English Afternoon

Where English breakfast is a body builder, this tea would be it's cousin that does the elegant equestrian competition of show hacking.  You know they do hard work, but they're not in your face about it like the flexing English breakfast.  It's subtlety is not to be mistaken with weakness.  And just as the name implies, it's best for winding down in the afternoon.  A perfect tea for your Afternoon Tea layout... not to be mistaken for High Tea.  Originally, the only place besides the internet I was able to find this tea was Walt Disney's Epcot in Orlando.  You see, within Epcot's World Showcase, tucked away in the United Kingdom is a quaint little shop that tea lovers will notice straight away.  This little Tea Caddy (pictured below) is a Twinings shop.  And the last time I was at Epcot I spent about $60 here.  I'll pass on the Mickey ears, I already have two pair at home.  What I don't have is a selection of Twining this vast.  Say what you will about Twinings, to me they never disappoint in a decent cuppa at a very reasonable price.  An added bonus of this little shop is that during the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival they offer a Tea Garden tour.  How mouth watering does that sound?  Cheers!

Forever Tea Time

I'm pretty new to the world of tea.  I always thought it tasted absolutely terrible and couldn't for the life of me find the reason why people drank it.  Then about 2 years ago at my old office job, my fellow co-workers started letting me try different teas.  I couldn't get over the bitter taste.  Frustrated with myself for not being able to drink any caffeinated "adult" beverages (because I also despise coffee - still do), I decided that I would work on acquiring the taste for tea.

I started with something I had in the kitchen.  It will sound very odd, but I started with fennel seeds.  I didn't have a strainer so I would put about a teaspoon full of the seeds into a small mug of hot water and then scrape them off the top (never fully succeeding on getting them all) and then drink away.  I did this every night for about a week.  Then, timely enough, we got new bosses at work that provided us with a kettle and a larger variety of teas - the old bosses only supplied Lipton - and every morning I would force myself to drink a new tea whether I found it bitter or not.

It took a couple weeks, perhaps even a month, but I stopped tasting the bitterness and for once started enjoying the flavors of the tea.  Soon the fennel seeds of my nightly routine were replaced by proper teas.  The strainers starting coming into the house.  A tea kettle.  Tea pots, cups, and saucers.  And for the past year, there have never been less than 60 different teas in this house.  I decided to start blogging about my teas.  I've trained myself so well in tea, that I don't dislike any teas.  I take all my tea plain and with a big grin plastered to my face.  I'm not a fan of Teavana for several reasons, so you'll never see any of those teas on this blog.  The teas posted will mainly be brands you can find at your local grocery store.  You can find me on Steepster with a list of the teas currently in my cupboard and a few tasting notes of some of them.

I hope those who come across this blog that are tea drinkers will discover a new tea to try, and those who don't like tea will be inspired to start training their taste buds just as I did.  So sit back with a nice cuppa, and enjoy. :)