Cleveland Clinic Starbucks...Passion iced tea

while visiting a dear friend at Cleveland clinic we (Jean Atland, mom, and I) stopped at Starbucks.  I had to take a photo of this sign, since my sisters name is Jill Miller.  How fun it is that these days you can take a photo of everything and no one thinks twice about it.

Mom treated at Starbucks.  She and Jean got some peppermint coffee latte drink.  Me, just give me my Passion/Hibiscus cold tea with half the sugar.  I love that drink.  My mom then was kind enough to pick up a tin of Passion tea bags for me as a Christmas gift.  I am out of my Passion tea bags to make my own iced tea.  YAY!  for Christmas gifts.

Waiting patiently for my tea......

 Alright, my tea is ready

This is my favorite drink at Starbucks, even more so than a Chai Latte.

http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/tea/shaken-iced-passion-tea

Shaken Iced Passion Tea

An infusion of hibiscus and natural tropical flavors, lightly sweetened and hand-shaken with ice

THE ENGLISH TEA SHOP- Buckingham Palace Garden Party Loose Leaf Tea

Buckingham Palace Garden Party Loose Leaf Tea http://www.englishteastore.com/1mt-bpgp.html

I bought this tea mainly because of the name-"Buckingham Palace Garden Party".  The other reason was the jasmine blossoms in this tea.  I have discovered this year that jasmine, hibiscus, and black currant are three of my favorite flavors in tea.

And I have to say that I really don't like this tea. I wanted to like it, I really did!!!  I tried steeping it for 3 minutes like you would for black tea, and even for 1 minute like some green teas.  I tried it with a little milk and without milk.  (I am always hesitant to put milk in green teas, but with the black tea in there, I think you can get away with a little milk.)  Unfortunately, I did not like it with milk or without milk.  It was way to bitter for me.  I tried to drink this tea out of a tea cup, close my eyes and pretend I am having tea with the queen. I raise my pinking and talk with a British accent.  Okay, maybe no accent...but how great would it be to have tea at the Palace????  I am not one who can pick out the differences between Assam Ceylong or Kenya Blends, or even Earl Grey's- I just know when I like the flavors together.  Too bad that this was not one of those times. 
I passed the tea along to my friends Robin and Charlie- we will see what they think of the tea.

$4.89
Lighter afternoon tea with a hint of Earl Grey and Jasmine
Ingredients: Black tea, Green tea, Jasmine blossoms, Cornflower petals, Natural flavors

FROM THE WEBSITE:
The Buckingham Palace Garden Party tea loose leaf blend from English Tea Store is a delicate medium tea with a hint of Earl Grey and Jasmine. This is a lighter afternoon tea. Every May the Queen holds a garden party at Buckingham Palace, a lovely English springtime tradition. The tea that is served is long time favorite and delicious Palace medley specially selected for this occasion. Intriguing hints of high-grown pure Ceylon Earl Grey blend effortlessly with the soft jasmine from Fujian Province. Couple this with malty Assam (from the estate of Borengajuli) flavory Dimbula Ceylon (from Hatton), brisk and golden cup East of Rift Kenya (from Kambaa and Kagwe) and you have one of the most flavorful teas to come from the British Isles. Each cup is a cup of mystery - the flavors all come to the fore at separate times - one minute you taste the Earl Grey, the next second you can almost feel the soft floral notes of jasmine and finally you get the satisfying fullness of the Assam Ceylon and Kenya blend. Enjoy this tea and be a part of the annual tradition in the west gardens of Buckingham Palace, without having to dress up.

Ugly Sweater "tea party"

I had my first ever Ugly Christmas Sweater Party for the single girls at church.  Suzanne Wagner was the big winner for the ugliest sweater!!! 

Even though it was in the 60's on December 21st, we went ahead and drank some hot tea.  Suzanne and I enjoyed some Teavanna Chai with frothed milk.

Maharaja Chai Oolong Tea

Price reflects 2oz (25-30 teaspoons per 2oz)

$12.98

Product Rating

Description

Rich spices wafting together create the exotic intoxicating taste of India. Alluring chai intensely mixes with royal splendor oolong tea creating taste bursts of cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutty cardamom. The famed 'Spice Route' is conjured up in every rich cup of this robust and most favored chai.

Robust infusion full of rich spice notes from cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cloves

Abby Steiner enjoyed Tealightful Toasted Almond Spice Cake.  This tea is soooo wonderful.  I just love the smell, it literally smells like a baked spice cake!!

http://www.tealightfultea.net/shop/productdetail.aspx?prod=T22194

Product # T22194 Toasted Almond Spice Cake - 4 oz. Fruit tisane with dried apple pieces, toasted almonds, cinnamon bark,  beetroot pieces,  natural flavors. Contains nuts.Discover the intoxicating aroma of carmelized almonds and  sweet cinnamon apple cake Price: $16.00

ENGLISH TEA SHOP Christmas Organic Tea Collection

My friend Melanie got me this fun mug and tea set for Christmas.  She said that there were 12 bags of tea, and I could have one a day until Christmas comes.  But, as I had them they were so good I kind of wanted to save them.  Isn't that the way it goes?  Why do we think we should save something because it is so good?  Instead we should be enjoying it and drinking it up :)

http://www.etsteas.co.uk/

It came in this real cute box too.  And the tea has the mesh bags, which I am a big supporter of.

This tea is REALLY good!!  It is not a strong green tea flavor.  The other flavors, like the cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange flavors are what you really taste.  And, if you have been following my blog long enough, you will know I am not a fan of the strong green tea flavor, so this suits me well.

Ship Tea Camomile Tea

I was staying at the Gran Cervantes Hotel Torremolinos Spain while on a missions trip.  They had Ship Te that was very nice.

Las Mercedes, s/n, 29620 Torremolinos, Málaga, Málaga, Spain

+34 952 38 40 33

Again, I looked and I could not find anything out about this tea.  I assume it is a "hotel" brand.

I loved their coffee/tea/hot water/hot milk/cold milk machine!!!!  It was so fun to make tea with theis machine.

Cammomile tea was nice.  I even brought some packets home with me.

It was good tea, but how can you not enjoy tea when you are in Spain!!!!