Tuesday, June 14, 2005

It all boils down to a tea

Vanilla Tea

Coffee or tea? With milk or without? Caffeine free or organic?

What's your preference?

I would almost instantly choose tea over coffee, anytime.

Maybe it's because I prefer something more subtle and relaxing. Coffee can be too strong at times. Although I love the aroma of freshly roasted coffeebeans, tea just seems more intriguing.

Teas are unpredictable. They come in many flavours and makes for a more gentle cuppa. There are a hundred and one teas around: Vanilla, Mango, Apple, Lemon, Strawberry, Peach etc.... It's much easy to flavour tea. Or maybe it's just me. Coffee gives you espresso, lattes, cappucino, macchiato, etc. It would be weird to have strawberry or mango coffee won't it? Of course you can try, but it won't be a marriage made in heaven I'm sure.

Tea captivates me. It's amazing how hot boiling water can morph into a heavely brew in a few minutes with a tea infusion. You have fruit teas, flower teas, herb teas and the list goes on. It's in its own league I tell you.

I could in fact, write a poem-story about teas right here right now:

i was walking home one day
with faye
when i soon spotted a tea shop
i stopped for a moment and looked at the top
There was a sign which went,
"Teas for all and all for tea, why not try some today",
then i remembered about the scones
that mum just baked
for my sake
because it was my birthday
yesterday.
so i entered the shop and
i asked the tea lady
if she had some leaves ready.
she chuckled for a moment and replied,
"missy, teas are my speciality, browse on
and tell me what catches your eye".
so i walked down the aisle
looking high and low
for something that might soothe me so
soon enough, i caught sight
of some pretty little sachets
all laid in a row.
they were pink and pretty
and each came with a bow
with an instant, I picked one up
and went to the lady and asked
"mdm' what's in these?"
and she replied in a split-tea-ing second,
"vanilla my dear, vanilla"
ahh... no wonder it smelled as wonderful
as mum's dinner.
so I opened my purse,
took out some coins,
passed it to the lady and said,
"it all boils down to a tea
and vanilla just does it for me".

okay, that was my half-baked attempt at waxing lyrical about teas. sorry if you fell asleep half way!

back to teas. have you ever tried vanilla tea? if not, you really should. It's a brilliant accompaniment to cakes, especially tea cakes. Try having it with chiffon or just a light butter cake. It's excellent for a relaxing sunday. makes you feel all english. well it works for me. Carrefour sells some.

I bought more tea today during lunch, whilst browsing the food section at Marks & Spencers. Picked up a box of organic lemon, ginger and ginseng teabags ($4.90 for 20 teabags). Interesting mix don't you think so? It's also naturally caffeine free and makes for a 'lively, warm infusion for an invigorating pick-me-up mid-morning or afternoon', so says the package. And I've just made a cup for myself and I have to agree that they didn't lie.

Marks and Spencer Tea

This is one herbal tea that is refreshingly good. It has lemon peel, ginger, lemon grass, cassia bark and ginseng among others. Lovely stuff. I like it already. Now, if only I really had some scones with clotted cream. Mmmmm.... heaven.

*snaps out of dreamland*

now that i've got my cuppa, i feel all revved up and ready to go.

oh, gonna meet my best friend Cheryl Anne for dinner later, I'll be sure to let you in on what good eats we filled our tummies with!

3 comments:

  1. A hundred and one kinds of tea? I think my collection is approaching a THOUSAND and one. I have a bit of a problem. =)

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  2. haha... ya i think i should edit that... i do believe there are more than a hundred out there. lol... so which is your fav. tea then?

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  3. I pretty much have a tea for every occasion... but if forced to choose, my absolute favorite tea is The Republic of Tea's Blackberry Sage tea. I buy it in loose-leaf tins. It's black tea mixed with sage leaves and whole dried blackberries. I'm a big fan of ROT anyway... I wonder if their products are available worldwide...?

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