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Teaphernalia Top 10's

Top 10 Loose Leaf Tea Infuser Bottles & Flasks

17th August 2017
Chai Buddy blue

I love teaphernalia and always LOVE to try out new infusers. If I can steep tea in it and it’s portable I generally ultimately end up buying it! So I thought I’d do a round up of the top 10 tea flasks and bottles with built in tea infusers. I own most of these and have written reviews of a few so you can get an in depth hands on review as well, more reviews coming soon!

Also check out my second top 10 tea bottles post for more options: Here’s 10 more amazing tea bottles!

These are in no particular order and all of them are great 🙂

Miu glass tea bottle with built in infuser and nylon sleeve

1. MIU COLOR Glass Tea Bottle With Built in Infuser and Nylon Sleeve

I’ve reviewed this tea bottle in depth with more photos here.

 

 

IngenuiTEA Full2. Adagio Teas IngenuiTEA Gravity Tea Infuser

You can find my review of Adagio’s gravity tea infuser here.

 

 

Double walled tea infuser

3. Thermo Double-Walled Glass Tea Infuser

 

 

Marino tea flask

4. Marino Tea On-The-Go Travel Glass Infuser Bottle with Stainless Steel Infuser, Carrying Strap and Silicone Grip

 

 


5. Just Life U Portable Glass Water Bottle with Silicone Handle and Sleeve

 

Adagio ActiviTEA

6. Adagio ActiviTEA Portable Tea Infuser – 300ml

 

 

 

Flask with Box and Insert

6. Libre Thermal Tea Glass With Infuser 14 Ounce

I reviewed this a while back with more photos 🙂

 

 

 

Chai Buddy

7. CHAI BUDDY Thermo Double-Walled Glass Travel Tea Infuser Bottle

Chai Buddy blue

Also in a beautiful royal blue colour.  or another version of the Chai Buddy is more of a mug style a with handle 🙂

 

 

Bamboo thermal travel flask8. Bamboo Thermal Travel Mug Flask With Infuser

X&W double walled

9. X&W Double Wall Glass Water Bottle With Silicone Sleeve

 

 

 

Aladdin Tea Infuser

10. Aladdin Tea Flask With Adjustable Infuser Basket for Perfect Flavour Every Time

I’ve saved the best until last, this is without a doubt the best tea infuser I own! The infuser basket can be lowered in to the water and retracted without even taking the lid off, using a small lever on the side of the flask. The result is perfect flavoured tea every time, no more tea becoming too strong if the leaves are left in the water. It also closes tightly, never leaks and isn’t made of glass so it’s the most portable of the bunch as well.

If you buy one flask or tea infuser, this is THE ONE! Full review coming soon! 😉

Here’s 10 more amazing tea bottles!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, I hope it’s helped your buying decision. If you have any questions about these infuser I’m more than happy to help either via email or on twitter 🙂 <3 xXx

Matcha Reviews Tea Reviews Top 10's

Ultimate Flavoured Matcha Comparison, Find Out Which Are The Best!

4th May 2017

I love matcha! it’s the best breakfast boost I’ve ever found, there’s nothing better to get you through that groggy morning feeling.
I’ve noticed flavoured matcha popping up more and more, my collection keeps on growingso I thought I’d do a flavoured matcha comparison post!

I won’t actually rank them or anything, don’t wanna be mean! 😛  I’ll just give you a general run down of my thoughts about each one and they’ll be in no particular order.

I made sure I used my matcha measuring spoon to ensure all the flavours were made with an equal amount of matcha. I really recommend it if you want to enjoy your matcha at it’s best, it’s really good quality and still looks great after a couple of years use!

 

T2 Tea Cinnamon Matcha

T2’s unflavoured matcha is really good, I find T2 products always deliver! I was excited to find that they’d made flavoured matcha and I reached out to them to see if they would like to be included in my comparison. First impressions were good, amazingly presented and smells awesome. The flavour was just as good as the smell, with a perfect blend of matcha and lusciously sweet cinnamon. Also incredibly frothy which is something I always enjoy in my matcha! Read my full review of T2’s Cinnamon Matcha. Can’t wait to try some of their other flavours and add them to this comparison! 😀

 

 

Bluebird Tea Co. Orange Matcha
The first thing I noticed upon opening the tin is the smell, it’s mind-blowing, like freshly squeezed orange juice. This must be because it actually has orange peal and orange oil in it, which gives it an intensely refreshing zesty flavour. It’s good because it’s not over flavoured, you still know it’s matcha but it just has the lush addition of the orange flavour.

It’s really really frothy, I mainly use an electric milk frother rather than a traditional whisk and the froth is wonderful. It’s very reasonably priced at £15 for 30g (at the time of writing), making it one of the cheaper options and you do get a lot of drinking for that £15.
It’s a good choice for anybody that wants the health benefits of matcha (you must of heard about them by now!), but aren’t fond of the natural taste of it.

 

 

Tea Shop Strawberry Matcha

I found this while travelling when I stumbled in to a tea shop we randomly found in Barcelona. It has a really nice strawberry flavour that is just right, it’s not so sweet that it overpowers the matcha flavour but it’s definitely strawberry flavoured. It has a bit of a pink hue to the froth, which I assume is from whatever they use to flavour it. This is possibly the one that still has the natural matcha flavour the most which could be a good or bad thing depending on your preference.

It’s got a slightly powdery feeling to it, I’m not really sure why, it possibly doesn’t blend as easily as others.  Tea Shop make pineapple, cherry and caramel as well as a couple others that are included below!

 

 

Adagio Teas Raspberry Matcha

Adagio were awesome enough to send me their raspberry matcha and their chocolate matcha (more on the chocolate further down! ;). This is the first Raspberry flavoured matcha I’ve found and I sure was glad to find it! It smells amazing and the tins Adagio use for their flavoured matchas are stunning.
The raspberry scent explodes from the tin before the lid is even removed and multiplies as you fully open it. What I liked most is that the raspberry flavour doesn’t taste artificial at all, it’s really impressive how genuine the succulent raspberry flavour has been captured in this matcha’s dry powder form. Full review here.

 

 

Yunomi – Azuma Chocolate Flavoured Matcha Latte

This isn’t technically flavoured matcha, it’s a flavoured instant matcha latte mix. I love matcha lattes but I find them hard to get when I’m out and about and I’m a bit too lazy to make them at home much. This is where these matcha latte mixes from Yunomi come in, simply add water and you have a matcha latte!

I’ve been a fan of the unflavoured matcha latte mix that Yunomi have for a while now so I was super excited to try the flavoured ones. The chocolate one is definitely my favourite, it smells simply amazing and really does add a nice milk chocolate sweetness to the latte and the convenience of these mixes is amazing! Full review of chocolate, ginger and yuzu matcha latte mixes here.

 

 

Pure Chimp Lemon Matcha

This is one of the most reasonably priced flavoured matchas I found as you get 50g which is more than most others. The smell is crazy strong, I was expecting a zingy lemon scent but it’s actually a really nice sweet lemon fragrance.

The flavour is also very sweet lemon and the matcha flavour is lost quite a bit as a result, the reason for the sweetness is Pure Chimp’s lemon matcha contains stevia to sweeten it. I’m a bit undecided about the stevia that’s been added, it does make the lemon flavour sweet and very different to the other flavoured matchas.
Personally I’d prefer it to not contain any sweetener so I could add it if I wanted, plus I LOVE the flavour of matcha which is lost a bit. The addition of stevia makes this the perfect matcha for people who aren’t accustomed to the natural taste of matcha, a great way to get the health benefits in a sweeter form. This matcha is insanely frothy, one of the frothiest I’ve found and blends really quickly which is always good.

Pure Chimp donate 5% of all profit to charity which is absolutely fantastic and really admirable. So if you prefer your matcha sweetened, love it frothy and would like to donate to charity this is the one for you. You can buy a jar here or a smaller pouch to try.

 

 

Bloom Teas Tropical Matcha
The first thing I noticed about the tropical matcha from Bloom is how nicely presented it is. A glass pot and a little mini spatula attached to the side are a welcome addition. This matcha smells heavenly, it’s like fresh cut mango, I love it! It seems to have little tiny white balls in it which I assume is flavouring, they dissolve completely and I only noticed them because I sieve my matcha so no biggy. Overall this is definitely in my top three, it might even be my favourite, I’m on my third jar now so it must be good, you really won’t be disappointed with this one! 😀

 

 

Adagio Teas Peach Matcha

I’m not really that much of a fan of peach as a flavour but it does seem to be a flavour that blends well with tea and the other Adagio flavoured matchas are so good I decided to give it a try. The smell explodes from the tin before you even open it (largely because the tins leak a bit in the post :p), it’s a mouthwatering sweet peachy fragrance that I really enjoy waking up to. Adagio’s matcha is always a bright vivid green and this is true for all of the flavours of theirs that I’ve tried.

On to preparation! It froths up really well and the smell gets stronger when water is added, I found myself excited about a flavour I usually don’t enjoy all that much which has to be a good sign! I have to say it really does taste fantastic, it has a stronger flavour than a lot of the matcha I’ve featured here but it works really well with the green tea flavour. This is definitely one to try if you like peach and/or prefer your matcha to be more strongly flavoured 🙂

 

 

Bluebird Tea Co. Blueberry Super Matcha

Next up is Bluebird’s super matcha, I heard so many good things about this so I had to give it a try. It’s a little bit more expensive than the orange matcha from Bluebird but you do get the added health benefits of Blueberry and Acai, which add even more antioxidants to the mix!

It’s a beautiful bright green colour and is clearly very good quality. It’s just so fruity and tastes fantastic hot or cold so will definitely be enjoying this all summer!

 

 

Adagio Teas Chocolate Matcha

Chocolate is without a doubt my favourite food and matcha is easily one of my favourite drinks so I was overjoyed to find that the amazing people at Adagio Teas have combined the two! I must admit I did wonder at first how the two flavours would be blended together and which flavour would take centre stage, so I was thrilled when I found that the two flavours happily share the stage!

This blend isn’t too chocolatey and is still clearly matcha but the chocolate flavour floats alongside the vegetal matcha goodness! Full review here 🙂

 

 

Tea Shop Mango Matcha

This is another flavour I found in Barcelona along with the strawberry flavour above. I loved the strawberry matcha but its downfall was it didn’t blend very well and tasted slightly powdery. Luckily their mango matcha isn’t powdery at all and is really addictive!

The mango flavour isn’t as strong in this matcha as the Bloom tropical matcha so I have to say I prefer the Bloom matcha but if you like a more natural flavour in your matcha this is for you.

 

 

Bluebird Tea Co. Cocoa Matcha

One of my more most exciting finds is Bluebird’s cocoa matcha, I loved Adagio’s chocolate matcha so I was excited to see how Bluebird’s compared. I have to say it’s really awesome! Although the chocolatey flavour in Bliebird’s cocoa matcha isn’t as sweet as in the Adagio chocolate matcha it does have more of a natural flavour to it, which is equally as enjoyable.Bluebird’s is flavoured with raw cocoa powder so it does have a brown tint to it, like anything chocolate should! 😀

I really love both approaches to chocolate matcha so it really depends whether you’re more in to a natural approach to flavouring or a sweeter flavour. Chocolate has to be my favourite food so I’ll definitely be devouring this Bluebird cocoa matcha!

 

Thanks for reading!

I’ll add to this post as I find more flavoured matcha, I have a few lined up and have had a few companies contact me so this post will surely grow! 😀

Comment below with any flavoured matcha I’ve missed or email me if you’d like your flavoured matcha included in the list, I’d love to add it!

Bye for now! xXx

Top 10's

Gifts for Tea Lovers Birthday Special!

9th March 2017

Recently I had my birthday and received an amazing haul of tea related Birthday presents. My boyfriend was lovely enough to give me 30 presents as it was my 30th birthday, so I’ve got quite a few things for this post!

As I hadn’t seen a lot of them before I thought it would be fun to put together a birthday gift post, hopefully it will give you some ideas for gifts for the tea lover in your life 😊

Paper and Tea Humpty Dumpty Sipping Cups

I love visiting Paper and Tea in Berlin, it’s one of my favourite places in the world. It has teaware fit for kings, the quality is incredible and I haven’t really owned anything from there before as a lot of the prices are fit for kings as well! So I was thrilled when I opened these tea cups from my boyfriend, he also included a 50 Euro gift card too 😃 They come in a few finishes and colours but the blue and white crackle have always been the ones I’ve looked at.

 

Gourmet Flower Kit

I’ve been planning to grow my own edible flowers for a while now, I think they’d be perfect to finish off my tea photos. My mum took note and found this kit, I’m really excited to try it out! You get everything you need to grow 6 different edible flowers, which really takes the hassle out of buying the stuff separately.

 


Rick and Morty Mug

Me and my boyfriend have been loving Rick and Morty recently and I hadn’t seen any merchandise for it before so this mug was an exciting surprise. It has Rick and Morty on the front coming out of the portal and then on the back they’re going in to the portal.

 


Tsum Tsum Stackable Cups

Our Tsum Tsum collection is taking over our house at the moment, we’re probably approaching the 200 mark. So this was an obvious choice as a present but one I hadn’t seen before, I definitely would of bought it if I had! Each cup has a different picture, it’s gonna be an exciting addition to our kitchen!

 


PlayStation Coasters

I’ve been looking at these coasters while out with my boyfriend for months, my Pokemon ones I got for Christmas have soaked up water so they’re due to be replaced. I’ve always loved gaming so these coasters with the PlayStation buttons on them are perfect 😃

 


Rainbow Bakes Book

I really love baking but haven’t done any for a while now, I’ve been so busy with uni and my business and just haven’t had the time. When I was baking on a regular basis I used to just add matcha to every recipe, you can’t go wrong combining anything cakey with matcha. This Rainbow Bakes book features 40 recipes that are all rainbow coloured, it’s camp, fun and will definitely leave me struggling to resist the urge to add matcha so I don’t turn everything Green! 😊

 

LSA International Circle Tea for One

I’ve been wanting a nice convenient tea for one set for every day use, that can basically live on my desk. This is the perfect product to fulfil those needs, because it only has the footprint of a cup so it will conveniently sit anywhere where space is limited (I should probably just tidy my huge desk!😳)

 

Star Wars Lightsaber Heat Changing Mug

We’re huge Star Wars fans,mainly the original three, so I often receive Star Wars presents. I’ve been wanting this mug for aaages, because it has special powers! When it’s empty the mug shows the handles of all of the lightsabers but when you add hot water they all light up! These mugs often don’t work very well as you can often see the outline of what will appear before you’ve added the water but you can’t at all with this mug. My mum thought this would be the perfect present for a geeky tea lover, she sure was right!:D

 

T2 Pearly White Ink Teapot

I adore T2 Tea! Their tea is phenomenal, as is there teaware. Recently I caved and bought a new T2 teacup and saucer that I’ve been wanting for months, it’s perfect for photos and a joy to use. As it was my 30th birthday my mum went all out and surprised me with the teapot to go with the cup and saucer! The quality is outstanding, blue’s my favourite colour so it’s a great choice, the finish on the pattern is stunning. It’s pretty much my dream teapot, looking forward to many tea sessions with this beauty!

 

 

Whittard of Chelsea Lucy Yellow Fluted Mug

Last up is this super cute Whittard of Chelsea mug. It’s fine bone china and finished to such a high standard, the whole cup is insanely smooth and glossy. It’s also dishwasher safe which is rarely the case with higher end teaware so it will definitely be in regular use, I tend to shy away from teaware I can’t dishwasher 😛

Thanks for Reading!

I hope this post gives you some inspiration to help you find the perfect gift for someone special or for yourself 😉

If you’d like to keep in touch with all the latest news from Russtea’s, you can find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or join my mailing list below.

Bye for now! xXx

 

Teaphernalia Top 10's

Top 10 Amazing Tea Bottles Update

26th December 2016

A while back I did a Top 10 Tea Bottles post that’s been really popular on my blog. Since writing it I’ve discovered loads more tea bottles, so I decided to make an updated version with the new ones I’ve discovered.

They’re in no particular order, just 10 of the best I’ve found. Hope you like it 😊 Be sure to check out number 8 and 10 for something totally unique!😉

 

1. GROSCHE Marino 550ml Water and Tea Travel Infuser – also available in grey or red

 

2. ToasTEA Stainless Steel Travel Infuser – Also available in red and gold. Full Review

 

3. EFOSHM Thermos Insulated Stainless Steel Thermos Tea Bottle – also in blue

 

4. MIU COLOR Glass Water Bottle with Anti-slip Silicone Sleeve – comes in loads of colours!

 

5. bamboo Infusing Vacuum bottle

 

6. GioHybrid Stainless Steel Thermos Flask Tea Bottle – also in lime green or cherry red

 

 

7. Vireo Double Walled Tea Bottle with Carry Case

 

 

8. LifeWheel Borosilicate Glass Tea Bottle – Lid has a storage space for dry tea so you can infuse on the go! Tons of colours

 

9. Life4u Borosilicate Glass Tea with Silicone Sleeve – wide choice of colours

 

10. Oxford Eve’s with Bamboo Lid & Multi Functional Infuser – A Must See!

 

I hope this has helped you decide which tea bottle is for you! I’d love to hear in the comments below what your favourite tea bottle is?

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now xXx

Top 10's

Top 15 Coolest Tea Mugs

30th March 2016

Hey guys!

I’ve got a bit of a problem, I’m a mug collecting addict! I literally don’t have enough room for them all and I’m starting to have to store them on the side as there’s not enough space in the cupboards. So I thought it would be fun to show you some of my favourites!

They’re in no order really, just 15 that I think are worth sharing. I’ll add to the list as time goes by 🙂

 

 

 

Crossbow Mug

 

1. Walking Dead Daryl Dixon Crossbow Mug – This season of The Walking Dead is quite possibly it’s finest and this mug is hella awesome!

 

Westeros Stacking Mugs

 

 

2. Game of Thrones Westeros Stacking Mugs – So this is technically 3 mugs but it has to be to fit a glorious map of Westeros on them 😀

 

 

I don't even think straight

3. “I don’t even think straight” – One of my personal favourites, it always gets people talking and pretty much sums me up!

 

 

Toilet Mug

4. Jumbo Toilet Mug – This probably isn’t a mug everyone would want but it sure will put a smile on the face of everyone in the office, especially if you drink black or green tea 😉 Just make sure your boss doesn’t see it!

 

 

Morning Wake Up

5. Morning Wake Up Colour Changing Mug – This mug is so damn cute! When it’s empty the mug is black and sleeping, add the water and the mug wakes up, delightful!

 

Star Wars6. R2-D2 Giant Mug – This was one of the first large mugs I bought, I figured the bigger the mug, the more tea I could drink! Disney’s merch is always such good quality and long lasting, you know you want it 😉

 

Whittard Infuser Mug7. Whittard of Chelsea Pao Infuser Mug In Teal – This is a real beauty, you get a lovely quality mug with lid and the best infuser I have, it also fits any mug. I have it in dark blue but the Teal is cuter 😉

 

 

Magisso Tilting Tea Cup

8. Magisso Tilting Tea Cup – This is so simple but so clever! Tilt it one way to infuse and then tilt it the other way to stop infusing when the tea is your desired strength, genius!

 

 

Jake

9. Jake The Dog Adventure Time 3D Mug -I’m not the biggest fan of adventure time but my boyfriend loves it and this mug is pretty damn cool either way!

 

Knuckles Mug

10. Brass Knuckles / Knuckle Dusters mug. Possibly not everyones ‘cup of tea’ but definitely one of my fav cups for tea! :p

 

Lens Mug11. Camera Lens Mug – This is one for the geeks, which is why I love it so much. Tea and tech <3

 

Ninja Mug12. Tasse Ninja Mug – This is a little bit special actually, it has a mug with an amazing black ninja mask, a ninja star as a coaster and a ninja sword handled spoon included.

 

Tetris13. Tetris Colour Changing Mug – I really love colour changing mugs, especially ones where it’s not that obvious, some are so blatant even when the mug is cold. This is a massive flashback to my Gameboy years, battling with my brother for the highest score!

 

 

Wimports Infuser Mug

 

14. Wimports Glass Tea Mug with Infuser – It’s all about loose leaf tea for me so a mug with a built in infuser is always at the front of my cupboard. This one’s awesome as the lid doubles as a holder for the infuser once your tea is the way you like it.

 

Billy Mug15. Saw Sculpted Mug – I’ll finish with a horror themed mug, my collection wouldn’t be complete without this horrific beauty!

 

So that’s 15 of my most favourite mugs, what are your favourite mugs? I’d love to hear in the comments below. If you enjoyed this post I’d really appreciate it if you could please share it! 🙂

Also if you like Top 10’s. 15’s, 20’s etc you’ll like my Top 10 Novelty Tea Infusers and Top 10 Tea Infusing Bottles.

Thanks so much! xXx

Reviews Teaphernalia Top 10's

Top 10 Tea Books Every Tea Lover Should Read!

12th February 2016

Recently I’ve been buying books about my favourite subject! I was amazed at how many there were so I thought I’d put a list together of the best ones. I own some of the books and plan to own them all but some of the top 10 are based on the books with the most favourable reviews.

In no particular order the top 10 tea books I could find are as follows:

tea book dk1. The Tea Book (DK) – This is one I do own and my favourite I’ve been able to find, it has loads of material and history of tea as well as tables to better determine the flavours of the tea you’re drinking, really helpful for blogging!

 

 

teapigs book 2. Teapigs The Book of Tea – Another one I love! although Teapigs isn’t my favourite brand of tea this book is still fantastic. It features loads of interesting history, how tea is made, growing tea and a breakdown of the culture of tea in different countries all around the world.

 

 


3. Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties – An escorted tour of the worlds tea growing countries, written by the owners of the Camellia Sinensis Tea House in Montreal. It covers black, green, white, yellow, oolong, pu’er, perfumed, aromatic and smoked teas.

 

 


4. 20, 000 Secrets of Tea: The Most Effective Ways to Benefit from Nature’s Healing Herbs – This is one for the health conscious, it details how to benefit from the many magical healing effects of tea.

 

 


5. The Ritz London Book Of Afternoon Tea: The Art and Pleasures of Taking Tea – A more traditional take on this great british pastime, including an in-depth view of Afternoon tea at The Ritz. A nice extra is it even includes recipes so you can enjoy a posh afternoon tea in the comfort of your home (and without missing that mortgage payment).

 

 


6. Tea: A History of the Drink That Changed the World – This book gives an entire history of tea and its impacts on the world, including it’s social implications and it’s effect on the ethics of business.

 

 

the art and craft of tea
7. The Art and Craft of Tea: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Selecting, Brewing, and Serving Exquisite Tea – This book makes the history and traditions of tea accessible to everyone. If you want to take your reading one step further the book also has recipes for blending tea using natural ingredients.

 

 

tea enthusiats handbook

8. The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook: A Guide to the World’s Best Teas – The perfect guide to the world’s finest teas and how to get the most out of them, with an approach that behind every tea is a story of the land it came from and the skills used to craft it.

 

 

little black book

9. Little Black Book of Tea (Little Black Books) – What could be better than a pocket sized guide of tea?! This book is beautifully finished and would be an awesome gift for the tea lover in your life. It has 160 pages of the different grades of tea from around the world, including the best ways to enjoy them and recipes.

 

 

the china tea book

10. The China Tea Book – This is the most expensive book on the list but after doing my research I found that the reviews are always positive and it’s bound in a lush hardcover. The focus of the book is China and its 5000 year history of tea drinking and the culture and tradition that surrounds it. It covers the sophistication of tea drinking and the love that goes with it.

 

That brings us to the end of my top 10 tea books, I plan to eventually buy them all but I hope this helps you to decide which one(s) to buy. Remember to share and thanks for reading! 😀