New Year, New Teas
Jan. 10th, 2022 11:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glinda posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
tea_musingsOver the course of the pandemic, I somehow fell out of the habit of drinking loose leaf tea. Actually it’s been going on for longer than that, since I moved house in early 2019. Prior to that I had a routine around loose leaf tea drinking. On a Sunday morning, I would have a long lie, then get up, make a nice cooked breakfast/brunch and a pot of loose leaf tea, then I’d put 6Music on the radio and settle in with a book. Depending on the weather or my other plans for the day, it would sometimes be just the one pot, other times I’d make another pot and carry on that way for the rest of the afternoon. It was a nice routine and picking out the particular tea I fancied that Sunday was it’s own routine. It also meant I made steady progress through my collections of tea and whenever I saw a fancy tea on sale somewhere that I wanted to indulge myself in, I was limited by budget not whether I’d get round to drinking it.
When I moved house I carefully arranged all my lovely loose leaf teas in one place so they were all neatly organised. Unfortunately that place is the top shelf of one of my cupboards so while I can access them easily because they live somewhere different to my everyday tea, they have become ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and increasingly fallen out of regular use. I hadn’t realised how much until I was in Glasgow over the recent holidays and treated myself to a visit to one of it’s specialist tea shops. I stood in the shop contemplating the teas and realised that I was internally talking myself out of buying anything because I wouldn’t drink them. Which brought me up short. When had that happened? How had that happened? I hadn’t really considered being a tea lover as a major part of my identity, but I certainly didn’t like the idea that I wasn’t one any more.
So I determined to do something about that. Handily the shop also had a teaball with a pretty little measuring spoon attached in the sale, mostly so I could drink some of the tea while staying with my parents - I was correct in thinking they would be entertained with the ridiculous seasonal tea that was one of my purchases - and maybe start a good habit. To my surprise, and doubtless helped by my silly tea being surprisingly nice, I did in fact form a habit over the rest of the holidays, revelling in the pleasure of figuring out just how much tea I needed to put in the ball and how long it needs to steep to get the best from it. Since returning home I haven’t been drinking it every day, but it’s a particularly nice to come home from work and make a post dinner cup of something warming and comforting so the habit seems to be bedding in. So having set myself the new year’s resolution of getting back into drinking loose leaf tea, I feel confident determining to motivate myself along the way by trying - or ‘re-discovering’ - a new tea each month, hopefully working my way through my shelf along the way and finding new tea loves along the way. And because I know what motivates me as a person, I thought I could post reviews of them here? Maybe some of you tea lovers would like to join in the challenge, or would just want to chat about - or heckle! - my tea choices along the way?
To that end, what of the tea itself? Well when I said silly seasonal tea I meant it, it’s called Bread & Butter Pudding tea: a loose leaf black tea with bits of caramel, cinnamon, amaranth, vanilla, carob and chicory root. Made as per the tub’s instructions I found it to be one of those ‘flavoured’ teas that I generally avoid as they smell amazing but taste of nothing much, though thankfully one that was much improved by adding a little milk. However, by being a bit heavier handed with the filling of my tea ball, and leaving it to brew for a bit longer - 5 minutes vs the advised 2-4 minutes - created a more robust result that tasted as good as it smelled and didn’t need any milk. An indulgent winter holiday drink.
Hopefully, I’ll get back into my habit of Sunday mornings with a pot of tea and a book, but in the meantime, my little tea ball is facilitating my loose leaf tea drinking and hopefully will make me keener to experiment with new teas again in the meantime.
When I moved house I carefully arranged all my lovely loose leaf teas in one place so they were all neatly organised. Unfortunately that place is the top shelf of one of my cupboards so while I can access them easily because they live somewhere different to my everyday tea, they have become ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and increasingly fallen out of regular use. I hadn’t realised how much until I was in Glasgow over the recent holidays and treated myself to a visit to one of it’s specialist tea shops. I stood in the shop contemplating the teas and realised that I was internally talking myself out of buying anything because I wouldn’t drink them. Which brought me up short. When had that happened? How had that happened? I hadn’t really considered being a tea lover as a major part of my identity, but I certainly didn’t like the idea that I wasn’t one any more.
So I determined to do something about that. Handily the shop also had a teaball with a pretty little measuring spoon attached in the sale, mostly so I could drink some of the tea while staying with my parents - I was correct in thinking they would be entertained with the ridiculous seasonal tea that was one of my purchases - and maybe start a good habit. To my surprise, and doubtless helped by my silly tea being surprisingly nice, I did in fact form a habit over the rest of the holidays, revelling in the pleasure of figuring out just how much tea I needed to put in the ball and how long it needs to steep to get the best from it. Since returning home I haven’t been drinking it every day, but it’s a particularly nice to come home from work and make a post dinner cup of something warming and comforting so the habit seems to be bedding in. So having set myself the new year’s resolution of getting back into drinking loose leaf tea, I feel confident determining to motivate myself along the way by trying - or ‘re-discovering’ - a new tea each month, hopefully working my way through my shelf along the way and finding new tea loves along the way. And because I know what motivates me as a person, I thought I could post reviews of them here? Maybe some of you tea lovers would like to join in the challenge, or would just want to chat about - or heckle! - my tea choices along the way?
To that end, what of the tea itself? Well when I said silly seasonal tea I meant it, it’s called Bread & Butter Pudding tea: a loose leaf black tea with bits of caramel, cinnamon, amaranth, vanilla, carob and chicory root. Made as per the tub’s instructions I found it to be one of those ‘flavoured’ teas that I generally avoid as they smell amazing but taste of nothing much, though thankfully one that was much improved by adding a little milk. However, by being a bit heavier handed with the filling of my tea ball, and leaving it to brew for a bit longer - 5 minutes vs the advised 2-4 minutes - created a more robust result that tasted as good as it smelled and didn’t need any milk. An indulgent winter holiday drink.
Hopefully, I’ll get back into my habit of Sunday mornings with a pot of tea and a book, but in the meantime, my little tea ball is facilitating my loose leaf tea drinking and hopefully will make me keener to experiment with new teas again in the meantime.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-10 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-11 10:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-10 02:10 pm (UTC)Your Sunday routine sounds sooo comfy. I mostly make tea with teabags (when I'm out) and have recently been enjoying a cup after lunch. The bread and butter pudding tea sounds delicious!
no subject
Date: 2022-01-11 10:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-10 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-11 10:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-16 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-17 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-17 10:08 pm (UTC)... ooooh, yes. I very much doubt the free shipping of being in the tea club or one of their other discount codes extends to international. Maybe after-pandemic visits can involve a friend who has ordered you something?
no subject
Date: 2022-01-17 05:46 pm (UTC)That's really interesting about using more and leaving it for longer cos I've avoided those 'flavoured' teas for the same reason. I must try it on one of the ones in my stash.
What tea shop did you visit? That sounds a delightful seasonal tea.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-17 09:22 pm (UTC)I don't know how well it would work for teabags, but if you've got any loose leaf tea in that category in your stash, I'd recommend giving it a try!
It was T2 - on Buchanan Street - which I haven't been in in ages - they had a bunch of their seaonal teas reduced when I was in. (I meant to go to Whittards too, but they were closed by the time I got there.)