British Invasion Black

Yeah, yeah.  I know Tuesday's are my blog days and that I'm two days late.  Don't blame me.  It was Free Comic Book Day on Saturday (May 3rd, 2014) and I've been binge reading the 58 comics that scored from 7 different comic book shops.  (Yes, I know that there were only 57 different comics but some of my awesome comic book stores allowed you to select some older real comics along with the official fcbd ones.)

One of my friends included among my nerdy gang of booty collectors last Saturday was awesome enough to bring me this tea.  She was recently in the Orlando area and stumbled into a World Market.  There she found a tea section to die for.  When she texted me pictures of my options, since she was nice enough to offer to buy me one, I was instantly drawn to this box.

The packaging is great.  Fun quotes, fun pictures, and an overall stereotypical display of British culture.  It's just too bad that it's actually Canadian.

The Indian grown tea is shipped to the Canadian manufacturer where it is then packaged before being shipped to the distribution warehouse in America.  That is the brilliance in packaging.  You'd think that a place like World Market would have items that match the authenticity of their name, but in this case it goes no further than the pretty box.

The tea itself is packaged in round sachets much like Typhoo and Tetley.  And apart from its Canadian roots, it does have the taste of a true British black tea.  That strength that you expect from a proper cuppa doesn't go unnoticed.  You wouldn't know that it wasn't authentic unless you inspected the box for its true place of origin.

So it may be a wolf in sheep's clothes, but it is still one beautiful sheep.  God save the Queen.... er.... or Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Tetley's Black & Green

Yes, that's a Polaroid of Benedict Cumberbatch.  He needed to be included for reasons.  Don't ask what they are, just know that they exist and are poignant to this post.  (Even if I don't mention his name past this point.)

If you've heard one thing about green tea, its how healthy it is.  It tastes amazing, too, but there are still many out there that prefer black tea and refuse to change their ways.  Luckily, Tetley is looking out for you by combining Black tea leaves with Green tea leaves.  It boasts the flavor of black with the goodness of green.  I eyeballed this box each time I saw it, never daring enough to delve into experimenting.  (Experimenting can lead to gateway things, like boba teas.)

The fact that you get 72 pouches per box, and they don't offer anything smaller, is a tad intimidating.  If I didn't like it, I'd have 71 bags of it taking up space in my already cramped cupboard of 100+ teas, and that just wouldn't be acceptable.  But I have a tea addiction, and I was jonesing for a new cuppa to try, so I bought it anyway.

Oh. My. Goobers.  This stuff is amazing.  There's this slight bitterness with black teas that you don't even notice once you've had it enough, and the green actually cancelled out the bitterness that I didn't even realize I was still tasting.  Like that old saying "you don't know what you have until it's gone," I wasn't realizing that my taste buds were still picking up on that bitter note until this tea came into my life.  I don't really pick up the green tea, either.  That being said, this would be the perfect tea for those wackadoodles  lovely people that don't like green tea.  I bought this yesterday and had three cups of it in a row.  That's dedication.  (Or addiction and I need rehab.)

(Black & Green duking it out before deciding it best to just coincide peacefully.)

I've had Tetley's Green tea before and really enjoyed it, but apart from these two teas, I didn't know much about the brand.  So I went to ye old interweb to learn my something about them.

Along the way, I learned other fascinating tidbits as well, and I wouldn't be a proper blogger if I didn't pass that knowledge on.

The first tea bag, was an accident.  Hard to believe, but a New York tea merchant decided to send samples of his tea around in little silk baggies with the intention that customers would cut the bags open to pour the tea into a pot.  People, not realizing its intended purpose, thought they were supposed to put the whole bag in the pot and the future of tea had a new hope.  The first person to sell bagged teas in Britain was Tetley in 1953, so never scoff at this brand because they're the reason tea-convenience became something that companies did and not just a happy accident.

Always steep responsibly.

So go steep them bags of goodness, try something new, and enjoy your new favorite cuppa!  Cheers!