“Honestly, if you're given the choice between Armageddon or tea, you don't say 'what kind of tea?”
― Neil Gaiman
Floating tea steeper is amazing...
I love tea. It's been like that since... Forever. I remember being about four years old, sitting on a booster seat at a restaurant table and telling the waitress very seriously that I must have "Auntie's Tea."
(Auntie's Tea is magical ice tea that has been sweetened with love and unicorn tears.) (Or just plain sugar. I like the first part better... so I'm sticking to love and unicorn tears.)
In my house, there was always ice tea. My Mom liked her's unsweetened. She also drank her coffee black and straight up. She was a woman you didn't cross. As strong as her coffee and tea preferences were, she loved that way too. Strongly and straight forward.
Now that my license says I'm old enough to vote, drive a car and worry about retirement. Which is getting closer and closer each year, no matter how much I don't want it to. Damn it. I have my own fridge, and it currently has not 1, 2, but 3 different types of tea. (Sorry mom, it's all sweetened in some way...)
I don't drink coffee. This is a house of tea. I decided that since I collect tea, I love tea; I am going to have random blog posts about tea. Review, pictures, things that I like. If you have a tea that I can currently get in the United States, let me know, and I'll be your test subject. I'm great like that.
Today's tea that I'm reviewing is the tea that my sister got me for my birthday. It came from the UK and much to my absolute joy, came in 3 adorable tins. It's loose leaf, and I have enjoyed all three of them. Today I want to talk about their "English Breakfast."
Before I begin.
How do you take your tea? What do you do when you make yourself a "cuppa" or even if you make ice tea.
Is it sun tea? Did you fill a pitch filled with water and several tea bags and leave it on your porch?
For the rest of the blog, unless I say otherwise when I say tea, I'm talking about hot tea.
Now, each of us has a ritual. It's true. You might have never thought about it, but everyone has a set of steps for their tea consumption. (No worries, I'm not going to get into the zen of it... yet.)
Do you use a kettle? Microwave water? Run the tap until it's hot? (Please no one do this one. *shudders*)
I like kettles. That is the first step of my ritual, The kettle.
While the kettle does its magic, I like to pick out my mug. I have several favorites. My whole passionate love affair started with a cup. My cousin Stacey bought me my first tea cup. It was lovely, pink rose buds, little saucer and gold trim. It even came with a dainty gold tea spoon; that was perfect for stirring it in the traditional British way... Back and forth without hitting the sides. Not the messy way of in a circle. That makes tea cyclones, and they can escape the cup and cause spills and mayhem.
Once my tea vessel has been decided upon, I decide if I want sugar or honey. I like in the raw sugar in packets. I like knowing exactly how much sugar is in my tea. I also prefer local honey. (Hi, I sound like a snob. *Parade Wave*)
Now, the tea. Tea is very moody. If I'm blurry and want to wake up, I go for tea with extra caffeine. If I want just to relax and not have the urge to clean my whole house with a Q-Tip, I obviously go with a tea that has less. (this is why I don't drink coffee as well)
Tea has personality. You want it to match your mood. Your mindset. I would never have a panic attack at 2 am and fix myself Tazo Awake! English Breakfast tea. I prefer ginger peach from Republic of Tea for those 2 am panic attacks. (#firstworldwriterproblems)
When I get a new tea, I always brew it first as per the instructions on the container. Then I drink it straight up. I like to decide how I'll like it. Not all tea likes milk in it. Not all tea needs to be sweetened.
Local honey is the best!!
Ask someone you know right now, if they drink tea. Ask them how they fix it, how they drink it. My friend Jennifer (*waves*) likes milk in her coffee, but thinks I'm a heathen for putting milk into my tea.
One of my best friends Morgan, doesn't care about containers, all she cares about is the tea. Does it taste good? That is all that matters. (I like containers for several reasons. I like to collect them, I think they're pretty and I think tea tastes better when its kept in a tin.)
The third part of the friend triangle with Morgan is Kara. She likes her tea straight up. She needs no sweeteners to mess up the taste (I strongly suspect she's completely British and is a spy. But that is a story for another post.) She does like half and half in her Chai tea.
So go ask someone how they take their tea. It will amaze you how much it matches their personality. I really believe this. *I'm not saying that Kara isn't sweet btw, she is. She's just very straight forward and honest. Traits that are wonderful to have in a best friend.
(this tea has milk in it...)
I'm saving the whole milk thing for another post. (Looking at you again Jennifer :P ) Onto the tea review.
The tea brews very strong and dark in the 3 minutes they suggest on the tin.
It has a wonderful aroma. It's just straight up tea. The container states its Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka. Which is were Ceylon tea is grown. This tea is black tea. The tea itself looks almost granulated, and usually, my loose leaf tea looks different than this. I was expecting it to taste different, but it doesn't. It's very strong. I plan on obtaining more loose leaf tea from the UK so that I can compare the differences.
Overall, I enjoyed all three of the teas, and this one is my favorite. The tea has a full flavor and its very nice to have for days when I want to enjoy just tea and not other competing flavors. This is a perfect tea for a morning cuppa. If you get the set that I did, it has a lovely afternoon tea as well as a London tea.
I would rate this a solid 4 out of 5.
So if you have tea you want to try would rather have me try it first... Please drop me a line in the comments.
Here are the links to the tea found in this post.
The Brand of tea.
What I actually had!
