Halloween Tea Fun Finds At Davids Tea

Karen here and today I am talking about the fun Halloween Themed Teas that Davids Tea has this year.  Davids does a good job of making each holiday so much fun and brings the flavors of the season in with each event. I loved the Davids book of Spells! This is  a six tea sampler that includes such fun named teas as Witches Brew, Pumpkin Chai and Stormy night. This sampler is priced at $20 and can be viewed by clicking here.

For those with a slightly higher Halloween Tea budget I loved this Haunted Castle set. Mug and tea included for $38 Click here for the site listing.

Stormy Night Haunted Mug changes color as the tea steeps! 

this mug is listed at $23 Click here for this mug and more fun Halloween Tea themed items from Davids Tea. 

I would love to have you over for tea daily at www.acupofteaandacozymystery.com 

Tea Quiz Answers

So, how did you do on the little tea quiz I posted last week? Was it easy? Difficult? Here are the answers.

1. Black tea is called red tea in China.
TRUE http://steepedexplorations.blogspot.com/2016/05/black-green-white-red.html

2. Black, green, and white teas are all created from the Camellia Sinensis plant.
TRUE. The differences come in the processing of the leaves, and in the case of matcha the growing as well. 

3. White teas have no oxidation.
FALSE White teas do have minimal oxidation while green teas generally have none.

4. Lapsang Souchong was first created in India.
FALSE Lapsang Souchong was created accidentally in China. http://steepedexplorations.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-story-of-lapsang-souchong.html

5. Laura Childs writes the Tea Shop Mystery series.
TRUE. Death by Darjeeling, the first book in the Tea Shop Mystery series was published in 2001. Devonshire Scream, the 17th book was released earlier this year. http://steepedexplorations.blogspot.com/2016/03/tea-talk-interview-giveaway-with-laura.html

6. In matcha the tea leaves are ground into a fine powder so you actually ingest the whole leaf.
TRUE You actually consume the whole leaf as opposed to steeping it and drinking the resulting liquid. http://steepedexplorations.blogspot.com/2016/08/whats-matcha.html

7. Gong Fu Cha means preparing tea with great effort and skill.
TRUE It's a wonderful meditative process. http://steepedexplorations.blogspot.com/2016/07/gong-fu-cha.html

8. Orange Pekoe is flavored with oranges.
FALSE No oranges are involved with producing Orange Pekoe. The name comes from the Dutch royals from the House of Orange who received the Bai Hao type of tea when it was first brought to Europe.

9. All teas should be steeped in boiling water.
FALSE The temperature of the water depends on the type of tea being steeped. Black teas use boiling water. http://steepedexplorations.blogspot.com/2016/06/dancing-water.html

10. Tea contains antioxidants.
TRUE. Unadulterated teas are a most healthy drink!

Murchie's Vanilla Black Tea

This past Saturday I treated myself to 2 ounces of Murchie's Vanilla Black tea. I love a creamy black tea and part of what I find makes a creamy tea best is the flavor of vanilla. I do not add cream or sugar to my tea and prefer to enjoy it on it's own. I was very pleased with this full and well rounded Ceylon tea. This tea did not feel like a dessert tea as some vanilla teas do this tea was like a warm hug in a cup! Paired great with my strawberry rhubarb pie as well!

I am thrilled to have found a tea I can add to my list of favorites and one that I can find locally too! Murchie's is a tea company I have come to trust over the years and I love to go into the store. If you can not make it in store you can find Murchie's on line by clicking here. 

I would love to have you over for a cup of tea daily at www.acupofteaandacozymystery.com

Tea Quiz

Just for grins, I thought I'd post a little tea test to see if you've been reading our posts as well as checking some tea knowledge.

True or False

1. Black tea is called red tea in China.

2. Black, green, and white teas are all created from the Camellia Sinensis plant.

3. White teas have no oxidation.

4. Lapsang Souchong was first created in India.

5. Laura Childs writes the Tea Shop Mystery series.

6. In matcha the tea leaves are ground into a fine powder so you actually ingest the whole leaf.

7. Gong Fu Cha means preparing tea with great effort and skill.

8. Orange Pekoe is flavored with oranges.

9. All teas should be steeped in boiling water.

10. Tea contains antioxidants.

How did you do? I hope you had fun with this little tea test. I'll post the answers in an upcoming post.

Afternoon Tea At The Secret Garden Tea Room

Karen here. Yesterday my friend Daniela took me for high tea at The Secret Garden Tea Room in Vancouver, B.C's,  Kerrisdale neighborhood. I have never been to this tea room and it was a complete treat.
We had the most delicious savories and sweets as well as two types of tea.

I loved my Paragon Tea Cup, it was a lovely shade of blue and my friend's cup was a Royal Albert that is a favorite.

Both teas we chose were black teas, their Avalon blend was a very floral black tea with rose, bergmot and vanilla. The other was a peach black tea that was very good.

The sandwiches we enjoyed were a croissant with tuna, avocado and black olive tapenade, very different flavors but the sandwich we enjoyed the most. The small bite sized chicken and pea sandwiches on baking powder biscuts were also very good. In the middle of the sandwich plate was fancy rolled grainy dijion mustard egg sandwich.
Layer two had scones with clotted cream and jam along with the most moist chocolate zucchini bread with a hint of espresso, this was a lovely course! Our top tear held a lemon tart, a cream brule and a chocolate pumpkin pie. I was very impressed with this tea room. My friend who had been to The Secret Garden before said that the previous tea room had been located a few blocks away but it was much smaller and more cozy. This tea room has very high ceilings and was very loud, it was also very busy.  I would say that this high tea has a particularly great menu and is priced very competitively to other tea rooms in Vancouver. While it is not a cozy spot, it was a delightful place to spend time with a wonderful friend. If you are ever in Vancouver BC, I hope you will consider trying this or one of our other fine tearooms.

I would love to have you over for tea daily at www.acupofteaandacozymystery.com 

Crazy Rumors

I don't know about you, but I love lip balm. I wear lipstick and lip gloss, but I always keep a lip balm in my pocket and refresh my lips with it through out my work day. I don't know how or why, but these balms always seem to disappear, so I'm always on the lookout for more.

I saw a Facebook advertisement for Crazy Rumors, a company that makes 100% natural lip balms that are also cruelty free as well as vegan. They have all sorts of flavors from seasonal candy corn to ginger ale, in all sorts of categories such as ice cream flavors and bubble gum flavors. They also have tea flavors! That's what got me to try them.

In their tea category they offer:

Spiced Chai - "an exotic blend of savory cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla & ginger"
P-Mint Lemongrass - "refreshing citrus and cooling peppermint"
Apple Spice - "sweet apple and savory cinnamon"
Orange Bergamot - "just like a cuppa Earl Grey tea!"

These lip balms are wonderful! Reasonably priced, they go on smoothly, are not sticky, make my lips soft, and taste delicious! Of the tea flavors, I'm currently using the Orange Bergamot and I love it! Portable tea in a balm! If you use lip balms you owe it to yourself to try Crazy Rumors. Check out their website and you can order right online! Be sure to let me know which flavors you try (I know you won't be able to choose just one flavor!).

Walkers Shortbread Cookies My Favorite Tea Time Treat!

Karen here and this week the young royal family came to visit the West Coast of Canada where I live. The Royal's arrived here in Vancouver on Sunday and were only about 15 minutes from my home. Such a treat to have them visit, I am a very large fan of the Royal Family and in honor of their visit I am going to talk about some of my favorite tea time cookies.

On my table this week thanks to a friend of my mother in law, were the Walkers Pure Butter Shortbread cookies embossed with the Union Jack. These are my most favorite tea time cookie!

Call them a shortbread, biscuit or sable it really doesn't matter but the all butter shortbread Walkers cookies truly enhance the flavor of my Earl Gray Tea's. Don't believe me? I challenge everyone of you to try! These are the best cookies for dunking in your tea, they don't fall apart and the butter cookies dipped in tea take on the most wonderful black tea and floral notes.  You can find Walkers Shortbread Cookies almost everywhere here in Canada but I swear the ones that are brought back to me directly from England always taste better!
You can order on line directly from Walkers and learn more about their delightful cookies by clicking here.
You can also order them on Amazon by clicking here.

I would love to have you over for tea daily at www.acupofteaandacozymystery.com