News / Year of Tea

Crikey I'm slacking! Lovely lovely Assam for Day 15. So new it isn't even on the website yet. Nothing 'special' just a really good 'Autumn Blend' which has been such a joy to drink all day. Good body with a wonderful smooth aftertaste.

Day 16: Pai Mu Tan Organic White Peony - this is hands down our best selling tea. I'd forgotten just how much I like it - it's incredibly clean with an almost buttery aftertaste. Because I'm stingy I also rate the value for money - this is the 5th infusion!!!

 No.17 in my ‪#‎yearoftea is Blood Orange Rooibos. Also known as Redbush it's a traditional drink in South Africa. The chunks of freeze-dried citrus give this herbal a wonderful scent and an added dimension to the earthy flavour. As well as having a good rich taste, being caffeine-free and really high in antioxidants makes it good for me too! ‪#‎winwin 

Day 18: Apparently, this is the most depressing day of the year.So for my 18th ‪#‎teaoftheday in my ‪#‎yearoftea I've opted for an Earl Grey Blue Lady Citrus Special. Because Bergamot is used to lift the spirits.
It's a black tea so you could theoretically put milk in it...if you were raised by wolves.

Day 19: Today's ‪#‎teaoftheday is a decaffeinated Assam - strong and malty with a lovely chocolatey finish. Decaff teas always used to have a really weird aftertaste but the High Pressure CO2 method of decaffeination has made that a thing of the past.

 For Day 20 in my ‪#‎yearoftea I've chosen to share one of my favourites It's a Thailand Choui Fong Green Tea really fresh tasting with a little bit of hazelnut at the front and a lively aftertaste. Water at 80°c and steep-time of 3 mins gives you a lovely bronze liquor.

 Day 21: Woke up feeling a bit 'meh' so figured a good antidote would be a Moroccan Nanamint tisane.Whereas I don't exactly feel like I'm sipping the golden stuff in--a-little-alley-cafe-a-stone's-throw-from-the-bazaar, it is really nice and I think I'll be using it later in the year to make a sorbet....‪#‎yearoftea

 Day 8: Well Day 8 in my ‪#‎yearoftea has brought me to the land where it all began - a Chinese Golden Monkey is ‪#‎teaoftheday To be honest the milk does it no favours so I've necked it and just waiting for the second infusion which I'll take au naturel (no, that doesn't mean nekkid)

Day 9: Well better late than never here's No 9 in ‪#‎yearoftea it's a White Monkey Green Tea. One story goes that it's so named because it's picked by monkeys because the trees are inaccessible. It's a good story but I'm a little sceptical - I prefer the story that it gets it's name from the fact that the downy white leaves look like monkey's paws. Either way it's a very good tipple.

Day 10: Thanks to August Moon Tea for reminding me that 10 days into my #yearoftea and I haven't had an oolong #teaoftheday ! This is Dong Ding and I've brewed it at 90° for 2.5mins

 Day 11 takes us to Japan and a Genmaicha. Also known as Popcorn or Brown Rice Tea. Originally this tea was for the peasants as the rice was a filler to keep the price down. Apparently it was also used when people were fasting or to keep people going between meals. I love the mixture of 'grassiness' (is that a word...?) and nuttiness.

 So Day 12 brings something completely different in my ‪#‎yearoftea It's another Japanese tea called Kukicha or 'Twig Tea' and it's made from only the twigs and stems. Seriously no leaves were harmed in the making of this tea! It's a roasted one so it's got a nut-like taste but it's also got a creamy aftertaste an a natural sweetness too. This is thr first time I've tried this and I LOVE it!

Day 13: ‪#‎teaoftheday is a Java Ciater Orange Pekoe 
It's a fermented, or black tea, that's extremely 'sturdy'. If you like your tea with a bit of welly this should hit the spot. BTW Orange Pekoe doesn't mean flavoured, it's merely a leaf-grade.

Day 14: ‪#‎teaoftheday is Malawi Thyolo. I've spent all day drinking this and still can't decide whether I like it or not. It manages to be simultaneously strong and weak (streak?) It's got the maltiness I love but for me it's missing something. I'm going to come back to it later and maybe mash it a little longer...It ticks all the other boxes: Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ but I'm reserving judgement!

Week 1 –Year of Tea

A Golden Rule of social media is regular posts and original content. This is surprisingly difficult, because despite being very noisy IRL, I'm actually really quiet on my networks preferring to sit back and watch it all unfold around me. Therefore I needed a reason. What better excuse for a daily post than a different tea every day? As I read these back it becomes apparent that some of them have been 'sold short' with a cursory "yeah I drank that and liked it" - I've decided that I will revisit before the year is out.

So Day 2 of my ‪#‎yearoftea has had me glugging a Rooibos with Cherry and Moringa. I'm probably the last person who needs a super healthy‪#‎detox tea but it tastes aMAZing anyway.

Keeping me calm while stocktaking is ‪#‎Day3 's choice - a delightful Rose Gunpowder. ‪#‎yearoftea

Absolutely loving #teaoftheday Number 4! Really rich and malty, you can read about it here  It's a  Rwandan Rukeri Pekoe Organic Fair Trade

So it's Day 5 in the ‪year of tea house (yes I did the accent...badly) and I'm on a cracking tisane: Moringa Leaf- it's very delicate but really tasty. It's also one of those superfoods that'll soon be touted by hipsters everywhere- you heard it here first....

Day 6: sees one of my favourites - a white tea that's actually purple.Malawi Bvumbwe Red Peony - it's bleddy lovely...really clean with almost a buttery finish.

Day 7: of my ‪#‎yearoftea sees me popping out of me comfort-zone with a whacky flavour... Cucumber and Marmalade and it's really rather tasty! As soon as the warm and languid afternoons get here I shall be making iced tea out of this. I reckon it would be BRILL with gin