Higher Living – Mince Pie

Time for Tea please?

With one weekend left to get your Christmas shopping done, here’s another festiviTEA that you may wish to get for the teal over in your life! This time it’s from Higher Living and their Mince Pie Tea. Firstly,how cute and effective is the tea caddy! Certainly putting my in the festive spirit.

For this tea Higher Living blends Cassia, Licorice, Ginger, Cardamom seeds, Pepper, Cocoapeels, Cloves, Corinader, Cinnamon and Natural Vanilla Flavouring. All the flavours of Christmas and more so of mince pies in one hot warming mug of tea. Hopefully this may have added some extra gift inspiration for your present hunting. P.S. I spotted this tea in TK Max!

Happy Sipping 🙂

FestiviTEA – Ahmed Teas

Time for Tea Please?

It’s another tea find coming your way !
Helping you to find the perfect Christmas present for the tea lover in your life!
Today festiviTEA comes from Ahmed Teas. With their Christmas Ball Balls.

Not only do they look beauTEAful they sound super tasty too, especially pear and cinnamon. Now what tea lover wouldn’t love a tea filled ball ball on their Christmas tree ? I know I’d love one !!

Happy Sipping 🙂

Whittards – Christmas Tea

Time for Tea Please?

One thing I love about living near a Whittards is being able to pop in and try their teas. Particularly their festive ones so that I can share my thoughts with all of you. Today’s visit I was able to try Christmas Tea

For this festive blend Whittards uses a base of Black Tea, 4% Orange Peel, 2% Cloves, Flavouring, Safflower Petals, Vanilla Pieces.

As expected with a black based tea the brewed liquid is of a brown colour. Unlike brewing at home you don’t get that engulfing aroma. However it is still possible to get a waft of the spice tones.

First sip and it certainly has tastes of Christmas. The black tea works perfectly with the cloves and orange peel. Reminding me of a satsuma in my stocking! (Surely everyone gets one in there’s?)

To add an extra depth of layer to the tea the vanilla almost sets off a slightly nutty tone, which means the tea keeps on giving!

The flavours in the tea add an alternative to other Christmas teas as out only uses cloves so stays away from full on spice and stays away from being more of a chai tea.

Plus the tea caddy it comes in just screams Christmas!

Happy Sipping 🙂

Basilur FestiviTEAs

Time for Tea Please?

With the festive season in full swing it’s time to get sipping on Christmas favourites and flavours. There’s just something special about Christmas teas and drinking the flavours in and having the aromas around the house. So I’m always on the look out for new teas to try.

Today’s festivitiTEA find is from Basilur Teas.

Firstly how amazing is the packaging?

It’s picture perfect and would certainly make a beauTEAful present.

The tea blends are:

Winter Tea
For this blend is made up of:
100% Pure Ceylon black tea , cranberry fruits and cranberry flavouring
Frosty Night
Which is made up of :
100% Pure Ceylon black leaf tea, natural berberis, natural rosehip shell, natural white and blue corn flower and safflower and flavours vanilla and almond.

Both of these teas sound tealicious and would be the perfect Christmas tea for any tea lover!

Happy Sipping 🙂

Joes Tea Co – Christmas Chai Rooibos

Time for Tea Please?

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas ! Thanks to the lovely people at Joes Tea Co. I’m also able to start drinking Christmas. There’s nothing better than on a cold day warming up your fingers on a steaming mug of tea.

Before even opening the tea pouch and basking in the aroma, the ingredients are already getting me into the Christmas spirit. This blend uses Rooibos, cinnamon, cardamom, mace, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, liquorice, star anise, fennel, orange peel, black pepper. All the flavours associated with the festive season.

Let’s get that kettle on!

Upon opening the tea pouch wowzer! It’s a super intense the cinnamon and star anise are punching at your nostrils along side a ginger kick with a fruity undertone. You may not be able to overly smell the Rooibos side of things but the chai side is screaming Christmas.

Mmmmm the hot brewing aroma is just tealicious! It certainly gets your mouth watering. The chai is so spiced and intense it’s gripping and i can’t wait to get sipping.

First sip wow wow wow !
Now that really is a winter warmer. The intensity of the flavour is amazing. Your hooked on the flavour straight away. The combination of the fruity tones add an extra depth to each sip which compliments the spice side.

It’s not really till the almost after taste of the tea that your reminded that it’s a rooibos tea. This isn’t a bad thing at all as it makes a change to find a chai based tea that’s not black and caffeinated. Therefore an all rounder tea best for any time of day.

It’s not just an any day type of tea it’s also one that tastes the same throughout the sipping experience. Unlike other teas that has its main flavour at the beginning or the end this one is maintains its taste level throughout which is a massive bonus.

This is the perfect tea to sit by an open fire with toasting your hands and roasting chestnuts. Ok maybe sitting with your back against the radiator is more likely but you get what I’m saying.

If you fancy trying out Joes Tea Co. Christmas Chai Rooibos. Hit the link !

Happy Sipping 🙂

Whittards – Silent Night

Time for Tea Please?

It’s festivitiTEA time!

Kicking off the Christmas season with a pit stop in Whittards of Chelsea and trying their silent night tea out.

For this loose leaf blend it contains Green Tea, Cinnamon Sugar, White Chocolate Stars , Cocoa Bean Pieces, Flavouring, Orange Peel, Rose Petals, Cloves. The perfect Christmas flavourings.

The aroma of the tea is lightly spiced with a very mild undertone of green tea. Unlike most green teas the brewed liquid is more yellowy down than a green. Which is likely to be down to the spice and cocoa.

The flavour of tea is interesting. It neither screams green tea or spice. It’s the perfect balance of both. It’s almost slightly earthy from its undertones of the cocoa. Yet it also a fruity floral side to the blend too. Meaning you don’t always know what sipping side your going to get. One thing for sure the green tea side of the tea has the smallest amount of taste to it making room for the festive flavours.

Happy Sipping 🙂

Tee Gschwendner – Marani

Time for Tea Please?

There’s nothing I love better while traveling that trying new teas. Today’s #teareview is a tea that I had the chance to try while staying in Croatia. The villa that I stayed in was looked after by two lovely German ladies and they let me raid their tea stash! Where I cam across Tee Gschwendner – Marani.

Now I may not be able to read German but I do know how to read tea and I certainly wasn’t going to be put off by trying a tea at the time I wasn’t 100% sure quite what it was! However I’ll give anything a try once.

After looking the tea up it was possible to find out exactly what it was I was about to drink, which was a blend of green tea , marigold, rose and cornflower blossoms.

The brewing recommendation for this tea was for 2 minutes . Quite a short brewing time but I went with it anyway.

Whilst brewing like many loose leaf tea there’s always a few pesky bits that somehow always manage to sneak out. The aroma was delicately floral, with a few hints of green tea coming through while brewing.

The brewed liquid is a very faint yellow with a green tinge. As to be expected with a green based tea.

First sip was interesting green tea to me has a bit of a love hate relationship! I’m sure there’s tea out there that are the same for you.
Now I didn’t hate it but it definitely took a few sips for this tea to get going.

The mixture of the floral tonnes was just lovely , albeit faint it added a much needed depth to the green tea. For me personally I’d have preferred more floral less green tea to truly allow the floral notes to really sing. However this could have been all down to the brewing.

I like my tea strong ! Yes even the ones I’m not massive fans of and this blend wasn’t strong enough for my liking. Now this could have purely been down to the short recommended brew time and that a longer brew would have provided the kick I was looking for.

I certainly would try this tea again just brewing it for longer as it deserves a second chance!

Happy Sipping 🙂

Balaggan – Tropical Chai

Time for Tea Please?

What better way is there to spend a day off than by sipping tea. Thanks to the lovely people of Balaggan I’m able to be sipping on their Tropical Chai.

The first thing that always get me excited about trying a new Balaggan flavour is their packaging. It is always bright and colourful and the ombre style cubes are just exquisite. Especially the gold detailing , it just adds an extra specialness to it.

Upon on open the tea box , the smell is just tealicious, it’s super FruiTEA with an underlying spiced touch. I sure hope it tastes as good as it smells.

I love being able to see all the components , they look beauTEAful.

For this particular blend Balaggan uses: pear pieces, rosehip, cinnamon , apple pieces, lime peel, freeze dried pineapple, red peppercorns, cardamom, orange peel, sunflower petals, hibiscus & natural flavourings.

Let’s get brewing!

I have to say I’m rather surprised with the brewed liquid. I’d describe it as being pink in colour rather than it being more of a brown that for some reason I was expecting it to be.

The aroma while brewing was completely different from its dried state. All the components are perfectly blend and provide the essence of tropical ! A fruity madness that just works.

First sip is just tealicious!

The balance of tropical with the chai is just perfect. The blends of all the fruity components all work alongside each other perfectly. There isn’t necessarily one component that shouts louder than any of the others, together they just scream tropical. Now I was a bit unsure of a tropical chai but I have to say Balaggan has proved me wrong! The spice aspects of the tea are in perfect quantities to add a depth of flavour rather than over powering the overall brew. Allowing the spicy hint to work with the tropicalness adding an almost warming aspect to the tea experience.

It’s certainly one of those teas, will add sunshine on a cloudy day.

Happy Sipping 🙂

Tea Travels – Croatia & Bosnia

Time for Tea Please?

Another country , another tea Isle !

I love exploring new countries and you can always find me down the tea Isle.

I’ve just had a fantastic week exploring Croatia and Bosnia.

From fantastic views and landscapes to tasty treats. There were bakeries everywhere ! I wasn’t complaining !

Happy Sipping 🙂

T2 Birmingham

Time for Tea Please?

On a quick visit to Birmingham I made sure I had enough time to pop in to T2 other than there pop up shop in the London Selfridges this was my first ever visit to a fully fledged store.

What I loved about the store on first entering was the use of contrasting colours between the black fixtures and the co,our full packaging of their tea. Especially when combined with beauTEAful tea wear.

Tea Tasting – Choc Pear Pudding

Firstly I love the packaging design, it’s very different from their normal packaging but is still eye catching in an almost elegant way.
Time to get sipping! As expected with a black based tea the brewed liquid is brown in its colouring. The aroma to me is fairly light but you can certainly smell the cocoa.
On first sip it’s very intriguing, it’s light in flavour yet rich too. The contrast of the cocoa and black tea is full and rich, yet it is softened with the pear tones. The combination of flavours works perfect. Maybe a little subtle for taste but still tealicious.

Tea Tasting – Boho Rose
I love a floral tea! I don’t know why but I just do. So I was very interested to try this tea. Especially as it was blended with sparkling water. It’s not ever crossed my mind to blend tea with sparkling water to make a fizzy iced tea of sorts.

Not only did the name intrigue me but also the colour bright pink! Especially as the tea is inspired by Turkish delight.

Mmmmm first sip was delicious. Perfectly rich and floral with an underlying natural sweetness. Particularly as an iced brew, it makes such a refreshing sipping experience. The mix of the tea and sparkling water is just beauTEAful , if only I’d found this tea for summer brewing it would have been perfectly refreshing on a hot day.

My first T2 visit didn’t disappoint !

Happy Sipping 🙂