Current tea stash

Tea is by far one of my favorite drinks and I blog about my favorite brands from time to time. With summer approaching, I found myself with a very well-stocked tea collection, which made me think: I don’t think I have shown all of my teas together for some time. I think I did one way back in the day when I first started this blog, but I haven’t done one since. In short, it is high time to update you on some of my new favorites, what I keep for the not so confident tea drinkers that visit me and which teas are staples that I have to keep no matter what.

What is your favorite tea?

This whole collection was started because I like to keep a good deal of teas on hand. I drink tea year round, though more during fall/ winter than spring summer. That is why I now find myself with a full collection as I replenished it my stash not too long ago. I am not much of a black tea drinker, though I have a few favorites that I love. Most of my black tea is part of my ‘for visitors only’ stash as I keep a box of tea for when people come over who aren’t as fanatic about their teas as I am.

And that’s what we’re starting off with. The teas included in this box are 5 different black teas, 4 different fruit flavored black teas, a white tea, a green tea and a rooibos tea. Most of them are by Pickwick and other standard tea brands that are easy to come by in The Netherlands. It’s what my friends and family drink the most, so I mainly keep these specifically for them. It’s not that they aren’t allowed to drink anything from the rest of my stash, it’s just that most of them seem to prefer good old classics like an Earl Grey, English Breakfast or Forest Fruit flavored tea.

Green teas

Twinings Cranberry Green Tea
Twinings Pure Green Tea
Twinings Peach & Cherry Blossom Green Tea

Most of the green teas I have are by Twinings. My favorite being their cranberry flavored green tea. You can buy this from any supermarket in the UK, but here it is much more difficult to get. My other favorite flavored green tea is the peach variety. That I like especially iced in the summer time, but peach is pretty much the only fruit flavored tea I really like myself. And it’s always good to keep a 100% green tea on hand just in case.

Herbal & specialty teas

Twinings Soothing Camomile & Honey
Twinings Ginger
Twinings Salted Caramel Green Tea

But my favorite category has to be herbal teas and more specialty teas. Soothing Camomile & Honey by Twinings is one of my all time favorite bed time teas. I just recently bought the Ginger tea which I can’t wait to try during winter for a nice heartwarming pick me up. The Salted Caramel Tea I already had before and that is a great ‘treat yourself’ type of tea. It has just the right balance of salty and sweet which somehow works well together with the green tea base.

Twinings China Rose
Twinings Smokey Lapsang
Twinings Intensely Butter Mint
Twinings Intensely Double Mint

Rose teas are something I haven’t tried before so when I spotted this one at Waitrose during my last London trip, I had to buy it. The Lapsang Souchong is a tea I bought as a back up for the tea box. Two all time favorites are the Intensely Butter & Double Mint teas by Twinings. The Butter Mint as it has a creamy base with a hint of mint, making it a perfect soothing combo for bed time or stressful times. And Double Mint is one of the best after dinner teas ever. But I just love mint tea as you will see further down.

Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Peach Flavour & Extra

The original Sleepytime tea is another favorite of mine, but when I saw these two variations I had to pick them up. The peach one is alright. The peach flavor seems a bit artificial and I don’t think I’ll buy it again. The extra I have yet to try, but I am keeping that for moments where I am super stressed and can use a bit of extra to help me fall asleep.

Pukka Three Mint, Lemon Manuka Honey & Ginger,
Cool Mint Green, Peppermint & Licorice

Pukka is by far my favorite organic tea brand. The Three Mint and Lemon, Honey & Ginger teas are staples in my collection. I like the latter especially when I have a sore throat. The Cool Mint Green was a new addition to the range which I have yet to try. But you can tell now that I love my mint tea right?

Tea Pigs Licorice & Peppermint, Chocolate & Mint
Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend

I wrote a full review of the Tea Pigs teas last December. These teas are some full bodied, pack with flavor teas. And while delicious, I find myself not always lusting after a tea that is so full on. Especially the Chocolate & Mint tea tastes like a chocolate mint cookie in tea form, which can be a bit heavy on the stomach at times. One of my newest teas is by Fortnum & Mason, the luxury department store on Piccadilly who caters to the British Royal family. This tea blend was designed specifically for them and I just wanted to give it a whirl.

Yogi Tea Green Chai
Clipper After Dinner Mints

I bought these teas specifically with work in mind. Up until this winter I drank lots of tea at work, but I didn’t like the tea brand provided by work. So I brought my own. But then they changed the coffee machines, which led to far better coffee and better teas as well. I haven’t felt the need to bring my own yet, but that might change again come winter time.

Loose leaf tea

Kusmi Tea Samovar

Loose leaf teas are so difficult to use up, but certainly are the better tea. They are also more of a hassle and I tend to only buy a loose leaf tea if I think it is actually going to be worth the trouble. This Kusmi tea most certainly is: smokey and dark this is an intense tea that is great for very cold winter days.

Twinings Merry Christmas Winter Spiced Tea
Twinings Vintage Darjeeling

For some reason I love my loose leaf teas to be black teas. They pack a lot more flavor than the bagged versions I find. The Vintage Darjeeling is one of my favorite all time black teas while a good Christmas special is always a nice winter addition.

Yumchaa Marzipan Superfan
Dille & Camille Green Tea with Pomegranate & Raspberry
Twinings Rooibos & Mint

The Yumchaa tea is brand new. It is an indie brand from London and I found it at Camden Market where they also have a tea shop where you can try the teas. I like the idea of a Marzipan tea but no clue whether I’ll actually like drinking it. The Pomegranate & Raspberry is nice, but nothing too special I find. The Rooibos & Mint tea is nice, but I really have to be in the mood for that one.

Teavana Frenchy Spice Quartet & White Ayurevedic Chai

The most expensive tea in my stash would be this one. Teavana only sells their teas in these large caddies, making it instantly an expensive ordeal. Especially if you pick out two of their more expensive flavors. This blend is a very custom one and pretty nice, though also quite a special one, making me not grab for this too often. It has quite a lot of lemon grass which is nice at first, but after a few sips gets a little to much for my taste buds.

Whittard of Chelsea Spice Imperial
Dille & Kamille Green Tea Japanese Cherry Blossom

Last but not least my two go to loose leaf teas of the moment. A green tea which is very smooth and easy and a dark tea that is like a slightly stronger version of an Earl Grey. I love plunking these in a large tea pot and just let it steep for a few minutes and drink cup after cup.

What tea can you recommend I try?