It’s Tea Season

It’s Tea Season!!!!

 

It’s Tea Season!!!!. The air in the morning is cooler, and my favorite way to start off a day besides reading my Bible is sipping a cup of hot tea. I’m not a coffee drinker and besides I eat a lot of chocolate, so I try to monitor how much caffeine I intake.

 

However drinking tea also makes me feel connected to my ancestors, the immigrants who traversed seas to come to America for religious freedom. The people who help build this great country by rebelling and throwing their tea into the Boston harbor.

 

I know a lot of info and expectations for a small cup of tea.

 

Throughout my journey of tasting teas, I have found some of my favorites with the perfect balance of flavor and aroma. I take my tea very English, with milk and sugar. So these teas are not distorted when these two elements get mixed in.

 

I thought I’d share the list of my favorites.

 

1. Smith’s Lord Bergamot

 

Lord Bergamot is a dark tea with high citrus notes. I was given it. This tea has an earthy flavor with bergamot notes. It is bold enough to stand up to the milk and sugar. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do because I’m not an Earl Grey fan.   I shop usually at lower priced stores ie target and Safeway and Walmart and none of those places sell this brand. I also haven’t gotten around to looking online. Last September, Jman and I went to Universal Studios for the first time, we went to Pyscho donuts which had vegan donuts, and it also sold this tea so the elation we found with sharing donuts and having a great cup of tea made this day very special.

 

2. Tazo Vanilla Chai

 

I love a good chai. But often chais are too spicy or too cinnamon-y. Tazo Vanilla Chai is that perfect balance of sweet and spicy. It also is my firm belief that chai is better with vanilla. This tea delivers without having to spend money on a bottle of vanilla syrup.

 

3. Twinnings Darjeeling

 

I’ve been told that Darjeeling is the champagne of teas. This tea is light and earthy. If I’m having a morning where I’m not quite ready for the power punch of Smith’s Lord Bergamot, I go with Twinning’s Darjeeling. Again this stands up to sugar and milk with smooth notes. Twinnings isn’t very expensive either and the purple box makes this a win-win.

 

4. Mighty Leaf Tropical Green Tea.

 

Some mornings I feel groggy and like I’m going to get sick. Or my throat is raw from my attempt to sing with the bullfrogs all night as I sleep. Those mornings I tend to gravitate to a green tea. However, I find just plain green tea is unstomachable. So I try to get fruity flavored green teas.  This tea packs a punch!!! Its fruity notes help the grassy notes of green tea and help me feel like I can face the day. Add some honey for a raw throat and it’s my secret weapon to get my game face on.

 

5. Bigelow Mint Medley

 

For years, I just drank mint tea to settle my stomach. It was either anxiety, too much sugar, but many mornings with my stomach in knots i felt like i couldn’t face the day. Mint tea was the only thing that helps get over the morning of not feeling good. I took advantage of this tea when I was sick as well. Sometimes tea companies want to mix other flavors with mint, but when I want mint tea, I don’t really want lemongrass or tarragon mixed in. I just want pure mint. Mint Medley is a mix of mint, peppermint, and spearmint. It’s strong enough to stand up to milk and sugar and doesn’t really taste like toothpaste.

 

6. Bigelow Constant Comet

 

This is a classic.  I think my mom told me that my grandmother or her grandmother loved this tea, so when I tried it I thought it would I wouldn’t like this. However One day at work where I was tired and had a headache and the only tea in the break room was Constant Comet, it dared me to try it and I did. It’s orangy and spicy but the flavors are not over the top. They are just enough to be pleasantly surprised.  It’s a good tea and I like it.

 

7. Twinning English Breakfast

   

English Breakfast, another classic but this is my go to if I’m somewhere not near my stash. This one is smooth, woodsy, and not a punch in the face. Sometimes Tea companies think that this breakfast tea it should be full of dark flavors and bitterness. I think it should be smooth and dark and mysterious( however not mysterious by hiding ingredients) but ingredients that as I’m drinking it I should have a hard time placing.

 

Woah this list is very long!!!! Who knew I could write three pages on tea???

I have a few more that are more holiday editions, or my sleeping tea when I only drink if I feel like I’m going to have a hard time going to sleep.

 

1. Celestial Seasons- Vanilla Sleepytime, very good chamomile tea mixed with other delicious flavors. Perfect for winding down a stressful day.

 

2. Celestial Seasons- Christmas Cookie. This tea is magic. It tastes just like a Christmas cookie and there is no cookie ingredients. I bought it on a whim last year and I used it all. So this year I’ll be looking for it again.

 

3.Bigelow Peppermint- Peppermint. Smooth, not toothpaste, perfect if you just want peppermint flavor. It feels like Christmas in a cup.

 

4. Tazo Green Ginger- This another green that is balanced with sweetness and earthy flavor but it is fruity as well. It has lemongrass in it(I’m okay with lemongrass in my green teas but not in my mint!!!)

 

Whew!!! Some places I love to drink tea are Disneyland, my mom’s house especially early morning and watching the sun color the world, at the beach (although I’ve never gotten up early enough to watch the sunrise at the beach) I love just being by the beach and  Yosemite. I also love to go to high tea.

 

It has to been in a fun mug. Something that makes you feel loved or smile or laugh when you drink from it.

 

Okay here is my guide to the best teas. This is just my opinion. Do you have a favorite tea? List it down in the comments.

 

Genesis 2:2-3

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

 

TTFN and God Bless you and Keep you.