Tejava Iced Tea

Several coworkers absolutely love Tejava iced tea, and as our warm winter is rapidly giving way to a very early spring, it's iced tea time in the parlor.

Tejava was strong and brisk, just the way we like our tea, and unsweetened, which we prefer. In all honesty, the taste is very similar to the cold brew we make from tea bags 9and for much cheaper). We drank more than half the liter at one meal, and polished off the rest over the afternoon. Yes, we drink gallons of iced tea in the parlor. For convenience reasons, Tejava would be an excellent choice for iced tea on the run, but budgeted tea drinkers would do well to make their own cold brew iced tea from large quart-sized bags provided by several companies.

The delicious Tejava iced tea accompanied a half-homemade spinach and mushroom pizza--light, tasty, and refreshing. Iced tea is a wonderful drink for just about any meal.

The English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier

The parlor is so well-stocked with tea that we made an unofficial resolution last month not to purchase any more until the caddy was nearing empty. We have been enjoying our Adagio Valentine's tea this week, the Yorkshire loose leaf on weekends, Bigelow English afternoon tea for breakfast, and this afternoon, Ausperitea Silk Road Bazaar Kandy Mid-grown Organic Ceylon.So while we have no new tea reviews to offer, we can mention a book we read recently which title caught our eye.

The English Tea Murder is a later entry in the Lucy Stone mystery series by Leslie Meier, and while a full review will be posted later this month at our sister site, BookTeaCatDog, here we'll note that tea lovers may enjoy this book. The protagonist and her friends are touring England, determined to have a real English cream tea, and are beset every afternoon when they try to find a tea room by circumstances beyond their control, some of which are quite amusing. Tea is consumed at several points through the story, and lovely descriptions of strawberries and clotted cream are provided. The ladies do eventually get their cream tea, a long-awaited delight that we tea lovers can sympathize with and which brought up lovely memories of our own cream teas in England, many years ago.

Tea Sweeteners

We prefer our tea black, strong, with milk and sweetener, here in the parlor. Several years ago we switched from using sugar to honey, and then a year after that, to agave nectar. We were delighted to see portable packets of agave nectar in our local grocery store this weekend. Only one tea room we've visited has provided agave nectar, so we still often use honey when dining out, but perhaps in the future we'll start to see agave nectar offered.

National Hot Tea Month

January is National Hot Tea Month, so pour a cuppa and enjoy.

Recently we enjoyed Harney and Sons Earl Grey tea here in the parlor. Earl Grey tea can be a little off if the bergamot is too strong, but this was a nice, smooth blend, as would be expected from such a famous tea house. It's a perfect tea for the afternoon. The heady aroma promotes a blissful moment of relaxation in an otherwise hectic day. The perfect pick-me-up.

Tea Forte Mug

We must have been good in the parlor this year, because Santa (via one of his merriest elves) brought us this beautiful Tea Forte Kati Brewing System in tree top. It's a lovely, mossy green ceramic mug with off-white leaves, a fitted infuser, and a lid to keep the tea warm. And yes, we had our Christmas day loose-leaf Adagio Valentine's tea, a lovely blend of black tea with chocolate and strawberry essences that we love in our beautiful new mug.

Twining's 100% Organic Breakfast Blend

Drinking tea makes one feel very cosy and soothed. Drinking 100% organic and fair trade certified tea makes one feel cosy and soothed, and we'll admit, a tad smugly virtuous.

Twining's 100% Organic and Fair Trade Certified Breakfast Blend Tea will make you feel cosy emotionally and intellectually. It's a blend of Kenyan and Assam and black teas, stringent enough to wake the sipper up, but smooth enough to take the edge off the early morning hours. Of course, it can be enjoyed any time of the day, and certainly will reappear in the parlor. And it makes the tea drinkers in the parlor feel good to know we are supporting fair trade practices in such an easy, delicious way.

Tea Quote of the Day

""The warmth of the tea soothed and comforted, as always."

 Murder Past Due by Miranda James, p. 79. BerkeleyPrime Crime, New York.