You might remember I made a post about which ones I had chosen and why. This is what I thought of them.

Strawberry/cream
Somewhat disappointing. It tastes very creamy and not very strawberry-ish. I can see that there are chunks of dried strawberry in it, and if that's the only strawberry flavour it has, then I can't really expect something very fruity, can I? I thought it would be a rather sweet tea, but it's mostly just creamy and it reminds me of why it's best to use milk in tea, never cream. I would certainly never add milk to this one, I expect it would turn undrinkable and fat in flavour.
I liked it better the second time I tried it. I guess it's because I knew what to expect then.

Chocoloco
The chocolate taste is, as the woman in the shop told me, mostly in the after flavour, but not as prominent as I had expected. I should have guessed that since you can see on the little lumps of chocolate in it that it's one of the darker sorts of chocolate. Lots of cocoa in it. As it is, it's a very nice tea, but it's also an inspiring one. I want to try it with milk and see if it turns chocolate milkish, and I want to try it blended with a some of the strawberry/cream tea and I'm even contemplating adding a bit of chili to it
I've already tried it with a bit of peppermint and that was just excellent!

Earl Grey w/ cornflowers
This is very nice. I've always found Earl Grey to be somewhat dull, mostly because to many people it's the standard tea, and also because I get a low quality Earl Grey at work, where it's just guzzled more than drunk. I'm getting more of this one.

Isabella blend (w/ jasmine, rose petals and notes of vanilla and raspberry)
This has those little pink hearts in it that I can't for the life of me figure out what are made of. I'm assuming some sort of sugary aroma-stuff. (Seriously, does anybody know?)
I liked this blend a lot. It's sweet and light and definitely one I might buy again.

Quince
It has orange peels in it and because of that it's very citrusy in flavour. I wasn't expecting a citrus tea, and I can't taste anything but citrus tea. I'm so disappointed. It's a very good tea, it's not that. It's just not what I thought I was buying. I do like a good quince tea, but I won't be buying this particular one again. I suspect it'll be good iced, though.

Green tea w/ walnut
This was actually a sample given to me by my colleague. It's very sweet, and very good. My colleague was a bit disappointed by it though, because a lot of the sweetness comes form almond oil. I would definitely buy a green tea with walnut again, but like with the quince tea, I'll probably look for it from a different vendor first.

The problem with my local teashop is that they're very fond of complicated blends, as is particularly evidenced by the two last once. They never seem to make a simple one with just tea and the primary added flavour. There is always other things added as well, and that ruins it a bit for me. The worst bit is that I knew this when I bought all these, I was just kind of hoping it didn't matter... And I was too cheap to pay for shipping when I didn't have to. I'll hang on to those that I enjoyed, but I'll look elsewhere another time for the others.

But it's always like that, isn't it? Hard to find a brand of anything at all where every product in they've got is your favorite.
 

April 5th, 2008

Fruit tea purchase! @ 10:26 am

[info]moreteadk:
Current Music: Alison Moyet - You Don't Have To Go

So. I've been inspired to check out some fruity teas again. I've had a few, but at the time I went off fruit teas it was because I was beginning to drink a better quality tea. I want a bit of flavour now, something a little less subtle than just different shades of black or oolong and such.

So I went to my local teashop where I get to see and smell the leaves before deciding and as I could have told myself, it went horribly wrong and I bought way too much. I just wanted two or three different ones and left with 6 x 50 g. Five blacks, one white.

Strawberry/cream - Because you can't go wrong with strawberries. I'm curious about the cream aspect, though. I suspect this is going to be really sweet.
Earl Grey with cornflowers - I love cornflowers, they're so very pretty! Earl Grey is another well known one, so I figured why not go for a variant? They also had Earl Grey jasmine, which I thought sounded a bit strange, considering the flavour of jasmine...
Chocoloco - A chocolate tea! A combination of my two favorite comfort things. Add a Winnie the Pooh movie and I'm in heaven. I have a suspicion that this will be excellent in times of cramps and pms. It has bits of chocolate in it that melts in the pot. The woman behind the counter said that it doesn't actually taste of chocolate, but it adds a chocolate-y note to the aftertaste.
Quince - Good old quince. I've just realised that I'm actually trying very few new things here, I'm just going for the things I know I like but in a much better quality than I've been used to.
Isabella - This blend is named after Denmark's Princess Isabella (I assume). It has rose petals, jasmin and something they call 'pink sweethearts'. Don't know what those are made of but they taste fruity, so they're probably the ones responsible for the the raspberry and vanilla notes in this one.

The one white tea I got was Kiwi/Strawberry - It's supposed to have a very fresh sort of flavour which should emphasize the delicate white. I think it sounds like it could easily overpower the tea, but Shop Woman assured me it didn't.

Now I just have to decide which one to try first, and that's not easy!
 

March 23rd, 2008

The Leaf - An online tea magazine. @ 09:43 am

[info]moreteadk:
Here's an interesting site I came across via the Puerh_tea comm at LJ

The Leaf

It's like an online tea magazine and it's completely free. All the articles are in pdf format and they don't require downloading or anything. I haven't read any of the articles yet, but I skimmed over the headlines and there are a few that I'm looking forward to taking a closer look at.

I can't seem to find anything on the site that will allow me to download the entire issue in one go, though, so I'll probably end up downloading all the pdf's one by one. It's just too interesting not to keep. I may even have to invest in a printer again. I think I'd rather like to have this on paper for easy collecting and such.
 

Time For Tea

High Tea