A New Year. A fresh start. A new home. And… a new home!
Not only am I moving to a new house in just one week, I’m also moving to a new blog host. Thank you to WordPress for introducing me to the world of blogs.
I hope that you, dear readers, will all continue to share your tea moments with me at my new location:
http://internationalteamoment.blogspot.com/
See you soon!
Jen
Dear Green Tea Lovers,
I’m always so happy to receive packages of tea in my mail box, and the receipt of your package was met with excited enthusiasm. For various reasons, I wasn’t able to indulge as quickly as I’d like. I had a couple of weeks that were devoted to herbal infusions, and we’ve been in the midst of real estate chaos, so it was easier to fall back on old favorites than to put the effort toward new introductions. And then, this Sunday, I felt ready for a new green tea. And considering all the stress I’ve been feeling and the waves of nostalgia I’ve been battling through as I pack up our first home – the home where my baby was brought home from the hospital, learned to crawl to walk… Well, let’s just say I was drawn to the description of your tea that said, “Shincha has a higher content of L-Theanine… considered a natural anti-depressant and stress reliever.”
I brewed myself a Sunday morning cup of your tea and actually sat down (after weeks of feeling like I was in constant motion), and had that first sip.
Thank you for introducing me to such a lovely and subtle green tea! It’s color and flavor are spring itself. Golden yellow, refreshing, smooth yet full. The grassy flavor I have come to associate with Japanese green teas is very delicate in this brew, not at all overpowering. One cup was not enough, so I made an entire pot. And Monday I made another pot. And Tuesday. And Wednesday. I literally can’t get enough! As you may remember, I was formerly an avoider of green teas and have worked hard to learn more about them, experience them and, now, enjoy them. Yours is one I would recommend to first-timers and old hat aficionados alike.
I’m looking forward to trying the other tea you are introducing to my palate, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to try it until I get my fill of Shincha Shizuoka. And there’s no telling how long that may be.
Happy New Year to you!
Sincerely,
A Fellow Green Tea Lover
Filed under Tea
The Portfolio
There are few go-to herbal infusions I would consider as staples in my tea cupboard. Celestial Seasonings’ Sleepytime Tea, MyTeaShelf.com’s Andes Breeze, and my own personal blend I’ve dubbed Calm-o-mile. So when Teekanne approached me about sampling their herbal line, I was willing (of course!), but ambivalent. It was a heavenly surprise, then, when these herbals arrived on my doorstep. Twelve herbal infusions divided into three categories of Energizing, Relaxing, and Soothing. All in the most gorgeous portfolio – though here all you see is the aftermath of my indulgence…
The Purge
Let me preface all of this by saying that we have been in the process of selling and buying a home over the past several weeks – factor in the holidays, and let’s just say life has been anything but serene. I decided to do as Teekanne suggested and allow their blends to help me live a healthy lifestyle. I devoted the majority of my daily tea consumption to their infusions alone. These accompanied me through the shredding of 10 trash bags of outdated and unnecessary documents, the scheduling of myriad repairmen, inspectors, realtors and escrow officers, freakouts over last minute wire transfers, and they even took the place of an evening’s glass of wine. The result? Well, we are moving the last week of January into a new home, and I still have a shred of sanity left!
My chief complaint with herbal infusions is that if there is fruit involved, there is a sickeningly sweet aftertaste, or if there is no fruit involved, there can be a dusty, weedy residue left in my mouth. Teekanne presented an entirely different experience. Yes, these are bagged infusions, but it didn’t matter. Good is good. Each of the flavors had a mild sweetness that stayed just that – mild. The only exception was Rosehip and Hibiscus, which veered into my personal icky sweet danger zone. Other than that, I found a pleasant boost in the Energizing blends, and I may be convinced that my new wind-down beverage of choice is a Soothing or Relaxing blend.
There were a few stand outs:
When it came to the Energizing blends, I expected Lemon Twist to be my fave, but surprisingly I have to give the top spot to Cinnamon Apple Spice. If you are a fan of Bigelow’s Constant Comment, you may enjoy some similar notes in this blend. In the Relaxing blends, Mandarin Breeze pleasantly surprised me. The orange essence was subtle but lovely. I expected to love the Honey Vanilla Bliss, but shockingly, this was the one infusion I actually could not finish. I don’t know how two such perfect flavors can contradict each other so harshly, but this was a case where two rights made a wrong. To be fair, I have yet to come across a vanilla blend of any kind that worked for me, so perhaps I’m not the best judge in this case. But it was the Relaxing blends – both Purely Peppermint and Triple Mint Tranquility that really sent me over the moon. Or rather, brought me gently back to earth and calmed the chaos that seems to reign from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. each day.
My new evening companion
Verdict – Me likey. The misses were far outweighed by the hits. And I guess I should not be surprised since Teekanne (which I just learned is German for “teapot”) has been a big player in the tea industry since 1882.
One more bonus? They have launched a promotion entitled “My Teekanne Moment” with a grand prize of a $5,000 American Express gift card. I like their style.
An International Tea Moment 