Monthly Archives

June 2015

Fruit Tea Reviews Tea Reviews Teaphernalia

Review of Bora Bora & Double Walled Glass Cup from The Tea Makers

25th June 2015

Last week I was sent some tea by The Tea Makers. I received Bora Bora, White Peony and Tangerine & Coconut Green Tea and also an amazing double walled glass cup. I’ll be reviewing these over the next few weeks, starting with my first review today. I decided I’d start with a fruity review of Bora Bora.

Bora Bora is described by The Tea Makers as a “Sensational Flavoured Exotic Fruit Tea Blend”, read on to see if I agree! 😉

Bora Bora Packaging

Bora Bora Loose

The Look
I’ll start with the packaging which is phenomenal, the overall quality and presentation is exquisite with striking red text set against a matte black background. It’s really nice to see a change from the usual brown and relatively plain packaging loose tea is traditionally sold in. The back of the package has a really cool zip opening the first time you open it, a nice touch that furthers the feeling of luxury.

Looking at the tea for the first time I can certainly see why the tea is described as exotic, there’s all kinds of fruit in this blend, from raspberries and blackcurrants to strawberry pieces and papaya cubes. The smell is beyond words, the first inhalation transports you to white sands and bright blue sea, if paradise has a smell, this is it! The fragrance just bursts out of the packet, with a fun and bouncy vibe.

 

Bora Bora in Double Walled Cup

How It Tastes

As the kettle boiled I felt sheer excitement and literally couldn’t wait for the tasting to begin. Pouring the water creates a whole new smell, the initial fragrance becomes softer and sweeter, sweeter is GOOD.

I take my first sip, probably before the tea is even cool enough, the taste is fresh and succulent, with a rich quality to it. I often find tropical type fruit teas a bit sickly, usually pineapple is the ‘go to’ fruit, but there’s no pineapple to be found in this super tropical blend! Bora Bora has a deeply satisfying fruity flavour, with slight floral undertones that create an aftertaste that dances on the roof of my mouth.

 

Final Thoughts on Bora Bora

Overall I’ve gotta say this is one of my favourite fruit teas of all time. Fruit tea was my first love but in all honesty I was getting bored, bored of every fruit tea tasting the same! Bora Bora has reignited my love for fruit tea, I now cannot wait to try more fruit tea from The Tea Makers 😃 Bora Bora excels because it avoids the tart sharpness often found with fruit tea and steers bravely away from adding pineapple.

 

Double Walled Cup Empty

The Double Walled Glass Cup

I was also lucky enough to receive a beautiful doubled walled glass cup with the tea, which is pictured above 🙂 The cup is beautiful with perfect curved sides on the outside wall and matching contours on the inner wall. It’s a really nice size, as it fits in my hand just right, you can just slide your fingers round it and curl up with it. A few of these would be a gorgeous choice for a dinner party, pair your favourite blend with these cups and you’ll have a perfect finish for your guests.

The double walled finish is not only easy on the eye but is very functional and keeps the outside cool for your hands and your tea warm for a lot longer than a mug. The smooth rim of the glass is blissful to sip from and the cup has a steady base when placed on my coffee table. The glass looks like it would be really fragile but after a week of using it and washing it, I haven’t felt that it would break easily which is a massive plus. Overall I really love this cup, from the look to the functionality and the ease of use, it’s all good.

 

I’ll be reviewing the other 2 teas sent with the Bora Bora in the next couple of weeks so please do check back soon or join my newsletter to read it first!

I’m always looking for new and exciting fruit teas and I’d love to hear any suggestions you guys have in the comments below 😊

The Tea Makers London have a large range of teaware and beautiful glassware, with great prices which are really worth taking a look at.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my review of Bora Bora from The Tea Makers London. You can check out their online store here.


Teaphernalia

The Adagio IngenuiTEA Is Ingenious!

23rd June 2015

I recently received the IngenuiTEA from Adagio to review, find out how I got on!

First things first, OMG! It’s changed the way I drink tea and more importantly the quantity of tea I can drink, I have so much tea so anything that allows me to drink it faster and more often is fantastic! Read on to find out more.

 

IngenuiTEA Empty

The Build Quality

The first thing I noticed as I was taking it out of the box is the quality, it’s so sturdy and smooth! There’s no sharp edges or rough or visible seams in the plastic and it’s nicely weighted. The handle is the perfect angle and the grooves fit my fingers like they were made for them!

It’s constructed from BPA free plastic which is also totally transparent, it has the look of glass but the strength of plastic. It’s transparency allows you to keep an eye on your tea as it steeps and fill your mug at exactly the right moment, ensuring the perfect strength tea every time. The IngenuiTEA has a built in fine mesh strainer at the base so you never get any tea leaves in your mug.

Valve & Strainer

Another special touch I like is the little feet on the base that ensure the IngenuiTEA doesn’t touch the surface you stand it on, meaning you don’t have to worry about the cleanliness of the surface you stand it on.

I love that when you fill the IngenuiTEA the lid stands proud and stays firmly in place, it would be infuriating if it kept falling down all the time but this never happens.

IngenuiTEA Full With Lid Open

 

IngenuiTEA Full

Ingenuitea Full Half

In Use

The IngenuiTEA is glorious to use, just add your leaves to the chamber, pour on the water and return to whatever you were doing, taking the IngenuiTEA with you. When your tea is your desired strength simply place the IngenuiTEA on the top of your mug and the valve on the base opens, allowing the tea to fill the mug (I still find this exciting and anyone that sees it in action is blown away!). The IngenuiTEA has a transparent base so you can watch your mug as it fills so it never overflows.

The only thing I might recommend is a coaster to sit under the IngenuiTEA if it’s on a precious surface as it does sometimes drip a tiny tiny bit underneath after filling a mug.

I chose the smaller of the two sizes and I do regret it slightly as I’m a real power drinker and the smaller size fills about 1 and a half mugs, so I’d prefer to be able to get more tea per preparation. I do find that I can fill one mug, then refill the IngenuiTEA again and add a few more leaves and make another batch though, which is a great workaround and very economical. The smaller size would definitely be best if you wanted to travel with it or were in an office setting though.

 

Cleaning

The best best part, the IngenuiTEA is DISHWASHER SAFE!! You just fill it up with water to rinse the leaves out and put it in the dishwasher and it’s ready to go when you next need it. The IngenuiTEA is equally as easy to rinse between uses, just fill the chamber with water and rinse the leaves out, then fill it again and press the base, the water flows through the valve to rinse it.

 

Overall

I’ve gotta say, Adagio’s IngenuiTEA is fantastic, I can drink so much more tea and it’s just good fun to use. I love teaphernalia and this is definitely one of the most exciting things I’ve got, I just want to show it to everyone!

It’s well made, looks epic (your friends will be so jealous!!) and makes great tea. My tea is always the perfect strength, I usually find with teaware that requires you to add the leaves to the water, that it over infuses and you end up with bitter tea but this doesn’t happen at all with the InegnuiTEA.

If you’re a home user I’d go for the Adagio IngenuiTEA XL, if you’re a work user or on the go more, I’d choose the regular size Adagio IngenuiTEA. The only important thing is that you buy one of them, it’s a game changer for sure! 😀

 

Signing Off

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my review of the Adagio IngenuiTEA. I hope it made your purchasing decision easier 🙂

A massive thank you goes to Adagio for sending me their IngenuiTEA for review, you can find more info about the IngenuiTEA on Adagio’s website. I also received some tea from Adagio, including the Mango Green pictured (LUSH). I’ll be reviewing these over the coming weeks so definitely check back or join my newsletter to receive them direct as they drop!

If you have used any exciting tea gadgets recently I’d love to hear about them in the comments below! xXx

 

 

Rooibos Tea Reviews

Flower Blossom No.15 For Leaves Tea Co. Review!

17th June 2015

It’s time for the 2nd of 4 reviews that I’ll be writing about the wonderful tea from For Leaves Tea Co.

This review will be of their No.15 Flower Blossom Tea. The first review in this series was the No.27 Blackberry Mallow (which I LOVE).

The Need To Know

The No.15 Flower Blossom tea is a rooibos base, with rosehip shells, dried redcurrants, blueberries and blackcurrants among others. Being caffeine free it’s great for a late night drink, my addiction to black, green and white tea leaves me a tad sad when all I’ve got to drink at night is fruit tea, so this is a welcome addition to my tea cupboard (it’s a BIG cupboard! ;).

 

Tea Loose

The Smell

When the pack is first opened it breathes out a sweet nutty fragrance, with a slightly citrusy element but surprisingly it doesn’t contain any citrusy ingredients so I’m assuming it’s the smell of the slightly tart fruit. The aroma is fantastic, there’s nice sized, high quality dried fruit and the rooibos is of equal quality.

 

Cups & Teapot

The Taste

I moved straight on to the infusing, I used my beautiful clear glass teacups and saucers for the photos and they really show up the beautiful rich colour of the tea. For Leaves suggest adding milk for a delicious chai, I don’t drink milk and soya always tastes a bit odd in tea but I can imagine a chai with this tea would be delicious!

The tea has a rich, smooth flavour that’s delicately sweet, I sometimes find rooibos a bit sickly but the blending with the fruit has been done with expert precision and the rooibos sweetness compliments it perfectly. Every mouthful begins with a sweet roobios hit but then the nutty flavours soak through and the taste ends with a wonderful fruity aftertaste. It’s so comforting to just sit back with this tea, slow down a little and feel the relaxation that a great tea brings, which is the ethos behind the For Leaves Tea Co!

Cup Close Up

Overall

Overall I think this tea is fantastic, I’m not usually the biggest fan of rooibos but For Leaves Tea Co. have done a fine job blending this. It’s definitely one of my number one night time drinks and eases my craving for something more than fruit tea before I go to sleep.

Thanks for reading, as always I’ve loved writing this review. If you’d like reviews, competitions and special offers for tea retailers you’ll definitely be wanting to join my newsletter 🙂

A huge thanks goes to Forleaves Tea Co. for sending me these teas! Be sure to check them out. I hope you’ll be back for the remaining 2 Forleaves Tea Co. reviews I’ve got coming up! xXx

 

Fruit Tea Iced Tea Recipes

Sparkling Whittard Summer Strawberry Lemonade Iced Tea Recipe

10th June 2015

So it’s been a bit sunny in the UK huh? Perfect time to make a sparkling Summer Strawberry iced tea with 3 simple ingredients!

The recipe is simple and only needs 3 ingredients!

Ingredients

My favourite fruit tea was always Summer Strawberry from Whitard of Chelsea which has now been discontinued but their new Strawberry Serenade works fantastically too. I decided I’d use posh lemonade to get the extra sweetness but Tesco’s own is probably just as good if you’re on a budget 😉

 

Lemonade

So the first thing you’re going to want to do is grab your favourite jug, hopefully as large as possible as you’ll want to be drinking this all afternoon! Either chill the lemonade bottle first or pour it in to the jug and pop it in the fridge until it’s chilled. You’ll want to fill it with the lemonade to about two thirds of the way full.

 

Steeping Concentrated Tea

To get the strawberry flavour you want to steep about 3 teaspoons of Strawberry Serenade in an inch or so of water in a mug so it’s really concentrated and won’t unchill (not sure that’s even a word?) the lemonade.


 

StrawberriesTo add more of a fresh succulent taste to the iced tea it’s great to add some fresh strawberries and it’s even greater eating them when the iced tea is finished! Just cut them in half so they’ll infuse the water. You can also freeze the strawberries and use them instead of ice, I prefer this method over ice as it doesn’t slowly water down the iced tea.

 

Strawberries Side View

Now you want to carefully pour the concentrated tea in to the lemonade but try it as you go so you get it the right strength. Then top it off with the strawberries and leave it in the fridge for a while to let the natural flavours from the strawberries infuse the iced tea. You can also add some sugar if you feel that the lemonade is too sharp and/or doesn’t already have enough sugar in it!

 

Finished Sunny

That’s the iced tea complete, only thing to do now is grab a friend, find a patch of grass and lounge around drinking it!


 

I hope this recipe has inspired you to make your own iced teas. You can use any fruit tea you like really but if at all possible do stay away from teabags for this approach as you’ll probably end up with red lemonade but no strawberry flavour. I used Summer Strawberry which Whittard of Chelsea have now replaced with Strawberry Serenade, which works just as well!
, feel free to experiment and let me know if you find a better flavoured iced tea! :

As always I hope you’ve loved reading this as much as I’ve loved writing it(and drinking the iced tea), you’ll get more recipes, reviews and a load more tea fun if you join my newsletter!

 

Fruit Tea Reviews Tea Reviews

How Good Is Dr Stuarts Blueberry and Acai Fruit Tea?

9th June 2015

Earlier this week my sister gave me some of her Blueberry and Acai teabags from Dr Stuart’s. I don’t usually use teabags but blueberries are my favourite fruit by a mile so I figured why not give these a go?

The first thing I noticed is the packaging, it’s mainly white but with a beautiful deep purple lid and the same purple styling round the box. The teabags are individually packed and have a nice length of string with a nicely weighted piece of card, which is important to avoid the string falling in the cup (one of the main reasons I avoid teabags). The other solution to this problem is to use teabags with a product called Tea Top which I reviewed last week.

Dr Stuart's Blueberry and Acai
Teabag Packaging

 

As I opened the teabag the blueberry fragrance was lovely, really sweet and had that natural blueberry smell. I poured the freshly boiled water over the teabag and a purple swirl instantly began to fill my mug. The tea has a herby smell alongside the blueberry smell, looking at the ingredients I think this must either be hibiscus or rosehip, hibiscus is great for cardiovascular health which is always a plus!

Teabag

 

The taste is sweet but with a slight tang which surprisingly I really like. My ultimate blueberry tea has to be blueberry blaster from Whittards of Chelsea, I love it’s sweet but delicate blueberry flavour and the floral tones. I’m not sure if Dr Stuart’s Blueberry and Acai tea is on the same level but it does have an equally as interesting flavour so there’s really no reason not to drink both, after all variety is the spice of life! (cheesey enough? :p ). I wonder if the difference in the flavour isn’t so much down to the ingredients but to the difference in steeping using teabags versus loose tea, either way I like both 🙂

Tea Colour

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review and I’d love to hear your comments below, thanks so much for reading. My newsletter is a wonderful blend of tea news, giveaways and reviews and I won’t bombard you, promise! 😉

You can find this Dr Stuarts Blueberry & Acai Tea on Amazon.

You can also get a 3 pack of 45 teabags which saves you money overall 🙂

Reviews Teaphernalia

Sick of Your Teabag String Falling In Your Tea? Here’s The Solution!

2nd June 2015

Recently I stumbled upon a simple but fantastic solution to stop the string from your teabag falling in your tea (How annoying is it when that happens?!). The answer to this problem is a nifty little product called Tea Top!

Tea Top is basically a thin piece of plastic that comes in wonderful colours with equally as wonderful patterns. I got in touch with Denise at Tea Top and she sent me a few Tea Tops to try out. I received pink with flowers design, blue with a dotty design and green with a vine like design (I love this last one the most!). The colours are really vibrant and will definitely brighten up any tea session. The quality is superb, they feel really sturdy with nice soft edges, I’m sure these will withstand many of my tea binges!

 

Tea Top Colours

 

Tea Top has a slit in one side that runs through the middle, you then slide the string through the slit to the hole in the middle and place the teabag in your mug with the Tea Top sitting across the top of the mug. You can even fold it and squeeze the teabag with it so it doesn’t drip on the dreaded journey to the bin. It’s simplicity is what makes it so great, it also works with practically all of my mugs and they come in ALL sizes. Tea Top wipes dry really easily so is easy to clean between uses, another plus when I opt for a teabag when I’m in a rush!

Instructions

Tea Top with Teabag

Tea Top in use

 

I’ve gotta say that they really do solve the problem! I don’t often use teabags, I’m more of a loose leaf kinda guy but I’m often sent samples in teabag form so the Tea Top will definitely be my companion for these times or when I’m feeling lazy/busy as hell!

Tea Top comes all the way from Germany! (one of my favourite countries, oh how I love Berlin<3). You can find them on:

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