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Tea Bloggers Name Favorites in an Interview on Coffee Tea Club

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Alexa

The Highly Photographic Alexa

Coffee Tea Club asked 12 tea experts (including the Crazy Tea Chick), “If you could only recommend 3 specialty teas to a Brit used to drink traditional English breakfast tea, what would those 3 be?”

I  happened to be away from home when I answered the question and, since I was on my iPhone, didn’t go into much detail about my three answers. I simply asked myself, “If you were to talk to a Brit right now (which I basically was) and wanted to recommend three particular teas, what ones would you recommend?”  Since a full on battle with spellcheck, which isn’t fluent in “Kentuckian,” wasn’t on my to do list, I kept my short – as in a few words. My hope was that anyone reading my answers would simply find the teas online and read more about them…. then buy them and see for themselves why I singled them out.

I also didn’t have access to a photo, so the interviewer pulled from one of my social media accounts – which is actually great by me. My cat photographs 110 times better than I do.

So there’s that.

Click on the following link to read the entire article: Recommended Teas from Tea Bloggers. While on the website, have a good look around. You have to (strongly) respect anyone who loves both coffee and tea.

Raspberry Zinger by Celestial Seasonings: How Raspberry Tea Should Taste!

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Peach Raspberry TeaIf you pride yourself on being a tea connoisseur (*raises hand*), then you probably have noticed something about raspberry tea: it’s either bizarre and artificial-tasting, or it’s blissful and awesome-tasting. It’s one of my personal obsessions, so it’s safe to say I’ve tried every raspberry tea known to tea lovers.

While raspberry tea can, at times, be hit or miss, Raspberry Zinger from Celestial Seasonings is a HIT (all caps).  Like bases-loaded, let’s-score-the-winning-run sort of hit.

My favorite thing about this tea is the tartness you can detect: nothing sugary, but a taste slightly sour, like it should be with a raspberry tea.

It tastes exactly how raspberry tea fanatics (*raises hand again*) want their tea to taste – sublime.

Raspberry Zinger is delicious both iced and hot, which surprises me because normally raspberry tea is something I only want on ice. This particular raspberry tea is out of this world either way.

The listed ingredients for the tea are hibiscus, rosehips, roasted chicory, orange peel, blackberry leaves, natural raspberry flavor with other natural flavors (contains soy lecithin), raspberries and raspberry leaves.  Just brew your bag in about 8 ounces of boiling (or near-boiling, in my case) water for around 5 minutes (4 to 6, the company says), and enjoy!

The Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger may be in the “new look” box you see pictured here or may show up in your store in its old school “raspberry-colored” box.

In addition to having one of the best Raspberry teas I’ve tried, Celestial Seasonings also has a Fruit Tea Variety Pack (raspberry, peach, wild berry, blueberry, and black cherry) I’m obsessed with – as in I never allow myself to even come close to running out. Each of the flavors is more delicious than words could describe.

One of my favorite teas in the world is pictured above. I make up a Raspberry Peach tea by brewing an equal number of peach and raspberry tea bags. When ready, I pour the tea over ice and add a couple of partially thawed peach slices. HEAVEN.

Celestial Seasonings Fruit Tea Sampler

Celestial Seasonings Fruit Tea Sampler

Yogi Tea fortune on tea bag…couldn’t love this more!

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Just had to share this picture. I was making some Yogi Tea (Green Tea Rejuvenation, to be exact) earlier when I noticed the motto printed on this particular tea bag. (Backstory: Yogi Tea prints little fortunes on the paper ends of each of their teabags – such a freaking cute idea.) Anyway, the fortune on this bag simply says, “You are unlimited.” I can’t tell you how awesome those three words are: empowering, encouraging, effective. Puts me in a very good mood. Plus the tea’s absolutely delicious. Moral of the story: Never limit yourself. Second moral of the story: Drink green tea. 🙂

Lipton’s Bavarian Wild Berry Black Tea: Strong, Fruity, Rich

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I’ve been drinking a lot of “berry” teas lately…I think subconsciously I’m getting myself ready for the fruity tastes and smells of late spring and summer. 🙂 Most of the berry teas I’ve ever had have been herbal teas, without an actual “tea” basis, just brewed herbs and leaves with fruit flavoring. However, if you’re more into actual tea leaves, and a stronger taste, I’ve found the right berry tea for you: Lipton’s Bavarian Wild Berry Black Tea.

This is a flavored black tea made with pieces of real berries, packaged nicely in Lipton’s awesome little pyramid bags. (I love the pyramid bags – you can actually see the fruit pieces basically open up after steeping, and the smell and taste are much stronger.) Here’s the tea’s official ingredient list: Black tea, dried apple pieces, rose hip peel, chicory root, cinnamon bark, licorice root, modified corn starch, natural flavor, dried blackberry pieces, dried black currant pieces, ginger root, orange peel, dried blueberry pieces, dried raspberry pieces. That’s a lot of fruit pieces, people. The fruit never overwhelms the black tea though – the strong black tea is just as easy to taste as all of the wonderful fruit.

I haven’t tried the tea iced yet, but I’m guessing that like most teas, it tastes even better hot. I let my bag steep for 3-4 minutes in boiling water. Each bag has 80 mg of Flavonoids per serving (that’s a good thing), and 20 mg of caffeine per serving.

Final say: The tea smells fantastic, and tastes just as good – this one’s a must-try.

Experimenting with a Knock-off of Smoothie King’s Green Tea Tango

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Hey, don’t hate on my Quagmire glass. Inside is my knock-off version of Smoothie King’s to-die-for Green Tea Tango smoothie, which turned out very, very close to the original. I think I get extra points for having no matcha on hand to use…and no clue what I was doing.

So the other night I decided that nothing would make me happier at that exact moment in time than a green tea smoothie. However my Smoothie King is on the other side of town, it was late at night, and I was in my pajamas. And lazy. I really wanted to make my own version, but at first thought that seemed impossible since I don’t currently have any Matcha powder. Then (*brainstorm!*), I decided to brew up 2 cups of green tea and experiment. I didn’t write down my steps or measurements as I went along because, quite frankly, I didn’t expect it to be even close to edible, so I’ll try my best to remember exactly how I made the smoothie. I used 2 green tea bags and brewed them in one of my largest mugs. I then poured the tea in a blender and added 4-5 ice cubes.  I know that yogurt is a staple of any good smoothie recipe, so I added about 1/4 cup of plain fat-free yogurt, then added a little bit of soy milk. Technically, you probably shouldn’t even mess with the soy milk, because once I made my drink I instantly decided to add between 1/3-1/2 cup 2% dairy milk, so just stick with that: about a cup of dairy milk. The ice cubes I had added melted almost instantly due to the hot tea, so I had to add 3-4 more ice cubes. The drink was close to perfect, but was just too bitter, so I added sugar. How much you add is up to you, and I really didn’t want to add any because I hate sugar in my drinks, but trust me – this concoction is way too bitter without sugar. I added about 1/4 cup, and since this all brewed up between 2-3 actual smoothie servings, your per-cup sugar serving isn’t THAT bad. Not bodybuilder-healthy, but not horrendous. Now, I’ve tried the Smoothie King Green Tea Tango with fruit added (like the company recommends), and I was very disappointed to realize that all you taste is the fruit – no hint of matcha at all. Now when I order my smoothie, I tell the worker that I don’t want fruit because I want to only taste the matcha/yogurt, and they’re always VERY friendly and happy to oblige – they just usually add a little extra powder to make the texture just right or whatever. Anyway, if you like fruit in your smoothie, feel free to throw that in the blender too, and I’m sure it will taste fine.

Final verdict: Although my mixture isn’t all that green (due to the lack of actual matcha), and it took some tweaking and experimenting to get it right, it was actually DELICIOUS and tasted almost identical to the Smoothie King version. Next time I get a late-night smoothie urge – or feel too lazy to drive 15 minutes – I’ll be doing this again. Yum! 🙂

Happy 2012! Also, Crazy Tea Chick Turns 1 :)

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That’s right, people…today marks Crazy Tea Chick’s 1-year anniversary. Or birthday. Either works. Thanks so much to everyone that has visited the blog, e-mailed me, read my posts, shared my link, sent me tea samples, given me advice, etc etc etc. I’ve had a blast this past year and look forward to making 2012 even better than 2011 in all areas. Happy New Year’s to all of you – let’s make this one our greatest year ever by making a difference, spreading some love, committing random acts of kindness, helping those less fortunate, paying it forward, bettering ourselves, and drinking loads and loads of tea. 🙂

Adorable Christmas gift for this tea lover!

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! I certainly did…spending time with family and friends is always fun, the food was delicious, the gifts were outstanding, and – oh yeah – I received several tea-related Christmas presents. 🙂

The teapot clock in the picture above is a Better Homes & Gardens piece, and it was a gift to me from my awesome mom (a contributor on this site as well). It’s hanging on my dining room wall now along with a few other coffee-and-tea pieces of art, and I loveeeeee ittttt. Thanks, Madre!

Wilkinson’s of Norwich Earl Grey (loose leaf) = amazing!

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On a recent trip to Pensacola, Florida, I frequented a lot of antique stores/flea markets. One of these shops had a booth that I wanted to LIVE in: it was devoted to tea and coffee, and featured products from Wilkinson’s of Norwich. The company originated in Norwich, England, and has two US locations that I know of (a factory in Brewton, Alabama, and a new retail store in Pensacola, Florida). On a whim I grabbed a bag of Earl Grey loose leaf tea. Sometimes I make very smart decisions. 🙂

The tea is wonderful. It tastes delicious, with EXACTLY the right amount of bergamot, and the aroma truly makes your mouth water. I would even go so far as to say this is my new favorite Earl Grey tea. You can buy a 2 oz. bag of leaf tea from the website for only $4.00; they also offer 4 oz. for $8.00, and so on. Here’s Wilkinson’s description of the tea, from their site:

Fine black China leaf, a handful of jasmine and only the finest pure oil of Bergamot, this is the traditional afternoon tea (with cucumber sandwiches) best drunk black; if desired, mix with our Royal tea for a stronger infusion that will take a little milk or lemon.

Once again, this tea is good. As in, darn good. I really can’t add much to that, except for this: you bring the cucumber sandwiches, and I’ll provide the tea.

Have Tea Anywhere, Anytime with Glass Mug and Infuser from Andagio Teas

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Glass Mug & Infuser
If the idea of having “tea anywhere” appeals to you (and how could it not?), you need Glass Mug & Infuser from Andagio Teas in the worst possible way. Not only does this set combine a glass cup with a removable metal infuser to make anytime the right time for tea, it’s also a hoot and a half. Watch the leaves dance as they infuse a perfect cup of tea.

When done, remove the infuser (the cover doubles as a coaster – tell me that’s not too cool) and have a perfect cup of tea wherever, and whenever, the mood strikes. Perfect for home or office use. Dishwasher safe. 14 oz.