I am LOVING the tea situation in the United States. The grocery store alone has a vast selection of different brands and blends; add in the possibilities available on the internet and the choice is infinite!
Recently I've been noticing a number of little tea shops downtown that sell their own loose leaf teas. Browsing in The Spice & Tea Exchange (a national chain of franchises) last week, I overheard 2 girls chatting in Russian while checking out the black teas. They laughed when I told them that if they were shopping here, it must truly be очень хороший чай, very good tea.
Oregon is also the home of the Stash Tea Company.
Although they have 2 local stores, I prefer getting the free catalog. It's super-colorful and packed with all kinds of fun tea accessories...
...and teas!
Stash frequently offers discounts on their products. During a big sale in November ($25 off a $75 order), we stocked up on favorites, got some Christmas gifts, and tried a few new flavours.
After the box was unpacked, our resident Quality Control agent showed up to inspect the contents.
The tea apparently passed inspection as he then wandered off to nap.
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| plus they slipped in a few free samples! |
The original impetus for the order was this- D's evening tea of choice:
He likes decaf black tea with 3 teaspoons of sugar every night. I prefer herbal tea + a little honey, teas like those in these three boxes:
My favorite two teas from this entire order have a dessert theme. Christmas in Paris = peppermint, lavender, and chocolate. Caffeine-free and sooooo good! White Chocolate Mocha is perfect in the mornings. It tastes like cake (and really, who wouldn't want that to be a part of their morning?).
The tea fails also have a sweet name. That Coconut Mango Oolong tea shown above? No thanks. I just can't get into oolong, no matter how cleverly it's disguised. Also, what is with this weird trend of adding salt and caramel to everything? Salted Caramel Mate? The caramel I understand, but that salt business I couldn't get past. (Oddly enough, the other person who lives here does like this tea. Although he has been known to pick Brussels sprouts over chocolate chip cookies, which ought to tell you something [like that he's from a planet with humanoid-shaped but clearly non-human life forms].)
The verdict is still out on these three beauties. I meant for the teas to be a late fall / holidays treat, but haven't yet tried them. The mulling spice was used once to make glintwine for D's mom and sister, but they didn't like it at all. Suspect that's more my failing as a bartender than a bad product.
Have you ever tried tea from Stash? Did you like it?
Also, if you are a tea drinker, any tips on learning to like black tea minus the sugar?
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Приятного чаепития, happy tea drinking!
Love all of the flavors :)
ReplyDeleteAs for adapting to less sugar, the key is to just keep drinking but adding less and less. I personally don't use white sugar, but agave or honey depending on whether I want my tea to have a honey taste, because it takes less of it to taste just as sweet as sugar. Something about glycemic index stuff that I don't fully understand.
I went from using a tsp of agave to a couple small drops, then a drop, until one day I realized I didn't want or need it. Now, the only tea that always gets sweetened is Chai. I will occasionally sweeten others when I think the flavor needs a bit of sugar, but I have grown to appreciate the flavor of plain tea. For me it was just a matter of not craving sweet sugary drinks anymore (tea replaced soda and juice for me).
Hi Leah! Thanks for the tips! Agave sounds interesting... is it different from stevia?
DeleteI cut out juice too last year (except for using the juicer at home) by switching to sparkling H2O. Now hoping to get to the point where black tea is enjoyable unsweetened cause those teaspoons are adding up.
Stash has a lot of great teas; the mango coconut oolong is one of my favorites. Since you're in the PNW, check out Remedy Teas next time you're in Seattle! Their teas are GREAT and they have an incredible selection. http://remedyteas.com/ You can buy online, but it's more fun to go there and smell everything. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm just awed by their wellness teas: cumin, kava, basil? That's cool! Thank you for the hook up, Christine!
DeleteOMG K, I really miss Tess 'Pleasure" Tea from Ukraine! I can't buy it on the east coast. I'm looking forward to going to Albania because I have a feeling it will be available there.
ReplyDeleteTess is good stuff! Now that you mention it, I haven't seen it here either. Hope you can track it down in Albania!
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