Tea haul

I love tea! That is no secret if you know me well. I drink tea from morning to evening and especially in winter, I drink tea more than water. I love trying different flavors, but I also have a few standards in my collection. Lately, my tea stash was running severely low. So when I went to London and saw that a local store had a discount on all their teas, I decided to stock up.

One of my favorite tea brands is Twinings and whenever I’m in London I go to their store on The Strand and buy a bunch of teas. I’ve also ordered from them online as there you can find teas that are not available in The Netherlands. More recent discoveries are organic tea brand Pukka and English Tea Shop. But I also love tons of other teas, from loose leaf to mint and from a good lapsang souchong to rooibos: I’ll try anything that fits the tea bill.

Twinings Cranberry Green Tea
Twinings Pure Green Tea
Twinings Salted Caramel Green Tea

The first group of teas I got were some green teas by Twinings. I got my favorite of their green tea selection: cranberry. I keep repurchasing this. I especially love this in spring and summer, but I drink it year round. The tangy cranberry flavor is what makes this tea tick for me. Next up, is a salted caramel green tea. When I saw this all I could think was: what?! But it’s actually really good! It keeps a good middle ground between tangy, salty and sweet. A true tea treat!

Twinings Exotic Mango & Ginger green tea large leaf pyramid tea bags
Twinings Mango & Cinnamon fruit tea

Now another thing I love is mango tea. But not all mango tea, I’m quite picky about it actually. I have tried both of these already and I love the one on the left (which was more expensive and made with much better quality tea, I can tell). The one on the right: not so much. I find it a bit too sweet. I was hoping this would be a nice sweet and warming blend of flavors, but I find it too sweet with hardly any mango flavor. It’s a bit overpowering to be honest.

Twinings Yunnan Black Tea (Mellow & Toasty)
Twinings Soothing Camomile & Honey

Of course I had to stock up on more favorites. The only black tea I really drink on a more regular basis is Twinings Yunnan tea. Yunnan refers to the region the tea is from and this black tea has a very rounded, almost nutty flavor to it. It’s really nice and heartwarming. When it comes to night time teas (trust me this is a tea category in itself), I love having something calming. I’m not a big fan of camomile tea usually, but this blend infused with honey does the trick.

Twinings Intensely Double Mint
Twinings Intensely Buttermint

If there is one thing I need in my life, it’s mint tea. I love having mint tea in the morning with my breakfast. It gives me that instant pick me up and wakes me up right away. So a tea that is branded intensely double mint, would of course catch my eye. Haven’t tried it yet though, but I think I tried a similar type last year before they repackaged this. Finally, another favorite I had to get some more of: the Buttermint Sensation, which is now rebranded as Intensely Buttermint. About as strange sounding as a salted caramel tea perhaps, but it works. This is one of my favorite afternoon teas to compact that afternoon lull around 4 PM. It is a little sweet (but not too much), it’s creamy (hence the butter) and a little minty (but only a hint).

Yogi Tea Green Chai
Yogi Tea Licorice Mint
Yogi Tea Bedtime

A brand I haven’t tried much from yet is Yogi Tea. But what I’ve tried so far (the Breathe Deep blend) I liked. So when this was discounted, I decided to pick up some more. I have yet to try them, so I can’t say too much about it. But looking at the ingredient lists these all sound delicious. I put the Licorice Mint tea in my drawer at work, so I will be trying that soon.

Pukka Lemon, Ginger & Manuka Honey
Pukka Three Ming
Pukka Vanilla Chai

A brand that is quickly becoming my favorite is Pukka. It is a more expensive, but the flavors are so amazing. I believe the brand is English and it is sold here at my organic supermarket. I’ve had all of these before, except for the Lemon, Ginger & Honey one. That is a new discovery. It’s the perfect blend of zest, warmth and sweetness, making it perfect for cold winter’s days. The three mint is quite possibly the best mint tea I’ve ever had and the Vanilla Chai is a great blend of spicy and sweet.

The English Tea Shop Refresh Me
The English Tea Shop Energise Me

Another organic tea brand. I found this first at my regular supermarket, but soon found De Tuinen stocks a wider selection. That’s where I found the Refresh Me tea. Which is again a very minty tea that I love having in the mornings. The Energise Me tea is much more warming because of the ginger and rooibos. I had it for the first time yesterday and liked it. I think I still have to get used it, because from the original description I thought this would be more refreshing.

Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice
Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time

Last but not least, something old and something new. The new is the Bengal Spice tea. From the description I expect this to be a fairly spice and chai like tea. But I have never had it before, so I’m curious to try that. And Sleepy Time is a staple in my life. I discovered this 10 years ago thanks to a fellow exchange student when I lived in the States and I keep repurchasing this every time. Nothing beats Sleepy Time when it comes to soothing, sleep inducing teas.

What is your favorite tea?