For those times you want to share....

Tonight's pot of tea is from California Tea House.  It's a lovely white tea called White Peony.  It is a simple, yet delicious flavor.  There is a sweet almost fruity scent about it.  And it's delightful in taste!  Definitely adding it to the favorites list. 

Hmmm...maybe I need to start keeping a list of my favorites?  There's a thought.....

So tonight I get home from work & receive a phone call from an old friend.  Someone I used to work with a few years ago.  She is back in town for a few days & wants to stop over to talk to me.  Of course I say sure, no problem.

I have two hours before her arrival so I start making some cupcakes.  If there's one thing you are guaranteed when you get to my home, it's good conversation, lots of laughs, something to drink & of course cupcakes!

Ahh...the might cupcake!  Just the promise of one brings people to my door.  And throwing a pot of tea into the offer lately, seems to help.

While the cupcakes are baking, I now have to decide what tea to make. 

Hmmm...what tea will work with a strawberry cupcake? 

It needs to be something white or maybe a light fruit flavor? 

Definitely a white tea. 

And it's then I realize I need to make the White Peony sample I have. 

And of course there is no need to stress over which teapot is being used.  I am going straight for my favorite....

I love smelling any tea before brewing it.  It helps me get a feel for the tea. 

The tea smells delightful!

White teas are normally very light in color.  Their leaves are often fuzzy & this can make for some unusually great flavors.  I tend to like white teas because they are light.  Their flavors are more Earthy...almost like a green tea, but sometimes more sweet.

White teas often come in citrus flavors, but they can also come with floral tones.

This is what an amazing White Peony loose leaf tea will look like....

The smell of this tea is typical of a white tea.  It's both pleasant & promising.  It's sweet with a hint of Earth.  Yup, I like white tea.

The cupcakes are done & cooling.  I'll wait till it's time to frost them before the tea gets started.  Luckily I have time before my guest arrives.

After I finish frosting a few cupcakes, I put my mind towards making the tea. 

I take out my favorite teapot & put in five teaspoons of the White Peony tea.  I love the smell of these leaves dry.  I just know it's going to be a great pot of tea.

I add the water, not boiling, but just before boiling.  The tea leaves come alive.  They let off an inviting aroma that is still promising a great flavor.

And now it's time to pour a cup....

My friend was nervous about trying this tea.  She claimed to not be a fan of white tea.  After my first sip, I'm sure she is going to change her mind!

After a few sips, she is looking to take some of this tea home with her!

Yippee!! 

It's a success!!

Also a success are the strawberry cupcakes. 

I love sharing my home with my friends.  Everyone is always welcomed here.  Cupcakes will be made & tea will be shared.

I enjoy my tea addiction.  I love sharing my notes on the teas I have tried.  I don't care whether it's good or bad, as long as I'm honest about it.  And I love sharing my tea addition here in this blog.

I'm learning a lot about tea on www.steepster.com.  It's a great site for tea addicts or people looking to learn about tea.  I recommend it to anyone looking for some great teas to try.  The people are very friendly & quite helpful.  And while I've only been on the site for a short time, I've made several friends.  And I'm already swapping tea! 

I'll never run out of blog material until I have tried every tea ever made....oh come on...not even this tea addict is ever going to drink that much tea!  Although I'm sure I'll come close in my lifetime!

So stay tuned.  You never know when the next great pot of tea is going to be served at my home.....

I put the Lime in the Coconut in the teapot...

...but I didn't drink it all up!

Thank you to the wonderful people at California Tea House for making what is currently my #1 favorite tea....Lime in the Coconut.

I love the flavor of lime.
I love the flavor of coconut.
And I love green tea.
Mix them all together & you have Lime in the Coconut.  And the making of a new favorite tea!

I stumbled upon several reviews of this flavor on Steepster (check out their website www.steepster.com).  I can't recommend that site highly enough!  It's for tea addicts like myself.

So the reviews on Lime in the Coconut were good.  Everyone was saying how strong the lime flavor is in this tea.  That made me check out the California Tea House site.  A great place for tea! 
Check them out --> www.californiateahouse.com

For $5 I ordered a sample bag of the tea.  I figured I'd try it without making a serious commitment to having to buy the big bag.

After my first cup, I not only commited to owning more of this tea, I bought the biggest bag available!

This tea works hot or iced.  And I'm seriously going to pick up a bottle of rum to make this a potent iced tea!  I'm already looking forward to having this in the fridge during the hot NY summer.

Now let me backtrack a little...
I started becoming a tea addict a little over a year ago.  It started when I was planning my 40 celebrations (see my other blog).  I put a tea party on my list of things to do.  I was really looking forward to it, so I made it happen.

It started with finding loose leaf tea.
I searched the web & ended up on Adagio Teas.  After reading the reviews on the site, I decided to try their teas.  Sample bags start at $2, so it was time to try as many as possible. 

Then I ended up looking at teapots.  Hey, for loose leaf tea you're going to need a good teapot.  So I treated myself a glass teapot.

That's when the shopping frenzy for teaware started.

I was looking on Amazon, ebay, & every site I could find for teapots, teacups & saucers, tea sets, strainers, tea & all things needed for a tea party.

But this tea set had caught my eye on Amazon....

I had bought the teapot in Home Goods sometime last year.  They didn't have the complete set, but I thought the pattern was pretty.  Plus I had plain white cups, so it would match okay.  After doing some research on the brand I found it on Amazon.  However, the set had been out of stock since sometime before my birthday.  Oh well.  I waited....

The waiting paid off!
Just last week the set became available again & I went for it!  I ordered it early on Friday morning & by Monday night, it was waiting for me when I came home from work.  I love Amazon!

I was anxious to use this set.  But Monday night would be too busy for me.  I washed the set & left it to dry on the drainboard.  I wanted to really break it in properly & make myself a great tea worthy of my new favorite tea set.

Yes, I'm a dork like that!  :)

So Lime in the Coconut would be used to break in this new beautiful tea set.  My favorite tea in my favorite tea set.



The set includes a four cup teapot, a creamer, a sugar bowl & four teacups & saucers.  Even with all the teapots & teacups & saucers I own, this is the only complete matching set I have.  And I love it!

I used five teaspoons of the tea & a slice of lime in the pot.

I love the smell of this tea from the time you open the bag, to the brewing & steeping & then as I drink it.  It definitely has a strong lime scent.  I love that.  And the flavor is strong as is the coconut.  Mixed with green tea, this is a wonderful cuppa tea.

I enjoyed the first three cups warm & relaxed after a long day at work.  Then I let the candle in the teapot warmer go out.  I left the tea leaves in the pot & waited a little while for the tea to cool down.  Once it did, I poured a glass over some ice.  OMG!  This tea rocks iced or hot!



Before going to bed, I strained the rest of the tea & put it into a water bottle to let it cool overnight in the fridge.  I was glad I did.

This morning I added a slice of fresh lime to the bottle & it was wonderful!  It was perfect.

I'm definitely going to keep this tea on hand at all times.  It was amazing hot or iced.  The flavor was delightful!

I'm looking forward to sharing this flavor & my new tea set with others!