Monthly Archives: March 2015

Teatime Tuesday #22

Posted on by
1

Welcome back to Teatime Tuesday!

teatime22a

I’m keeping it simple this week. For my tea, I’m drinking a special limited blend by my favorite tea company, Verdant Tea. (This comes as no surprise, since I’ve been drinking so many of their teas lately!) It’s called Minnesota Blend, and it’s a green tea flavored with vanilla, toasted rice, saffron, and juniper berries. It has a very smooth taste, with a muted sweetness that goes well with the base tea.

To complement the vanilla flavors in the tea, I decided to pair it with some vanilla ice cream. Nothing too fancy, but who can complain about ice cream? (Not me, certainly!)

teatime22b

That’s it for teatime! Thanks for joining me once again.

Teatime Tuesday #21

Posted on by
1

Hello! Once again, it’s Teatime Tuesday.

teatime21a

I had another scone this week from Wildflower Bread Company (much like my cranberry scone a while back). This is their chocolate chip version, and I must say, it’s delicious. Actually, it’s one of my best friend’s favorite desserts for teatime, which was how I was introduced to the company. While I’m generally a scone + jam + clotted cream advocate, I make an exception for chocolate-flavored scones like this one, and eat them plain. This one is really buttery with a slight glaze, so it doesn’t need any added sweetness to taste amazing.

I paired the scone with a roasted tea that has subtle cocoa notes, Verdant’s Laoshan Roasted Oolong. If you’re a fan of black tea but have been looking to try a partially roasted oolong, I would definitely recommend this one. (It’s almost out of stock on their website, so you’ll have to act fast! Or you can wait until another harvest comes in.) This tea has loads of flavor and is easy to steep, rather than being overly delicate. The roast gives it a savory quality, compared to greener oolongs that are more floral. It’s one of my favorite oolongs, since I tend to be partial to the more oxidized ones.

teatime21b

Thanks for joining me for tea!

Teatime Tuesday #20

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back to Teatime Tuesday!

teatime20b

This week, I visited Paradise Bakery and ordered one of their Peach Pecan Crunch muffins for takeout. It was warm and sweet; I especially enjoyed the peach flavor and the crunchy bits.

For my tea selection, I chose Vanilla Citrus Spice black tea from Verdant. The ingredients include orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, and vanilla bean. It’s a sweet spicy tea, with a certain savory undertone almost like chicken broth (and a comforting blend for this time of year in Arizona, since just about everyone I know is suffering from allergies, including me).

teatime20a

Also, I went to the Tucson Book Festival last weekend, which was fantastic! I attended lots of panels with authors like Gail Carriger, Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch, Ally Carter, and Jenny Han. I also went out to dinner with my friend and her family (my very generous hosts for the weekend) to a restaurant called Food for Ascension Café, where I shared a pot of delicious oolong tea. So here’s a bonus picture from that particular outing:

teatime20c

Thanks for joining me for tea!

Teatime Tuesday #19

Posted on by
Reply

Hello again, everyone. To make up for my absence last week, this post features two different teatimes. (Yes, indeed! Two for the price of one! Not that they cost anything in the first place! Exclamation points!)

teatime19b

Before I left on vacation last week, I made scones, with the help of a handy mix I purchased from the World Market. Mostly, I just wanted some kind of pastry so I could try out my new preserves (blueberry and blackcurrant this time). I also had some clotted cream on hand, which was excellent as usual.

teatime19a

My tea for that particular afternoon was Cinnamon Vanilla Squash, a flavored white tea from Butiki Teas (which as I’ve mentioned before, is sadly closing down). It’s a unique flavor, light and buttery with a hint of spice. I’ll be sad when my limited supply of it runs out.

teatime19c

As a bonus to make up for missing last week, here’s a photo from my teatime while I was on vacation! My sister generously allowed me to accompany her on a birthday trip to Disneyland. We stayed at the Grand Californian, which is where I had this. The sandwiches were delicious and the scones were good too, but the chocolate-covered strawberries were definitely the highlight. As for my tea, it was the English Breakfast blend from Twinings.

Thanks for joining me for tea! It’s good to be back home (and happily reunited with my tea cabinet).