I hope that everyone is doing well and most importantly doing your part while we still try to get out of the woods with this while Covid-19 situation. Not sure if it’s the warm weather, or the fact that all of the flowers are finally in bloom at my house, but it feels like there is a tiny light at the end of the tunnel. I hope life can go back to normal soon!
Afternoon tea with an Italian twist at The Pelham hotel in London. Teas by Camellia’s Tea House. A sweet, fresh white peony and (pictured) the Beautiful Skin infusion (largely dandelion, I think). Sadly no oolong on the tea list, but some green and jasmine as well as the usual English breakfast and Earl Grey.
I’ve not felt like making tea for a very long time, but recently have started to do so again! Today I made white tea blend ordered from a site called “The Tea Spot.” It has jasmine pearls and rose petals in it! I also added just a little bit of honey to it. It tastes absolutely wonderful! It has such a light, almost playful flavor, and makes me feel like energy is welling up in my body!
As you can see, this tea is in the shape of a heart! It smells like rose florals and woodsy black tea.
Steep this tea at 205F for 2-3 minutes. You can get roughly 3+ steeps out of it.
The brewed aroma is strong but not purfumey like I expected. The tea broke up into a lovely brew and the color was like dark amber. Taste wise this tea had tones of rose, smooth woodsy notes and lingering floral. Overall this tea is very pleasant and easy to sip on a chilly day. It had its own level of sweetness so I didnt’ feel like I had to add anything extra. For a scented black tea this is a great choice.
Unfortunately this tea is part of a kick starter that I helped photography wise so you can’t get it individually, but if you are slightly new to the tea journey dipping your toes into loose leaf, I definitely recommend getting a subscription from them! You can find this tea here.
ALSO! I launched my blogger website for dedicated tea reviews! If you prefer that platform - be sure to check it out here!
Mellow Monk Tea was kind enough to reach out to me for a tea review of my choice so I asked for Frosty Garden because it sounded so interesting!
Frosty Garden is a green tea with some white stems. Brew this tea using 1 teaspoon in a small teapot and 167F/76C water for 1 - 2 minutes for the first infusion and only 1 minute for the second.
This tea turned out to be very pleasant, with strong vegetal notes that I was able to subdue if I used shorter steeping times. Frosty Garden had light citrus tones that added a level of sweetness and complexity to this tea that was extremely palpable. I was left feeling like I had wondered into a Japanese tea garden on a spring day with the clouds promising a light drizzle. Overall Frosty Garden has become a go to for the days I’m in the mood for green tea.
If you would like to pick up some of this tea you can find it here.
As a blogger, Its hard to write about things you don’t like, especially when its tea - at that point, its more up to the person who drinks it because all of our palettes are different. However, today we are reviewing teaware. I personally, never use infuser balls, bags w/e because I want to give my tea ample room to expand. If you use a small infuser for lets say - oolong - chances are your tea will come out more bitter than if you used a more open design like a tea maker from teavana or davids tea(this is because the tea leaf gets bruised in the process of expanding which releases tannin). So there’s my first gripe about this product - it doesn’t give you much room to work with, now my second gripe? It doesn’t close all the way - there are holes on the side of the infuser and this causes smaller more chopped up teas - like you would get from blends or tisanes, to come out into your cup. Doesn’t sound very functional does it? Over all - this product is cute, nice idea - but I’d only use them to make tea baths - throw some leaves in, throw them in your bath tub and enjoy.
To enter to win, you must be following blackquartzalchemy.tumblr.com. Each reblog of this post counts as an entry. You must also not edit or remove the contents of this post in any way. You must have your ask enable on your blog so that I have a way to contact you.
We will be choosing FIVE winners!
☾First Place gets an Ultimate Sampler Gift Set containing every single tea we offer.
☾Second and Third Places will receive a 2oz bag of a random blend.
☾Fourth and Fifth Places will receive a vial of a random blend.
You have until 8:00pm CDTFriday, January 10th to enter. Thank you, and good luck!
I would describe this one as more lemon than cayenne, but it sure is tasty. The aroma is bright and citrusy, without being overpowering. The aroma is absolutely lovely. A dash of honey makes all of the flavors pop and adds a sweet-tart undertone.
With a light base of white tea, the lemon peel, rosehip peel, and lime pieces give this a bright, citrus flavor. This tea contains chili peppers but in a way that adds warmth to the flavor more than heat. Though the website touts this as a blend of sour and spicy, to me it tastes more like a fabulous blend of sour citrus and sweet warmth.
This is one of the more unique teas in my collection and I love it for that. The harmony between the citrus flavors and the chili notes creates a bright, warm blend that’s sunny and full of life. If you’re shy about spicy, you’ve nothing to fear from this one. But if you’re looking for something with citrusy sweetness and invigorating warmth, this one hits on that special something.
Sampling another tea from Beantown Tea & Spicestoday. This tea was sweetened with a Clover Honey spoon I found at Cracker Barrel when J and I took our trip this past weekend. Because it is peach flavored, I had high hopes for this tea, but it seemed to lose its flavor once brewed. I would still like to try it iced and see if it tastes better when prepared that way. Another one for the tea journal!
Tea: Peach White Tea
Water temp:180*F
Qty: 2 teaspoons
Steep: 3-5 minutes
Ingredients: Premium White Tea, Dried Peaches, and natural flavors.
Do you want some variety, without compromising your antioxidant intake? Try a refreshing cup of white tea, instead of your usual green. As white tea leaves are less dense and compact than other varieties, don’t forget to increase the amount of tea leave you normally use. Also note that white tea is the most delicate form of camellia sinensis thus, to avoid ruining the flavour of your cup allow boiling water to sit for about one minute (until the temperature drops to about 76-85 degrees Celsius) before pouring the water over your leaves. Let the tea steep for between 5 - 8 minutes and enjoy!
The above image shows the manufacture process for 5 types of popular, commercially available teas. An increasing amount of research is not being done on the antioxidant property of tea, with particular focus on black, green and oolong tea. However, at present, limited information is available on white tea. What studies have been done, have demonstrated the antioxidant capacityofwhite tea to be similar to that of green tea, which is attributed to the high levels of EGCG & ECG which are present in this specialty type of tea. As such, those of you looking to contribute to your health using tea as the medium should note that of the 5 types of tea listed, the green & white variety (respectively) contain the greatest ‘bang for your buck’ in terms of antioxidant value.
Reference:
Karori, S. M., Wachira, F. N., Wanyoko, J. K., & Ngure, R. M. (2007). Antioxidant capacity of different types of tea products. African Journal of Biotechnology, 6(19), 2287-2296.
I’ve had this done for months now and am finally getting around to making it live. This is REALLY delicious, it was one of those I didn’t expect anything big from but it’s amazing. Lettie and I have both polished off a bag each now, lol. I do plan on doing a Wincest tea, too, but I wanted to start with this. :)
This is also shipped with my Tea(se) “Sterek” tea so you can get both of them for $8 each rather than $10 if you like. ;)
Add 2-3 teaspoons of loose-leaf tea to a medium/large glass jug/jar.
Pour 1 litre of filtered water over the leaves.
Place in the fridge for 6-12 hours.
White teas will brew the quickest, followed by green teas and twisted/flat oolongs, allow the most time for oolongs, puerhs, herbal infusions and black teas.
Cold brewing a high-quality sencha tea can really raise this amazing tea to another level.
As with cold brewed coffee, cold water extracts a different chemical balance from the tea than hot water. This means there are fewer catechins and less caffeine. In terms of flavour, a reduction in catechins and caffeine reduces the bitterness of tea.
If required, sweeten with raw cane sugar, although cold brewing tea brings out more natural sweetness, so it may not be necessary.
This is the blooming Peach Momotaro tea from Teavana. It is a peach white tea with chrysanthemums and and jasmine flowers. I really like that the peach is more of a scent than a flavor. Not only is it a beautiful tea but this white tea in particular is very flavorful. I sweetened it slightly with organic unbleached sugar which seemed to bring out more of the peach flavor.
Note: I’ve heard somewhere that bleached sugar may decrease the effectiveness of nutrients in your tea.
Green Tea, Bubbles, Lemon and Mint Brew your green tea strong, pour it over ice, add a splash of bubbly water, a squeeze and a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint. It reminds me of a mojito but without the sugar or the alcohol (which are both optional in all these recipes :P)
Black Tea with Lavender Brew your choice of black tea and pour over ice, leaving a little room. For the lavender, you can either use a lavender tea, or you can add some lavender from the garden and allow it to simmer gently on the stove until the water is infused with the flavor. Reduce the amount of liquid by half so that the flavor is more concentrated. Keep this bottled in the fridge for moments like these. Add a splash of the lavender infused water and a dollop of honey to your black tea. Serve.
White Tea with Condensed Milk and Almond Starting with white tea, which is mild and not as caffeinated as black tea, add a touch of condensed milk (with has sugar in it) and a scoop of almond powder. If you have a shaker, this is a good one to shake over ice since it helps the almond powder disperse. Pour over ice and serve. It’s sweet, almondy and delicious.
And once the sun starts to set you can experiment with adding alcohol to these to make true tea cocktails. White rum is wonderful in the first, vodka in the second and Irish creme liqueur works a treat in the third. :)
