My Tea Break

Rediscovering Tea around the world


An interesting combination: Tea and Porto Wine


Thuy Tien, from Mùi Concept, has very kindly sent us a completely different Tea – “Porto” – which is a combination of BLack Tea,  raisins and an aroma of Porto Wine!

My sister and I were a bitt suspicious about tasting this Tea, as we were not seeing how these two drinks could be balanced together.

I am glad I had the opportunity to try it. It has a floral and soft aroma and taste. It has an intense and very pleasant aftertaste.

This was a very interesting experience and I recommend you to try it.

Thank you Thuy!

Happy Tea Break,
Mariana


5 Comments

New Twinings Tea Advert!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5THMr7YbEM&feature=share

“Amazing singer Charlene Soraia performing a live set of Wherever You Will Go the amazing sound track to the new Twinings tea advert.”

Nice! Have a great weekend and an even greater Tea Break!

Mariana


2 Comments

@ TEKOE Tea Shop, Lausanne Switzerland

As some of you may know, I am living in Lausanne. I arrived last week and while exploring this beautiful city, I discovered an amazing Tea shop – Tekoe.

I was lucky enough that Monika, one of the workers, speaks English. She, very kindly, talked to me about the shop, the Teas and about the yummy Tea food they also sell (biscuits, ice creams!!).

They have a lot of Tea – from China, Japan, India, Taiwan, Kenya, South America, South Africa and others. They have all different kinds of Teas, from the simple and pure ones (like dragon well), to the typical blends (like English breakfast),  their own blends and flavoured Teas. I was fascinated by the amount of choice you have and by the different mixtures.

I usually prefer plain Tea, but yesterday I tried `Sencha aromatise au Caramel´. I drank it cold, as I have been melting in this city, for the past week.  It was a very interesting mixture and tasted very good!

I also bought a few biscuits – all made with Tea. They are excellent! I bought one with earl grey Tea and another one with green Tea. Delicious!

I do recommend you to try Tekoe Teas! I feel I have a world to explore in this shop and I am definitely going back to try new Teas.

They have shops in: Basel, Ben, Geneva, Haute-Nendaz, St Gallen and Lausanne (centre and train station). You can always purchase their Teas online: http://www.tekoe.com/.

Happy Tea Break,

Mariana


6 Comments

Having a Tea Break on a very hot day

It is ´hot hot´ in Portugal! I am having a Tea break in a swimming pool, Wonderful!

I am drinking a Tea from  MÙI-Gourmet/ MÙI- Concept named ´Lady Godiva´. It is a mixture of Mate, Rooibos, chocolate and champagne! It is light and sweet. You should try it!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MÙI-Concept/167578306625001?sk=wall&filter=12

Have a nice day, Mariana!

———————————————————————————————————-

Está muito calor hoje.. estou a beber um chá (frio) da Loja do Porto -MÙI-Gourmet/ MÙI- Concept - chamado ´Lady Godiva´. È uma mistura de Chá Mate, Rooibos, chocolate e champagne! È leve e doce! Uma maravilha!!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MÙI-Concept/167578306625001?sk=wall&filter=12

Tenham um óptimo dia! Mariana


2 Comments

Blended Tea

We already introduced the concept of flavoured and scented Tea but this should not be confused with blended Tea, which is created by mixing more that one type of Tea from different productions with different characteristics to create a specific flavour and aroma. This has been mainly used with black Tea and as a way to cover lower quality Teas. All Tea bags and most supermarket brands are blends and some have as many as 30 different Tea types.

You will notice that Tea blends always maintain the same taste. Every season, the same Tea producer feel variances in quality and taste depending on the weather, soil, plucking,… but with blended Tea these differences are disguised. Obviously, this can also be seen as a form of art because the Tea tasters in charge of doing this need to make sure that the blend always tastes exactly the same.

Experienced Tea drinkers may prefer to do this themselves using individual varieties but many blends are so successful that they have become mass produced and sold as separate Teas. Some of the most famous blends that you might find:

  • Breakfast Tea – a robust, rich full-bodied blend of Black Teas that is designed to be served with milk and is traditionally associated with the Full English Breakfast. This is the most popular drink in the UK, usually served in Tea Bags, and often referred as Builders Tea.
  • Earl grey – This blend is distinctive by the mixture of Indian and Ceylon Tea with the citrus flavour of bergamot.
  • Masala Chai – A spiced blend from India that usually mixes black tea flavoured with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, black pepper and clove.
  • Russian Caravan – A blend of Oolong, Keemun and Lapsang Souchong Teas.

Nowadays, there are also plenty of blends that mix loose leaf Tea with flowers, fruit or herbs like lemongrass, chocolate, hazelnut, vanilla, orange, peach, blackberry,…

My good friend Joana brought me different Tea and herbs from Siem Reap in Camboja and I love mixing the green Tea with jasmine, ginger and lemongrass. It is a very refreshing combination!

How would you feel about creating your own blend? We would love to hear your view on this.

Happy Tea Break. :)

Tania

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 42 other followers