Tea for Tuesday: Just Breathe...

Today has been a trying day for me. Small frustrations accumulating into an overall feeling of contempt for Tuesday, August 25th, 2009. In total, I had three cups of tea, made two reusable muslin tea bags (tutorial to come), and a coffee/tea cup cozy. Honestly, sipping my tea through the day and busying my hands with handmade endeavors, I think my day wasn't a total wash. For this week's Tea for Tuesday, I'm bringing you a quick review of my day's first cup. And don't mind my grubby counter tops... It was early, ok?


5:30 AM, EST

To get my morning jolt before heading out to work, I filled my tea ball with a mixture of loose teas from Teavana.

1 tsp Mate Vana
1 tsp Thai Tea Blend
1/2 tsp Azteca Fire

Steeped for 5 minutes... AHHHHHH! Good morning :)

Mate Vana is a rich tea - chock full of caffeine - it almost smells like coffee. On its own it is a delight, but mixed with pretty much ANYTHING, it's even better. It's a great base tea if you're looking to be adventurous. It's also a great tea to start the day with, it has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. According to Teavana's catalog, Mate Vana is, "A deliciously smooth combination of toasted Yerba Mate, almond bits, cactus blossoms, cornflower and sunflower petals, crushed cocoa beans, chocolate bits and Rooibos tea." PHEW! That's a lot of stuff! This is easily my favorite tea.

*****

The Thai Tea Blend is described as, "A delightful Thai restaurant blend of black and red teas, Hawaiian coconut pieces, almonds and authentic Madagascar vanilla beans." This tea is a bit lighter than Mate Vana, but still rich in its own right. It, too, has caffeine, but not nearly as much as the Mate.

*****

I just love this name - Azteca Fire. Ohhhh! Ahhh! Just take a look... you can see all the bits and pieces of goodness in here! This one is an herbal tea and doesn't have any caffeine. I've had it alone and it's extremely light. I definitely suggest using it with another tea, it's not strong enough a flavor on it's own, in my opinion. Teavana describes this one as a "blend of chocolate and strawberries with a kick. This modern take on the ancient chili pepper and cacao blending proves the test of time." Azteca Fire is a great way to bring some extra sweetness to your blend of tea.

*****

If you notice in my photos, I keep my teas in little tins. I found these in the $1 bins at Michael's. Tins are recommended because the metal isn't porous enough to leech anything out of the tea. Glass and plastic aren't good for long-term storage, they won't keep the tea as fresh. 

So there you have it... My morning cup of tea for today. Does it sound like something you'd like? WELLLL... Leave me a comment on this post and you could WIN a sampling of each of the three teas I talked about today. Enough for you to enjoy a cup or two, on me! Comment by Sunday, August 30 for your chance to win! Please be sure to leave an e-mail address for me to get in touch with you. Any comment will do... About tea, crafts, life... I don't mind!

Thanks for reading! Come back soon :)