Tea Tuesday: New Additions

I went a little crazy this week and bought approximately a bajillion new teas to add to my collection. Adagio is awesome and lets you get sample sized packets  for a couple bucks. Since I'm still new to their brand the offer was too good to resist, I went through the entire selection and got samples of pretty much anything that looked good! Shipping was really fast too, I think it only took maybe two business days. I got so excited when I saw the package sitting on my front step this morning! 

I ended up with: 

♥ Thai Chai

♥ Masala Chai

♥ Sencha Premier

♥ Sleeping Dragon

♥ Early Grey Moonlight

♥ Irish Breakfast

♥ Jade Oolong

♥ White Symphony 

I also went back to Fava Tea Company, my local shop which I wrote about here. I restocked on my favorites from my sample purchase like their Spiced Pear and Raspberry Patch, and I picked out three new teas to try; Vanilla Spice Chai, Almond Spice Chai and French Breakfast.

The French breakfast is amazing. The leaves smell and feel creamy, and the brew itself is like coffee. I've been drinking it when I want more caffeine in the morning but I don't want to get the jitters and it's just as satisfying. 

I haven't had a chance to make any of my Adagio samples yet, which should I try first?

Tea Tuesday: Adagio Hugs & Kisses and Sweet Nothings

When I posted about my Valentine's Day, I mentioned that my boyfriend gifted me some new tea from Adagio, which is a brand I've been dying to try for a few months now. I only ever hear good things about them and was eager to try some of their tea for myself.

Unfortunately, the Valentine's Day gift set Love Petals was sold out. But, I still got two of the tins that came in the set -- Hugs & Kisses and Sweet Nothings.

I won't lie, I not-so-subtly dropped some hints before Valentine's Day that I had been eyeing these up. Look at those tins, even if I hated the tea I know for a fact I would have found a way to decorate with the containers. The good news is that I absolutely love both of them!

Hugs & Kisses is a rooibos tea blended with rose petals and cornflowers. The blend itself is absolutely gorgeous and brightly colored, I almost want to just eat it straight out of the tin. 

The flavor is a little bit heavier than it looks, but that's to be expected with most rooibos. I think it's better with a small amount of milk mixed in (almond milk, for me!) It leaves a slightly strange aftertaste in my mouth, but the initial flavor is great so I don't mind as much. It also has little to no caffeine, which is perfect for me because I like to drink tea before bed. 

Sweet Nothings is a white tea, and is actually the first white that I've added to my collection. I was a little bit apprehensive about it at first, because white teas are more delicate. They are more sensitive to temperature and steeping time, and the flavor is more subtle. Most of my tea is black, which is pretty much the exact opposite of all of those things. 

The white tea is blended with sunflower petals, lavender buds and apricot. It isn't as pretty to look at as Hugs & Kisses, but the taste is amazing. It's light and refreshing without being too fruity, because fruity tea just makes me feel like I'm drinking juice. I'm not turned off to the idea of white tea anymore just thanks to how delicious this blend is and I want to buy a bajillion more flavors. 

It's too bad that the third tin in the set, Ripe for Romance, was sold out. From the website, it looks as though that blend was a favorite in the reviews. Which I mean, is probably why it was sold out in the first place. It's a black tea with chocolate and raspberry flavors I'm sure I would have loved. I'm signed up to get a notification when it comes back in stock, so hopefully I'll get a chance to review that one as well!

I've been doing Tea Tuesday for a few weeks now and I'd love some feedback on the feature. Do you enjoy Tea Tuesday or find it useful at all? Anything you'd like to see added or improved upon? Please let me know!

Tea Tuesday: Fava Tea Company

I've been on the hunt for local and online places to purchase tea as of late. I felt like I got into a bit of a Teavana rut just because it was a shop that I passed by so often. I was longing to explore other options. I was very, very pleased when I noticed a place called Fava Tea Company just outside the mall that I frequent.

I did some research before I stopped in and found out they're a local company with two locations in Wisconsin, one of which is actually back in my hometown so I'll be sure to stop by that shop next time I'm visiting my family.

The first thing I noticed about Fava was the size of the store. I didn't feel at all like I was going to knock something over if I turned around too quickly like I often do in Teavana. There were maybe four or five other customers in the store when I stopped by, and there was more than enough space for all of us to explore.

The walls of the store are lined with canisters containing the various teas, each with a smaller tin so you can take a closer look before purchasing. There were also several teas ready brewed for sampling scattered across the store. The selection of tea is huge, but to help keep track of what you like there are little menus available to mark down the quantity of which teas you want to purchase while you browse.

The second thing I noticed was the sense of independence while looking around. A huge selling point with me at any store is my ability to peruse without a sales person hovering over my shoulder, making suggestions or pushing products I don't want. I've been known to avoid going to certain stores just because I've had experiences where I felt  smothered by the employees.

The sales people who were working at Fava when I stopped by managed to perfectly walk the line between helpful and hands-off. I was greeted, asked if I had any questions and then left to freely take a look at whatever caught my fancy. That's exactly how I like it.

After a good twenty minutes in the store, I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the selection. To be honest, I wanted to try one of everything. Thankfully, I noticed a sign on the counter that they were offering sample gift sets for (I think) $26. The set came with one ounce of six different teas, and I decided that would be a good way to get an introductory feel for their offerings. I purchased the box, along with one other flavor.

I couldn't wait to get home, I ended up trying them all within a two-day span. The only one not pictured below is one that came with the gift set called Raspberry Patch -- because I drank it all!

1. Fava's Winter Blend: This one actually ended up being one of my favorites. It's a black tea, and the flavor reminds me of the Holidays. It's seasonal, so I hope I can get another bag before it's gone.
2. Spice Pear: This is the one that I purchased on my own outside the gift set, I'm glad I did too because it's tied for my favorite. Of course, both of the one's I liked best are seasonal, boo. It's another black tea and the flavor is very unique and not overwhelmingly fruity.
3. Lemon Meringue: I was surprised that I liked this one. It's a rooibos, so it's low in caffeine and I have a tendency to drink tea before bed so that's definitely a feature I can appreciate. The flavor is fresh and like the Spice Pear, slightly fruity.
4. Moluccas Spice: I'm on the fence about this one. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. This is another rooibos. It has a very heavy scent and flavor.
5. Almond Cookie: Not quite as sweet as you'd expect from the name. Another black tea. It smells heavenly, but the taste is more subtle.
6. Nutcracker Sweet: This one was my least favorite. It smells nice, and I tend to like nutty flavors so I thought I'd enjoy it. And to be honest, the initial flavor is alright but it leaves a weird aftertaste in my mouth. This is an oolong.
7. Raspberry Patch: (Not pictured) I drank all of this one so I wasn't able to take a photo, which is a shame because it was gorgeous. I tried this one last, because I'm not usually a fan of very fruity tea and I assumed going in I wasn't going to like it. I was really surprised when I took my first sip and actually really enjoyed it. It's definitely better iced in my opinion, I made an entire pot of it for me and my boyfriend and used it all up but it's definitely on my re-buy list. I'm sure it would be especially amazing in the Summer.

Overall, my experience at Fava Tea Company and with their products has been a positive one. I can't wait to go back to Appleton to pick up more of my favorites and try new tea as well. Even though there were a few in the sample pack I wasn't crazy about, I was able to try some that I ended up really enjoying and probably wouldn't have picked out on my own.

Even if you're no where near the Fox Valley or Milwaukee area, they have an online shop that you can check out as well!

I love finding and supporting locally owned businesses, if you know of any local tea shops in your area I can order from please leave them in the comments!

Tea Tuesday: Reddit Tea and Coffee Exchange

Hey everyone! For this week's Tea Tuesday I just wanted to let you know about Reddit Gift's  coffee and tea exchange this year.

If you have a Reddit account (you can sign up for one easily) you can participate in Reddit Gifts, which hosts various types of world-wide exchanges with different themes such as Pokemon, books, crafts, etc. For more information on how the whole process works, click here.

You can specify if you're interested in tea, coffee or both. If you want to try flavors and brands of tea and wish you could do the whole Secret Santa thing all year, then this is literally everything you've ever dreamed of. I signed up on day one and I can't wait to get my match on February 18th -- I'm going to send them a bunch of flavors from a local tea shop I just discovered a few days ago.

To sign up, click this link right here. 

Remember, you need a Reddit account. You can sign up for one at Reddit.com. I highly suggest becoming a part of the Reddit community if you haven't heard of it before, even for those just interested in fashion the smaller community (subreddit) Female Fashion Advice is a great resource and to get individualized advice when it comes to dressing. There is also Male Fashion Advice for those of you with a Y chromosome.

Who knows, maybe we'll get matched!

P.S Stay tuned for next week's Tea Tuesday, where I'll be reviewing the tea I bought at the local shop I found.

Teavana Perfect Tea Maker Guide & Review

When I introduced Tea Tuesday, I mentioned that I now have a cast iron tea pot. It's really my favorite way to make tea, but it isn't necessarily the cheapest method either. Before I had my cast iron, I made my tea in the Teavana Perfect Tea Maker, which is a much cheaper alternative way to steep loose leaf tea. And trust me, once you try loose leaf you'll never go back to bags.

The Perfect Tea Maker is pictured on the right, along with my favorite chai blend that I'll be using to do a quick demonstration on how the Tea Maker works. I have the smaller version, which costs $19.95. 

If you have a tin of tea from Teavana, there should be a label on the outside detailing how much tea per 8oz of water to use, the temperature of the water and how long you should let the leaves steep. 

If you're using another brand -- don't worry, it's not a closely guarded secret or anything. You can easily find guides for various kinds of tea all over the internet, like this pretty and compact one from The Tea Spot. You could even print it and put it on your fridge for easy access. 

After that, preparation is pretty easy. Ideally you would heat your water in a kettle, but the last time I used mine the water came out too fast and I scalded my hand so no, the kettle cannot come out to play right now, it's grounded. I cheated and popped a mug of water in the microwave. 

Put your teaspoons full of tea in the Tea Maker. Just dump them right in there. If you're using any sweetener, you can put that in there too. I've been using real sugar until recently, but I just started a keto diet so I'm using Sweet 'n Low. Because I'd rather load my body up with chemicals than get fat. 

 I've measured my mug and it holds 12oz of water, which means I need one and a half scoops of tea leaves. I like my tea stronger, so I used two. The rules here aren't set in stone, feel free to experiment with all of the guidelines, though some types of tea will get bitter if made in water that is too hot or left for too long, so be careful. 

When your water is ready and at the correct temperature, dump it in there too. It's kind of cool to watch the color of the water change for the first couple of seconds. Now leave it alone for the prescribed amount of time.

When it's ready, proceed to lift up the mug and ooh and ahh at how none of the tea comes out. Pretend you are doing a magic trick (illusion, Michael.)

Place it on your mug and it all drains out!

Now some of you may be wondering, "How do I clean it?" Well, I'm glad you asked that because that brings me to the review portion of today's program. 

Review

Cleaning it is a massive pain in the ass. You can try dumping the leaves out into the garbage, but there are a lot of nooks and crannies in there and it won't all come out. You can try rinsing it and pouring it down your sink, which is great if you like clogged sinks. I don't have a garbage disposal, so I'm not sure how well that would work. The website says that the strainer can be removed to wash separately  but I've done quite a bit of tugging and pulling on the contraption and have yet to be able to remove it before feeling like I'm going to snap it in half. 

Pros: 

♥ Cheap way to make loose leaf tea

♥ Allows for making more than one cup at a time, as opposed to a strainer 

Cons: 

X Difficult to clean

X The plastic stains after repeated use

X Tea seems to get cold very quickly 

Verdict: 

A good choice for those who just want to dip their toe into the warm, cozy world of tea without much commitment. However, the design could certainly be improved upon and may prove to be difficult to clean for many people. If you're already tea lover, you'll probably find yourself preferring to spring for a tea pot right away instead. Most of the time I find I'd rather use my tea pot because the strainer is so much easier to dump out and rinse. The Perfect Tea Maker is somehow more work than a tea pot. 

Do you have any questions or topics you'd like me to touch on for Tea Tuesday? Tell me in the comments!

Note: I am not affiliated with Teavana in any way. This review is completely unsponsored. 

Introducing Tea Tuesday

Hey everyone! I hope your Holidays went well. It's taken me a bit to get back into the swing of things, but today I'd like to introduce a new feature -- Tea Tuesday!

Yes, I'm aware that today is Wednesday. I actually started the post yesterday, but something came up and I wasn't able to finish it. It felt silly to wait another week to get started just because of my weird obsession with alliteration, so just roll with me here.

I got a cast iron teapot for Christmas this year, and let me tell you I am in love. There's something so satisfying about the ritual of making a pot of tea rather than popping a glass in the microwave, and I can definitely tell the difference when it comes to taste.

My sister has a tradition of giving me tea paraphernalia every year. I have another teacup and a ceramic teapot from her, and this year she gave me this gorgeous peacock tea mug. I've been drinking at least a glass a day from it. 

And my favorite tea at the moment is this blend from Teavana of their Maharaja Chai Oolong and Samurai Chai Mate. I'm a huge fan of chai teas. I also have their Rooibos chai because it's low in caffeine and I like to drink tea at night, but I love how spicy this blend is.

I also sampled Teavana's Youthberry tea, which I hear a lot of people raving about. I can't say I'm a fan, even though I've tried making it both hot and cold. I guess I just don't like fruity teas very much. 

I'm looking forward to making Tea Tuesday a regular feature. I'll be reviewing various tea blends and products, and providing any advice or tips that I stumble across. 

I'm also on the lookout for new brands to try. Teavana is definitely one of the most visible tea brands out there, but that doesn't necessarily make them the best.

  If any of my fellow tea enthusiasts have some recommendations for me, please leave them in the comments!