Howdy, dear Posse folks! It pains me to admit it to you, but I have fallen off the tea wagon a bit in the past year or two. I wish I could tell you all that I’ve been a tea-sampling fiend, have sipped twenty new teas and fallen in love with half a dozen of them.
Truth is, I’ve only sampled one or two new ones and been semi-loyal to a few old favorites. One newbie (to me) I’ve been enjoying is Celestial Seasonings decaf Sweet Coconut Thai Chai. I’ve also been mixing the elegant Mariage Freres’ Rouge and Vert Marco Polo teas, to get the best of both worlds. My son’s favorite, Republic of Tea’s Good Hope rooibos, gets a good bit of sipping, as does Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Ultimate Green and several of their holiday flavors (left over from the previous year).
Oddly enough, my once coffee-aholic DH has developed a taste for tea, and has me making us each a cup of Ultimate Green in the evening after dinner.
Alas, the tea landscape has changed dramatically in the past few years. Teavana got bought out by Starbucks a good while back and Teavana’s stand-alone tea stores have now gone the way of the dinosaur. Starbucks did keep a half-dozen or so of the popular blends in tea bag form, and you can find them at many stores (I see them at my Target). But my beloved To Life and other distinct loose-leaf blends are no more.
Another favorite brand of mine, Zhena’s, seems to have gone out of business or been bought out or something, I can’t tell, and no one seems to carry it regularly anymore. I did find several tins of the Ultimate Green on clearance recently at a Cost Plus World Market, and snapped up every last one of them. Hate to play piggy, but if you love something, you’d better snag it while you can.
What about you all? Any new teas or old favorites you’ve been sipping frequently? Or coffee or other beverages?
I recently bought an electric kettle and have been wearing the thing out. I try many new teas but always come back to matcha, ginger, peach, spearmint, and anything by Good Earth.
I’m very impressed with all the different tea choices. I actually prefer coffee.
I don’t drink coffee but a tea drinker. My day to day tea is the Tazo Chai latte concentrate. I do have tons of the Kusmi Russian team. Those are great for when I am sick.
That’s good to know – I must have misread their info, perhaps it was just Canada rather than north america.
Every time I brew a cup of tea I think of you, Ann! It’s a good thing I think of you at other times as well because my tea ingestion is rare 😉 No reason other than I don’t have space to keep my kettle on the stove, so I just don’t think about it much. When I do, though, it’s………peppermint, mostly – and Constant Comment (decaf, so I don’t choke the life out of everybody in this town at 3p) ..and Constant Comment then reminds me of Agraria Bitter Orange, which reminds me of Spring in Manhattan……. and then I am a happy little camper!
xoxoxo
I drink green tea during the day after my morning coffee for health benefits, and always have a cup of relaxing blend tea with So Calm magnesium powder at bedtime, usually Yogi tea. I love the Republic of Teas as well but they are a splurge for me.
My daughter and I are big tea drinkers, but our tastes are pretty simple. I love Tazo China Green Tips and Lotus Decaf Green Tea. We both love Bigelow Constant Comment. She’s a big fan of Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger. Then we’ve got a hodge podge of other ones. 🙂
I love a good Irish Breakfast tea, any robust real tea, but only tea in my tea please! An herbal tea like Chamomile is good, but I think of that as a remedy or a sleep aid. Green tea? Puh-lease no. I have tried all sorts of the green stuff but I just don’t get it. Give me a good black tea, a Russian tea blend, or the like. For me, it is coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon. Stodgy, I know…sorry.
I used to be a huge tea drinker and had a large collection. Now due to severe budget restraints I pretty much stopped online tea shopping. Staples in my house are P&G tips, Newman’s black and Newman’s green with the occasional Celestial if they’re on sale.
When Teavana started their sell-off, I pretty much bought all the Choco-Mint tea they had. I also love the Aveda tea and found the recipe on line.
I am a strong coffee drinker but I like teas too. Right now I have Starbucks Zen tea, Chai tea, and Green Ginger tea. I also have St. Dalfour Organic Green Tea Strawberry Rose. It’s very mild but I like it. I have some other St. Dalfour laying around. I want to try Dragon Herbs Spring Dragon Longevity Tea next. It has a bunch of stuff in it that I’ve never heard of. Could be fun or funny depending on the taste. You reminded me of a tea I love but haven’t had for a while, Aveda Comforting tea. How could I have forgotten this?! It is mainly licorice root.
I just made a tea haul from Victoria B.C. where I was on travel last week. There was a trip to Murchies, a local institution since the 19th century, and Westhome Tea Farm, the only tea plantation in north america. Both places were lovely and welcoming, and I came home with 20 new teas. I’m working my way through them right now. I am a black and rooibos tea fan, so that’s all I bought. (I also love the ROT Good Hope rooibos). So far I’ve tried the Murchie Assam, Editor’s Choice and Rideau Hall black teas, all smooth and delicious. Highly recommended!
Sorry for the typo, that should be Westholme Tea Farm.
There is Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina which also grows and produces tea.