Harry Potter’s birthday! I’ve decided to celebrate with my first serious sips of tea in a while (summer’s not the most ideal time for hot tea). The tea is a bit of a distraction from life, a pleasant ritual and break.
The teas I’ve enjoyed, in order of remembrance:
- Kusmi Tea’s Bouquet of Flowers
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Enjoyable with a strong hit to the nose and thus the taste. It’s not too flowery, and I love variants on bergamot teas—which Kusmi gladly provides in spades.
- Churchmouse’s Vanilla Rooibos
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Not a pure vanilla rooibos blend, as the vanilla is set off well with a subtle background of almonds. Pleasing as a decaf version of teas such as Might Leaf’s Vanilla Bean.
- Simpson & Vail’s Coconut Macaroon Green Rooibos Tea
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Damn, this tastes like a slightly spiced version of the dessert. Simpson & Vail does extremely good dessert teas, if you’re looking for something along those lines. They certainly do a better job than any other blender I’ve tried thus far.
- Mighty Leaf’s Chocolate Mint Truffle Rooibos
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For me, a decaf replacement for Harney & Sons’ Chocolate Mint. It’s sufficient, not wonderful, and one of the few dairy-free chocolate teas that Mighty Leaf advertises. If you’re not dairy-intolerant, I highly recommend their chocolate teas.
- Simpson & Vail’s Red Velvet Cupcake Tea
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Another rooibos blend. Very much like a cupcake, and they did a better job than Queen Mary’s (now defunct) Sweetheart Tea. Another dessert tea spectacular from S&V.
Ah yes, my C.V. for blenders I’ve tried:
- Celestial Seasonings
- Harney & Sons
- Kusmi Tea
- Lipton
- Mighty Leaf
- Queen Mary
- Republic of Tea
- Simpson & Vail
- Steven Smith
- Twinings
There’s at least one other I can’t recall right now.
My local (Milwaukee) heroes are Rishi. Their Mahgreb Mint is cosmic and I never tire of its sturdy flavor blend.
Rishi’s tea tins are among my favorites. I also really like their Peach Blossom, one of the few white teas I can stand, much less love.