Queen of Tarts (from David’s Teas)

One recent morning I needed a cup of tea to jump start my morning. It seemed a good morning to try a new tea. I made myself a cup of Organic Queen of Tarts. What a fun new tea. A strong fruity smell woke me up quickly and made me smile. Next I enjoyed the delicious fruit-filled taste. Yum.

I love this tea. It is fun and fruity and a great way to get one’s morning started. So, try something new it just might brighten your day!

Numi Tea by Mood

This delightful collection of tea was a recent gift from loved ones. It includes eight different types of tea that you are encouraged to select based on your mood or the mood you could like to achieve.

So far, I have enjoyed Focus, Balance, and Energize. And I’m looking forward to enjoying Invigorate, Inspire, Sleep, Reflect, and Refresh. The first tea I tried was Balance which is an Aged Earl Grey. It is delicious. Very smooth and not at all bitter. Next I tried Focus which is their Breakfast Blend. Another delicious tea perfect for getting me moving on a weekday morning. Yesterday was a morning when I needed more pep in my step, so I tried Energize, Emperor’s Pu-erh. And again, I was not disappointed. All three of the teas I have sampled have been easy to drink and tasty. I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the teas.

On the back of the wheel of tea is a detailed description of what is in each tea. This side is called Tea by Flavor. Numi includes descriptions of how much of each tea is fair trade certified and all of their teas are organic. These are teas you can feel good about drinking while also improving your mood. I’m hoping this weekend I’ll find some time to try the remaining teas as the weekend is the perfect time to Refresh, Reflect, Invigorate, Inspire, and most importantly Sleep.

Taylor’s Assorted Specialty Teas

For Christmas, I received this fancy box of tea. Opening it and selecting a tea makes me feel special like when I’m at a nice restaurant that brings out an assortment of teas or on a cruise ship where the waiter offers teas from a wooden box.

So far I have enjoyed six of these eight teas. You won’t be surprised to know that the Decaffeinated Breakfast Tea and Green Tea with Jasmine remain to be sampled. I like my black tea with caffeine and usually leave the green tea drinking to my husband. I have previously enjoyed Taylor’s Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Organic Chamomile, and Organic Peppermint, and found them all to be delicious in this box too.

The biggest surprises to me are the Lemon and Orange Tea and Assam Tea. I’ve been enjoying the Assam Tea in the morning to wake me up. I add some honey to sweeten it a little and find that this tea kick starts my morning routine. The Lemon and Orange Tea is advertised as a “zesty and vibrant black tea”. I like the hints of fruit flavors that enhance but do not overwhelm the black tea on morning when I need a more subtle wake up.

I am thankful for these tasty teas in their fancy box which have been brightening my mornings and bringing a sense of calm to my evenings.

Chai Tea Latte Frappe

Chai Tea Latte Frappe
With black tea, ginger, spices, and honey

This is my first ever Frappe because they always have coffee in them. When I saw this on the menu, I had to try it. No coffee only tea and other goodness. I would describe it as a tea milkshake. It is not something I would want to drink daily. It is a fun treat perfect for those times you find yourself in Aruba on vacation. The spices and tea flavor shined through and the honey sweetened it the perfect amount. A fun drink for the tea lover.

Read My Lips by DAVIDsTEA

This tea was a gift from my husband when he returned to the land of Wisconsin where we used to live. This is my first experience with DAVIDsTEA, and I enjoyed this cup of tea.

I will admit that the description on the bag “This sweet black tea with vanilla, peppermint, chocolate and little red candy lips for a kiss of sweetness” made me nervous. That sounds like too many flavors for one cup of tea. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. The first thing I noticed was the smell of chocolate. No one flavor overpowered the others and they all worked together to create a delicious, smooth cup of tea. I love black tea, and I cannot stand bitter black tea. I was instructed to let my tea steep for 4-7 minutes. My plan was three minutes to ensure the tea was not bitter. I got distracted and the tea steeped for a whole 6 minutes, and it was not bitter at all. It was a smooth cup of fun tea to start off my morning.

I am looking forward to trying more flavors of DAVIDsTEA and enjoying another cup of this tea too.

What is bringing you joy today?

In a world where bad news dominates the air waves, it is important for us to spread good news. It is vital for us to share what brings us joy. So today, I encourage you to be someone who is looking for the good and points out what you see to others. The joy or good news you share doesn’t need to be huge or earth shattering. It is life changing because we will be the ones vocalizing that there is still goodness and joy in this world among all the negativity that is shared.

(Please know that I am not suggesting that we ignore the news or the events happening around us. I am encouraging us to be people who share joy where we see it while being aware that there is much that needs to be changed in our world.)

I will share what is bringing me joy today. This cup which is a perfect blend of my love of tea and my husband’s love of pharmacy. It makes me smile each time I see. I wanted to share this with you and encourage you to share what is bringing you joy today. May you find peace and joy on your path today.

A Tea-Filled Advent

Advent is one of my favorite seasons of the church year. Over the years I have observed the season in many different ways. I have written Advent Hopeful, Peaceful, Joyful, Loving, and Christmas Eve Benedictions and Words of hope, peace, joy, and love. I have shared Advent Prayer Stations and Advent Candle Lighting Rituals featuring hope, peace, joy , love, and Christmas.

This year I am enjoying a tea of the day calendar.

I found my tea calendar at Uncommon Goods.

And so far, I have enjoyed the first tea. A fun, fruity green tea was a great start to the season.

So however you are observing the season of Advent, my prayer for you is that you will find the hope, peace, joy, and love of this season in your life. Blessings to each of you this Advent!

 

Wild Maine Blueberry Loose Black Tea

Bar Harbor Tea Company’s Wild Maine Blueberry Loose Black Tea is amazing. When I opened the bag of tea, I felt like I was walking through a blueberry farm. This tea gives you an explosion of blueberries from the first sip to the last sip, and yet the taste of blueberries isn’t fake or overwhelming. I love that they paired black tea with blueberries, so I can have a fun morning cup of tea with some caffeine too. This tea is going to be my morning choice for the last few weeks of summer. A big thank you to my tea drinking friend for giving me my first taste of this fabulous new tea and introducing me to a new place to find delicious teas.

Alaska Wild Teas Raspberry Tea

A year ago, I was enjoying a journey through Alaska with my family. It was a wonderful week exploring beautiful places, relaxing, eating delicious food, and spending quality time with my family. One of my souvenirs to remind me of the trip was this delicious tea. Since I love all things raspberry, I thought a raspberry herbal tea would be the perfect way to remember my time in Alaska. So to remember the trip, I enjoyed a cup of this tea this week.
This raspberry tea is a smooth, easy to drink tea with a subtle taste of raspberry. It is delicious and not too full of raspberry flavor. It pairs well with See’s Dark Chocolate Balls (a favorite treat of mine). It does appear that you can order this tea online if a trip to Alaska is not in your future. I’m planning to enjoy this tea as my evening summer beverage as I remember a great trip.

Italian Grey

Italian Grey at The Cafe at Thistle Farms
When I began planning a trip to Nashville, a stop at The Cafe at Thistle Farms was high on my to do list. A cup of tea that supports a good cause is one of my favorite things. My experience lived up to my high expectations. The woman who took my order and fixed my tea made an excellent suggestion. I enjoyed the Italian Grey which they describe as brisk, rosewood, tangerine marmalade.
  
My tea arrived on a tray with milk and sugar cubes. I was also informed I could request a second steeping with my tea leaves all for only $3.50!
My pot of tea was more than enough for three cups, so I had one plain, one with a cube of sugar, and one with milk. And each one was delicious. My favorite was plain as this is how I most often drink a good cup of tea.
I highly recommend a stop at this shop for a good cup of tea for a good cause.