Boston Tea Campaign: The Best Time to Drink Darjeeling

Check out this great new blog post by Boston Tea Campaign!

Boston Tea Campaign: How Tea Can Improve Your Productivity

Check out this great new post at Boston Tea Campaign

https://www.bostonteacampaign.com

Christmas Tea Gifts

Tea makes a great gift! 

Here is how I made tea gifts for under $35

Labels: $2.00 from Michaels 

Jars: $1.99 each from Michaels

Tea: $21 in bulk from http://www.teacampaign.ca

(a seriously amazing deal!) 

The Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Co.

I had the pleasure of trying some delicious tea from www.tea-and-coffee.com. 
This company has a wide variety of high quality tea and coffee.

Below are photos of their Blood Orange Black Tea and Dictamo of Crete -bother were delicious! The Blood Orange Black is the perfect breakfast tea. The Dictamo of Crete is great for stomach aches.

Keep an eye out for my review of these teas on http://www.teaviews.com
I will also be reviewing their coffee soon!

What is Darjeeling?

I was recently discussing tea with a friend. I mentioned how I really liked this first-flush darjeeling and she replied with "What is darjeeling? And what does first-flush mean?"
I realized I know many people who don't even know what darjeeling is.

"It's a Chinese tea that grows in India with flavors of French grapes and Himalayan mountain air."

(http://drinks.seriouseats.com)

Let's start with some facts

Origin: West Bengal, India 

Name: Darjeeling is named after the district in which it was first grown - the Darjeeling District 

Leaves: small-leaved Chinese variety (Camellia sinensis) 

Distinctive Features: Delicate, fruity, and muscatel 

There are 4 main kinds of Darjeeling that are referred to as flushes. Each flush is picked during a certain season or month. The earlier the Darjeeling is harvested, the lighter, more delicate the flavors. 

First Flush

-harvested Mid-March

- gentle and light

Second Flush

-harvested in June

-full-bodied and muscatel 

Monsoon Flush

-harvested during rainy season

-bold and mature

Autumnal Flush 

 -harvested in autumn

-full-bodied and spicy 

Though Darjeeling is rolled and oxidized like black tea, the oxidization process tends to be shorter. Being less oxidized than other teas, Darjeeling has some very delicate and fruity notes. Many say this fruity aroma reminds them of grapes. This distinct feature makes Darjeeling stand out as the Champagne of Teas. 

Darjeeling contains antioxidants and is said to help prevent 

-cancer

-obesity 

-ulcers 

-cell damage

Darjeeling is also said to promote

-heart health

-dental health

-skin health 

-bone density 

In Conclusion....

Darjeeling is a Chinese tea grown in India. Darjeeling can be light  like a green tea or more full-bodied like a black tea, depending on the season in which it is picked. Darjeeling stands out due to it's grape-like aroma and floral, muscatel flavors. It also has an impressive list of health benefits. 

Teacampaign First-Flush Darjeeling

If you're looking for some good Darjeeling -Teacampaign is a great place to start. This company focusses solely on high-quality Darjeeling. I have done a lot with this company and highly recommend it. I'm an especially big fan of their First-Flush that is featured in the photos below. 

Sanne Tea

I received a surprise package this morning full of goodies - the perks of being a tea reviewer!

I checked out the Sanne Tea website and absolutely loved it.
I'm definitely adding them to my list of favorite tea companies.
Stayed tuned on www.teaviews.com to see my review of this tea.

Review: Tea Campaign Canada

I'm going to be posting a set of reviews on some lovely Darjeeling from Tea Campaign! I've loved working with Tea Campaign and I have been running their Instagram account. If you are into some good tea then it is certainly worth a try!

Review: Tea Campaign Canada Darjeeling First Flush 2014 Blend

Tea Campaign Canada, a fairly new tea company, is based in Ottawa, ON. This tea company focusses only on one type of tea - Darjeeling. They buy their high quality, organic tea in bulk and sell large packages. Their goal is to offer high quality tea at an affordable price. This way of buying tea is perfect for those who know exactly what tea they want and plan to drink it every day. 

Their Darjeeling First Flush is a darker blend compared to other first flush teas I’ve reviewed, making me think the leaves were picked later spring rather than early spring. The last darjeeling I reviewed was picked mid-March. I would guess this darjeeling was picked around April due to more fermentation. 

The smell is minty and grassy, the most common flavor profile of first flush Darjeelings. Though this tea has a delicate smell, it is just a tad stronger then other Darjeelings I’ve had this past month. I steeped 1 teaspoon in one cup of water for 4 minutes. After steeping, the tea had a completely different smell. It became more musty and vegetal, reminding me of broth. The taste is more sweet then the smell. This is the type of tea that grows on you as you drink it. It is best to enjoy with no additives. 

Despite maybe being a little more fermented, it is still quite delicate. It reminds me very much of Oolong due to the vegetal notes. It does have a nice, sweet aftertaste though. I have had multiple cups of this tea and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also decided to try some of this tea iced. Darjeeling isn’t a typical choice for iced teas but it turns out really lovely. I added lemon and honey to create the perfect summer drink. 

Check out the Tea Campaign website here: http://www.teacampaign.ca

5 Reasons to Avoid Bagged Tea

 Let's be honest- tea bags are convenient and easy. So why should you even try to switch? Here are five reasons. 

1) Paper tea bags contain pesticides

Yeah. You heard me right. You could be drinking pesticides. Paper tea bags often contain Epichlorohydrin, a compound used as a pesticide. This pesticide is known to cause infertility and can harm your immune system. This pesticide also causes cancer in animals. So....why are we drinking tea made in little pesticide bags? 

2) Plastic tea bags can leak toxins 

There is a certain point where, if put in hot enough water, plastic tea bags will begin to break down. When this happens, toxins are released into the tea. Though one cup of bagged tea won't do any harm, consistently drinking this could cause health issues. The more you drink tea in plastic tea bags, the more chemicals you put in your body - especially if you choose to re-steep the same tea bag. 

3) Some tea bags are chlorine-bleached

Chlorine-bleached. That just sounds bad. Why would I drink something in a chlorine-bleached bag? Drinking tea in a chlorine-bleached bag causes us to be exposed to dioxin which can be a health risk. Like I said before, drinking tea in a chlorine-bleached bag once won't really do anything - but doing it consistently could cause health issues. Dioxin is especially harmful to fetuses and infants. Dioxin also causes cancer. 

4) Most tea is not washed before put into tea bags

Most tea is sprayed with pesticides. So if the tea wasn't washed, this means all the pesticides go directly into your cup of tea. Great. Pesticides in the tea bag AND pesticides on the actual tea. Unless you are buying an organic, pesticide-free bagged tea, you are essentially drinking a cup full of cancer causing pesticides. 

If you want to go more in depth here, check out this article: http://foodbabe.com/2013/08/21/do-you-know-whats-really-in-your-tea/

5) Tea bags alter the taste of your tea

It makes sense- if you put something in really hot water, it's going to break down. When a paper or plastic bag is put in hot tea, it breaks down and changes the flavor of the tea. After switching to loose leaf tea, I've realized how different bagged tea tastes. It ruins the freshness and purity of the tea. When tasting a bagged green tea next to a loose leaf green tea, I could swear I tasted the paper in the bagged one. 

Though it's fine to have a cup of bagged tea here and there, you should avoid having it on a daily basis. 

Tea Campaign Canada- Second Flush Darjeeling

Had the pleasure of trying Tea Campaign Canada's Second Flush Darjeeling! This robust tea was wonderful and I can't wait to share my review with you all. 

Check out the Tea Campaign website for more info: http://www.teacampaign.ca

Cocoa Coco Tea

I recently made this delicious Cocoa Coco tea from http://www.ambrosiaherb.com
This tea is great hot but it also makes amazing iced tea!

Check out my recipe for Honey Cocoa Iced Tea here: http://lexalexrecipe.blogspot.com/

Tea At Sea

I recently discovered this tea company called Tea At Sea. I was excited to try their tea since they are a Canadian company!

I didn't have super high expectations when I tried this tea, but I was happily surprised. Their Indonesian Black Tea is fantastic. I will share my review of this tea when it's posted on Teaviews.

Also, I recently went shopping with a friend and found this new antique tea cup! It's my first antique purchase in Canada and I love it.

Blue Chai

This Herbal Blue Chai was probably the weirdest tea I've ever had.

Check out Blue Chai's website here: https://bluechai.com

Read my tea review Here: http://www.teaviews.com/2

Oh and did I mention this tea changes to purple when you add lemon?