I like black teas the most that's why I was surprised when I realized I have not tried English breakfast tea before. So, I got this:
Twinings English Breakfast Tea
English breakfast tea is a blend of black teas. As the name suggests, it is a breakfast beverage and is thus, caffeinated. It is usually described as full-bodied and its flavor pairs well with either savory or sweet food.
I made a cup the same way I like my coffee -- strong and sweet.
The flavor is indeed strong and I love it. It actually tastes like a stronger version of Lipton Yellow Label tea. It made me wish I had a plate full of sausages, eggs, bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms while enjoying my cup.
I guess I found another favorite. I'm definitely going to buy this tea again.
A coworker, knowing my enthusiasm towards tea, gave me this:
English Tea Shop Super Berries
English Tea Shop Super Berries is an infusion of hibiscus, rooibos, spearmint, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Just like with any other ETS tea, all of the ingredients are organically grown and processed.
I was surprised at how red the brew turned out to be.
This infusion smells a lot like cranberry juice. Tastes like it too, sweet and tart. It's basically like drinking warm cranberry juice.
Again, English Tea Shop did not disappoint. This herbal tea is so yummy. Though a bit too sweet for my liking, I am definitely going to have this again.
With all the parties I've been to these past few days, I feel like there is a discrepancy between my food ingestion and egestion -- I'm sure you know what I mean. So, I decided to try this:
Biofitea
According to the packaging, Biofitea is made of senna leaves and pods. Taken as tea, senna acts as a mild laxative. However, Biofitea is promoted as a slimming tea. It claims it can flush away toxins and excess fat and regular use will result to a slimmer, thinner figure.
This tea needs to be brewed for 10-15 minutes. It smells very grassy, but surprisingly, does not taste like it at all. It is actually yummy.
For best results, it is best to drink this tea before bedtime. I did just that and it delivered! It did make my tummy feel light and flat. Furthermore, I did not feel any pain or discomfort and it only took a couple of trips to the bathroom for the laxative effect to wear off.
Though it is effective, long-term use of senna is unadvisable. I got curious about this tea and found a legit reason to try it but I am not likely to use this regularly.
Have you tried slimming teas before? I hope you can share your experiences in the comments below.
Merry Christmas everyone! Let's talk about a Christmas tea on Christmas day, shall we?
This one's a Christmas gift from my boyfriend:
English Tea Shop Organic Rooibos GingerBread Man Christmas Tea. For the young at heart.
Rooibos tea is an herbal infusion made from the leaves of the rooibos plant, a South African bush. It is brewed in the same manner as black tea, oftentimes, with the addition of sugar and cream.
Organic Rooibos GingerBread Man Christmas Tea is a blend of rooibos, cinnamon, ginger, pineapples, etc. all sourced in an organic manner.
The tea comes in round pillows.
I steeped one pillow in freshly boiled water for three minutes and the resulting brew is this lovely red orange tea. I decided to have it straight with just a bit of light brown sugar.
Taste test time.
This tea has a sweet and spicy aroma. Furthermore, its most dominant flavor is cinnamon making this tea taste a lot like chai. The good thing about rooibos is that it is naturally caffeine free, so it could be enjoyed even before bedtime.
Perfect with some Christmas cookies! Or to wash your Noche Buena down with.
This tea has a somewhat silky, rich quality to it that makes it quite heavy to the palate. I'm not sure if I like this tea. It isn't bad, that's for sure, but I don't think I would drink this every night. Still, its texture and flavor are intriguing enough to warrant a few more cups.
Earl Grey is one of my favorite tea blends. It is black tea flavored with oil of bergamot -- a citrus fruit. It is one of the most common tea used for afternoon teas and cream teas. It is good on it's own as well as with some milk or creamer. Usually, it is Twinings for me but having a very nice first impression on English Tea Shop, I decided to get their Earl Grey this time.
English Tea Shop Fairtrade and Organic Earl Grey. This sampler box contains eight individually packed tea bags.
I prepared it with two teaspoons of brown sugar. It was so good, I'm sure it'll taste divine with milk or cream too.
The most notable thing about this tea is its smell. The smell reminds me of wintermelon milk tea. It is so fragrant and I guess it is one of the qualities of English Tea Shop teas. It is also naturally sweeter than Twinings Earl Grey.
English Tea Shop Fairtrade and Organic Earl Grey will be another favorite of mine and I am excited to try their other blends.
Contrary to the opinion of my parents, the internet could be a source of knowledge. Now, before you assume that this post will be highly intellectual and philosophical, this will be just another tea-related post. Though a very different kind of tea, I must say.
I don't really remember howexactly, but I stumble upon this on the interwebs while doing research on tea and its many forms. Technically, it is not tea but Koreans call it:
Yujacha or Citron Tea. In a jam jar? I know. It may look like a marmalade but the label says it all.
Citron Tea. As you could tell by its name, the primary ingredient of this tea is citron -- a citrus fruit that tastes like a cross between lemon and orange.
The citron fruit, flesh and peel, is sliced into small pieces and preserved in honey or sugar syrup. After a certain period of time, the resulting product looks a lot like orange marmalade. It does not have any artificial preservatives as the sugar itself act as one.
Citron tea is a popular winter beverage in Korea. Apparently, Korean cafes and bakeries in the Philippines offer it and, lucky for me, the Korean grocery store near my workplace carries them. Needless to say, I came out of the place with a jar.
Fun Fact: I saw other varieties too at the said grocery store. There were quince tea, ginger tea and another one that looks like jellied champoy (not a very appetizing description but, forgive me, there's no English on the label), all prepared the same way.
I was kinda excited to try this, so try I did.
I placed two teaspoons of the tea in a small teacup.
I then added boiling water. The resulting brew smells very citrus-y.
And the taste? Divine. It's like drinking warm lemonade. I like citrus drinks but I did not expect that I will like this a lot. The citrus taste is so refreshing. There is a hint of bitterness (probably from the peel) but not in an unpleasant way. It is fun to chew the peel and pulp as well.
I liked it a lot that the next evening, I made another batch using my personal teapot.
I placed three tablespoons of the tea in the infuser.
Then filled the pot with boiling water.
When prepared this way (peel and pulp trapped in an infuser), the brew turned less bitter but the citrus flavor was also downplayed. Still, I enjoyed it and drank all 500 ml of it!
I think this was lemon water before it was cool. I am not really a fan of the lemon water hype and between the two, I would certainly go for the citron tea. Thank you, internet, for introducing citron tea to me.
Now the question on everyone's mind: can I use it as a spread? On toast, perhaps? Well, my dad did. He thought it was a regular orange marmalade and was quite surprised by its "strong" taste. So, I do not recommend it, unless you are a big citron-head.
Have you had citron tea before? What are you thoughts about it? Let us swap notes in the comments below.
I recently tried a new (for me) brand of tea. Lo and behold:
Gold Leaf Organic White Tea. Gold Leaf is a local tea brand. They also offer herbal infusions and bottled iced teas.
White tea is produced by allowing the leaves of Camellia sinensis to lightly oxidize. It then takes a whitish appearance, hence the name. It has less caffeine than black tea and the most antioxidants than all kinds of tea.
I prepared the tea by steeping a teabag in a mug of boiling water for 3 minutes.
This tea is very mild tasting. It is like a weaker version of Lipton Yellow Label or when you steeped a teabag for the second time. I guess this is suitable for people who do not like the strong flavor of tea but still want to drink tea. It wasn't so bad but I probably won't buy it again.
Do you like white tea? Have you tried this particular brand of tea? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
I've been drinking Lipton's Yellow Label variety for as long as I can remember but I have only appreciated it for what it is a few years ago. As most (or some--I don't really have the stats) of you might agree, Lipton tea is associated with mornings with an upset stomach or nights troubled by sneezing and clogged nose due to colds (but then, that could only be me). Tea, in general, ranks behind coffee, hot cocoa and milk as a beverage of choice among Filipinos, unless one is not feeling well; thus, tea becomes more of a medicine rather than a beverage that can be enjoyed anytime.
Personally, tea, coffee and hot cocoa all rank at number 1 for me. Though the Philippines is known for it's warm weather and these beverages have their cold versions, I would rather enjoy them hot. I have a very high tolerance for caffeine too. As a matter of fact, I used to drink around 3 mugs (yes, not cups) of coffee everyday plus hot cocoa or tea in the evening and I can still sleep like a baby. But that was before. I may not be feeling the bad effects but that doesn't mean they're not there. I am now limiting my coffee to a cup a day so I still have room for tea or cocoa before I go to bed.
So for those nights that I am in the mood for tea, one of my default choices is the Lipton Yellow Label variety. Why? Well, maybe since I grew up with this, I automatically reach for it. Story was my grandma used to bathe me with it when I was a baby--for a beautiful skin she said. It is also readily-available as this is one of the cupboard staples at home. And, experienced tea-drinkers might crinkle their noses at this but, I like how it tastes. It has a very basic taste that I don't really need to be in a mood to have it.
Perhaps, I like this tea a lot for its nostalgic factor.
So, what is your default beverage? What are your thoughts about Lipton Yellow Label Tea? Please share them in the comments below.
Milk tea has been gaining popularity in the Philippines for the past few years. A lot of people regard it as a 'healthier' alternative to coffee. It has become a staple in most cafes and it has become hard to walk a few blocks without seeing a stall or kiosk that offers it.
Readily available as it is, supporting your milk tea habit regularly can bore a hole in your wallet.
With that, instant tea mixes sprung in the market to aid the people's 'need' for milk tea while being gentle in the pocket.
So, when I saw boxes and packets of 3:15 PM Milk Tea at the grocery store, I dismissed it as one of those milk tea mixes. However, upon close inspection, I saw that these milk tea packets are not the same as the ones I am used to because they come in tea bags. Yes, they are not your regular milk tea mixes--they are milk tea tea bags!
My interest got piqued and I decided to get a sampler pack.
Three packets of milk tea in different varieties. It says that each packet contains a multi-use tea bag.
Here they are out of the plastic packaging.
Here's how the tea bag looks like. It is not stringed and tagged. It smells so good!
There are five varieties of this milk tea (the other two being original and coffee milk tea) but I decided to get the pack with Earl Grey because it is one of my favorite tea blends.
Needless to say, I tried the Earl Grey first.
3:15 PM Earl Grey Milk Tea
This milk tea is definitely not on the sweet side. It is rather mild tasting but the Earl Grey taste is still distinctive.
Next is...
3:15 PM Roasted Milk Tea
I am actually excited to try this one because a lot of my friends say roasted milk tea is delish. I haven't tried it though 'cause I usually order wintermelon milk tea and, I must say, this roasted milk tea is indeed yum! I thought I'll be liking the Earl Grey the most but this one certainly surpassed it. It is not very sweet. It is creamy yet it did not overpower the tea taste.
And finally...
3:15 PM Rose Fruity Milk Tea
I had a feeling this milk tea would taste like perfume but boy, was I wrong! This has a perfect balance of floral notes, fruitiness and creaminess. I like it a lot!
It's hard to decide which one I liked the most because they were all so delicious. In addition, it's nice that these milk teas contain real tea leaves and not powdered tea concentrate. However, if you are used to overly sweet and milky milk teas, these tea bag versions may not satisfy you. Furthermore, though the packaging says they are multi-use tea bags, I don't think their flavor will live up to two steepings.
Nevertheless, I liked these milk teas and I would probably buy them again. Perhaps, I would try the original and coffee flavors next time.
Do you like milk tea? Have you tried 3:15 PM Milk Teas? If so, what are your thoughts about it? Share them in the comments below!
My favorite kind of tea is black. You can never go wrong with a nice and strong black tea. So, when I saw this tea at the supermarket, I didn't hesitate to grab a box.
English Tea Shop Organic Black Tea Chai. This is my first time to have this brand, so I decided to get the sampler box. It contains 8 individually wrapped tea bags.
The packaging is so cute! It is also emphasized that this tea is organically grown and processed.
Chai or masala chai originated in India and is prepared by blending black tea with spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, mace, ginger, licorice, anise and black pepper.
Once home, I immediately prepared a cup of this chai.
This tea smells strongly of spices.
I steeped a tea bag in a teacup of freshly boiled water for 4 minutes. The resulting brew was this nicely colored, aromatic tea.
You can enjoy this tea as it is but chai is best enjoyed sweet and with milk.
I like my chai sweet and milky. So yum!
This smells so spicy and some people may not like it because of that but this tea tastes much better than it smells. English Tea Shop's Black Tea Chai is really good and I will definitely buy it again.
Do you like chai? How about English Tea Shop's teas? Let me know in the comments below.
Krissie is a coffee-lover and tea enthusiast. She likes kitsch and pretty much anything with a vintage vibe to it. She is a sucker for carbs and has a very special sweet spot for cats.