Teacup Terrorist

I know it’s been a while. I went on vacation for a week and have another short one coming up in a few more weeks. In the mean time I did receive my sample of the tea blossom “Let Love Bloom” in the mail. I only yesterday got to try it out.

In order to see the full bloom well, you really do need a glass teacup or enough water to submerge the full bloom all at once. My teapot wasn’t full enough, but you can still get the idea.

This one has a light flavor and shouldn’t be steeped too long or it will become bitter. I enjoyed the calming feeling of the tea. It finished nicely, too. I give this one 4 1/2 cups, only missing 1/2 a cup since it wasn’t as bold a flavor as I would have expected.

I was just asked to review the Full Bloom Tea website and product. At this point, I can only give you my impression of their product from the standpoint of a potential client.

Their product is unique. I have never seen tea like this before. Each small packed tea wafer, when steeped, gives you a full blooming effect like that of a flower. There are at least thirteen different varieties of tea bloom, each with its own special theme. Each bloom has the capacity to be steeped for a total of 3 full pots of tea.

It is hard to showcase most products as one of a kind items, but Full Bloom Tea has done it beautifully. If all you saw was a picture of one of the blooms, you would almost need to know more about how the product came to be. I had been reading the entire width and breadth of the site to learn all there is to know before I got the opportunity to actually speak about them. I was enthralled by the sheer beauty that this tea emotes. I learned that each packet is hand crafted and individually wrapped. They take their time to produce excellent quality in every single tea bloom. Hand crafted quality is not as prevalent as it once was. I was happy to see that there is a company that makes each experience exceptional from start to finish.

I have just ordered my free Let Love Bloom sample so that I can get the experience first hand. You do have to pay $2 for the shipping and handling of your sample. If you decide to order anything else through the site, you will end up paying at least $5 flat rate for shipping of your items. That isn’t bad, seeing as how they could charge you that rate per bloom. You are given a number of shipping options, in case you want your blooms to be sent more quickly or by a different method. They also offer shipping around the world.

The company is already geared up for Mother’s Day as well, offering Mother’s Day gift sets starting at only $29. The smallest package will give you six tea blooms, a potential of 18 full pots of tea. Individual blooms start at $3 each, with volume discounts as you add blooms. Each bloom of tea is made from a base of Silver Needle White Tea, a very delicate variety.

I can’t wait to receive my sample in the mail. I wish they took PayPal. I would also suggest that they make their holiday specials more accessible as you are looking through the site. You have to go to the front page to find the specials again, instead of them being under “Tea Gifts” where I would expect them to be.

Overall, product not yet tasted, I give the company 4 1/2 cups. I might revise this once I get my sample so stay tuned!

Technorati Tags: Full Bloom Tea, Mother’s Day, tea, Silver Needle White Tea

I was drinking some Ceylon Tea from Twinings this morning. It’s a tea that is called the champagne of teas. Now, I don’t know about all that…I do know that it is a pretty nicely flavored little number. It is a bit on the bitter side, so you would want to add a dash of milk before you drink. It kind of reminds me of Oolong tea but stronger. I don’t have this one in loose form, only bagged. You can get a good 3 cups out of one bag depending on how strong you like your tea.

Overall it gets 4 out of 5 cups from me.

my son wrote this about Ceylon tea –> erddetgtgy

Technorati Tags: Ceylon Tea, Twinings, tea

Here is our first featured tip from our guest blogger, my Mom, Iris.

I have discovered a good way to brew green tea. Use a glass lined *not plastic lined* thermos to steep your green tea in. I have an Oster ThermoCarafe. Boil your water, put the water in the carafe, put your tea bags in that and close it. Then let it set. It comes out so good.

It makes such a difference. The taste is more robust. The tea comes out darker. It’s a better way to infuse your tea. You don’t even need to sweeten it. If you do need a bit of sugar, add a little apple juice. It’s a beautiful thing.

Also, you will have piping hot tea for at least a day. The tea doesn’t go bad. I left it over night and went to get some the next day…it was still too hot to drink. I left it another day and it was still warm.

My sister Janet says that it tastes funny in the coffee pot, but in the thermos it comes out better than the store.

Technorati Tags: green tea, tea

I received three new teas in the mail the other day, but have only sampled one thus far. I will tell you that the smell just opening the box took me to another place. Papaya permeated the air. I can smell it by just walking past my tea cabinet. It smells like heaven. You must understand that most teas don’t live up to their smells. The better smelling teas always taste just a bit less appealing than their aromas. The not-so-great smelling teas tend to have more robust flavors. Being as the papaya was mixed with green tea, you got the robust green mixing rather well with the mild papaya. The fruit doesn’t take over the cup, but you do get a nice blended flavor. The taste doesn’t land very far from the beautiful aroma of the leaves and fruit before being brewed. I was rather pleasantly surprised. I didn’t order this one, it came as a thank you sample from the seller. I must say that it would be well worth the money if I decided to buy a 1/4 pound outright.

4 out of 5 cups:

Technorati Tags: Papaya, tea, green tea

I was just introduced by my newfound friend to the TeaSwap blog. It’s a great place to read up on different teas and such. Bookmark it for reading after you read mine ;).

I have spoken to my mother about being a guest blogger here. It would be a weekly or monthly feature of her discoveries and ideas about tea. If you read my comments on various posts here, you can see that she is quite knowledgeable in the language of tea. I hope that we can begin this venture within the next month.

I don’t like chamomile tea. As a matter of fact, I only drink it when I am sick. Maybe I don’t like the sickly sweet taste of it even without honey. My taste really doesn’t matter as long as the tea does what it should. I can’t write objectively about it, so I will let my friend do the talking for me Retta outlines the joys and benefits of drinking Chamomile. Make sure you read about it and take it all in. It really is a wonder tea, just not one that I personally can gush about.

Technorati Tags: chamomile tea, Chamomile

I thought it would be gross…even not work after all the bitter taste.. but it does work and I am amazed at the flavor. Chrysanthemum tea is a fantastic natural solution for migraine pain. I have some that I got loose from Ebay. I just freeze whatever is left over so I can use it again in a subsequent migraine attack. It only takes one cup for my head to begin to feel better. There is a sort of menthol quality to the finish of the tea on your tongue, but other than it it is pleasant to the taste buds.

wiki on the tea

Technorati Tags: Chrysanthemum tea

I was talking about tea on my other blog today. I tell you what, I really need to get some more Jasmine green tea. I love it. It’s fully body well being! Jasmine has the same calming and soothing properties as lavender. The green tea, of course, is full of anti-oxidants and health benefits that it’s inevitable that you will feel the good that even just one cup does.