Off Topic: Tea

teaWell, I was going to write something about perfume but I got an a bout of allergies that screwed up the sniffer. Nose clogged and eyes watering to the point where concerned citizens offered counseling when walking down the boulevard. Not pretty. What the he!! is causing it I don’t know, but I am getting seriously over waking up with my eyes glued shut with gunk and my Kleenex consumption through the roof..

So let’s turn the subject to..

TEA.

I love tea. I drink it practically every day. If not in the form of Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast (hot) with a dollop of milk then it’s Tejava brand iced bottled cold. At least once a week it’s an afternoon at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for an Earl Grey, hot (thank you Captain Picard) with milk and cinnamon. I drink coffee it if’s served to me (preferably with some sort of pastry) but in the AM I default to tea. Oh, and I consider the electric kettle to be a boon to mankind only second to Air Conditioning. It gets water to boiling in about two minutes and shuts itself off when it does; I’ve used it when cooking pasta since it seems much faster than boiling water in a pot.

But I digress..

Of course, there are tea scents; I smell tea amongst the asphalt of the late and lamented Eau de Fier by Annick Goutal.

What tea scents do you love, and what teas do you love? Back in my college days there was a place in Northampton that ad a delicious hibiscus tea that I’ve never been able to find again.

  • Portia says:

    Tom,
    You have no idea how much tea there is in this house. I buy every type from every country that I can get my hands on.
    Then I usually have the black tea from the canister on the benchtop with milk & sugar,
    I am so plebeian but happy, and I love to add tea to gifts I send overseas to people.
    Portia x

  • einsof says:

    tea in perfume: Providence Perfume Co’s Osmanthus Oolong
    tea du jour: organic peppermint + gunpowder green+lemon ginger (big pot)

  • Caragh says:

    I have Tea for Two but it’s not a favorite, it was just a passing fancy. But I do love tea, especially a good Irish breakfast tea with milk. Lately I’ve been enjoying Harney’s East Frisian tea. Who knew that Northern coastal Germany had a tea culture?

  • Alison says:

    What do you know, brewing some Earl Grey right now! I will try the cinnamon in it.

  • Lisa D says:

    My favorite teas are Upton Tea’s Sweet Green Almond and Rooibos Pretoria – both some of the most nicely flavored and blended teas I’ve found. For tea-scented perfumes, these days I’m really liking Jacomo’s Art Collection No. 8, which is a milky chai scent that, while very reminiscent of chai, doesn’t veer too far into “I smell like a yummy beverage” territory.

  • Ashley A says:

    Oh man, I couldn’t live without tea! Some of my favorites are Kusmi’s Almond Green Tea and their Violet Tea. I love Mariage Frere’s Darjeeling and their The Vert Aux Provences. Also a big fan of the Numi Toasted Rice tea mentioned above. There is one tea, however, that I guess I will be forced to dream about for the rest of my life. It was a tea I had almost everyday in France a few years ago. It was from a grocery store brand, La Tisaniere, and it was Jasmine, Linden, Rose and Violet. AMAZING. I brought back just one box, thinking I would be able to find it, but every time people go to France I ask them to look and it seems that they don’t make it anymore. I am kicking myself for not buying 20 boxes. I may try and make my own blend this winter. I’ve tried using Kusmi’s Jasmin Vert, Violette, mixed with some of Fauchon’s rose buds, and it’s very close, but I really need to find a good linden to go with them.

    • Tara C says:

      Oh yes, Kusmi tea is yhe best. i also love their almond green and violet teas. Lately I am loving their black tea with rose and spicy chocolate too!

      • Tara C says:

        Oh, and I have seen that La Tisaniere tea in Montreal, email me at cazaubon at me dot com and I will see if I can get you some more.

  • AllGirlMafia says:

    Numi makes a pleasant. Toasted Rice green tea, it is slightly odd and delightful! Tulsi Sweet Rose is beautiful and Bigelow makes a Lemon Lift black tea that is fragrant and tasty : )

  • deb says:

    Adagio’s Kasumi tea ,cream, earl grey moonlight, rooibos jasmine), Stash White Bouquet, jasmine green tea, irish and English breakfast tea, black tea with mango, magnolia oolong, dancong oolong (iris and orchid)….so many great teas.

  • tangledbranches says:

    Hibiscus puts the zing in Celestial Seasonings’ Red Zinger, but check Upton Tea for a dozen or so tea blends containing hibiscus. All but one, however, are herbal tisanes, not real tea. My personal favorite scented real tea is Osmanthus.

    • Alison says:

      Where do you find Osmanthus tea? Please do tell!

      • tangledbranches says:

        Upton Tea has a couple of osmanthus teas. Harney & Sons used to have one, I think, but I don’t see it on their website now. Imperial Tea Court has one too, but they’re very pricey. Or you could buy dried osmanthus flowers and blend your own. I did that once and the package lasted so long that I don’t remember now where I bought it. It may have been TeaSpring.

  • Ann says:

    Ah, Tom, a topic near and dear to my heart! I love most every kind of tea, but do have to pass on the lapsang souchong. It’s a bit too heavy and smoky for my tastebuds, despite loving that kind of thing on my skin. I especially enjoy blends, such as Teavana’s To Life, which combines white tea, jasmine green and a delicately fruity rooibos for a delightful mix.

  • I sometimes wear L’Artisan Tea for Two, and really enjoy it. I was feeling all smug and proud that I had scored a bottle just before it was discontinued. And now, it’s coming back! My taste for tea is a slowly evolving one, having been a coffee hound for most of my life. On a recent trip to Nova Scotia, I chanced upon the World Tea House in Halifax, and bought a couple of things which I love: Russian Caravan and Temple Chai. Wish I had stocked up on more of their delicious offerings…Good luck with the allergies; I hope you get some relief soon!

  • Diana says:

    I’m malt in love with chocolate. For some reason, i love my tea to be a bit chocolate stand in… I love honeybush chocolate from Adagio teas with a little stevia and milk. I also like Mate Vana from Teavanna, and that blend the make when they combine it with. Rooibus Chai. I’m a sucker for chais too. Locally, we have a tea cafe called Teavolve that makes fabulous tea lattes. Nom!

    I’ve not worn a lot of tea scents, but I do wear L’Art’s Tea For Two every so often. Sometimes it’s a little salty/hotdoggy on me but it settles nicely. Maybe i need some Chai notes?

  • For tea scents, I’ve only tried Oolong Infini so far and it’s really quite lovely, though I think it would be even more delicious on my hubby than on myself. In terms of drinking tea, I’ve always been partial to Kusmi brand Earl Grey though I’ve never thought to add cinnamon! That sounds delightful. I’ll have to add cinnamon to my next batch of Earl Grey ice cream as well. There’s also a couple of Korean tea or tea-like beverages that I adore – Omijacha and Sujeonggwa. Omijacha (or Omija Tea) is an herbal tea made from the berries of Schisandra chinensis. This tea has five flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent. Sujeonggwa is a cold ‘punch’ made from dried persimmons, ginger, and cinnamon – but the spices give it a zesty iced tea feel.

  • Barbara says:

    To me, the loveliest herbal tea there is, is distributed by a company in Montana. The tea, Evening in Missoula, is quiet and calm. But that’s not what sends me over the moon – it’s the exquisite scent. If they could some way turn it into a perfume it would be a sensation. Flowery, sweet grass; like a meadow of flowers on a warm spring day.