08.27

I was rudely awoken this morning by my boyfriends alarm. At 06.30. An hour earlier than it usually goes off (don’t even get me started…) and to be honest, it doesn’t usually wake me up when it goes off at 07.30.
And I am feeling rather tired, having been up for two hours more than I should have today. In fact, I’m feeling rather knackered.

So, I thought, wouldn’t this be a good time to put the English Breakfast Tea to the test? Can it really wake me up more that a coffee would? Will it make any difference at all?

Well, I am drinking it now, and at 09.00 I am going to come back with results. Possibly.

If it doesn’t wake me up, I may have fallen asleep on my keyboard by then…

08.40

My head does feel a bit less lead-like…

08.56

I finished the cup about five minutes ago, and I do actually feel a bit more awake. Maybe it’s not as full-on as an espresso caffeine hit, but it’s a gentle, subtle awakening of the mind. I feel like I could get up and go and do stuff now. I won’t… but that’s neither here nor there.

Yep, a definite change. Okay, I accept it’s hardly a scientific experiment but whether it has woken me up really, or it’s just a psychological change, it’s definitely better for you that high-caffeine coffee!

By the way, the tea I used was ‘Organic Breakfast Blend Tea’ - a blend of Assam, Darjeeling and Dooars - from Equal Exchange (they also have a US website here) which is availalbe in shops throughout the UK (check out the site for details) and through Abel & Cole (which, incidentally, is where I purchased mine).
Doesn’t shopping FairTrade make you feel like you’ve done a good deed? Well don’t stop there! Go and help the elderly cross roads, volunteer in a charity shop, donate money!
(There’s a fund for helping aspiring writers somewhere, right? Right?!)

I’m sorry, but I am about to distort your home brewed drinks reality. Look away now if you cannot take it.

I have had this idea for a while, and finally got around to trying it out a few days ago. And now I’ve tried it out especially for you and taken funky pictures.

May I present to you, Nilgiri Tea in a cafetière:

Alright, I accept that I am not the first person (or rather it’s highly unlikely that I am the first person) to think of this. Although, having just searched google for tea in a cafetière, I only found three places where people have mentioned it. Lets just pretent I coined the idea.

There are a lot of pro’s to making tea in a cafetière, and not many con’s.

• It’s easier to clean (there’s no spout for a start)
• It looks pretty
• It won’t over-brew after you’ve poured out the first cup or two
• It keeps itself warm, just like a teapot
• There’s no straining involved

The only con I can think of, is that it’s slightly unconventional and if you find straining tea fun, like I do, you don’t get to do that. But maybe not everybody else is as sad as I am in that respect.

As for the tea I have made today, Nilgiri is particularly yummy. It’s very light and quite refreshing, but notably it is naturally sweeter than most teas - it could be drunk without sugar even, I think (although I put in half a teaspoon to taste). It’s also nice when drunk without milk, light as it is.
In fact, it’s an all round pleaser!

Go on, go try it out, tea in a cafetière. Enjoy the simplicity.
Savour the perfect brew.

Tip: Camomile is really good for helping you to sleep, and also for relieving mild panic attacks.

Take it with one or no sugar for sleeping aid, and drink just before you go to bed.
For help with panic disorders, take it with two sugars (or as many as you can handle - your body’s blood sugar levels drop dramatically during and after a panic attack) and brew strongly, then sip it. You should start to feel better quite quickly.

Tip Two: Add a little cold water to the camomile to make it easier to drink quickly; also, you can leave the teabag in the cup whilst you drink it if you can’t make yourself wait for it to steep before you drink it!

Goodnight, all.

The Great Teas

Yes, I think I have made you wait long enough. The results are in, the teas have all made it to the finish line - and boy, was it close.

Without further ado, may I present to you: The Great Tea Debate - The Results

1. The Slow Snail - Darjeeling
   Controversial, I know, the Champagne of Teas - last?
   Well, yes.
   Darjeeling is in fact similar to Champagne in many ways; it’s light, delicate, a little bitter, pale. And if you are a fan of Champagne usually, perhaps you will rave about this tea. Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of champagne either.
   So, whilst I appreciate the delicate flavours are light on the palate etc.; this tea is the overall loser today.
   .
2. A Close Second - Assam
   Ooooh. Yes, I know. You’re surprised!
   Which, incidentally, is just the reaction I was going for.
   Ok, so Assam *is* one of my very favourite teas, and I rave about it constantly, but I learnt something about the Ceylon whilst I was in France (see below), so I have no option but to deflate that over-sized ego on the Assam.
   It’s already been covered, so just briefly: the Assam is a rich, coppery coloured, malty tea. You’re going to want to drink it with milk, cause going without is madness! It’s incredibly rich and strong when brewed correctly, but so soothing and quintessentially English (even if it is grown in India). However…
   .
3. The Ceylon - Tea of Champions
   I’ll admit it: I had never tried Ceylon before this ‘experiment’. I was expecting Assam to be the firm winner. I would never have believed that a small trip to Lille could change my mind!
   This is how it happened: My boyfriend and I are in our hotel room, and we decide to order breakfast for the first morning instead of going out. He ticks the box for grapefruit juice, and I can’t drink an entire cafetiere of coffee to myself, so I order a black tea with milk (but there’s no option for what kind of tea).
   In the morning, it all arrives, and I have two wrapped teabags of Ceylon! I tried it, and I loved it.
   So, I thought, if it’s this nice in bags, when I get home and finally write up the tea debate, trying it fresh from loose leaves must be brilliant, right? Right!
   The Ceylon is around halfway between the Assam and the Darjeeling really. It’s not overly strong, nor is it too weak. Its a nice dark yellow colour when brewed, and is lovely with milk and a dash of sugar. Personally I find that, even as someone who takes sugar with everything, having half a teaspoon less sugar with the Ceylon is advantageous because you allow its true flavours to hit you.  Yum!

So, there you have it. I’m not sure what I will be covering next, but check back soon!
I have an entire cupboard full of teas to try, test and review (and get rid of, so I can get some food in the bloody thing)!

My colleague brought in some of this mango tea for me to try. According to several of my colleagues, Dilmah Tea is one of the best teas you can buy (unfortunately they don’t sell them in shops in the UK so best to buy online).

The aroma was amazing; a very strong smell of mango. The tea is actually a Sri Lankan Black Tea, infused with the delicious mango flavours! Very nice. Don’t serve with milk, obviously, and sweet enough that less sugar than your normal amount is needed. Yay!

However, whilst I was drinking distinctly un-tea-like vodka & lemonade’s at a Blogger’s Meetup, I did learn a few things about tea from several wonderful people who love good tea too…

• Chrysanthemum tea is very nice, very pretty, and quite possibly the borderline “between good tea and getting high”… watch this space.
• The Savoy serves very nice tea, pretty little cakes, and has over-trained staff (”move your hand even slightly towards the teapot and all of a sudden there’s someone at your elbow doing it for you!”)
• PG Tips has its place in the world, and in that place it’s darn good.
• The Argentinians drink a tea called ‘Yerba mate‘ - the infusion is just called ‘mate’, pronounced matay - which is very similar to green tea, and it is extremely popular in Argentina.

So… I’m sorry I went out to socialise last night instead of drink tea, but there will be a proper tea debate night - promise.

For tonight, and tonight only, we will bear witness to the great Battle of the Teas.

On my way home tonight, I will be purchasing some high-grade Indian Black teas from Whittard (why Whittard? Well, the teas are good… and I already have the Assam from there. But I will be testing many other brands shortly), and proceed to do a scientific-tea-comparison-experiment when I get home. Watch this space.

Teas I will be comparing:

• Darjeeling - The Champagne of Teas
• Assam - strong, rich, Indian tea
• Ceylon - Strictly a Sri Lanka tea, but will be participating in this experiment anyway.

How exciting.

personally I don’t think you can beat a good Assam, when brewed properly.

Whilst the tea is brewing, here’s a quick snippet of what Wikipedia has to say about the Assam:

Assam is a black tea named after the region of its production: Assam, India. This tea, most of which is grown at or near sea level, is known for its body, briskness, malty flavour, and strong, bright colour.

Making The Perfect Assam

Step One

Get your cups, teapot (if required), milk, sugar, and spoons out and ready. Fill the kettle…

Get out the Assam, and put into the pot one teaspoon of tea per person,

and ‘one for the pot’. Today, I was making tea-for-two so I used 3 teaspoons of tea. If you like your tea a bit stronger use more of it, but I personally find Assam to be sufficiently strong for even my builders-tea-tastes!

Step Two

Pour the water into the teapot. Top Tip: Always pour the water into the tea whilst it is still boiling, otherwise the tea will not infuse to its full potential!

Leave it to steep for 5 minutes. Have a biccie!

Step Three

When the tea has steeped, pour it through the strainer into your cup; add sugar and milk as required. Stir. Enjoy!

First things first: this website is about tea.

Mint Tea

Possibly the best non-alcoholic drink in the world. Maybe definitely. Who knows?
What I know is that tea is tasty, and lots of people like it. There are lots of kinds of tea’s, and lots of them are very expensive, especially if they are flavoured or otherwise modified. So, my main aims with this site is to:

• Drink lots of different teas, different brands of tea
• review those teas for quality, quantity, star rating, price and flavour
• tell you how you can make those special teas in your own home…
• …and to do that I will have to do a lot of testing and experimenting in my own kitchen, so that will probably develop some funny stories too (Like me smashing China, spilling tea, shouting at inanimate objects… and that’s just an average day…)

Now I’m going to get on with my day (going to Chessington World of Adventures!) and drink some tea (no kidding), thanks for reading - come back soon!

Jessica