Writing about tea is always rewarding and peaceful for me–especially on rainy days. Today started out like most of my rainy tea writing days. As the deluge poured outside the office window, I made a pot of Earl Grey Crème tea (a definite favorite), and then settled in front of the computer to write a post or two.
But…this day was different. Instead of a cup or two of the same brew, I let the creative tea juices flow and sampled as many gourmet teas as possible throughout the rest of the day. I couldn’t drink every tea variety in my cupboard, but certainly gave it a try.
The process was simple and went something like this—a blend of gourmet tea would be selected at random and one cup was brewed. After drinking it, another was selected and brewed. This continued until I just couldn’t consume anymore.
Selections included herbal teas, black, green and white teas. I kept a record of the tea blends and varieties selections I managed to enjoy before calling an end to a successful tea writing day:
—Earl Grey Crème Tea – a fragrant black tea and flavorful variation of traditional Earl Grey Tea. Since this is one of my favorites I drank three cups (Teavana).
—Precious White Peach – reminiscent of southern peaches and iced tea on the veranda (Teavana). This one was a great accent for the southern barbecue sandwich I had for lunch.
—Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls – Green tea and jasmine blossoms rolled into small pearl shaped balls (Teavana).
—Orange Jasmine – Ceylon and Chinese black tea leaves with orange, vanilla and jasmine blossoms (Mighty Leaf).
—Jerusalem Mint Tea –refreshing peppermint, spearmint and a hint of lime—quite comforting and relaxing (Mount of Olives Treasures Tea).
—Flowering Almond – Chinese and Ceylon black tea, almond extract and sunflowers (Felissimo).
—French Verveine Herbal Tea – hand-picked lemon verbena leaves that have been carefully dried. It has a strong lemony flavor (Harney & Sons Teas).
—Russian Spice Tea – a blend of instant tea, orange drink mix, and assorted spices. This is a wonderful holiday tea (my homemade recipe). I ended the day with three cups.
One can never drink enough tea; but too much of a good thing can have a few side-effects. All in all it was a great writing day and I did manage to save some tea for another rainy one.
