tea nirvana

[gwyn]

I've always been a tea drinker, never a coffee drinker. Can't stand the taste of coffee, even with good stuff in it. I practically live on iced tea, it's the closest thing I've ever had to an addiction. I like hot tea a lot, but the extra effort of making it, especially loose-leaf, which is usually a lot less bitter or oxidized than bagged tea, means I don't drink it as much. One or two cups in the morning is my usual hot tea limit. I love looking and sniffing at teas, learning about them, discovering new blends. I can talk about it for hours (this is the part where you roll your eyes and scroll down to the next fpage entry).

I didn't get to go with the gang on Sat. on their pilgrimage to Bellevue Square, the only mall I ever go to even though it's a pain (I'd always prefer downtown to a mall, anytime), and when I heard everone went to Teavana I got all sad that I didn't get to go sample teas. But! I had to go to a Nordstrom soon anyhow, so I made a point to stop there (Teavana's only Washington state store is in Bellevue Square). The sample teas they gave were fantastic, and I was surprised that one was an herbal and rooibos infusion rather than actual tea -- usually, I won't touch herbal crap, because it's like a bunch of grass and twigs with fruit flavorings that don't taste like real fruit. But this was divine.

I've only ever bought a drink from their tea bar, never tea to take home, because a lot of what I like is so insanely expensive. But I decided to try the coconut aloha black tea, which is amazingly wonderful, and that sample tea. Turned out it wasn't one tea but a mix of the rooibos rose garden infusion (flower petals and essences galore) and the dragon phoenix jasmine pearls (or maybe it's phoenix dragon jasmine pearls, or dragonball z jasmine, or whatever). These are green tea leaves infused with jasmine that come rolled up into tight little balls, and it's really fun when you put the hot water over them to watch them unfurl like little sea creatures. Usually jasmine teas come off very bitter after a brief while, especially if they steep too long, but I have to give Teavana credit, this is the best jasmine tea I've ever tasted. It's definitely expensive, but in this case, I'd say almost worth it. The mix of the green tea and infusion is really sweet and fragrant, and wonderful on a stressful day.

I also finally popped for their Perfect Tea Maker. It's like a giant clear plastic mug (they have one for regular, and one that can be used in the microwave, but I'm a kettle-water gal, as I think microwave water tastes too flat for tea) with a flip-up lid and a fine-strain seive in the bottom that you pour the water into, over your loose leaves, then steep, and place on top of your cup. It's pressure-activated on the bottom so the water pours into your cup, then stops when you lift it up. I've avoided buying one for a long time, but I was feeling really down, and tea always soothes my nerves, so I decided that, even though I'm in deep money doo-doo these days, I deserved it for all the long hours I've been working (and will be working even more of, now that one of our hateful copy editors is leaving).

It's a pretty damn cool toy, I have to say. It really does make a perfect cup of loose leaf, cleanup isn't hard at all, and it has its own little coaster to put the infuser on to catch any potential drips. I still love shopping at Market Spice in the Pike Place Market, and their teas are definitely less expensive and still lovely, but I think Teavana may have created an addict with the coconut aloha and these little dragon pearls. Way, way too yummy. Also, they have -- at a high price -- one of the rarest teas in the world, which I have a tough time finding, silver tip white. I've seen a lot of "knockoffs" of this, but they're not the real deal, I can taste it, so when I'm more flush one of these days, I might buy that. (Though the even more expensive golden monkey black tea sounds delightful, and I'm intrigued by the most expensive of all, monkey-picked oolong.)

And hey, the hols are coming up... but I don't want to go to the mall. Will have to think about this...

Comments

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

Dude. We got almost the EXACT SAME THINGS, except my rooibos was tropica. I got the tea maker, too.

Sorry we didn't have you along, but I figured that you wouldn't want to get up at the crack of dawn to go trekking around Seattle. When you said you were painting, I figured my hunch was right.

You and I will definitely have to go back to Teavana. I'm not done there. *g*

[movies-michelle.livejournal.com]

And hey, the hols are coming up... but I don't want to go to the mall.

And, hey, the hols are coming up... Some of us needed pressie ideas for you! *g*

[umbo.livejournal.com]

Yay tea! That tea maker looks pretty awesome, although I discovered a cheaper alternative at this tea place in NC--tea bags for loose leaf tea. I think they were imported from Germany, and something like $7 for 100 of them, and they work pretty well, including on the two different varieties of Rooibos I have (as well as the chocolate chai and the Bengali estate, yum).

[mystic-savage.livejournal.com]

Now -- you know I'm a coffee drinker. Tea? Can't stand the stuff. Except if it's really black and really fresh with milk. But the one exception--rooibus. I'm a big fan of rooibus. If I can't get coffee.