" Come sit by my side and over a cup of tea, speak to me of the goodness of life."
Lady Evelyn Fitzgerald Dodson

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Archer Farms Organic Fair Trade Breakfast Blend

Breakfast blend in the afternoon? Of course! This week, we're drinking Archer Farms Organic Fair Trade Breakfast Blend in the parlor. It's a very smooth blend, but fairly nondescript with no tannin aftertaste or strong flavors. We loved the Archer Farms Organic Golden Breakfast loose leaf tea, which is no longer available, and had high hopes for this one. While it fails to live up to the Golden Breakfast taste, we love the fair trade aspect of this tea and will likely keep it in stock for those afternoons when all you want is a nice, smooth, hot cup of tea.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Celestial Seasonings Blueberry Cool Brew Iced Green Tea

This week, we are serving Celestial Seasonings Blueberry Cool Brew Iced Green Tea on the parlor's patio as autumn finally starts to sneak into the desert. While we enjoy green tea in a Japanese restaurant, we've yet to find a commercial green tea we like to drink warm at home. As the benefits of green tea are well known, we're hoping that drinking it iced will provide those same impacts.

Blueberry Cool Brew is a very light, sweet tea that is a nice beverage to accompany a salad or sandwich or enjoy on its own. The flavor is rather thin, but the natural sweetness makes it unnecessary to add any sweeteners. This tea will not make one sit up and take notice, but if you're not a fan of green tea but would still like to try and reap some of its benefits, this is an easy way to sneak a palatable green tea into your diet. 

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Dilmah Emglish Breakfast

The sky is overcast for a few hours, giving some much-needed relief from the blinding sun we have for 330 days a year. We can feel the start of the oh-so-subtle shift in the early morning air that means fall is finally coming. To celebrate, we served Trader Joe's delicious cheese blintzes and turkey bacon for breakfast, accompanied by Dilmah English Breakfast tea. This tea is so smooth and subtle I would think it was a blend, if not for the statement on every packet that Dilmah teas are single source. The tea made a lovely, reddish liquid before we added our milk and agave nectar, promising a smooth and deep flavor. We are fast becoming fans of all the Dilmah teas.