Tag Archives: teatime

Teatime Tuesday #11

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(ETA: Unfortunately, the server for my website was down for most of Tuesday evening, so this post is going up one hour after midnight. Apologies for the wait!) Once again, it’s teatime! I received an adorable tea set from DAVIDsTEA this Christmas, so I decided to use it today.

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Isn’t it cute? The stars in the design are white and shiny silver. Plus the teapot comes with its own stainless steel basket to hold loose-leaf tea, which is a nice convenience. It holds about four or five cups worth of tea—and the cups are actually a little bigger than I expected.

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Today’s tea selection is a new favorite of mine: Vanilla Comoro (also called Vanilla Decaf) from Harney & Sons. I’ve tried a few decaf teas in search of a low caffeine option, and this is probably the best one I’ve tried so far. It steeps to a surprisingly dark color, and the aroma is delicious. It’s a sugary, cakelike vanilla smell. It actually reminds me a little bit of a toasted marshmallow.

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So for my teatime treat, I thought I’d make s’mores. They compliment the vanilla in the tea really well. Plus, toasting a marshmallow and sandwiching it between some chocolate and two graham crackers is about as cozy and nostalgic as it gets. The taste reminds me of some of my school retreats in the mountains, of huddling together with my friends around a bonfire and watching tiny sparks float into the sky like fireflies.

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And since the theme for this post is apparently marshmallows, here’s a bonus picture of something else I bought recently…

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These impossibly adorable foot-warmers are made by Smoko Inc. They hook into your computer via USB cable and keep your feet nice and toasty. I’ve been using them a lot so far this winter. (Plus they’re s’mores with little smiles on their faces… How can I possibly resist that?)

Thanks for joining me for tea!

Teatime Tuesday #10

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Hello again! I’m pleased to say I survived the cold/flu/plague I contracted during Christmas, in the grand tradition of getting sick on holidays. And I’ve come out no worse for the wear, save for a chapped nose. With that said, onward to teatime!

Today I’m doing it up old school, with some jam-filled shortbread cookies from Wolferman’s, and tea from Harney & Sons.

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Harney & Sons is a pretty famous tea company—so famous that they provide tea for the Historic Royal Palaces of England, with blends inspired by imperial English history. Which brings us to Tower of London, today’s tea blend. It’s a black tea mixed with stone fruit, bergamot, and honey flavors. Very English, very Elizabethan, and a fitting tribute to the Tower. Plus the sweet jam notes go well with the buttery shortbread cookies.

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Incidentally, if you’re ever in London, make sure you take a day to visit the Tower. It’s spooky and old and beautiful. The first time I visited England, I spent two whole days there, climbing up and down stairs and taking photographs in the vain hope that a few ghosts would show up on my film. (This was back in the ancient days before camera phones.) And where else can you find so many stories about princesses, traitors, and tortured spirits? It’s the very definition of Romantic. (Which admittedly is kind of my thing, but still. Ravens! Prisoners! Beheadings! What’s not to like? And did I mention the supreme bling that is the Crown Jewels?)

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Well, that’s it for today’s ultra-English teatime. Thanks for joining me!

Teatime Tuesday #9

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Apologies for last week’s hiatus, dear readers! I took a few days off while a friend visited from Tucson. We had a lot to catch up on, and we saw The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies together. (Probably not my favorite Peter Jackson movie, I admit. But it was worth seeing, just for the sheer joy that is Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage on screen. Sweet Tolkien, those two know how to play on a fan’s heartstrings.)

My friend gave me a thumbs-up on my latest story premise, though, and left with a copy of my latest manuscript to read (once I’d hooked her with the first chapter). So I’m prepared to call that a win, even where writing is concerned.

In any case, I’m back with another Teatime Tuesday! My grandmother who lives in Chicago was kind enough to send my family some English muffins from Wolferman’s for Christmas, as well as some strawberry preserves.

Naturally, I sampled them right away, like the carb fanatic I am.

English muffins! Also preserves.

For my tea selection, I chose Verdant’s Black Laoshan Chocolate Genmaicha. Genmaicha is a type of tea (usually green, though not in this case) mixed with toasted rice. Verdant also added cocoa bits to this particular blend. The taste is incredibly cozy, with lots of roasted chocolate notes.

English muffins, with the preserves!

Thanks for joining me for tea, and have a wonderful week. I plan to post a brief entry on Christmas Day, about why it’s my favorite holiday in fiction. In case I don’t post it on time, though, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Teatime Tuesday #8

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Welcome back to teatime! For this post, I wanted to talk about one of my new favorite companies, Verdant Tea. They work closely with local farmers in China, and air ship their teas so they stay as fresh as possible. Plus they have a cool blog with stories about their teas, and advice on how to prepare and taste them.

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For today’s tea, I’m sampling their Traditional Tieguanyin. I’ve tried their greener Spring Tieguanyin (which is delicious, by the way). This one is partially oxidized, which gives it a light toasted flavor. Verdant’s site describes it as having notes of violet and caramel, and I agree. It’s a smooth, delicate tea and keeps its creamy flavor over multiple steepings.

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I highly recommend browsing Verdant’s website. They have a lot of delicious teas and tea blends. Some of my favorites are Autumn Harvest Laoshan Green, Laoshan Village Chai, and Golden Fleece. You can read lots of reviews about their teas here on Steepster.

Thanks for joining me for tea!

A Few Random Updates

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So on the subject of nostalgia, here’s another trailer that has me excited, due to a combination of fun childhood memories and wasn’t-that-awesome geekiness…

Also, since I recently mentioned that scones are serious business, I thought I’d take this chance to share a few photos from my summer trip to England. We had formal afternoon tea on two occasions, once in the Cotswolds and once outside Windsor Castle. Lots of sandwiches and scones and cake (and tea!). The first time, we had beautiful sunny weather outside. We had some light rain the second time, which I personally enjoyed. (I’m from Arizona, so rain is a novelty for me. Plus it seems appropriate on a trip to England.)

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I need to talk more about my trip sometime! I’ll try to do that over the next few months. Since I’ll be working on a new story set in my magical version of Victorian England, it’ll be a good way to stay in that headspace.