Tea Information:
Where to find the tea: Mt. Hood Vanilla from Townsend’s Tea
Where to Subscribe: Muse Monthly
Description:
As the only subscription box of its kind, Muse Monthly delivers a unique experience for lovers of literature and tea. Every month, you will get a new novel and a full box or tin of tea on your doorstep! So go ahead and curl up, let go of all your stresses, and enjoy.
Taster’s Review:
When I heard of Muse Monthly’s Kickstarter from a thread on Steepster, I nearly fell over in my chair. Muse Monthly has somehow managed to combine my three loves – Books, Tea, and Kickstarters. I was so happy to see them succeed, even more happy to receive my first box. I couldn’t wait to dig in. The kickstarter tier I got included the stretch goal goodies, as well as a three month subscription. This month is a great beginning; the tea is Mt. Hood Vanilla from Townsend’s tea and the novel is Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller.
The tea that comes in the subscription is a full sized tin (2.25 oz!) of Townsends tea’s Mt. Hood Vanilla. Which sounds absolutely delicious. I love vanilla black teas and I am always searching for the right one. I have only had Townsend’s Kombuchas and diving into their loose leaf teas is pretty exciting. (My man’s all time favorite kombucha is their Spiced Apple Kava,) Upon opening the tin, I get a heady whiff of vanilla beans and robust Indian tea. It reminded me of the vanilla bean scones offered at Starbucks that I used to be obsessed with. Brewing up the tea I discovered the creamy vanilla in the forefront, slightly sweet, pairing excellently with the bold and rich Ceylon tea. Although I would not recommend it iced, the vanilla turns a bit sour and candy sweet, harshly contrasting the bold black base. Mt. Hood Vanilla is an excellent tea to drink hot while reading about Peggy and her father in Our Endless Numbered Days, and a perfect breakfast cuppa.
The book is highly recommended from me as well. Our Endless Numbered days was the first book Ina long time that I have not been able to put down. As much as I wish I could tell you truthfully, I regret to say that I don’t read as much as I used to. I would devour a book a week if I could. Not so much anymore. I think before getting Muse Monthly’s box in the mail, I had 1 book on my kindle that I have been intermittently reading for about three months. I think that Claire Fuller’s story is a great jumping off point for me to get the ball rolling and begin reading in earnest. I easily finished the story in two days and began to wonder, ‘what else?’ I thought it was well written and an excellent choice for this ‘book club.’
In all, I would highly recommend checking out Muse, mostly if you are one of those ‘bookish types’. (As my father used to say to me) At first I balked at the size of the tea, I can really see it piling up after a while. Although, the price is right for the amount of tear and the book bundled together. The feel of carefully hand selected combinations is invaluable touch. I loved doing this, and cannot wait for the next two moths. This is an easy, and great way to curl up with a good book and an even better cup of tea!
Midwest Tea Fest 2015: Part 2 – The Haul!
Now on to Part 2 of my ‘review’ of the Midwest Tea Fest! Oh, what goodness lies ahead!
What kind of tea person would I be if I did not take home a massive haul of tea back with me? I packed very light for the trip, but brought a giant suitcase to hold it all in. When it was all packed tightly away, I just made the cut off size for a checked bag. 49.5lbs of nothing but tea, teaware, and toothpaste!
I know how it looks, there is a lot more teaware than there is tea. I waited too long to snag anything, and a lot of the teas being sold were essentially all gone. But! I fell in love with more teaware than I think is healthy for just one person. It was pretty crowded around all of the booths the majority of the time, it was a madhouse! Just watching the folks at the Queen’s Pantry feverishly weigh and pack all the teas that were flying off the ‘shelves’ was almost nauseating. I overheard the people at Shang Tea how they only prepared for 300 people, and there was easily twice as much in attendance.
The few teas you see are mostly samples, the Rishi and Harney were in my goodie bag, and I got samples of Pomegranate white and gunpowder mint from Single Origin. I did purchase Single Origin Tea’s Jun Chiyabari, the last one on their table. There is a small round tin of Bingley’s 10yrs Oven Roasted Aged oolong, and I did pick up some of Shang’s Aged White. (Not at the actual festival though, I took the short walk to Crowne Plaza to their brick and mortar store to pick some up, they were not selling them at the fest.)
I ended up doing something I never do, and that is indulge in any whim I had along the way. I bought three pieces from Pi Ceramics, a sweet goblet cup, a cha hai (sharing pitcher) for gongfu, and a short and stout kuysu! They are great looking pieces and have a good home here with me. I bought another sharing pitcher from Bingley’s, as well as a small glass teapot. The two small white cups are from Shang Tea, as well as the white infused mug, and the Tea Seed Oil. (Fun Fact: Tea Seed Oil has a smoke point of 455F. You could healthily fry with it!)
The two books you see are the darlings of my collection from the fest. The first is Nichole’s own book, Tea Log: Chronicle your journey of Tea which a very useful tool I know I will be filling up very quickly. And the hardcover 30th edition of Tea Lover’s Treasury by James Norwood Pratt was signed by the legend himself. I was overjoyed by the welcoming attitude he and his wife Valerie had towards everyone they talked to.
Midwest Tea Fest 2015: Part 1 – The Event!
The Midwest Tea Fest a was a whirlwind of fun! It had everything I could have hoped for in my first tea-centric festival, great teas, fun gadgets, big names, and excitement! I can’t thank the coordinators Alex and Nichole enough Here is my review of the festivities, quick and easy.
Getting to the venue was a bit of a challenge. One of the country’s oldest races cut right across the World War 1 museum, so find the entrance was a bit of a laugh for me, I felt like I was climbing a mountain to get to the tall spire and the bashful sphinxes that guarded the museum. I never realized just how out of shape I was until I trudged up that hill! By the time I got to the entrance, it was already 10:15. The festival started at 10 and the line was already almost to the door. With some waiting and a slight hiccup, (I had preordered my tickets, and got the Dragonwell VIP package, and was not found on ‘the list.’ I managed to get in, but now that I think about it, there was all sorts of goodies I was supposed to receive with my ticket… ah well.) I was in! There was such a mass of people, that I had to wait aside for the right moment to enter, lest I be swept away by the throngs of tea-obsessed peoples.
I managed to get inside, and immediately started taking pictures. Queen’s Pantry was the first booth, and was massively swamped the whole time, with good reason too! They were sampling their Birthday cake black tea, which was excellent. Next door was the Shang Tea booth, which was sampling their white and tangerine blossom red. I couldn’t wait to sit in their presentation about aged white tea and unglazed porcelain.
The booth next to Shang was none other than James Norwood Pratt and his wife Valerie! I had to double back from the Harney and Sons booth to say hello to them both. JNP was a little surprised at my enthusiasm, a good majority of the people in attendance were just walking past him. He had a funny laugh and was quite polite. He handed me his business card with both hands and made me promise to keep in touch. NO problem, man! Next to his booth was Pi ceramics, which had great handmade pottery. I ended up getting a lot of her wares! But that is for another post.
Harney was stuck in the corner, and strangely unattended most of the time. Across that way was Tea Market, Bingley’s and Traveling Tea. I loved Bingley’s setup, they were actually my favorite booth! They had a little Yoda and R2D2 watching over the teas and a little glass teapot.
Phoenix Herbal was next, next to Yoki, Anna Marie’s Teas (Which actually had two booths, I got a teacup candle from their second one) and London Tea Room. Yoki was another one of those booths that was always crowded, I was only able to squeeze in for about a minute before being squished out again. But they did have some great looking tea sets and matcha candies. The London tea room had some great teas to sample as well. I really enjoyed their setup as well.
A quick jaunt to the booth just outside of the tasting cafés was Single Origin Teas. I managed to snag a sample or two before heading to the presentations. In the tasting café area as well as the presentation rooms I was able to get a more in depth look at the companies and the teas they were most proud of. It was a breath of fresh air, with a lot less people to wade through. I was able to sit in at Tealet’s tasting of Nepalese teas, which is where I met fellow tea blogger, Amanda, ‘Soggy Enderman’ Wilson! Funny enough, we were right next to each other, and a mutal Instagram friend pointed out our near identical tasting cup pictures! Just when the tea was getting good, the fire alarm went off mid tasting session! We all filed out, and waited to go back in, but not before getting one last taste out of the white tea we were drinking. Luckily, nothing was actually on fire, so it was a short wait out in the humid Kansas City air. Whoever set off the alarm, we will never know. I went to the tasting session promptly after we were allowed to go back inside, hosting by the London tea room. At that time my phone had had enough of all the frenzied photographs I was taking and promptly died. My man and I stopped for an eat to bite as well as to charge my phone. While it was regaining it’s strength, we had a great lunch of period army food, ‘chipped beef’ and ‘trench stew.’ Appetizing, ain’t it?
I had some time to kill before the last presentation, so I wandered about, and ran into Elyse and Ree ‘Tulli’ from Tealet! Shooting the breeze with the fabulous and fascinating ladies at Tealet was so much fun, I would love to work with these strong and motivated people again soon!
Finally the time came, the main event was upon us! I had a friend secure us a good seat to listen to James Norwood Pratt’s thoughts on tea. He was a hit, making the easy crowd laugh and describing the intricacies of processing tea. It was a great end to a fabulous event. I had a great time, and I would not hesitate to go again next year. Next stop, Rocky Mountain Tea Fest!
Bonus points for making it through this post: I was on KC TV (channel 41) right before going to the fest! Watch me stumble over my words here.
Tea Product Review: May’s Tea Box Express
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White & Black Teas
Where to Buy: Tea Box Express
Tea Description:
Tea Box Express is a monthly box of tea goodies. Each month brings a new box that always includes
brand-name tea and things to enjoy with the tea. We source quality teas and interesting accessories.
Every month is a surprise!
Learn more about this tea here.
To see past Tea Box Express shipments- click here.
Taster’s Review:
Let me tell you how excited I was to receive a Tea Box Express earlier this week. This box featured one of my new favorite companies, Plum Deluxe. I have sang Andy’s (the owner) praises before and I will do it again. If you haven’t checked out his (& the rest of the crew at Plum Deluxe) tea of the month plan or the teas they offers, I highly recommend that you do. Their teas are simply beautiful and well balanced. Besides having two (yes two!) ounces of Plum Deluxe tea (Afternoon High White Tea and Oregon Breakfast Black Tea) there was an adorable flower pot infuser, McTavish Shortbread cookies, and Bee Local honey. All of these companies are Portland based companies. Receiving this box was so such a fun experience. This is something I can really see getting into and looking forward to every month!
Let us first talk about the honey. The honey is from Bee Local and it is a raw single-origin honey harvested from hives in Oregon’s fertile valleys and farmland. This specific flavor of honey we received in the box was Williamette Valley.
Williamette Valley Bee Local Honey-Harvested from hives located in the northern portion of Oregon’s most fertile valley surrounded by vineyards, hops, and berry farms; this honey is robust yet complex. It captures the magic of the Willamette Valley.8oz.
This honey, wow, simply incredible and delicious. I shared this with my boyfriend and one of his sons. All three of us were enjoying this immensely. And we were just eating it out of the jar with spoons! Not even sophisticated on cookies or in our teas. It was a funny sight! The description the site gives this honey is spot on. This honey is sweet with hints of berry flavoring, probably from the berry farms. This is a high recommendation from me. Very high! I wish I hadn’t shared it. This will be gone in no time at all.
The McTavish Lavender Shortbread cookies on the other hand. . .I didn’t care for. But that is just because I do not care for floral flavors. Casey, one of my boyfriend’s twins, loved the cookies and asked for more.
He finished the entire bag really fast. The shortbread part of the cookies was very good. Rich and buttery. The part that got me was the floral part, but if you like floral products like teas or floral honeys, I can see this being a winner to you.
Next, the tea. I am very excited about this. I have a love affair with Plum Deluxe teas. The only ones I haven’t care for have been the floral ones that have red rooibos in them as well. For those of you who have read my posts before, you know how much I do not like red rooibos. I was very happy when I opened this box and saw two teas that I have been wanting to try from Plum Deluxe-Afternoon “High Tea” White Tea and Oregon Breakfast Black Tea. Both of these teas are available on Plum Deluxe’s online tea shop.
The first tea we tried was the Afternoon “High Tea” White Tea. I even broke out my grandma’s tea pot for this one. My grandma has been gone for a couple years now but I know she would have adored this tea.
This tea’s description on the site says this is a Peach and Pear tea and that is exactly what you get. Peach and Pear notes with the white floral tea finished that is overwhelming by any means. The floral notes from the white tea are very subtle and add to the delicate flavor profile this tea has. At first, I wasn’t sure I liked it but the more and more I drank of it, the more and more I really liked it. I can’t say this is a tea that I would need again, but I am so glad I was able to try it. If you are a white tea fan, this one is for you. (I would love to see this one as a green tea!)
The second tea in this box was the Oregon Breakfast Black Tea- Like a beautiful sunrise, celebrate today with this rich, bright cup of love. What I adore about Plum Deluxe’s tea is that in the ingredients of each tea I have tried from them Essence, Love, Gratitude are listed. When a company includes that as their ingredients you know they have the love and passion for tea that you have and it shows in their blends. This specific tea has been one I have been eyeing on their site for some time now. This tea is described as a hazelnut and orange flavor combination cuppa. And it surely does smell like hazelnut. I didn’t get any of the aforementioned orange but the hazelnut is quite delicious and I don’t think I really care that I am missing the orange flavor.
I probably need to shake up the bag a bit and try again. This tea is outstanding. I would love to turn this one into a latte during the winter months and an iced tea during the summer. The boyfriend is loving this one too. He just looked at me like- you need to order more of this one and declared this tea to be the best tea ever. That is a huge compliment. Casey also downed this one in no time at all.
The infusion that came with this box was adorable. Being a tea nerd and having several different kinds of strainers and infusers, I can see this fitting in well with the rest of the collection. I haven’t used it yet, but I am looking forward to.
At the end of the day, I had a fantastic tea party and time with this box. This box is worth the price and I can see this being that special treat you give yourself each month. We all indulge ourselves in a little something and something from time to time. Having that something something being a complete surprise is almost a treat in its own.
Without this box, I never would have tried the McTavish Shortbread on my own or the Bee Local honey. I already knew I thoroughly enjoyed the Plum Deluxe teas but I can see myself being a Bee Local consumer from now on.
Product Review: 24 oz. BPA Free Plastic Bottle from Fit Life Tea Company
Product Information:
Where to Buy: Fit Life Tea Co.
Tea Description:
For the health and safety of you and your loved ones, insist on using containers made only with materials approved by the U.S. FDA as safe for carrying foods and liquids.
Our premium BPA-free drinking bottle has a convenient flip-top handle and a built-in straw. Its slender design makes it easy to always keep plenty of water or Fit Life Tea on hand wherever you are. It measures 9” tall x 2.5“ in diameter, so you can stow it anywhere and hydrate often.
You owe it to your cells to do everything you can to keep unwanted plastic residues from migrating into your fresh food, water and tea. Keep your water and Fit Life Tea tasting pure and delicious with this smart and stylish BPA-free bottle.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m not one to get all excited over a plastic bottle. I try to avoid all that is plastic when it comes to tea. My iced tea pitcher is glass and I went through quite a lengthy search to find the one that suited my needs to a T(ea) and when I broke the handle on that pitcher, I went out and got another one just like it.
So a plastic bottle for drinking iced tea? Not really something I would have been in the market for or bought for myself. But when Fit Life sent me one of their 24 oz. BPA Free Plastic Bottles, I decided I’d try it. So, I brewed a couple of Fit Life teas and let them cool completely before pouring them into the bottle and chilling.
And something about that bottle enchanted me.
I don’t know why I love this bottle so much, but it rarely leaves my side now. This is what I drink my iced tea out of (and not just the teas from Fit Life!) and I also drink my favorite drink – Matcha infused Maple Water – out of this bottle too. Like I said, my newest favorite cold drink drinking vessel.
I won’t pour hot liquid into this – I still don’t trust the act of ‘heating’ plastic even if it is BPA free. But I think I can use this for iced tea and water and be OK with that! In fact, I think I’m very OK with that! I really love this bottle!
