If you know me, you know I love tea. It’s one of the only redeeming parts about cold weather. I crave the feeling of a steamy mug in my hands, and the aroma of tea wafting through the apartment. There is truly nothing better. Well, aside from coffee that is. 😉
Peek-a-boo
(And this is just half of my tea stash)
That said, I’m pretty picky when it comes to my teas. Some of my favorite brands are Yogi and Tazo, but thanks to OpenSky, I discovered a newbie that has been rocking my world.
Caftea sells loose leaf tea (among other things) and their products are AH-MAYZ-ING. Have you ever tried loose leaf tea?
The first flavor I tried was White Cacao Delights tea.
Upon opening the tin, the first thing that hit me was the deliciously intoxicating aroma of white chocolate. It literally knocked my socks off and I immediately turned to Kyle and had him smell it. Wow.
There were little white chunks among the loose tea leaves (green tea with white buds and organic white cacao shells). It took all self control to not eat the tea! Ha!
Since the tea is in loose leaf form, you can control how strong you want it. Have you ever packed your own tea bags? I hadn’t. Fortunately, Caftea also makes loose leaf tea filter to stuff your own.
Cool!!
I simply spooned in what I thought would be a good amount (based on the quantity I usually find in other tea bags). I didn’t even need to close it, I just folded the lip over and then added the hot water and it held itself closed.
After letting it steep for a bit…
Yummmm…it was stronger than I was expecting, but it was seriously delicious. It was kinda spicy, but the white chocolate hints reminded me of the holidays. I would liken it to the Gingerbread Spice holiday flavor Celestial Seasonings, but because the tea leaves are fresh and whole, it is MUCH more intense. You can literally taste each flavor so much more.
The second flavor I tested out was Roobios Rising Sun tea. This one smelled like strawberries.
It tasted like nothing I have ever tried before, and had I known what was in it (strawberry with sweet vanilla), I don’t think I would have been as likely to try it just because these flavors aren’t usually my cup of tea [pun intended], but I am very glad I did.
It was light, but definitely flavorful, and I can see this becoming a favorite after dinner. It has a nice subtle sweetness to it, but just hints of fruitiness, nothing too overpowering.
Both can be found at my OpenSky Shop, along with the make-your-own tea filters.
Here’s a list of items that are always stocked in the Hungry Hungry Hippie household:
- Tazo Chai tea
- Yogi Stomach Ease
- Yogi Peach DeTox
- Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride
- Yogi Mayan Cocoa Spice
- Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Spice
- Celestial Seasonings Goji Berry Pomegranate Green Tea
- Newman’s Own Green Tea
- Loose leaf green tea
- Earl Grey tea
Now that I have found Caftea, I can assure you it will be on supply as well. Are you a tea drinker? What are your favorite teas? I need to know what else I should add to my stash, so fill me in!!
And on that note, I bid you happy brewing…
Ooooh, SI. I am THE tea drinker… mostly porque I’d have black teeth if I gave into every coffee craving. I love the usual suspects: tazo chai, tazo zen, celestial seasonings peppermind… i reaaaally want to try yogi mayan cocoa spice. i’ve only ever tried yogi tea once, and it was some crazy metabolism booster flavor my friend got at a spa.
I guess I’ll reply to your comment-e-mail here since it takes each of us a week to reply to emails. Next semana–pretty open… possibly wednes or thurs? dime whatchu piensas.
That tea looks fantastic, in fact I think I’ll go make some right now.
I love tea! I recently bought “Throat Comfort” by Yogi and it worked wonders! So delicious. I’m sucker for anything Chai and definitely love loose leafs (I have a special french press for those guys!)
I have a ridiculous collection of teas, too! In the afternoon (or in the morning, although I usually have coffee in the morning), I drink an everyday black tea (PG Tips, Yorkshire Gold, or Bewley’s, depending on what I happen to have at home), and in the evening I’ll drink something decaf, and usually from Celestial Seasonings, since the price is right! I don’t mind their Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride, but I prefer Almond Sunset (or whatever silly name they’ve given it!).
I am obsessed with Tea Source [http://www.teasource.com], which is Minneapolis-St. Paul-based, but you can order online, too. I love the Yunnan Organic FOP that they have, and other favorites of mine are genmaicha, green Assam, and Red Berries. I also always keep the Yogi Breathe Easy on hand, Echinacea, some white tea, Aveda Calming tea, and the list goes on!
I was sent a sample from yogi and it had blueberry slim life green tea flavor so I tried it and it was amazing!! I was sweet but not over the top and tasted just like blueberries. mmm
I love tea. Your little “tea-bagging” process you have going there almost looks like it could be illegal… haha. I guess i am going to have to try all of these now, i am going to be broke. Have you ever tried Celestial Seasonings African-Rooibos? If you haven’t, i recommend getting on that, quickly!
I love tea!
I usually drink 2-4 cups a day, I do live in England so that’s nothing unusual. 😉
Apart from the typical black tea cuppa, I drink gallons of Rooibos vanilla tea, sooooo good! I love the taste and great for drinking in the evening.
I also love Celestial Seasonings Sleepy time, it relaxes me, also great for before bedtime!
I think I’m the lone wolf in the blogging world because I can’t just get on the tea train. I’ll keep reppin’ the black gold – coffee.
OMG, I am obsessed with tea, lol! I am actually drinking a cup right now 🙂 And eating an apple, of course. My tea cupboard is literally overflowing, and I can’t close the door all the way! I love a lot of the teas you mentioned, but my absolute hands-down fave is pure simple peppermint–bliss 🙂 It is what I am sipping now and is just so clean and fresh tasting–yum. Just about any brand is good, and I like the Celestial Seasonings peppermint just fine. I also really like the Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger–it is caffeine free and oh so good. Have you ever tried that one?
I am obsessed with tea. Even know when I head home for a bit, my mom has to curb my urge to buy copious amounts of tea, that i clearly can not go through in a few days. I’m currently sipping a mug of mango passionfruit! yummmm
Lovvvvvve tea. Favorite of all time is Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Red. Bigggg fan of any of the Yogi reds too.
Tazo awake tea is my favorite winter tea. I love it with milk and a bit of honey at the end of a cold day. In the summer I love iced green tea. We make sun tea and use 1 green tea bag 1 regular tea bag and a couple flavored ones (like peach, raspberry, etc). So refreshing and sun tea tastes like summer!
you are quite the experienced tea drinker. Tell me, do you sip it with your pinky out?
Holy cow, I’d love to raid your tea stash (why does that sound dirty?). My parents never let me have more than a few boxes, but if I had it my way I’d like a whole closet!
tazo passion fruit (?i think?)…its the pink tea at starbucks. so sweet and yum!
celestial sugar cookie, fo sho. they also make a blueberry flavor during the summer months…rocks! especially for an afternoon sweet fix.
i just very recently sorta started to like teas. much more of a coffee gal. def gotta try that yogi stomach ease, as i always look like i’m with child after lunch and dinner…
I’m all about Lupicia teas. At the shop in the San Francisco downtown shopping center, you can smell the hundreds of tea flavors that have sitting out in little tins. I prefer decaf, and just of that they have about 30 flavors. It is mostly loose-leaf, but some flavors come bagged. They are so fragrant – and delicious. Like you mentioned, you can make them as strong or mild as you want. oh, yum.
Right now I’m digging on this caramel-appley type flavor, and a buttery maple one. Also a strawberry peach with flowers flavor. I hope you try this brand!!
love tazo chai and awake and china green tips.
also just got a box of Celestial “Tension Tamer” because my job has me stressing out lately…Maybe it’s just the placebo effect-but I think that it’s been helping me chill out a bit.
I buy loose leaf tea at Whole Foods too, it’s pretty cheap and $1 or $2 bucks worth can make 30 servings. Totally worth it.
I want to try sugar cookie sleigh ride but can’t find it anywhere! ah!
I really like Stash’s Lemon Ginger tea- it helps me when i have a tummy ache and i think it’s the lemon ginger tea, flavor-wise! it’s unfortunate because it really hard to find around here!
I have become addicted to Tevana’s flavored green teas. I used to go into the store and purchase the tea, but now I buy at least a pound of tea (can be various flavors in 2oz increments) and get a 10% discount online (teavana.com).
They also sell a ‘perfect tea maker’ so you can put the loose leaf tea in the container with hot water, steep, and then set the tea maker on top of your mug and the tea is strained (i.e. tea and leaves get separated). I own a 16-oz one and a 32-oz one depending upon whether I’m making tea for one or two. 🙂
Oh, thank GOODNESS I’m not the only person who loves tea and has an out of control stash! I hide some in my room so people who see the public stash don’t think I’m totally crazy…which, of course, if they found out, would seal the deal on the “totally crazy” judgement. But whatever. At least I have awesome tea. So…there.
My favorites are (Yogi:) Green tea with Kombucha, Peach Roobois, Tazo Green Ginger, rose tea, and any peppermint tea. Just love peppermint. I have a little tea strainer I brought back from London years ago (I was like fifteen I thought it was the quintessential England thing I *needed* to have…that and Harry Potter), but I misplaced it for a while and started using my French press to make loose tea instead of coffee. It worked pretty well, too. My boyfriend likes just plain Lipton with sugar, which to me is the ultimate in NASTY – I need to introduce him to some good tea STAT.
I had an AMAZING loose leaf tea called Sweet Mint. I reused the bag about 4 times. 🙂 That is the real deal.
That tea looks amazing! I love loose leaf tea, it’s always so much richer and SMOOTHER than bag tea…
my friend has amazing loose leaf tea from China but I don’t think it has a brand…have you ever tried goji berry tea? it’s fun b/c you can eat the (softened) gojis after you drink the tea
I absolutely require coffee every day, but I also really enjoy tea. My favorite tea is an herbal tea called Cha Cha by Adagio. http://www.adagio.com/herbal/cha_cha.html
I’m a tea drinker, too. My favorite brand is Choice. It’s organic and fair-trade. I really enjoy their Moroccan Mint Green and Irish Breakfast teas. I also enjoy Celestial Seasonings quite a bit. I always have Sleepytime on hand, but I also loved their chocolate and caramel chais (which I’m not sure are made any more). Allegro’s Happy Tummy is delicious, too. Oh, and I went through this delicious White Christmas tea by Harney & Sons. I need to get some more of that.
i was never a tea drinker until my current roommate got me hooked! i love loose red rooibos – i really want a pretty teapot where i can brew my own! i’m so over store bought tea bags.
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Ooo, there’s this amazing loose leaf red tea found in the inner richmond that my cousin introduced me to when I was up in SF last and it’s soooo good! We also had it as an iced tea and without adding any sugar or sweetner, it resembled a hint of a very very light sweet tea. Nothing like the sweet tea Kile is familiar with from the dirty dirty, but this was seriously refreshing and delicioso!
and yes, I prefer loose leaf teas, I just feel like it’s just that much better… =)
you just like it better because it’s “loose” – haha
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Not a tea suggestion, but if you continue to buy loose leaf tea, I’d recommend looking into getting a tea ball/tea infuser. A one-time buy (as opposed to getting those bags) & probably much better for the environment 🙂
Oooo, I want one of those so so badly!