Crazy Tea Chick

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Bella Luna Blue from Adagio

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Some things happen once in a Blue Moon.

Sorry, I had to. 🙂

Bella Luna Blue, meet the reader. Reader, meet Bella.

I wish you could smell this tea! This is where scratch and sniff technology would really come in handy for smart phones and computers. (And then there are times that I’m really, really glad it doesn’t exist.)

This is the Bella Luna Blue tea from Adagio Teas and it smells like a slice of blueberry heaven, which I’m sure is a real section of the actual Heaven. Catch me there in 6 or 7 decades. This loose leaf tea is ONLY available for purchase on an actual blue moon and the next one is August 22nd (thank you so much Adagio for my bag – I’m so glad I didn’t have to wait!). This limited edition tea brews blue, but turns purple when you add lemon juice, and it’s pretty freaking cool to watch. In the picture below, I’m sure you’ll be able to tell which one I added lemon juice to.

Blue is my favorite color so I like mine better without the lemon juice, but the purple is still beautiful (and tart and lemony for those of you into that). The flavors are just as good as the smell, with a delicious combination of blueberries, lemongrass, and Butterfly Pea Flower.

Make sure to make yourself a note, or set a reminder, for August 22nd, so you can grab a bag of this tea and taste (and smell!) this yumminess for yourself. 🙂

Sleepytime Peach from Celestial Seasonings

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Funny story (or not?): as a baby I was allergic to peach fuzz and couldn’t have anything peach. Eventually I outgrew the allergy (obvs) and now I love any and all peach- flavored things (ice cream, candy, drinks, etc.).

This tea is my current favorite herbal tea – I go pretty hard with matcha and caffeinated tea all day (the thug life chose me), so I try to go herbal before bedtime to wind down a little. This herbal tea has all the good stuff: lemongrass, spearmint, chamomile, rosebuds, plus some blackberry leaves and orange blossoms just to show off.

I’ve never had a bad fruit-flavored herbal tea from Celestial Seasonings, and the streak lives on. I don’t wanna say this tea is just peachy….but yeah, I kind of do.

Green Tea Review: Triple Leaf Tea’s Ginkgo & Decaf Green Tea

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Triple Leaf Tea Ginkgo and Decaf Green Tea

As you’d expect from someone who runs a tea blog, I drink tea all day long. From the first glass of iced green tea in the morning (as odd as it may sound to some people, I drink iced green tea along with my cups of coffee each morning) to my last cup of hot tea in the evening, there’s a steady stream of tea bags and flowing tea leaves in my kitchen.

I don’t really like to have much caffeine late in the evening, though, so I’ve been experimenting with a few different decafs. One I’ve fallen particularly in love with is shown above, Triple Leaf Tea, Tea Bags, Ginkgo & Decaf Green Tea with Panax Ginsengs & Chinese Herbs, 1.4-Ounce Bags, 20-Count Boxes (Pack of 6).

Healthy and delicious? That’s something I can get behind.

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Herbal dietary supplement. Supports mental alertness & memory. Helps maintain a healthy immune system. Supports natural vitality. Naturally decaffeinated tea to maintain antioxidants. Ancient Chinese medicinals. Now you can enjoy the benefits of ginkgo, green tea and Chinese herbs without the caffeine! Our green tea is naturally decaffeinated using a carbon dioxide process that maintains green tea’s beneficial antioxidants. Research indicates that ginkgo helps promote healthy circulation and oxygen supply to the brain and extremities, and helps support normal mental alertness, concentration and memory. Gingko, Asian and American Panax ginsengs, eleuthero, astragalus, poria, fo-ti and eucommia are traditional Chinese longevity herbs, used to tonify the liver and kidney. They were used to help maintain the healthy function of the immune system, and to help build the body’s vitality, strength and resistance to mental and physical stress. Experts recommend drinking three or more cups of green tea a day. Drink this delicious tea anytime of day, hot or iced, as is, or try adding lemon and your favorite sweetener. Traditional Chinese medicine began in approximately 2500 B.C. Recently, here in the West, people have discovered the value of this ancient system which focuses on aiding the body’s own healing mechanisms through restoring harmony and balance. The Chinese system of herbology has been recorded in ancient texts which are studied and employed even today. This time tested knowledge has been passed on from generation to generation over the centuries. Triple Leaf Tea comes from such a tradition. It is made in the U.S.A. by a Chinese American family-owned business. The company owner can remember stories of his own grandfather selling herbs and teas in his village in China. Today, these traditional Chinese herbal formulas are available to you. We wish you harmony and balance! We use oxygen bleached tea bags. (These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.) Made in U.S.A.

All Triple Leaf Tea is excellent AND nutritious.  I’m beginning to feel like a complete expert on this brand because we’ve tried just about everything they make!

I love my Ginkgo & Decaf Green Tea with honey and a spritz of lemon but it’s actually a great tasting cup of tea without anything added. It’s also great on ice, but I prefer it hot.  Truth be told, even though I had it in mind for drinking in the evening, I often make a cup during the day simply because I’m hooked on the taste. In fact, it’s 10:40 am as I’m writing this review and I’m enjoying a cup right now.

A big, big cup.

Click either picture or the following link for more information about this flavorful, comforting, and ridiculously delicious tea: Triple Leaf Tea, Tea Bags, Ginkgo & Decaf Green Tea with Panax Ginsengs & Chinese Herbs, 1.4-Ounce Bags, 20-Count Boxes (Pack of 6).

Cup of Tea

My 5 favorite hot teas this month…

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As you may know (scratch that, you better know), January is National Hot Tea Month. I’m not sure how that works in other countries – I would recommend that they celebrate hot tea this month as well, but no one’s asked my opinion. Yet.

Anyway, as a way of celebrating hot tea, I’ve listed my current favorite hot teas below…obviously I’m pretty much crazy about most hot teas, but these are the ones that I just…can’t…stop….DRINKING. 🙂

White Coconut Creme by Tea Gallerie (official website): I cannot, with my great talent at words and description, even begin to describe how good this tea is. It seriously is amazing, and decadent, and reminiscent of a moist coconut cake that my mom makes that is out of this world. Make 2012 the year that you do nice things for yourself, and start by buying some of this tea.

 

Mint Chocolate Delight by Boston Tea Company (official website): Another tea that is delicious beyond words. Reminds me of those tasty after-dinner chocolates you get at Olive Garden when you’re ready to pay. Seriously one of the best teas I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking.

 

Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf Tea by Stash Premium Teas (official website): This tea is so, so decadent. It’s like you’re drinking a fancy chocolate Starbucks latte, but without the calories or caffeine. There have been times when I’ve wanted something sweet to eat, but I’ve just brewed some of this tea instead. Less calories, and all of the taste.

 

Wild Sweet Orange Herbal Infusion by Tazo Teas (official website): This is one of my 5 favorite teas of ALL TIME, not just for the month. It’s also the only tea that I’ve been able to convince Dill (my soda-guzzling spouse) to drink, and he loves it. As in, drinks about 2 cups of it each night. Success!

 

Mint Medley Herb Tea by Bigelow Tea (official website): I’m a hussy for anything with mint in it, and this tea is no exception to my rule. It’s delicious and tastes wonderful hot. We all know how good the herb mint is for us, and it goes without saying that tea does a body good, so do the math, people…drink this tea. 🙂

The Republic of Tea’s “Get Charged” Herbal Tea

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So, my sleep schedule’s been a little off these past few months. Instead of falling asleep around 12 or 1am (like I have most of my life), I’ve been falling asleep closer to 3 or 4am, which puts me behind on waking up, which throws my day off and I’m over it. Unfortunately, the only solution I can come up with is cutting back, ever so slightly, on my caffeine-intake. Cue the herbal, caffeine-free teas.

I did, of course, make coffee this morning (I didn’t want to DIE), but I decided to brew a tea that promoted “energy and focus” but didn’t O.D. me on caffeine. To my surprise, I found one in my cabinet (it’s like a tea shop up in there). The Republic of Tea has a line of red teas, and I happen to own one called “Get Charged: Herb Tea For Energy”. Yes, please.

It has a very strong smell, which is fine with me, and the taste is pretty strong as well. This is an “organic rooibos-based blend”, which is also paired with herbs like Chinese ginseng and peppermint, stevia, hibiscus, and a few things I’ve never heard of, honestly, like Ashwagandha, and Gotu kola leaf, which purportedly grants you focus and boosts circulation. (They do point out that the FDA hasn’t evaluated their statements, so don’t rely on their teas to treat diseases and whatnot.)

I can’t swear to anything, but I have noticed that since I finished my cup about an hour ago, I’ve stopped yawning, and I’ve gotten quite a few things done, including some writing that I’ve been putting off forever. The tea tastes pretty good – the only thing I don’t really love is the intense aftertaste. I’m all for a tea tasting vivid in my mouth while I’m drinking it, I just prefer not to still be tasting it several minutes after swallowing. But that’s not every person’s opinion, obviously – some people out there are crazy about aftertastes, God love ’em.

Final verdict? I’ll be brewing this tea quite often as an assistant to my morning coffee – the java wakes me up, while the tea keeps me focused. It’s so cute how they work together. 🙂

Ahhhhh…I’m so very proud right now.

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This is Dill. Rumor has it we’re married. He’s always been amused by my tea obsession but never really drank any himself. Until….

I got him hooked on Tazo’s Wild Sweet Orange, which he requests almost every evening now and has even gotten two of his friends to try. (They love it too.) In fact, I’ve had four guys try hot tea here at our place, and they’ve all loved the Wild Sweet Orange the best. Take note, any of you gents a little leery of getting into the business of drinking tea: Tazo’s business is booming, at least in this apartment. 🙂