Ziggi's Candy Cane Crunch Frozen Chai with coconut milk, Ankeny Iowa

While in Iowa this year I was able to try this new place, Ziggi's.  This was a really fun place. It had the industrial look.  Everything was clean and the staff was super friendly.

https://www.facebook.com/ZiggisCoffee20/

They had a ton of drink options.  It was really hard to decide what to order.

https://www.ziggiscoffee.com/menu/hot-tea-chai/

After much thought I decided on the Candy Cane Crunch Frozen Chai.  Even though it was cold out it sounded too good to pass up.

Hanging out with these two was so much fun!!  I love these ladies.  We drank our drinks and chilled here before headed out for some shopping.  I love a lazy fall morning.

This drink did not disappoint.  I loved it.  The price was decent and the flavors were so delicious!!!!

This was a 5 teacup drink!  I loved the spicy chai flavor with the candy cane crunch.  I loved all the options I had too.  Did I want a spicy chai or an original chai.  Did I want it hot or frozen?  What kind of milk did I want.  I was able to create my own drink.  I thought it was great.

Ohio Tea Company shopping

I love introducing people to my favorite tea place, Ohio Tea Company.

https://www.ohioteaco.com/

I also like to try new things when I am at Ohio Tea.  I have never tried their flowering tea, so I picked a few of these up.  I will let you know what I think when I try them.  I love the look of the flowering tea, but I always seem to save them for a special time.  I just need to drink the tea even when there is no "special" occasion. 

This time I am taking a co-worker to Ohio Tea.  She is discovering that she really likes their tea.  My office, Mennonite Mutual Insurance, has been great about letting me buy Ohio Tea for the office.  I love how many of my co-workers are now drinking tea.

The first two times I ordered tea I picked the tea because no one really knew about their teas.  This last time I ordered their tea I had at least 6 people give their input on what teas were their favorites.  I love that my friend are discovering and drinking Ohio Tea.  

Tea is so good for you and Ohio Tea has some of the best!!  They have over 400 kinds of the worlds best loose leaf teas and tisanes.   If you live in the states and want to try their tea, they ship the tea for free!!!  (if you buy other products, there is a shipping fee, but if you get jut tea it is free).  You need to try them out!

They have a store of fun tea products too.

I am celebrating being down weight too. In these photos I was down 50 pounds in 7 months.  As of today, just under 10 months, I have lost 61 pounds.  

I am so excited.  I gave up fast food and processed food. I have not drank soda in a few years either.  It is amazing how God has created our bodies.  When  you eat healthy, natural food your body responds positively.  I drink lots of tea, eat lots of veggies, fish, nuts, and fruit.  I have never felt better.  Let this encourage you that is is never to late to start something new.  

You can start slowly- pick one thing to give up.  Stop drinking soda and pick up tea.  Or stop eating fast food and pack your lunch.  Give up pizza and make dinner.  You can do it!

Vahdam Turmeric Ginger Coconut Milk Latte

https://www.vahdamteas.com/products/organic-turmeric-ginger-chai-latte-premix-5-64-oz?variant=39420775923755

This tea is great,  except for the Stevia.  I struggle to get past that aftertaste...but, I do like it and I still drink it.

All that is in the tea is - black tea, turmeric, ginger , raw cane sugar, coconut milk powder, and stevia.  45 calories a glass.

I make it with 1/4 c water and the rest of the glass is warmed  SILK coconut milk.

I froth the coconut milk and steam it at the same time.

The turmeric and ginger play nicely together.  One does not over power the other.  It is a nice blend. 

I have given this latte only three cups because of the Stevia after taste.  The price is good.  The healthy aspects are good-  turmeric is anti-inflammatory.  Coconut Milk Powder lowers blood pressure and cholesterol.  Ginger improves digestion.   If you don't mind the stevia aftertaste I think you will love this tea.

On a side note I tried the Ginger Chai Latte from Vahdam and I wasn't a fan...it was way too ginger forward for me.

I did give the Ginger Chai to the President of our company and he loved it.  So, it really is about what you like.  Everyone has different taste buds.

Smokey Row, Eggnog chai, Ankeny Iowa

I was out in Iowa visiting my college friends.  I love being there in there great town of Ankney.  Last year when I visited I discovered this tea place called Smokey Row.

This day my friends daughter and I were out geocaching.  We were in the area of Smokey Row, so I asked if we could run through the drive thru.  I ordered the Eggnog Chai.

WOW!!  This was an amazing chai.  I loved the sweet chai flavors with the eggnog.  I thought it might be overly sweet, but it wasn't, it was perfect!

                

https://smokeyrow.com/stores/ankeny

Hands down this was a 5 tea cup drink for me.  The price was good, the service was good and the flavors were spot on!!!  The pairing of the eggnog and chai played so well together.  I could have had three more cups.  I loved it!

If you are in Ankeny and you geocache you need to look for some of the fun ones that are out there.  We spent a little over an hour running around finding caches.  It was a blast!!!

Some of the caches were really tricky, but we found them!

I love Iowa!  It is not all corn fields here!

 

Starbucks Sugar Cookie Chai, Wadsworth Ohio

https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/hot-teas

I wasn't sure what to expect with the sugar cookie flavor, but I wanted to try its since it was a new flavor.  I also liked that it was only 150 calories, as opposed to over 300-400 calories for the other holiday drinks.

I was able to get the chai flavors I enjoyed, but the cookie notes were missing for me.

 

November 9 was my first holiday drink of the season, but since it wasn't that great, I am now out to find something better.  Challenge excepted, lol!

This flavor was a miss for me.  I thought that it was really sweet and there was no real cookie flavor.  It fell flat for me.

Mini tea sets

I was gifted these adorable mini tea sets.  They are more decorative than what I could use for a kids tea party, so I decided to turn them into tree ornaments.

My friends was cleaning out her "Stash" and she had lots of fun little sets. Some sets I glued all the pieces on the serving trays and some I just put the teapot and teacups.

I used gorilla glue and then once dry I put a piece of twine on the teapot and hung it on the tree.

If you have tea items to get rid of I am happy to take them off your hands, lol.  I have had fun turning teapots into planters outside, planters inside, and other fun things.  

These sets made a perfect addition to my tea tree.

Find ways to be creative your things.  Instead of just sitting around collecting dust, they are now ornaments that I love to display on my tree.  Each tea set is different and uniquely painted.