![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tea observations
Jul. 22nd, 2010 01:08 pmI've been drinking a lot of tea the last few days, on the principle that whatever ails you, tea will probably help or at least not hurt. That being the case, I thought I'd share my favorite recent or recent-ish tea discoveries.
(A warning note, so you can calibrate accordingly: I like my tea sweet. Not sticky-sweet, but mildly sweet. So a lot of my recs are for things that are either a bit sweet to start with or go well with a touch of milk and sugar. Also, yes, I conflate 'tea' and 'tisane.')
Lupicia's Sakurambo, a black tea blend with Japanese cherries, is absolutely delicious with just a hint of sugar and a drop of milk. It's one of a small, precious handful of fruit-flavored teas that actually taste of the fruit they contain. And in this case, it's pleasantly tart, too! (The Sakurambo Vert, the same but with green tea, might also be good; I haven't tried it.) Other black teas that are good from Lupicia: Chocolate Marron (one of the very few chocolate teas I like; I think the bitter, nutty flavor of the chestnut helps), and Vanilla, which is just a vanilla black tea but with a truly lovely flavor. (The fact that I really like both their vanilla and their cherry teas makes me want to try Strawberries & Vanilla.)
Of the green tea blends, I like Paradise, which has tropical flowers, and Tokio, with berries. The fruit and flower flavors in both are mild enough to not overpower the more delicate green tea flavor.
(This almost certainly marks me out as a tea wannabe, but one of the things I like about Lupicia is that many of their tea blends are available in pyramid bags. I do love loose-leaf tea and the ritual of making a pot, but sometimes I want to be able to make a cup in a hurry, or take some with me on vacation, and bagged tea is best for that.)
Lupicia is a dangerous habit, though. They thoughtfully send you tea samples throughout the year, and since I wind up liking at least half of them, well....
On a non-Lupicia note, from Marketspice: the Sunset in Seattle herb tea (mint, raspberry, rose, vanilla, lemongrass, and chamomile) and the Peach Ambrosia herb tea (rooibos with peach, rose, and lemongrass) are very nice before bed. Nice but not before bed because it's for-sure a wake-you-up tea: Marketspice's signature blend, also called Marketspice, which is a mixture of black tea (you can also get it in green, but I never have), orange, and spice. It's a lot more... potent than most teas labeled "orange spice," though, and lacks the stale taste that you often get with "spice" teas. (It's also naturally sweet—I don't know what they use, maybe stevia?—so taste it before doctoring it.)
We've also been enjoying Republic of Tea's Persimmon White and Ginger Peach Decaf.
I need to find a good gingery ginger or ginger green tea, though. Ginger Peach is nice, but a bit mild on the ginger. Mmm, ginger.
(Why do I not have a tea icon?)
What teas have you been enjoying lately? Or if you're a coffee drinker, what's your pleasure there?
(A warning note, so you can calibrate accordingly: I like my tea sweet. Not sticky-sweet, but mildly sweet. So a lot of my recs are for things that are either a bit sweet to start with or go well with a touch of milk and sugar. Also, yes, I conflate 'tea' and 'tisane.')
Lupicia's Sakurambo, a black tea blend with Japanese cherries, is absolutely delicious with just a hint of sugar and a drop of milk. It's one of a small, precious handful of fruit-flavored teas that actually taste of the fruit they contain. And in this case, it's pleasantly tart, too! (The Sakurambo Vert, the same but with green tea, might also be good; I haven't tried it.) Other black teas that are good from Lupicia: Chocolate Marron (one of the very few chocolate teas I like; I think the bitter, nutty flavor of the chestnut helps), and Vanilla, which is just a vanilla black tea but with a truly lovely flavor. (The fact that I really like both their vanilla and their cherry teas makes me want to try Strawberries & Vanilla.)
Of the green tea blends, I like Paradise, which has tropical flowers, and Tokio, with berries. The fruit and flower flavors in both are mild enough to not overpower the more delicate green tea flavor.
(This almost certainly marks me out as a tea wannabe, but one of the things I like about Lupicia is that many of their tea blends are available in pyramid bags. I do love loose-leaf tea and the ritual of making a pot, but sometimes I want to be able to make a cup in a hurry, or take some with me on vacation, and bagged tea is best for that.)
Lupicia is a dangerous habit, though. They thoughtfully send you tea samples throughout the year, and since I wind up liking at least half of them, well....
On a non-Lupicia note, from Marketspice: the Sunset in Seattle herb tea (mint, raspberry, rose, vanilla, lemongrass, and chamomile) and the Peach Ambrosia herb tea (rooibos with peach, rose, and lemongrass) are very nice before bed. Nice but not before bed because it's for-sure a wake-you-up tea: Marketspice's signature blend, also called Marketspice, which is a mixture of black tea (you can also get it in green, but I never have), orange, and spice. It's a lot more... potent than most teas labeled "orange spice," though, and lacks the stale taste that you often get with "spice" teas. (It's also naturally sweet—I don't know what they use, maybe stevia?—so taste it before doctoring it.)
We've also been enjoying Republic of Tea's Persimmon White and Ginger Peach Decaf.
I need to find a good gingery ginger or ginger green tea, though. Ginger Peach is nice, but a bit mild on the ginger. Mmm, ginger.
(Why do I not have a tea icon?)
What teas have you been enjoying lately? Or if you're a coffee drinker, what's your pleasure there?
