My fourth cup of tea today! That would be a new record for me. :)
It’s the beginning of autumn, my favourite season, and I celebrated it with a pot of Autumn Blend. It has a wonderful scent – like the air on an autumn morning, it is clean, crisp, and infused with the sweet aroma of harvested fruits. The fruity note of Ceylon tea adds complexity to the fruitiness. This flavoured black tea is really great for people who enjoy fruity flavours but find fruit infusions too tart for their liking.
In sum, I love this tea. It’s both delicious and romantic. Would certainly sample more teas by Betjeman and Barton in the future! ;)
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I love a good seasonal blend – when done right it really does capture the mood of the season. You described this one so well I’m enviously imagining drinking it … it’s a good thing it’s Spring here or I’d go utterly green!
Haha… there’s no need to be envious as there are plenty of teas for spring! To me a spring tea will be something floral and fruity – this combination always reminds me of sunshine (I don’t know why), which is the image of spring in my mind. Though spring in Melbourne didn’t seem exactly sunny to me… the weather was totally unpredictable when I was in Melbourne 2 weeks ago! :P
Totally agree with your comment on good seasonal blend. It’s beautiful when a tea captures the mood of a season/holiday. I am now looking for a good blend for the coming Christmas… :)
Classic Melbourne for you, four seasons in a day, I’m sorry the weather wasn’t great for your visit… but I have to admit I do love that… yesterday was burst out of the box sunny like everyone in shorts and t-shirts and and today it hasn’t stopped raining, like real rain, heavy rain. So nice, the perfect cool down to yesterday.
You really captured a spring blend – fruity and floral – I imagine berries or cherries, fresh cherries in spring are awesome, and smell of lavender and freshly cut grass. It’d be awesome if there was a tea store that let you type in an idea and came up with a result. The spring blends I’ve seen around are all floral and no fruit, and seem very lacking to me.
I love that Christmas is coming because there really is nothing quite as special as a good Christmas blend – cinnamon, marzipan, raisins, cranberries… I can’t wait to see what stores come up with this year.
Love the spring blend you described, especially the idea of freshly cut grass! Yes, most spring blends are floral, which are good but just a bit boring. Similarly, Christmas blends are all about cinnamon. Cinnamon is indeed Christmas-y, but since I am not a big fan of spices I really hope there will be Christmas blends without cinnamon. :P Marzipan and cranberries sound great! I am hoping for something chocolatey too, just like the Cocoa Haven that you’ve reviewed.
The idea of mood-based tea search is fun! Do you know Adagio? It seems to have something similar to that as it allows customers to create their own blends. So there are lots of interesting creations and you will likely find something that suits your mood! ;) I have yet to tried their tea though.
Wow. Adagio rock. I didn’t know you could do that, thanks for pointing me in their direction. But ouch the shipping charges are really high for poor little Australia. I do love the idea though maybe someone here will start it up.
Cinnamon and Christmas really do go hand in hand when it comes to tea blends or actually any Christmas inspired drink, I’ve even seen Cinnamon infused soft drinks at Christmas and as a lover of cinnamon not even I could stand them. I do think cinnamon is more effective as a subtle flavour than as the main flavour I think it can give a tea warmth but you shouldn’t leaving you thinking ’mmm that was a nice bit of tea with my cinnamon drink." So hopefully there will be a perfect blend put out this year with chocolate, marzipan, cranberries and a slight dusting of cinnamon – maybe by Lupicia so you we can both have it :)
Yes.. same problem here, it’s expensive to buy non-Chinese tea here in Hong Kong too. There are lots of interesting teas out there but I can’t do much apart from browsing their websites. I do look forward to Lupicia’s Christmas teas this year! Their teas often carry candy/dessert flavours and with little spice added! :) Not to mention the super gorgeous tea tins, haha… though I may need to buy my cousin dinner before he’s willing to buy the teas for me in Japan :P
Yes.. same problem here, it’s expensive to buy non-Chinese tea here in Hong Kong too. There are lots of interesting teas out there but I can’t do much apart from browsing their websites. I do look forward to Lupicia’s Christmas teas this year! Their teas often carry candy/dessert flavours and with little spice added! :) Not to mention the super gorgeous tea tins, haha… though I may need to buy my cousin dinner before he’s willing to buy the teas for me in Japan :PYou’re right, it’s nice when cinnamon adds warmth to the tea. I’ve seen some “pie teas” around (like Apple Pie tea, Pumpkin Pie tea) and I believe a pinch of cinnamon can make the tea more like a hot pie! :)
Oh I love Lupicia’s tins – their stoe in at QV in Melbourne is gorgeous I really love getting to chose a pretty label it’s so special. Plus I have a real bee in my bonnet when tea places don’t give you a tin – I mean you just have to buy one anyways grumble so it’s a delight getting tea from them. I also love giving them as presents because it’s kind of like personalised tea.
I actually haven’t had the pleasure of trying their Christmas blends but if they’re as delicious as they sound – candy & spice equals everything nice with my taste buds – I’m really looking forward to what they bring out.
I must admit I’d probably want a dinner too for buying some tea or …. afternoon tea hee hee…. My Mum is always asking me to pick her up Henry Langdon’s Lemongrass and Ginger which has to be the hardest to find tea around, when I find it for her she always gives me a cupcake which I love, but I’d do it anyway ;)
Btw thanks for the ‘hot pie’ reference it’s that is exactly the the wording I’ve been looking forward to describe this toffee apple combination I’ve been drinking lately it’s like warm apple pie.
I love a good seasonal blend – when done right it really does capture the mood of the season. You described this one so well I’m enviously imagining drinking it … it’s a good thing it’s Spring here or I’d go utterly green!
Haha… there’s no need to be envious as there are plenty of teas for spring! To me a spring tea will be something floral and fruity – this combination always reminds me of sunshine (I don’t know why), which is the image of spring in my mind. Though spring in Melbourne didn’t seem exactly sunny to me… the weather was totally unpredictable when I was in Melbourne 2 weeks ago! :P
Totally agree with your comment on good seasonal blend. It’s beautiful when a tea captures the mood of a season/holiday. I am now looking for a good blend for the coming Christmas… :)
Classic Melbourne for you, four seasons in a day, I’m sorry the weather wasn’t great for your visit… but I have to admit I do love that… yesterday was burst out of the box sunny like everyone in shorts and t-shirts and and today it hasn’t stopped raining, like real rain, heavy rain. So nice, the perfect cool down to yesterday.
You really captured a spring blend – fruity and floral – I imagine berries or cherries, fresh cherries in spring are awesome, and smell of lavender and freshly cut grass. It’d be awesome if there was a tea store that let you type in an idea and came up with a result. The spring blends I’ve seen around are all floral and no fruit, and seem very lacking to me.
I love that Christmas is coming because there really is nothing quite as special as a good Christmas blend – cinnamon, marzipan, raisins, cranberries… I can’t wait to see what stores come up with this year.
Love the spring blend you described, especially the idea of freshly cut grass! Yes, most spring blends are floral, which are good but just a bit boring. Similarly, Christmas blends are all about cinnamon. Cinnamon is indeed Christmas-y, but since I am not a big fan of spices I really hope there will be Christmas blends without cinnamon. :P Marzipan and cranberries sound great! I am hoping for something chocolatey too, just like the Cocoa Haven that you’ve reviewed.
The idea of mood-based tea search is fun! Do you know Adagio? It seems to have something similar to that as it allows customers to create their own blends. So there are lots of interesting creations and you will likely find something that suits your mood! ;) I have yet to tried their tea though.
Wow. Adagio rock. I didn’t know you could do that, thanks for pointing me in their direction. But ouch the shipping charges are really high for poor little Australia. I do love the idea though maybe someone here will start it up.
Cinnamon and Christmas really do go hand in hand when it comes to tea blends or actually any Christmas inspired drink, I’ve even seen Cinnamon infused soft drinks at Christmas and as a lover of cinnamon not even I could stand them. I do think cinnamon is more effective as a subtle flavour than as the main flavour I think it can give a tea warmth but you shouldn’t leaving you thinking ’mmm that was a nice bit of tea with my cinnamon drink." So hopefully there will be a perfect blend put out this year with chocolate, marzipan, cranberries and a slight dusting of cinnamon – maybe by Lupicia so you we can both have it :)
Yes.. same problem here, it’s expensive to buy non-Chinese tea here in Hong Kong too. There are lots of interesting teas out there but I can’t do much apart from browsing their websites. I do look forward to Lupicia’s Christmas teas this year! Their teas often carry candy/dessert flavours and with little spice added! :) Not to mention the super gorgeous tea tins, haha… though I may need to buy my cousin dinner before he’s willing to buy the teas for me in Japan :P
Yes.. same problem here, it’s expensive to buy non-Chinese tea here in Hong Kong too. There are lots of interesting teas out there but I can’t do much apart from browsing their websites. I do look forward to Lupicia’s Christmas teas this year! Their teas often carry candy/dessert flavours and with little spice added! :) Not to mention the super gorgeous tea tins, haha… though I may need to buy my cousin dinner before he’s willing to buy the teas for me in Japan :PYou’re right, it’s nice when cinnamon adds warmth to the tea. I’ve seen some “pie teas” around (like Apple Pie tea, Pumpkin Pie tea) and I believe a pinch of cinnamon can make the tea more like a hot pie! :)
Oh I love Lupicia’s tins – their stoe in at QV in Melbourne is gorgeous I really love getting to chose a pretty label it’s so special. Plus I have a real bee in my bonnet when tea places don’t give you a tin – I mean you just have to buy one anyways grumble so it’s a delight getting tea from them. I also love giving them as presents because it’s kind of like personalised tea.
I actually haven’t had the pleasure of trying their Christmas blends but if they’re as delicious as they sound – candy & spice equals everything nice with my taste buds – I’m really looking forward to what they bring out.
I must admit I’d probably want a dinner too for buying some tea or …. afternoon tea hee hee…. My Mum is always asking me to pick her up Henry Langdon’s Lemongrass and Ginger which has to be the hardest to find tea around, when I find it for her she always gives me a cupcake which I love, but I’d do it anyway ;)
Btw thanks for the ‘hot pie’ reference it’s that is exactly the the wording I’ve been looking forward to describe this toffee apple combination I’ve been drinking lately it’s like warm apple pie.