OMG, this actually exits. A tea kettle that looks like Darth Vader???? What?? Not gonna lie, I am a bit of a Star Wars geek. Growing up the only movies that were always on (due to my father’s insistence) were James Bond movies, Indiana Jones movies, and anything Star Wars. For me, I was never interested in James Bond. Indiana Jones was great, particularly the one with Sean Connery (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), but the recent sequel left much to be desired. As for Star Wars… while yes I have issues with the prequels, in general I thought they were at least good stories… (maybe not that well told, but I digress). The new Star Wars? I love. So this tea pot, definitely hits the spot. The tag line for this product… “In space, no-one can hear you steam… which is a shame because the superbly menacing Darth Vader Kettle has a whistle that could awaken The Force” lol. Love it! To be sure not sure if I love it enough to actually buy it, because while the novelty of it is amazing, I prefer the electric tea kettles that can brew to a specific temperature. And currently, this model can not. 😦 Though if you have a Star Wars fan and a novice tea aficionado this might be the perfect something.
Some Milk with that Tea?
So I found this article today, and thought it was an interesting idea. Basically a British tea company, PG Tips, is creating a whole line of teas that are designed to specifically pair 
with non-diary milk products. I am not much of a milk with tea drinker, for two reasons: one being I simply do prefer to drink tea straight, and the other being the fact that I am lactose intolerant, so milk isn’t something that I keep around much. I have (though not very often) added soy milk to my tea, I do agree with the article that it can alter the taste of the tea, and not always in a good way. I would be interested to try this series when it comes out, just to see if it actually works.
Here is the article.
Happy Chinese New Year!
So today is the Chinese New Year and 2018 is the year of the Dog! Now supposedly tea isn’t main thing to drink on this Holiday, as like most New Year traditions (regardless of culture or religion) alcoholic drinks reign supreme. With that being said, there is a great family tradition that occurs on the first day of the Chinese New Year. After getting up, 
every member of the family dresses in their finest, and gathers in the living room with the eldest generation sitting in the most prominent place. The next generation will then offer them sweet tea in the traditional proper manner. If there is yet another younger generation, these grand children do the same to their grandparents and then parents. Along with the tea candied or dried fruits and veggies are also given out, and each one has a different meaning. Generally speaking, fresh fruit at the Chinese New Year symbolizes life and a new beginning. Sugared ones are a wish for a sweet year. More specifically an orange is a prayer or wish for good fortune, dried lychees and dried longans are both wishes for fertility along with pomegranates, melons and the pomelo are symbolic of family unity, a banana is a wish for education or brilliance at work or school, and apples symbolize peace. Some of these symbolic meanings can change from region to region in China, so this list might not be a completely accurate representation. That said, this is a wonderful little ritual that provides the time both to reflect on the past year and say prayers for the New Year, while also allowing time for family members to connect with each other.
Love and Tea – Literally
So I was researching tea and Valentine’s Day, and while searching the specific words of “love + tea”, I found this site, literally named Tea and Love Company! I figured that it was the perfect post for
Valentine’s Day! They are an artisan tea company that crafts tea in small batches. Located in Vermont, they use organically or ethically grown wildcrafted tea and herbs for their blends. They definitely seem to focus on what I would call more ‘herbal medicinal teas’, but they do have a lot of different herbal blend teas that I haven’t seen before. They also have a whole page devoted to tea for women’s wellness and another for children’s wellness. Since they are in Montpelier, VT, and I do travel through there a lot (my siblings live in northern Vermont), I will certainly try to stop by there next time I drive by!
Valentine Teas – Wedding Tea
Wedding Tea: Mutan White tea, lemon, vanilla, and pink rosebuds and petals.
This tea is by Harney & Son’s and can be found here.
I first discovered this tea about four years ago when my best friend, who also is a tea-alolic got married. I was her maid of honor and threw her a tea party themed bridal shower. While the planning details of that event (and the wedding) were a bit hellish, I am so glad I did it. Mainly because of it I found this tea! lol, I mean mainly because of the joy it brought my best friend? Anyways, this tea has become one of my favorite white tea blends, and one that despite its name, I always keep on hand. Though I am not going to lie, I do get some weird looks when I pull this out for guests considering that I am currently single.
First off, let me say that I love the aroma of this tea. There is a slight undertone of the aromal of the tea itself, but mainly it is the lovely sweet smell of vanilla with a hint of lemon. Not going to lie, I sometimes open the tea tin just to smell the tea. I brewed this cup of tea at 185º for three minutes. I did just check Harney & Son’s website to verify that before I posted this, and they recommend brewing it at 175º instead of 185º. My tea electric tea kettle (Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp Kettle) has a setting for white tea which brews it at 185º, and that is what I tend to brew my white teas on. Though honestly that is mainly because my brain goes, “White tea? Press the white tea button.” Personally I love this tea the way I brew it, but maybe next time I will try it at the temperature the site recommends to see if there is a difference. Now, onto flavor! It pretty much tastes how you would expect it too, given how it smells. It’s a beautiful blend of the subtle white tea flavors with that of vanilla and lemon. There are two things that I truly love about this blend. One, the aroma of this tea matches the flavor. I understand that the aroma of tea doesn’t have to match its flavor, and indeed sometimes that is done by design, but depending on what the aroma is (chocolate for example) I feel like I get cheated if the scent doesn’t match the flavor. Two, I love the subtle flavors of white tea, and generally speaking, I have found that white tea blends tend to overpower the flavor of the white tea and make it about the added ingredients. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that is good, but I love how the flavors this tea, all blend together equally.
On a side note, this tea is called the Wedding Tea for a reason. You can get this as tea favors for you wedding or as a wedding gift for a friend. They have a variety of options, and from personal experience I did get a personalized 5 sachets tin for my friends wedding. It was a part of a care bag I gave them for their honeymoon.
Overall Rating: 5 cups
“It can take a surprisingly long time to get from one part of my mind to another” — Ashleigh Brilliant
So it’s been a long time since I updated anything. I could pin it on a variety of things, but honestly I just got caught up in life. Ironically when I tried to get back into the grove of things, this past December, I couldn’t sign into my account. The email address I was using was my school email address, which of course I no longer had access to since *drum roll* I graduated! lol That took some time to figure out, but now I am back! And of course while I was away I was still buying lots of tea. I figure I can jump back in this week with some Valentine themed teas, and then go from there.
The “Expense” of Good Tea
So I found this awesome article on one of the tea sites I frequent, and figured I would share. It breaks down the cost of tea per cup, and it shows how (most of the time), good artisanal loose leaf tea can cost you the same, if not cheaper than the tea bags you buy in most stores.
Its good way of thinking about how you buy tea. Sometimes artisanal teas can give you a bit of sticker shock, but when you actually break it down to the price per cup, it might be a worthwhile buy. 🙂
Tea Thyme
Here is a drink I found using tea. Hopefully your weekend was less stressful than mine, and you won’t need a glass to decompress. Though maybe just one for fun. 🙂
Tea Thyme
- TOTAL TIME: 5 MIN PLUS; 2 HR STEEPING
- SERVINGS: MAKES 1 DRINK
This drink uses a homemade vodka tea and to sweeten it, local honey.
TO MAKE TEA VODKA
- In a jar, combine the vodka with the English Breakfast tea bag. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, then discard the tea bag. For every 12 ounces of vodka use one tea bag.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 thyme sprigs
- Ice
- 1 1/2 ounces Tea Vodka
- 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons honey mixed with 2 teaspoons of water
DIRECTIONS
- In a cocktail shaker, lightly muddle 1 of the thyme sprigs. Add ice and the Tea Vodka, lemon juice and honey syrup and shake well. Strain into a chilled martini glass or coupe and garnish with the remaining thyme sprig.
MAKE AHEAD
The infused vodka can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Sourced from Food & Wine Online Archives
A Tip for Tea — Oil in my tea?
So have you ever poured yourself a nice cup of tea, only to realize there is a thin layer of what looks like scum or oil across the top of it? When I first started drinking loose tea, I ran into this problem a lot. I was convinced that it was because I wasn’t washing my tea cups well enough or somehow there was still soap residue in them. There was a while there when I definitely went slightly over board on the scrubbing and rinsing of my tea cups. When it was still happening, I started to get paranoid about the quality of water. Turns out, it wasn’t the my questionable dish washing skills or the water, it was the tea itself.
Some teas, particularly black teas, have a high volume of essential oils in them. As you steep the tea, this oil is released from the leaves. For all those who don’t remember this science experiment from way back in fifth grade, (or anyone that doesn’t cook) oil and water don’t mix. So when you pour yourself a nice cup of black tea, a lovely thin layer of oil coats the surface of your tea. Some folks do remove this layer of oil went it appears, but it isn’t necessary. While this might not look all the appealing it doesn’t harm you. In fact, considering all the buzz there is out there on the internet about how tea oil is good for you (either for your skin or hair or to promote digestion, honestly I don’t pay too much attention to such things), you might want to guzzle it down. Except don’t, your tea at this point is most likely burning hot. 🙂 Also, arguably in removing the tea oil might also alter the taste of the tea. It’s up to you.
Quick side note, for anyone interested in trying out Golden Tips (a premium variety of Assam), it has a lot of essential oils in. Considering it can be a quite pricey tea, some people are very surprised by this layer of oil, and get a little bit testy. But now you won’t!
So the next time you see that lovely layer of film on your tea, have no fear, and drink up!
Awesome tea pots
So I recently came across these amazing tea pots! I am normally not a fan of too ornate teapots… I personally believe that teapots should be used, not just act as art pieces. Don’t get me wrong, they can definitely be both, but a teapot is not supposed to sit on a shelf and just look pretty. And teapots with delicate little details are just begging to get broken off… however if I had a spare couple of hundred of dollars lying around I might break that rule for these two pots.
They are from a site called The Tao of Tea, which is a tea shop in Portland, Oregon. They are called the “‘GAUTAMA’ HANDMADE TEAPOT II” and “‘THE KING OF THE FOREST’ HANDMADE TEAPOT II“. They are simply amazing. 
The are all handmade and come from the region of Yixing in China. Now as they are each $225 (and currently out of stock as of this posting), they are not something I would be buying anytime soon. But I love looking at them!
tea addict 