Thursday, February 23, 2012

Adagio Rooibos Earl Grey

I've come to the conclusion that I love Earl Grey tea.  Just wanted to set the record straight.  I love the taste & that smell of bergamot.

Earl Grey tea is commonly a black tea with bergamot oil.  According to my on-line research, thank you Wikipedia, bergamot oranges are grown commercially in Italy.  They have a dstinct flavor, often used in teas.

There are various varities of Earl Grey teas...
Lady Grey -
     Lavendar Lady Grey is flavored with lavendar.
     Citrus Lady Grey is flavored with Seville oranges.
London Fog is Earl Grey with steamed milk & vanilla syrup.
French Earl Grey is flavored with rose petals.
Russian Earl Grey is flavored with citrus peels & lemongrass.

Earl Grey Green is obviously green tea leaves with bergamot.

Rooibos Earl Grey is Earl Grey with red tea (or South African herbal tea) & bergamot.

And that brings me to tonight's tea...Rooibos Earl Grey from the wonderful people at Adagio.

Oh Earl Grey how I love your warm wonderful flavor.
And rooibos tea always calms me down.  
I love a good cup of rooibos at the end of the day when I want to unwind & settle down before going to bed.  Rooibos has a way of relaxing me & helping me drift off to sleep.....

Tonight I'm excited about brewing this pot of tea.  I'm using my new cast iron teapot.

Since I started my obsession with loose leaf tea, I have been looking for the perfect cast iron teapot.  After much on-line research & searching high & low for the perfect teapot, I will stumble across one at a favorite store....V&T Supermarket in Hempstead.  I luck out & find some great deals there on tea accessories.

Nothing overly fancy...in fact, it's quite plain.  And you would probably expect me to want something over the top exotic, but I went for something simple.  Something functional.

Here it is....

Simple...but functional.
For the record, the teapot warmer is also cast iron.  Found on Amazon for a mere $11.

I will 'wash' the pot before I brew my tea tonight.  By washing it, I merely run boiling hot water through it.  I will take the time to care for this pot.  No soap.  Just hot water to clean it.  And I leave it air dry on the drain board.  Let's hope I can keep it clean & not get any rust.

After I wash the pot, I open the bag of tea.  I love the smell.  It's definitely a strong orange scent that first greets you.  But then there is something behind it.  I can't quite place it, but it's wonderful.  It lets you know this tea is going to be delicious.

Adagio lists this tea as rooibos tea with citrus peels, blue cornflowers & natural Earl Grey flavor. 

Here is what the tea looks like in the bag....

You can see those lovely blue cornflower pieces.  They offer up a wonderful floral note to compliment the citrus.

I am now faced with the decision of which teacup & saucer to use.  I seem to have amassed quite the collection of teapots, teacups & saucers since the loose leaf tea obsession has taken over.  I seem to find new stuff that I MUST HAVE!

Hey Anthony....call Hoarders now!  I expect to be found burried in a large mass of teapots!

Tonight I will use a new addition to the collection.  Found for a mere $6 at Home Goods, I lucked out & bought two of these...

I love floral patterns on teacups.  I also love solids & funky designs....but floral patterns will always grab my attention.  I lucked out at the Home Goods in Hempstead recently & found these.  I have seen them on Amazon for $50 for a set of four....so I was glad when I found the two for $6 each.  Ahhh....Home Goods.  Have I mentioned how much I love that store?

So tonight I am relaxing.....sipping this wonderful cup of flavorful deliciousness.  Warm citrus with that light floral hint....it's perfect.

 

Such a great flavor filling my mouth....I let the citrus & floral notes entice me into finishing the entire pot....which I will gladly do. 

I am amazed at how long I will linger over this pot. 
I don't want to rush it. 
Tonight I want to relax & savor the flavor. 
I want to let the tensions from work roll away. 
I need to destress.

Sometimes I wonder if the people who grow these teas realize at how much I enjoy their teas!

So thank you Adagio for this wonderful flavor.

For the record, yes, I would share this lovely pot with others....just not tonight.
Tonight, it's all mine.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Red Velvet in a tea?

If you have a sweet tooth that needs to be fed, it can ruin you when you are trying to lose weight.  Even worse, it will wreck you when you are doing the Biggest Loser at work & the first weigh in is after Super Bowl Sunday!

So when your sweet tooth tries to call the shots & its' demands for their sweet fix is at an all time high, feel free to carelessly give in to its demands.  Just be sure to have a tin of Red Velvet Chocolate tea on hand.

Found the first time by chance, The Republic of Tea's Red Velvet Chocolate is a definite must have in my stash of teas.  It's one that I could drink daily, but would rather have it less often or face the possibility of being bored with the same tea time after time.

Caffeine free herb blend with rooibos, chocolate, vanilla & beer root, Red Velvet Chocolate is truly sinful!  When I first tried this tea I was amazed at how I felt like I was drinking red velvet cake batter.  I was certain this was going to add weight to my hips.

Luckily, it hasn't!

Instead, it satisfies my sweet tooth's demands.  It kept the sweet tooth amused & allowed my body to relax & enjoy the red velvet cake batter....without the high calorie guilt!

I swear the wonderful tea magicians at The Republic of Tea have added the vanilla to magically add a cream cheese frosting to the flavor.  I dare not ask how they do it.  I am merely going to allow them to mystify me.  I'll just remain in oblivious awe as I sip this wonderous potion.

Thanks to Wikipedia for some of the following information...
Rooibos pronounced ROY-BOSS, is Afrkaan for red bush a plant that is only grown in a small region of the Western Cape province in South Africa.

It's often called bush tea, redbush tea, South African red tea or just red tea.

In South Africa, rooibos is often served with milk & sugar.

Rooibos is known for high levels of antioxidants & its lack of caffeine.  It's been found to help aid with nervous tension, allergies & digestive problems.

I find it helps me get to sleep easier.

Oh this lovely flavor.
That warm & wonderful taste.
So sinful.
So delicious!

Tonight I will use my pretty tea for one set bought from Distinctive Decor.  I stumbled upon the site from a link on Steepster.  While checking out various tea sets, I spotted this one set.  It's so girlie, that I had to have it.

I love feeding my tea accessory collection!

The set caught my attention with the cool handles on the teapot & cup.  They look like butterfly wings.  The floral raised patterns make it dainty.  And the pretty pink color makes it feminine.  I love it!




I love my tea obsession!  I love trying new flavors & finding something wonderfully delicious to excite my taste buds.

Feel free to check out Distinctive Decor, follow the link here....
http://www.distinctive-decor.com/

And follow me on Steepster, follow the link here...I'm SunnyinNY.....
www.steepster.com