Bio
“Anyone who has used that comforting phrase ‘a nice cup of tea’ invariably means Indian tea.”
- George Orwell
Darjeeling is the tea that inspired me to begin my beautiful journey through the wide world of tea and will always reign supreme in my tea pantry! My first tea love, so to speak. Nothing beats a truly great Darjeeling such as a good muscatel second flush. Also, Autumn flush Darjeeling, I believe, has been greatly under appreciated. Darjeeling autumn flush Gopaldhara Red Thunder Gold that I purchased through What-Cha is the best tea of any kind I have ever had the pleasure of drinking! I am most definitely a Darjeeling dude!
Other than my much beloved Darjeeling, teas that I especially enjoy are fine estate Assam teas such as Assam Dikom Estate and fine Ceylon estate teas – low, mid and high grown.
Besides my much beloved Indian and Ceylon teas I must say that I adore a really good Chinese Keemun which is another tea that is always stocked in my tea pantry. Yunnan tea and Formosa oolongs are other favorites.
As for scented teas, I am an Earl Grey fanatic! Earl Grey, in fact, is my main go to tea. Floral scented teas are wonderful – Rose, jasmine, violet, orange blossom, and lavender scented black teas are all amazing! Other favorite scented teas include black currant, vanilla, almond, caramel, orange, and spice.
I have a fondness for most herbal teas – I am very fond of rooibos, camomile, lavender and peppermint tisanes. However, I absolutely detest hibiscus!
Black teas are my absolute favorites. I enjoy an occasional oolong tea too. Green tea is enjoyable – Jasmine scented green tea is heavenly! Iced green tea is superb! Pu-erh is just plain disgusting, in my opinion. Being fascinated with Russian tea culture, I take my tea Russian style, seldom with milk, and often with a little sugar or honey or, perhaps, fruit preserves such as strawberry or cherry. A lemon slice is also sometimes welcome. I would love to own an antique Russian samovar! A tea glass held in a podstakannik is also on my list. The Kusmi Russian teas are amazing with the Anastasia blend being my favorite.
One of my favorite guilty tea pleasures is Darjeeling with honey and milk as King Charles III takes his. Only I use plant milk such as oat or soy milk.
I try to purchase organic tea whenever possible.
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
