Tea and Me

The perfect tea bag for the time of year (if you like that sort of thing) — it’s Jack Frost . Ingredients: Spearmint, eucalyptus, desiccated coconut, aniseed, sprinkles (sugar, rice flour, hardened peanut oil, potato starch, flavour, gum arabic (E414), potassium sorbate (E202), colours (E410)), pine needles, blue cornflowers. They describe it thus: The mischevious Jack Frost is a crisp, cool cuppa. With icy spearmint, frosty coconut + snowflake sprinkles, Jack Frost will sure nip your nose + toes! Today’s tea bag is the Limited Edition herbal infusion, Jack Frost. It would appear that the tea bags were either so popular that they sold out or were produced specifically for their special gifts like the advent calendar as they are not available on the website except as part of the build it yourself cracker kit. As you will have spotted this tea bag contains coconut so it’s a no-go for me, sadly, as otherwise, it sounded really interesting. ...

Another long and tiring day and it’s another mint tea bag — today’s tea is Nearly Nirvana . Ingredients: Chinese white tea, Chinese green tea, jasmine blossoms, spearmint, orange blossom. They describe it thus: This luxury white tea with heavenly jasmine and spiritual spearmint will surely help you reach nirvana. Don't just take our word for it . . . Japanese monks say tea embodies the four Buddhist principles and the word on the street is that they also use it to help them stay awake during meditation and to quiet their grumbling tummies during fasts! I have to be honest that after yet another long and tiring day the last thing I wanted to find in my advent calendar was another mint tea bag. Although I very much enjoyed the Mojitea yesterday I was really hoping for something a bit more Christmassy and comforting today. Instead, I got spearmint and something that, at the risk of sounding like my nine-year-old nephew, looks a bit like a mug of wee. ...

Today’s tea — G + Tea — is another from the limited edition cocktail trio and is the third of the teas on the Bluebird Tea Co. ’ s keep poll that I have access to. Ingredients: Chinese sencha green tea, juniper berries, spearmint, angelica root, coriander seeds, lemon peel, almond pieces, liquorice, cardamom, natural flavouring. They describe it thus: “Close your eyes, imagine the first sip of an ice-cold gin & tonic – this is it. Super light + energising, the different flavours hit your taste buds separately. From citrus to spearmint, coriander to cardamom. It’s a brew asking to be cold brewed, tea cocktail if you wish!”  So, I’ll be honest and say straight up that I wasn’t expecting to like this tea. I’ve never really been a fan of gin and I detest tonic and would never choose to drink a G&T of my own accord (unless there really was nothing else to drink — I did once go to a party where it was the only drink on offer, I didn’t stay long) so...

One of the sets of tea bags I received in the free goody bag from Camellia’s Tea House last month was called Sleep Well . As someone who suffers from chronic insomnia, I am open to anything that might aid in helping me sleep so I was interested in trying it. It’s actually an infusion as it doesn’t contain any type of tea leaves but I will still be treating it as if it is tea.  I did have some slight concern as one of the ingredients is my old nemesis chamomile but as it contained plenty of other (potentially) good stuff too, I decided to give it a go. Ingredients: Valerian, hops, chamomile, lemon verbena, hawthorn, red clover, violet and spearmint. They describe it thus: ‘Sleep Well is a lovely infusion which combines lemon verbena with chamomile to produce a gentle and soothing infusion with delightful undertones of mint. The ingredients of the tea are believed to ease insomnia and promote restful sleep.’ Wrapped in a sealed foil packet, the infusion...