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Tuesday Tea Village Tea Company

It’s time for another “Tuesday Tea” post. And have I got some wonderful teas to share with you today!

I was given the great opportunity to sample some teas from Village Tea Company. I’d like to tell you a bit about Village Tea Company by sharing some of the letter from the CEO I found on their website.

The Village Tea Company brand is a young brand, less than 3 years old, but prides itself on providing exceptionally tasting teas packaged with the environment and consumers in mind. Our packaging is completely environmentally friendly but it’s what’s inside the package that consumers truly love….the tea of course!

The Village Tea team spends months every year traveling to tea farms and meeting with farmers that have become friends over the years to hand pick each tea that you enjoy. We stay on site at each farm and commit ourselves to understanding the culture and demands put on our friends on a daily basis. It’s this commitment and effort that drives us to advance the message of loose leaf tea and it’s benefits.

I must say, I was super impressed with the packaging of the teas I received. I loved that the containers were a heavy paper board. But they are also very sturdy, seal tightly and keep light away from the tea!

When I opened my first container, I found that the loose leaf tea was packaged in 2 separate muslin bags to help keep it fresh. I even received tea sacks tucked in beside my tea. What a nice treat to receive these with loose leaf tea! One package was filled with pyramid tea bags and the tea that filled the tea bag is a very nice sized/ high quality leaf.

I received 3 different teas: A white tea “Strawberry Passion”, a green “Smooth Jasmine” and a black “Mintastically Minty”.

My favorite? Well… right now my favorite of the three is the Strawberry Passion! We have been having a very warm September… and I love to brew up a large batch of white flavored tea as iced tea! However, I know when winter comes, I’m going to be turning to the Smooth Jasmine often in the evenings!

My favorite aspects of each tea:

Strawberry Passion: A very nice, full bodied, white tea! Very low in caffeine. Flavored ever so gently with a strawberry, with some dried strawberries in the mix.

Smooth Jasmine: A nice gentle chinese green tea – not too bitter, with a touch of sweetness. The tea is not only flavored with jasmine, but also has some scattered dried jasmine petals in it. This blend is like satin on the tongue!

Mintastically Minty: Organic!! I love organic tea! Lemongrass adds a lovely dimension to the spearmint and peppermint!

Having tried 3 different teas and being impressed with all three, I would highly recommend Village Tea Company.

I look forward to trying their “Sassy” Green Tea which has green tea, ginger, flavor, orange peel, peach pieces, chilies, cloves, safflower, acai (some of my favorite flavors!!!) I also look forward to trying their “Royal Organic English Breakfast”!

**I did NOT receive any compensation for this review, nor do I receive anything for directing readers to this company. The opinions are all my own, honest evaluation. I did receive samples of the tea to taste.

Tags: Review, Tea

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Categories Review, Tuesday Tea

Review: Libre Tea Glass

8 Sep

I had the great opportunity to review a Libre Tea Glass. I had seen these “on-the-go” tea steeping glasses online and was very intrigued. I often find myself in a waiting room, wishing I had a nice cup of tea to sip on. But up until now, I had now way of taking a cup of hot tea with me.

I received a large Libre tea glass to try, along with a package of their Ming Mei green tea.

The first time I used my Libre glass, I brewed a flavored white tea. I heated the water to 175 degrees and filled the Libre glass with water. Then I twisted on the filter, put a teaspoon of tea in the top and twisted on the top. I was about 5 min away from my appointment, so when I got in the car, I turned the glass upside down to start steeping.

They are right! It does not leak! I found I could even safely carry it in my purse.

When I got to my appointment, I turned the glass right side up. I checked in and sat down to wait. I found that I could unscrew the lid, while keeping the tea and strainer attached to the lid and I had a lovely glass of tea to sip on.

I also found that the temperature of the tea stayed very consistent for more than an hour – and I didn’t have to worry about the tea oversteeping since I had turned it upright!

Now, if I was heading of to an office setting, this would also be a fantastic tea glass. You can put the tea directly into the glass, and when you’re ready, add hot water. The strainer keeps the tea in the glass and you can pour the tea into a cup – or drink right through the strainer!

The Ming Mei green tea, that you can also buy at Libre is a wonderful green tea. I used water at 165 degrees. When steeped for 4-5 minutes it is a lovely light, slightly sweet green tea. The long wiry leaves open fully to whole green tea leaves. They smell slightly fruity, slightly vegetal and very sweet. This is a great green tea!

Here is a video of how the Libre Tea Glass works:

I found the Libre tea glass easy to clean, and with glass, it never carries over a flavor from my last tea.

The only negative I found with the Libre Tea glass, is that when I have used the lid to brew the tea upside down, it often drips down my front when sipping. I balance this by being sure I have let it fully finish dripping after turning it right side up, and I “slurp” or lick the drips around the rim before sipping the tea directly from the tea glass.

I found that if I brewed the leaves in the cup and used the strainer lid to sip through, it’s much less drippy! However, I sip my tea very slow, and with most of my attempts the tea steeped too long and got bitter. Again, if I was in an office or somewhere I could pour the tea into a cup when it was done brewing, it would perfect!

You can read more about Libre on their website, and you can find a retailer that sells Libre Tea Glasses here. You can also “Like” Libre Tea on FB and share your favorite “Tea Moments”.

** I did NOT and will NOT receive any compensation related to this review. I received on large packet of Ling Mei tea to sample and one large poly glass Libre Tea Glass. I thank Libre Tea for allowing me to sample and write a review of their products.

Tags: Libre, Review, Tea

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Categories Review

Tuesday Tea

1 Feb

I’m sitting here in bed (it’s not been a good M.E./CFS week) and what am I doing? Drinking tea! And I realized I hadn’t written a Tuesday Tea post in a while!

This is one of my favorite Shelley teacups in my collection

So what’s in my cup right now?

I’m drinking my last pot of “Classic Black” from Art of Tea . I have also, really been enjoying Red Leaf Tea’s “Earl Grey De La Creme”, it’s been the perfect winter tea!

But here I sit… with the sun shining in my window and my heart drifts towards spring! (though when I opened the window to breath the fresh air … I found it was FREEZING outside!!!)

So I’ve placed a new order! I tasted Culinary Teas “Lady Londonderry” and wrote a review on it! I loved the soft flavors of lemon and berry and just needed a bit of “spring” in my tea! I was also looking for a new black to try… and as I didn’t want to pay shipping from two stores I also ordered “Kirkoswold Dimbula FBOP” - a tea grown in the heights of Sri Lanka and one I have never tasted before.

A Royal Albert teacup I picked up in England.

And… I know what my next order will be too! For Christmas, I purchased tea from BourgeaTea for all of my extended family. I even bought some for my daughter. I bought some of my favorites for my family and now I can’t wait to get my spring/summer tin of “White Peach” ! I also think I’ll try their “Irish Breakfast” since every tea I’ve had from BourgeaTea has been fantastic!

What’s in your cup today?

Tags: Tea, Teacup

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Categories Tuesday Tea

Tuesday Tea GIVEAWAY – BourgeaTea

16 Nov

**I was not paid in any way for the following review. I was sent a sample of the product I am reviewing only. The opinions are my own, honest evaluation of the product.**

I’m so excited to share this review and giveaway with you!

I was first introduced to BourgeaTea about six months ago through my tea reviews at TeaViews. I was sent my first sample of BourgeaTea – it was their White Peach tea and I was very impressed with the mix of white teas, along with the lovely peach flavor. It became my main iced tea this summer! Since then, I’ve been able to sample quite a few of the teas offered at BourgeaTeaand every one has been a high quality pleasure filled tea!

BourgeaTEA was started in 2008 by Chris Bourgea as a way to provide quality tea to the students of his university campus. Chris was unsatisfied with the tea of the local coffee café and began an initiative to find the best loose leaf tea, specifically for the people around him. He began to make tea bags by hand and sold them to the local café and to a growing group of fans around his university campus. Now he sells to multiple cafés, to individual tea drinkers, and online. But BourgeaTEA has never lost the vision of challenging the way people think about tea and its emphasis towards college students and living well. The vision of the company is to change the persona of tea from its stigma as a drink for older ladies in fluffy hats and young girls at tea parties to its splendor as an amazing, flavorful resource for all those who need something spectaculicious to drink. (taken from the BourgeaTea website)

Interestingly, though I, a seasoned tea drinker, find BourgeaTea‘s selections to have incredible flavor with high quality blends – I have an even stronger testimony to Chris Bourgea’s vision and success. I also received a sample of the Citrus Green Tea to review for TeaViews, which I enjoyed very much. But my family was raised on black teas, and green teas have never been a favorite. I’d love for them to drink green tea, but have never pushed it because they weren’t really interested. One day, my son, who is almost 18, came to me with a bag of tea in hand asking if he could have some. It was BourgeaTea‘s Green Citrus. I casually said “Sure” and told him how to brew it. He went off and made himself a cup and loved it! Chris Bourgea successfully turned my college age son into a green tea drinker! ******* I wouldn’t even know where to start if I had to tell you what my favorite BourgeaTea was. So instead, today I’m going to tell you about the tea they are offering to one lucky reader – Masala Chai. Did you know that if you go and order a “Chai Tea”, you are really ordering a “Tea Tea”? Yes, the word Chai means tea! Masala is a unique blend of Indian spices, so Masala Chai is a wonderfully spiced tea! There are as many Masala recipes (spice mixtures) as there are Indian families – but they all include some ginger and cardamon and usually cinnamon, cloves and other spices! A good Masala Chai also includes a strong Indian black tea base. Milk and sugar or honey is usually added. Here is BourgeaTea‘s description of their Masala Chai:

Masala chai – even the words conjure up images of fresh, golden spice: dry cinnamon, cool cardamon, and potent ginger. Blended into a strong full-body premium Ceylon black tea, it gives the Masala Chai a robust and spicy flavor, the impression of which is like drinking a warm, crackling fire on a cold, rainy night.

Truly, this is the perfect season for a good Masala Chai. If you win this giveaway you will receive a full tin of this tea that you can use to keep yourself warm this winter, or give as a lovely Christmas gift! I received a tin of BourgeTea‘s Masala Chai for this review and was thrilled when I opened the tin! The leaves of the tea are large and dark – the sign of a good Ceylon tea (one of my very favorite teas!) I also quickly saw pieces of dried ginger, and other spices mixed in the tea. The scent that drifted out of the tin made my mouth water! I brewed it as a normal tea – using water that had just come to a boil and brewing it for no more than 6 minutes. I added some milk and honey to it and it was a wonderful cup of tea! Then, after viewing a YouTube video showing how an Indian family makes their masala chai, I decided to try the technique with BourgeaTea’s Masala Chai. This is now my favorite way to drink it! I choose the mug I will drink my tea from, and fill it about 3/4 with water. I heat this in a saucepan until it begins to boil and I add 2 teaspoons of tea to it. I let that simmer about 2.5 min. While it’s simmering I heat about 3/4 of the mug full of milk in the microwave. When it’s warm, I add it to the simmering tea, and add my sweetener – honey or sugar. Without stirring it, I let it come to a rolling boil and quickly pull it off the stove as it foams up. I put it back on the burner and do this 3-4 times and then pour the tea through a strainer into my mug. It makes a fantastically rich, spicey cup of Indian tea! I love it! ***** So how do YOU win a tin of BourgeaTea Masala Chai? It’s so easy! All you have to do is visit BourgeaTea‘s website and leave a comment on this post telling me one other tea you’d like to try! Be sure your email address is entered so I can contact you if you win! AND… you can get extra entries too! You can do any or all of these. Leave a separate comment for each one you do! ~Tell me something about Chris Bourgea that I didn’t tell you in this post (Hint: you can find all kinds of information on the website and on his blog) ~Follow BourgeaTea on Twitter and tell me your twitter name (if you already do – that counts – leave a comment with your twitter name) ~Follow my blog through Google Friend Connect (if you already do – that counts – leave a comment!) ~Subscribe by email to my blog - see the left hand sidebar – and receive my blog directly to your email (if you already do – that counts – leave a comment!) ~ Subscribe to my newsletters – either through the sign up on the sidebar – or when you follow with Google Friend Connect (I don’t send out very many newsletters – only when there is a special giveaway or other special news concerning my blog or The Creators Palette) ~ “Like” BourgeaTea on Facebook (if you already do – that counts – leave a comment!) ~ Follow me on Twitter and tell me your twitter name in the comment (if you already do – that counts – leave a comment!) ~ Tweet about this giveaway using the example here (or write your own). Please leave a link to your tweet in your comment. You can get one entry per day for each new tweet! Example Tweet: WIN Masala Chai from @BourgeaTEA Visit Melanie’s Journey blog from @CreatorsPalette to enter http://tinyurl.com/2cejha3 #giveaway #win #tea GIVEAWAY ENDS at 9:00 Pacific Time November 21. Winner will be confirmed and announced Monday November 22. Giveaway is only open to US residents Comments will be checked for accuracy before winner is chosen. Winner will be chosen by random using the WordPress “And The Winner Is” from among all qualifying comments. NOTE: I did not receive any payment for this review and giveaway. I did receive one tin of Masala Chai to review and was surprised with a tin of Green Citrus tea bags for my son. All the views expressed here are my honest opinions. I thank BourgeaTea for sponsoring this wonderful holiday time giveaway.

Tags: Giveaway, Reveiw, Tea

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Categories Giveaway, Review, Tuesday Tea

Tuesday Tea with TeaFlection’s Irish Breakfast: A Review

17 Aug

**I was not paid in any way for the following review. I was sent a sample of the product I am reviewing only. The opinions are my own, honest evaluation of the product.**

I “met” TeaFlection through my job as a tea reviewer at TeaViews. I was very happy when they asked me to do a review of their tea here on my blog!

First, I want to tell you that I was not paid for this review and I am sharing my complete and honest opinion!

They let me choose which tea I would like to review, so I chose to try their Irish Breakfast tea. As soon as I received my 1/2lb bag (and a complimentary tea ball infuser) I couldn’t wait to brew my regular morning pot of tea. (we’re in a short hot spell or I would have brewed a pot of afternoon tea as soon as it arrived)

I’ve really enjoyed browsing TeaFlection‘s website. It’s easy to navigate and there’s a nice variety of teas to choose from including Green teas, White teas, several Oolong teas and a unique variety of herbal tisanes!

TeaFlections seems to focus less on creating their own unique blends of tea, and more on bringing quality tea to online customers. Their prices are amazingly reasonable for the quality of tea they deliver.

Their motto is “Tea without compromise” and for those who are just being introduced to loose leaf tea, they also include a tea ball infuser like the one I received – perfect for brewing a single cup of tea!

I must say, am thrilled with my choice of TeaFlections Irish Breakfast tea. I chose it based on it’s description:

“Irish Breakfast Tea produces a rich, liquoring cup that is full-bodied, brisk, and malty. Blended from black teas such asAssam teasand Sri Lankan teas, a cup of Irish Breakfast tea becomes stronger the longer it brews.”

This descriptions was right on! And I must add that TeaFlections does a great job, not only in defining their tea, but in telling a little bit about that particular tea and some of the possible health benefits too!

I always look for full-bodied black teas. I love any tea from Sri Lanka and I love Assam so this sounded like the tea for me. The real problem is, that the quality of the beverage still depends on the quality of the tea leaves.

When I opened my package of tea, it smelled so fresh! It was in a tightly sealed bag which, after opening, has a zip lock closure so that I can lock out air, keeping the tea fresh. The leaves are not full leaves, but definitely are not fannings (the leftover dust that most tea bags use). I was pleased with the variety of colors, from golden tips to darker leaves. This led me to expect a good blend.

As I always do, I started with cold fresh water in my tea kettle, and while that heated on the stove, I filled my teapot with hot water to warm it.

I used my “perfect cup of tea” measuring spoon, which is basically a teaspoon. I used two heaping and about 3/4 of a third spoonful. I also used my basket infuser. It fits into the opening of my teapot and is large enough to give the tea leaves room to expand.

Once the water has just come to a boil (don’t let it boil on – the loss of oxygen messes with the quality of your brewed tea), I quickly emptied the pot, put the basket with tea in it and poured the water over the leaves until the pot was full. Then I set the lid on and put a tea cozy over the pot to keep it hot.

I brewed TeaFlection’s Irish Breakfast for 6 min. 5 min is commonly known as the brewing time for black tea, and if you go over 7 min, many black teas begin to get bitter. I chose 6 min because I like a strong cup of tea in the morning, but I wanted to be sure not to ruin the flavor for this review. 6 min turned out to be perfect and I used that timing again for my second pot!

At 6 min I removed my tea infuser basket and sat back and enjoyed one of the best pots of black tea I’ve had! I just love this blend! It’s just slightly malty, very very smooth, and takes milk very nicely!

Additionally, I found that it makes a great iced tea as well! I had some warm tea left in my second pot, so I filled a cup with ice, and poured it over the ice. The tea took on a more astringent flavor when iced, but was very refreshing!

I encourage you to visit TeaFlection‘s website and browse around. You’ll find some great tea options and their customer service is outstanding. I know there are several more teas I have my heart set on trying!

AND… don’t miss out on the possibility of winning some free tea! If you click here you can enter their weekly Haiku contest (or look on the left hand side of the tea pages, you’ll see a link to the Haiku contest) The entry page explains everything. It’s easy to submit a haiku and you may just find yourself with a lovely bag of tea from TeaFlection too!

You can find TeaFlection on Facebook Here

You can follow TeaFlection on Twitter Here

**NOTE: I did not receive any payment for this review. I was only sent the Irish Tea Blend to sample and everything I have expressed here are my honest opinions!

Happy Tea Tuesday!

Tags: Review, Tea

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Categories Review, Tuesday Tea

Tuesday Tea

3 Aug

T4Tuesday - T4Tea

Seems the perfect day to share my favorite iced tea recipes! I review teas on TeaViews so I get my hands on some wonderful teas! This is the first summer, though, that I have really kept up on making quality, healthy green, white and Oolong based iced teas!

All tea comes from the same plant – though there are hybrids and the taste varies based on where it’s grown and how it’s processed. Green teas, White teas and Oolong teas are all processed in unique ways, and are extremely healthy, being low in caffeine, and very high in antioxidants.

POTS(Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) is just one of the many symptoms I deal with every day. It requires staying extremely hydrated to keep my blood volume up. So, among other things, I’ve been drinking iced tea all summer long! I love my insulated cup that my daughter (who works at Starbucks) bought me!

First, let me tell you the process I use to make my iced tea (green, white, or oolong):

I use my glass 4 cup measuring cup and four good heaping teaspoonfuls of tea (measuring spoon, not eating spoon). Green tea and oolong tea should never be brewed in boiling water as it will over cook the leaves and ruin the tea. White is a little more forgiving, however, I pour the water before it boils for white tea as well.

I brew the tea in the measuring cup for 2-4 min (depending on the tea I’m using). While it’s brewing, I put 2 cups of cold water in my pitcher. Then, when the tea is done brewing I pour it through a strainer into the pitcher. I let it cool fully before putting it in the fridge.

Then I’m ready to fill my insulated cup with ice, pour the tea in and drink it all day long!

So what have been some of my favorite teas this summer? Let me share a few with you!

Golden Moon Tea has some great teas, but the one I’ve been enjoying iced this summer is their Coconut Pouchong. (Pouchong is a green Oolong). This is not flavored with coconut flavoring. Instead, the leaves are soaked in coconut milk. It brews up very light colored and has a lovely gentle flavor with a coconut creaminess.

BourgeaTEA is a wonderful new place to purchase tea. It was started by a college student who mixed and sold quality teas to campus friends. Sharing his passion for tea has blossomed into BourgeaTEA company and their blends are fantastic! I love this white tea – it blends several whites, with peaches and it brews an excellent cup of iced tea!

Two more teas I’ve been enjoying iced this summer come from Indonique. I love their teas, and they have a great program. 10% of every purchase made from Indonique is donated to International non-Governmental Organizations like Mercy Corps and Feed the Children, to fund programs that positively impact the people who work the fields!

The two teas I’ve been enjoying iced this summer are:

Ginger Peach Oolong which has a lovely fresh peach flavor and a gentle ginger undertone

G inger Peach Orange Green Tea which is a smooth gentle green with a great citrus flavor. The Peach is an undertone and the ginger barely noticeable when iced.

None of these companies have paid me for this post – in fact, only one knows I might be writing it because I mentioned it on twitter. Maybe they’ll see this post and sponsor a tea giveaway! (*grin*) Maybe if you all leave messages saying you’d love a tea giveaway we’ll have here soon.

I hope you’ll visit each of these shops and that this post gives you some ideas of how to stay hydrated this summer, and enjoy drinking something extremely healthy! I know I am!

Tags: Tea

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Categories Tuesday Tea

It All Begins with T…

13 Jul

Tuesday…

Terrific…

Tantalizing…

TEA!

Yes, I admit, I am addicted to TEA! I love tea! I start my day with tea and I drink it all day long. Black tea, White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea… floral tea, spiced tea, tropical tea… I love it all!

Guess that’s why being a tea reviewer is such a great joy in my life. I now review teas for a great tea website TeaViews

This weekend I drank 2 pots of a delicious tea from Indonesia sold by Mark T. Wendall

And I’ve discovered a new company, BourgeaTEA, started by a college student out to change the view of “tea”. The company doesn’t have a huge selection, but their blends are outstanding – I am so impressed!!! I’ve had a White tea that has made the most delicious iced tea, a very fun flavored tea and a great Irish Breakfast blend!

I’ve also discovered American Tea Room and was able to taste this very wonderful and very rare tea called “Ruby Black”. It is grown in Taiwan, which is known for producing fantastic Oolong tea. But after the big earthquake in 1999 some old, rare cultivars that used to be grown were uncovered. These are a hybrid of Myanmar and Assam tea trees, and this Ruby Black is the result. It’s an amazing tea!

You might just think my tea love is only a fun pastime – but it’s actually an extremely healthy pastime! Black teas do not have the same caffeine type as coffee (neither type, nor amount). My body can’t handle the caffeine in coffee… a stimulant actually makes me much sicker (how about you?)

Though there are many claims about tea – most are not fully proven. Many have been researched, but as I’m finding out about medical research, it takes several replication studies for anything to be medically accepted.

But there are a few claims that I’ve read that help me feel like I’m doing something healthy for my body when drinking my tea:

Teas are high in antioxidants (this is so important to me because my diet is so limited due to gastroparesis)
Tea may protect against many cancers
Tea – especially Oolong – is known to increase metabolism and help lose weight
Green tea is thought to reduce several types of inflammation
Another study showed that White tea may be beneficial in fighting bacterial and viral infections

I love teas with ginger in them, and ginger is a great for settling my stomach!

Most importantly… tea warms my heart & is a low calorie “comfort food” for me!

If you like tea at all, I encourage you to follow TeaViews. Another fun place for tea lovers is a website called Steepster. Here people just share about tea on the forums, rate the teas in their cupboard and just generally enjoy tea together!

You too may find some very intriguing teas you want to try! And you can feel healthy while drinking them (vs. the feeling of downing a milkshake – hee hee)

(BTW… no… I don’t get anything out having you visit or join TeaViews. I’m just sharing something that is special to me, with you!)

PS: Next time I post about some of the teas I’m drinking, I’ll share about some of the “non-tea” teas I drink – especially green rooibos! Talk about healthy… yeah… I’ll come back to tea sometime soon

Tags: Tea