The London Tea Company - Fairtrade Revival

The London Tea Company - Fairtrade Revival

As a company I have always loved TLTC, I've never had a bad brew from them, so when I saw them asking for bloggers to review their new range, I jumped at the chance!

Upon first glance at the literature provided I noticed that most of the old range has gone the way of the dodo being not a Fairtrade product. For example the old White Tea, Elderflower & Apricot blend has been replaced by the new White Tea Pear Tatin, definitely a fair exchange! Both are gorgeous in their own unique way.

In my goodie box I was sent a whole box of London Breakfast & White Tea, Pear Tatin plus 4-5 envelopes of the following: Earl Grey, Sencha Green Tea, Tropical Green Tea, Vanilla Chai, Pure Camomile, Pure Peppermint, Zingy Lemon & Ginger, Raspberry Inferno, Peach & Rhubarb and finally Pure Rooibos!

I'll be reviewing these in the order listed above.

So first up London Breakfast, I haven't ever had a bad breakfast blend but this one is definitely one of my favourites. I found it more sweet than any blend had previously and this was without adding an sugar at all, blended using Assam & Kenyan teas this is a gorgeous brew to start your day but also perfect at any other time. 

Next, White Tea Pear Tatin, this is truly a dessert in a cup. This blend is wonderfully delicate & yet so full of flavour, a perfect way to keep your sweet tooth under control without all the calories. This blend is made up of White Tea, Ginger & Pear Tatin Dessert flavours, I'm quite glad I got a whole box of this as I do believe it's my favourite of the bunch!

Up next, Earl Grey, I believe I've tried almost every mainstream brand blend of Earl Grey & I have to say this one is the most creamy version yet, the Bergamot is intense without being over powering which to me is important as otherwise the Bergamot can dominate & it can be quite unpleasant. Thankfully this blend is anything but, made from a blend of Ceylon & Nilgiri teas with natural Bergamot it's a real winner!

Next Sencha Green Tea, this steamed pure China green tea, is wonderfully delicate & beautifully fresh. It only took a few minutes to brew & had no hint of bitterness that plagues some green teas. My next plan for this little beauty is cold brew it with a slice of lemon to make a fun adult soft drink!

Now for the Tropical Green Tea, this was already an existing flavour in LTC's arsenal and already boasting an organic label. The added bonus of the Fairtrade label already makes it taste better in my head before even opening the bag, and trust me I wasn't disappointed! As I still have some of the original I was able to make an accurate comparison, I found the Fairtrade version more smooth & full of flavour so much so that I may be tempted to relegate my old box to the office cupboard & snaffle a newer one!

The Vanilla Chai, what can I say about this blend other than simply wow? Quite a lot actually, teehee! This chai blend is made using traditional Indian Masala Chai methods & was so creamy I had to double check it was in fact Second Flush Assam & not Rooibos as the texture fooled me into thinking! I have yet to make this into a latte but honestly can't wait to try it out, iced or hot, both I'm sure will be absolutely fantastic!  

The Pure Chamomile, this has got to be the most flavourful & unboring cup of Chamomile tea I've ever had! I have to admit I usually steer clear of Chamomile on its own in a tea as I struggle to enjoy it with any enthusiasm. That said this blend has really converted me, I can really see why people enjoy drinking it & found it really soothing & relaxing and will definitely be treating myself to a box to aid my usually restless nights sleep!

The Pure Peppermint, this is as expected a cut above the rest, theres no hint of bitterness even when accidentally over steeped after getting distracted! The brew is smooth & soothing especially for one who suffers with stomach issues. I plan on icing some of this to enjoy in the afternoons when its usually the worst!

Next up the Zingy Lemon & Ginger, again this has a lot more substance to it than other similar blends I've had, I believe this is down to the added Lemongrass that just gives it that edge on the competitors! A truly wonderful caffeine free boost and no hint of blandness that some blends suffer from, a winner!

Now the sneaky Raspberry Inferno! This beauty has a bit of a kick to it! Complimenting the Raspberry is Fairtrade Hibiscus and the cause of that kick, a touch of fiery chilli! Now I've drunk this blend's predecessor and found it too spicy (curse my low spice tolerance!) but this blend has the balance just right for my sensitive palette! 

And next the Peach & Rhubarb Flavoured Fruit Infusion, as with the Raspberry Inferno the base of this blend is Fairtrade Hibiscus, to this is added the Peach & Rhubarb flavours. This is blend to me is sitting in the garden with a good book & Yasmine at my feet, it just screams summer! Hot or cold this blend pure sunshine, in fact a dash of Pimms & some chopped fruit and it could add fun to any event!

And finally the Pure Rooibos! This blend has come from the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa's Western Cape! I just love Rooibos! It's so versatile & perfect any time of the day, now I take my Rooibos with milk generally as a rule, this Rooibos is just so sweet & creamy! The richness of flavour invokes a very satisfied sigh from my lips! Who needs a stress ball, all I need is a cup of this!

To wrap, this range has been a pure delight to sample, every one of them has been a winner. I have been recommending them to my friends & colleagues who have been drawn in simply by the scent of each blend!

Now my lovely tea folks, if you wish to try any of this range for yourself, please make your way over to their website and just for you on all full price lines for your first order if you type in londontea you will receive 20% off! Isn't that fab?

What are you waiting for? Get that kettle on!

Coming soon: My review of The London Tea Company's new pyramid range!   

In the meantime please check out their Facebook or Twitter

Cafédirect Coffee Pods

Cafédirect Coffee Pods

Imagine my surprise when at the end of March the Mr produced a parcel the postie had delivered & I wasn't expecting anything, upon opening it two boxes of Cafédirect Coffee Pods fell out and a press release!

Now once I got over my initial joy at this surprise review parcel the Mr pointed out that our coffee machine was in fact a Tassimo and not a Nespresso, that these pods are designed for! So here began my scavenger hunt for a machine! After a week or so of asking around for one to borrow, with a promise of the remaining pods after I'd finished my review & no-one owning one, I resorted to eBay for a cheap machine of my very own! (The Mr called this a colossal waste of money but guess who uses it the most!!) Skip forward three weeks, one week for the auction to end and two for it to finally arrive (Shipping speed was not the sellers strong point!) and we had a fully working, slightly battered basic Nespresso machine! Booyah!

From their range of four intensities I received a box of the Peruvian Spirit - Intensity 7 and a box of Espresso Vivo - Intensity 9.

Now I am a relative new comer to coffee with my main expertise being tea, so I am still building myself up for the really intense types. The Mr can and does knock back the strongest coffee I've ever seen and not bat an eyelid, where as just the smell of it knocks me off my chair so this was a great way to build up my strength immunity!

As you'd expect from my previous statement I did of course start with the Peruvian Spirit, I found this wonderful blend rivalled any I'd had in coffee shops, I could drink this as a replacement to instant any day, and its just as simple to make! Now we have a branded coffee shop at the end of our road that we haven't even entered since getting these pods, that is testament to how great they are! Now back to the actually coffee rather than my ramblings! The blurb I got with my pods advises of chocolatey notes, these are certainly present but I found with a slight hint of earthiness too. All in all this is a gorgeous cup of coffee again and again! This is one we will definitely be keeping stocked up in the cupboard!

And finally the Espresso Vivo, this has to be the strongest coffee we have in our home, yet despite the strength it was an immensely enjoyable cup, certainly not a blend to be drinking last thing at night but a great afternoon pick-me-up. As I mentioned earlier the Mr loves his strong coffee, we had to hide a few away to make sure we had enough to use for this review! The smoothness of this blend is quite amazing for a home made brew, it looks like it had come straight out of a professional machine rather than my worse for wear Nespresso! 

All in all these pods are a fantastic idea, and as they are available in most supermarkets they score one against the official Nespresso pods that can only be purchase in their online store or the London shop. They are great value for money, retailing at £2.99 for a box of 10 pods, you couldn't even get a small coffee from a chain stop for that price!

As I start my journey into the coffee world this was a great introduction, already I have a growing collection taking over my kitchen but at least the Mr enjoys these so he doesn't mind as much as he does with our tea!

P.S. Photos are property of Cafédirect, I couldn't do it justice! ^_^

Tea Experience at The Chinese Tea Company

Tea Tasting at The Chinese Tea Company

So back in October I got a rather excited text from my wonderful friend Lindsey, she'd found a tea tasting experience on Groupon, we both thought this sounded perfect for me to expand my knowledge & for Linz to toe the waters with more than just my stash & spotty factoids so she signed us up straight away!

As life has a funny way of getting in the way we ended up not booking our trip until after New Years, so I found myself excitedly counting down until February 20th.

From where we live it was at least an hour by train but so worth it!

When we arrived we spent a good 15 minutes trying to work out how to get in as the store is located within a mall, once calling the store it turned out we'd missed an email advising us to do as such, doh!

The store itself is a quaint little slot that almost doesn't belong in its surroundings, appropriately there is a Gizmo plush hiding in the corner of the window display as it reminds us of the curio store from Gremlins somewhat!

Once inside the store, you can see a rectangular table with benches set up, at the far end were all the accoutrements you'd associate with tea in China. As we were the first to arrive we spent the next few minutes oooing & aaahing at all the tea, teapots & sets and wishing for a larger pay-packet!!

Once most of the guest arrived we seated ourselves on the benches to begin our journey into tea knowledge! As the last two attendees were running late we started without them, our host Juyan Webster immediately showed her knowledge and passion for tea.

Our first tea was a fabulous White Peony, of which we had 4 infusions, each tasting different while Juyan explained how each leaf was harvested & prepared, at what time of year, what parts of the leaves were used & the age/type of the plant (Juyan explained that a young White Tea plant could not be used for example to produce Puer). 

Our second tea was a wonderful Oolong, Tie Guan Yin, as many of my readers/Twitterbods may have noticed I love Oolong & drink it every day. The Oolong was served with an additional little tasting cup that allowed us to fully appreciate the full bodied scent this tea has, again we had 4 infusions of this blend and Juyan explained how the leaf was prepared & what parts of the leaf & bud are used to create this glorious tea. In fact I loved this tea so much I actually bought some once we had finished!

Our third tea was a gorgeous Red Tea, Yunnan Dian Hong. Not to be confused with Redbush/Rooibos, Red Tea is what is generally known as Black Tea outside of China. Red due to the colour the tea goes when infused, but Black due to the colour of the tea leaf before infusion. This was unlike any tea I had tasted previously, I could taste the freshness of this blend and in each subsequent infusion (each and every tea for sale in the store states when it was picked and what province it comes from). I also treated myself to a bag of this too.

Our fourth and final tea was a beautifully earthy Puer from 2005/6, I have a soft spot for Puer as it always makes me feel like I'm in the woods after a rain storm and it takes me to many happy memories! This is no exception, I found this tea so fantastically rich even after multiple infusions. The leaves for this tea came from a huge pressed cake, I own many miniature cakes but this was my first time drinking from a larger cake and I could taste the difference! My birthday is coming up soon so I will be majorly hinting at the Mr to buy me one of my very own!

To wrap up we both had a wonderful time & learned so much in such a short time, definitely an experience I hope to repeat soon only this time if Juyan doesn't mind I will be taking notes or see if I can record the session as even by the time we got home the knowledge was filtering away.

Lula Bops Tearoom

Afternoon Tea at Lula Bops Tearooms

When a friend linked me to their Facebook page and asked if I wanted to go for our long overdue catch up, I believe I responded with 'need you ask?' Hehe!

On first glance it doesn't quite fit in with the surrounding stores but that makes it all the more endearing when you walk through the door.

From the pink striped wallpaper to the chandelier this place combines cute with classy in a gorgeous way.  We went during their opening week so they had a limited menu but even with the limited choice I found it difficult to decide on what I wanted.

The tea on choice was from a company called Brewhaha a completely new to me brand! I love trying new brands as I then have no preconceptions about previous cuppas.

Once we decided on our drinks we then had to decide on sweet treats, decisions, decisions!

As it happens I went for a cup of Brewhoho Christmas with two buttered crumpets, Nicola went for a Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream & Flake and a scone with clotted cream & jam.

These arrived while we continued to found ourselves drawn to all the various bits & bobs on all the shelves, with almost everything available to buy we made sure our purses quickly returned to our bags or we might have bought the lot!

When the food & drinks arrived conversation stopped momentarily as we dove into our cups. My tea arrived in a teapot for one set, with a cute little cow milk jug further adding to the cuteness of the experience. Nicolas hot chocolate was almost overflowing with cream so she was thrilled. 

I got two full teacups from my little teapot, as we sipped our drinks we knew we'd be ordering more after having such a hard time deciding to begin with.

My Christmas brew was everything I associate with Christmas, it was Chai like but with an almost gingerbread hint to it, I am definitely a fan of this brand and will be adding some to my stash very soon.

After finishing our brews we turned back to the menu for more tea! I decided on the Rose while Nicola went for the Chai, I also cheekily ordered some chocolate cake.

Both these brews arrived in the same cute teapot for one sets with another cow milk jug! My Rose brew was sweet without needing any sugar at all. The chocolate cake was wonderfully decadent and just a hint away from being sickly.

All in all I can say this was a fantastic experience that I can't wait to repeat. The Lula Bops Tearoom has gained two lifelong fans.

As I live about an hour way unfortunately I can't just pop in for a quick cuppa like I'd love to, but as Nicola is local I'm certain she'll be back before long!

Dr Stuarts Pre-Release Goodie Box

Dr Stuarts, Higher Living & Kromland Farm

Pre-Release Goodie Box

I'm relatively new to the Dr Stuart & Higher Living brands and to be honest had not heard of Kromland Farm before opening this wonderful little box of tricks.

However upon tasting each of this amazing teas I am now a firm fan of all 3 brands!

In our box were the following teas:

Dr Stuarts - Puerh Blackberry
Dr Stuarts - White Tea Strawberry Chilli
Dr Stuarts - Yerba Mate Chipotle
Higher Living - Green Tea Coconut
Higher Living - Vanilla Chai
Kromland Farm - Organic Berry Rooibos Tea
Kromland Farm - Organic Chai Rooibos Tea

First I'm going to talk about the gorgeous Dr Stuarts selection, all loose leaf may I add!

At work I've bought a cheap teapot which we use every afternoon for afternoon tea as I am on a mission to get as many people as I can to appreciate the wonders of loose leaf tea, so this is how I have enjoyed each of these teas, in the company of the few I have converted.

First I opened the Puerh Blackberry, it smells so strong and fruity I just couldn't wait to drink it! When brewing it I had to resist continuously taking off the teapot lid to keep smelling it, once brewed the tea had a wonderfully deep colour taken from its fruity roots. When drinking it this tea manages to have 2 distinct flavours, first the blackberry wows your tastebuds then the gorgeously earthy taste of the Puerh comes through to tell you, yes this is a Puerh! This glorious combination of flavours continues throughout the whole cup and indeed the whole pot. The girls in my office who tried this with me are totally new to Pureh, I'd not bought one in to share before. One of them described it as the best tea I'd ever given them (and I've given them a lot of tea to try!). On the whole I think this blend has managed to ensure that at least one of the girls will be treating themselves to an infuser when this hits the shelf.

Next I had the White Tea Strawberry Chilli, this smells wonderful, there is no doubt however that there is chilli present as I could feel my nose tingling as I took a deep breath! Now I have found after living with my Mister for a year that I have little or no tolerance for chilli and he fills our food with it but this I love and the chilli is enough to notice but not enough for me to then down glasses of water! My tea girls and I found that you first taste the strawberry but just as the tea reaches the back of your mouth the chilli makes it presence known, this make my throat tingle after every mouthful. It is an unusual combination, not one you'd generally think go together but it really works.

Finally from this range I opened the Yerba Mate Chipotle, the tingle the last tea gave was nothing compared to this one! The tingle became a slight burning sensation which made me all the more curious to take my first sip. This blend put me in a mind of a type of chai, the presence of the cinnamon makes this blend slightly sweet at first, then I got the savoury from the mate and then the chipotle sneaks up and yells hello! This blend is as spicy as I can get without setting off my chilli alarm. This is most definitely one of those winter warming blends but I could quite happily drink it all year round, and will.

Next the wonderful Higher Living Pyramid Teapees.

First I opened the Green Tea Coconut, the smell of this tea took me back to my holiday in Barbados a few years back! I closed my eyes and I was on the beach sipping a cocktail! My first cup I accidentally over brewed after getting distracted by a colleague needing help, thankfully my second cup was perfectly brewed and totally gorgeous! As I collected my package before work it spent the day sitting on my desk with people picking up the boxes and smelling them whenever they walked past, this one had everyone coming back around a second time! This said second cup was truly wonderful! I can easily imagine icing this blend in the summer with an added splash of Malibu to really make this a treat to remember. Once brewed correctly I found I was hard pushed to not finish it in one large gulp, I have few friends who can't wait to get a box all of their own!

Then I opened the Vanilla Chai Black Tea, this smells wonderfully sweet and quite rich. The vanilla is really the first thing you smell once opening the box, then the chai seeps through to really set the scene. The Teapee has some quite large bits and bobs inside it so this is more like a loose leaf tea that has been placed in an infuser, this creates a gorgeous infusion that has quite a few different flavour layers. I drank this with milk but found it didn't need the usual sugar I add to my chai to truly bring out the flavours. I will always have a major love affair with chai, it's like a big hug in a mug! They say that a cup of tea makes everything better, for me chai is the next step up! This beauty may be my next go to cuppa after a hard day with added Baileys instead of milk.

And finally Kromland Farm, a brand I'm afraid to admit I hadn't heard of but have found a permanent spot in my ever growing stash after tasting these 2 beauties, they only sell organic rooibos and you can really taste the difference!

From this shiny new range first I tried their Organic Berry Rooibos Tea, this blend smells gorgeously fruity, the rooibos scent comes through too, it's so pure! After adding the water the smell got even stronger, even my cat was sniffing around it, I had to push her away before she tried to stick her paw in to taste it! Burned kitty paws are not a good outcome! Once fighting off Yasmine the first sip was just perfect, I seemed to get a different taste with every mouthful, the berries just burst through  the rooibos compliments this excellently. There is none of the tartness some berry brews can bring, only wonderfully subtly sweet flavours. This another one that would be brilliant iced and mixed with an alcoholic beverage, probably Pimms! Honestly I don't spend all my time thinking of teas that will mix with alcohol! I just have to try new mixers as I try not to drink many fizzy drinks!

And last but by no means least I opened the Organic Chai Rooibos Tea, this one has a more subtle fragrance that the Higher Living Vanilla Chai but from scent alone this undoubtably chai, and the rooibos is hovering behind the various spices. Again with this chai I added milk but I also did add my usual sugar to just help bring out the more subtle notes in this blend. Upon tasting this for the first time the subtleness continues, that makes this brew all the more wonderful. My colleague and I dubbed this as beginners chai, I would serve this to a chai virgin as it would not be too overpowering for them but would have enough of a tease to get them to sample more and become as hooked as I am. This would be a perfect replacement for a morning coffee as the chai helps to awaken the senses but the rooibos means that there will be no caffeine crash later in the morning. What can go wrong? In my opinion nothing, no chai I've tasted has been bad and this is no exception, this too will have a spot firmly in my vast tea stash.

All in all I have loved every single one of these 7 fantastic blends and will be recommending them to anyone who will listen, I know my tea girls at work are looking to get their hands on a few of these as soon as they are readily available and I don't blame them! Every single one has been a big hit with with me, they went from strength to strength and managed to cover every period in the day between them! In short I managed to get an entire day of different cups in one fabulous box! Keep an eye out for these amazing blends for they will be hitting the shelves in the near future!

Twinings Pre-Release - Sweet Green Teas

Twinings Sweet Green Teas

Pre-release goodie box

When I opened the plain white package that has been left on my doormat I could hardly imagine it would contain such a beautiful box! A high quality black box wrapped in a neatly tied ribbon.

Inside is 4 sheets of green tissue paper, 2 in a pine green and 2 in a lime green. After peeling back the layers of paper I was confronted by the artwork for the 3 flavours I have the honour of being one of the first members of the public to try. With this artwork was a detailed description of each of the flavours plus details of their release and where to buy them.

Also there was a page listing some bonus extras in my box, 3 specially baked cake pops to accompany each flavour made by Bianca Benn of Cake Pop Princess

First I tried the Sweet Green Tea - Gingerbread (I never can resist anything gingerbread flavoured)
This tea smells like freshly baked gingerbread, while waiting for the tea to cool enough to drink I could hardly resist sticking my nose in and taking continuous deep breaths! Once this amazing blend cooled down, my first sip was sublime, there was no hint of bitterness which can be found in some green teas, this has to be the best gingerbread tea I have ever tasted! I could drink this again and again without ever finding it sickly, no ingredients were listed on my sample bag so I can only speculate as to what really made this taste so truly fantastic what I do know is that this will definitely be a firm favourite in my tea stash! I will be raving about this until I can buy a box to share around!

After finishing this beautiful cup I then tucked into my Gingerbread Cake Pop, I've never had a cake pop before, you've just made a fan of me! Although I imagine they are slightly counterproductive to the low calorie count of 4 this range of teas boast I find that I don't actually care, they are that good! Chances are the pops will last a lot longer than the tea as they are sickly but oh so good!

The second I tried was the Sweet Green Tea - Salted Caramel. This has a more subtle fragrance than the Gingerbread but you can definitely tell the flavour from its scent. Once it had cooled enough for me to drink, it was so smooth and creamy despite there being no milk at all! If I'd closed my eyes I could have sworn I was eating a sweet, I am falling in love with this range and I'm falling hard! The failing of some sweet ranges is that they quickly become overbearing, the sweetness in this range coupled with the green tea is a brilliant combination, they compliment each other perfectly.

As with my last cup I once more felt the need to open my matching Cake Pop! This one was less sickly than the gingerbread with bits of caramel to give it an added crunch! I will definitely be treating some of my lovely ladies to some of these for their upcoming birthdays!

And finally I opened the Sweet Green Tea - Caramel Apple. This has a more strong fragrance than the Salted Caramel but not as strong as the Gingerbread, at first this one put me in the mind of Twinings own Camomile & Spiced Apple but with a sweeter hint. I found this one almost filling, if I was to serve this to friends after dinner there would be no need for a separate desert. The flavour was rich, intense and stayed with me long after the final sip.

To finish this wonderful experience I had my final cake pop! The Caramel Apple one, as I'd found the others a little heavy going I took this one into work to share! Thankfully there were cakes in the office already or this beauty would have grown legs and disappeared very quickly! I will be passing on the details to most of the however as there were lots of 'oooos' and 'ahhhhs' from people passing my desk!

All in all this has been a wonderful taste journey, the teas have all been fantastic! I can't wait for these to appear in my local Waitrose as I will be filling my trolley and keeping a steady supply in my cupboard at home and at the office. I will also be a steady customer of Bianca Benn of Cake Pop Princess!