Top Teas

University is over, huzzah! Except for that 15,000 word dissertation I've still got to do.... Assignments are over though, and I repeat: HUZZAH! I feel like I've been away from this blog for far too long, but I needed a break from it all to sit around do nothing all day just because I can.

Now the relaxing is done with though, I'm back with a post about a relaxing drink: tea. Tea is one of my absolute favourite things to snuggle up with on the sofa in the evening - I am British after all! - and I'm always on the look out for different brands and types to try. For this post though, I'm going to get away from the standard types of tea I've been drinking since I can remember (thank the lord for a mother who drinks 5+ cups a day) and do a little review of some of the green teas and flavoured teas I've discovered recently.

It's thanks to a friend of mine, Phil, that I've gotten massively into green tea. I tried it with his recommendation and honestly I was apprehensive at first - "Green tea!? What does that even mean!?" - but now I'm practically addicted and have at least four or five different types and brands in my kitchen! It's pushed me to try flavoured teas as well, so there's one of those in here too for a splash of variety.

So lets start with the first pack of green tea I brought: Twinings. Twinings seems to be a staple tea in the tea world as it's always the one I'm served at a cafe or restaurant, and I was expecting great things from them.

I loved it at first - aromatic, fresh and sweet - but having tried a number of other ones now, it's a disappointing cup if I ever do make it. It leaves that odd kind of 'skin' on the liquid if you leave it settled too long, and I'm now wiser that I can get plenty of other types that don't do that. It also leaves a slightly bitter taste in my mouth the more I have it. I used to drink Twinings every day when I first started on this green tea journey and I did notice that day after day the taste started to dwindle and turned to a bitter sting that hung around. It's unfortunate I've gone off the brand as I've got 2 whole other packs to get through, eek!

Now on to a lighter note and a tea that I love love love, and the only flavoured tea in this bunch: liquorice and peppermint by Tea Pigs. I got this pack on a total whim. I'd popped to Tesco's after a lecture one night and was coerced by a bargain mad friend to grab it. It was only a pound after all and I was curious about flavoured tea so I went for it and I will never regret it.

For someone who hates liquorice, I sure do love this tea! It smells delectably minty, with just a hint of liquorice to make it sweet, and I love the pyramid tea bags. I'm a sucker for a pyramid tea bag and tea with big leaves, so before even tasting it I was in love with its look and its smell (not to mention I think the packaging is the cutest ever!). Its taste made it that much better, too! Like the smell, the mint is the powerful thing here, but it blends amazingly with the liquorice for a sweet and refreshing taste. I wouldn't have it everyday, but I love a cup every now and then for something different to not only make the house smell amazing but to surprise my tastebuds with that kick of mint and candy.

Third on this list is the most branded thing here: Starbucks' China Green Tips. Now I go to Starbucks for their coffee, never their tea, but Jason had a bit of money on his Starbucks card he found lying around so we popped in, got a drink and brought some mugs and green tea. I didn't open the box of it for a while when we got home because I already had other green tea around and, to be honest, I wasn't sure it was going to live up to my expectations (I love Starbucks, it's a problem...).

It totally and utterly bashed my expectations to pieces, though. I adore this tea! Like the Tea Pigs, it has cute little pyramid tea bags and nice big leaves that you really show where the taste is coming from. Its smell is nothing to write home about - it smells like any other green tea, really - but its taste is smooth and silky and a little bit more-ish. Unlike the Twinings, there's no unsightly skin on the top, and I can leave the tea bag in the mug for the whole drink and the flavour doesn't change. I've found with a number of green teas that you have to remove the tea bag after a couple of minutes or the flavour is so bitter you could cry, but with this Starbucks bag, you can leave it in as long as you like and it's still perfection. I'm savouring the one tub of them I have so they're not gone and I have to work my way through others. I might just have to have one now though. I'm craving after writing this!

One more tea to go though! Last but not least is a freebie! Who doesn't love a good freebie!? This box of Clippers Pure Green Tea came in our shopping the other day and me and Jason immediately boiled up the kettle and had a mug each (he's as tea mad as me sometimes, though he has condensed milk instead of normal and it makes me shudder!!).

For a freebie, it's gorgeous. Jason didn't take to it, and at first I thought I wouldn't, with it's yellow, unbleached bags (not a bad thing, just not appealing to the eye) and totally not cute rectangle shape (GIMME THOSE PYRAMIDS PLEASE!), but on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it an even 7. It gets that weird skin on top (can you tell how much I hate that yet..?) and you do have to take the bag out before you ruin the taste, but I can look past all that for its sweet taste. Weirdly, it doesn't taste like green tea. It's like a sweet juice drink warmed up, which is the worst way to describe it, but it is something like that. I didn't feel my tastebuds getting bored with it as I drank on and it was really refreshing and cooling in the bit of spring heat we've had lately. One thing I never want from tea is to make me sweat more than I already am, and with green tea, especially this one, I got that and loved it. When the freebies have run out, I'll definitely be getting more to make it a staple green tea in our house.

What's your favourite green tea? Do you have any flavours I should try next?