Hello, dear Posse folks! During these challenging times, I thought it might be nice to revisit a topic near and dear to my heart (and I hope many of yours as well): Tea, and tea fragrances.
One of my latest tea perfume discoveries has been Nez Hong Kong Oolong by Maurice Roucel, one of my favorite perfumers. It’s a wonderful blend that manages to be warm, soothing, spicy and fresh through its development; it is working so well for me lately as a comforting daily scent.
As the weather warms, I’m looking forward to breaking out Annick Goutal’s bright, yet delicate L’lle au The; likewise Cartier’s L’Heuere Fougueuse, with its gorgeous aura of horses and hay, with a handful of tea thrown in for good measure. In previous months I have enjoyed warming up with L’Artisan’s oh-so-lovely Tea for Two.
So let’s skip over to sipping, shall we? Now that we’re in stay at home mode, for the most part, my tea drinking has increased considerably. It’s a most welcome, calming ritual each evening to brew several cups of tea for DH and myself as we watch TV or play Scrabble. I’ve been enjoying old favorites like Mariage Freres Marco Polo (green and red varieties), their Tea L’Opera, and my dwindling supply of discontinued Zhena’s Gypsy teas (red and green). I have to admit that even after several years, I’m still mourning the demise of the Teavana chain, loose-tea heaven. Sigh.
Anyhoo, we’re now brewing new (to me) blends from Teaping (Mao Feng green), Republic of Tea and Teavana (now only available in pre-packaged blends) which have recently joined our brewing rotation. I get most of my daily caffeine from AM coffee, so don’t drink black teas frequently, except for occasional chilly mornings (Earl Grey, and MF’s Wedding Imperiale and French Breakfast) and as a teatime treat with scones, etc.
What about you? What in the tea world are you sipping and/or sniffing?
Have a great week, everyone, and stay healthy and safe!
My current fave is Dragon Fly Chai Roobois. I put in a couple of drops of vanilla essence and milk.
Oooh, that sounds so yummy and comforting! Enjoy!
I am so low-brow as to be NO-brow! lol! I have a lot of run of the mill teas (and some exotics, which I rarely brew) – mostly I drink Constant Comment (which always reminds me of Agraria Bitter Orange, which I have in diffuser and spray and tassel form all over my house). Gosh, I love that stuff – it smells like SF and New York at the same time, which is a bizarre combo, but there ya have it!
xoxoxoA
Low-brow nothing, darling A! We like what we like and it’s all good (and besides, CC is a great classic blend)! And if it reminds you of Agraria, NYC and SF, then you’ve won the tea lottery!! Xoxo
Hey there Ann,
We are currently mixing Dandelion Green Tea and a loose leaf blend from T2 that has roses and vanilla. It’s perfect solo or with a little smidge of home grown honey from our mates hives. It’s nice to make a pot and then the whole apartment smells of it for an hour or so.
MMMMMMM
Portia xx
Wow, dear! That sounds fabulous! I’ve heard good things about T2 but just haven’t had the chance to try it. Thanks!
Kusmi’s Russian blends are great for sipping. Right now, I am having a hard time finding my normal Tazo chai tea latte concentrate. When I do see it on Amazon, when in stock, it’s expensive. I ordered it from Walmart but I won’t have it until the 3rd. I shall see if it will be stocked when I go grocery shopping tomorrow. So I am drinking Tsarvana right now. With some lemon. I mostly stayed away from Teavanna because it was too expensive for me.
Hi! Yes, I’ve had several of those Kusmi’s and they are quite nice. Hope you get your Tazo chai soon!
I’ve been enjoying the delicious, low-brow Bengal Spice from Celestial Seasonings, with a generous dollop of milk. Inspired by your post, I’m also wearing PdN Fig-Tea, which smells (to me) neither like fig nor tea, particularly, but it’s awfully pretty.
Dear March, that is such a dee-lish tea! Am putting that on the grocery list for this week. And glad you are enjoying the PdN — it’s nice! Xoxo
Hi Ann and Posse folks,
MANDY AFTEL!! Not only is Mandy Aftel the Queen of the perfume world (IMO), she also does tea blends which she sells on her site.
Lately, I’ve been drinking my 2 cups of coffee in the a.m., and been drinking from my selection of Stash brand herbals in the p.m.-especially the Orange Chocolate organic.
Jo Ann, I had forgotten about Mandy’s teas — must go investigate! And that orange chocolate Stash sounds quite yummy.
I normally drink a pot of Assam or Ceylon for breakfast, then for the rest of the day it’s flavoured rooibos teas with no caffeine. Republic of Tea is where I order the rooibos teas. The black teas come from a shop on Vancouver Island called Westholme.
Nice choices there, Tara! I am also fond of rooibos teas, especially since no caffeine.
Hi Ann, I’m enjoying Numi Aged Earl Grey today. A friend gave me a box with an assortment of others from the brand last December. I enjoyed the Earl Grey the most of all. I would say it’s my favorite Earl Grey so far, though I am a recent convert to the ways of tea. It’s organic Assam black tea with real bergamot, so it’s nice and fragrant. Stay warm, well, and well caffeinated. Thanks for the tea-riffic ideas. 😉
Howdy, Tiffanie! So glad you mentioned the Numi — I have a bit of that stuck back and am pulling it out ASAP!