Tea Forte Jasmine Pearls

https://www.teaforte.com/search/?q=Jasmine

I have blogged about Tea Forte Jasmine Pearls before, it was one I really enjoy.  I enjoy it warm and cold.  Today I was making it warm again.  I thought I would use one of my Christmas gifts- the copper mug.

One thing to remember with these copper mugs, is to use the handle- the sides get super hot!!! The copper mug is made for cold drinks, lol.

When I was a tea shop in Portland, I learned that you should soak your jasmine pearls for 30-50 seconds before you make your first pot of tea.  I found that interesting, but now I do it every time.  The lady said you get a better first cup of tea.

I love these rolled leaves.  They are beautiful.  When you make a green tea you want to keep the water temp low, around 175 degrees.  If you get it too hot, you will bruise the leaves and you will have a really bitter tea.  You will want to steep the tea for 2-4 minutes.  I usually stick to 3 minutes or less.  With a quality tea like this you can get 2 cups of tea out of one serving.

You can see that you start with these beautiful rolled tea leaf balls, but they unfurl as they steep.  If you don't like floral teas, you probably want to avoid this jasmine tea.  But, I think it is a wonderful tea- not perfumey, but definitely floral.

The tea is a nice green color, but again copper cups like this are not for hot tea, lol.  Lesson learned. 

Wonder Drink Kombucha

https://www.wonderdrink.com/products/variety-pack

 The Wonder Drink website sells the 12 pack for $28.00

https://www.amazon.com/Kombucha-Wonder-Drink-Sparkling-Fermented
Amazon sells the 12 pack for $17.00

I am glad I bought it on Amazon.

I make kombucha, but sometimes I do buy kombucha,  I thought I would get some of this Wonder Drink.  It is made in Portland, OR- that is where I had it for the first time and really enjoyed it.

I have been enjoying this green tea and lemon kombucha.  It is a bit tart, but I really like it.  I am not sure I have ever made a kombucha with these kind of flavors.

Christmas day, Earl Grey got a cat nip mouse and I head to my parents for Christmas.

Christmas Day I had fun with family.  I tried traditional Kombucha.  It was good, but I have to say that green tea and ginger one is my favorite.

The traditional kombucha, is very traditional...it is like a plain tea.  I think I prefer a bit of fruity notes. But, if you like plain kombucha that you might like this on best.

The Asian Pear and Ginger is a good Kombucha as well.  The Asian Pear flavor comes through really strongly, it is a little intense, but I like it.

The flavors of these drinks are all really good.  And I enjoy these. I like Wonder Drink.

LECharm Peach Iced Green Tea Instant Tea

https://www.lecharmusa.com/

from the website, 

"LeCharm Tea & Herb USA, Inc. is a leading global supplier of various innovative tea and herbal extract products. Pure tea extract is the outstanding invention of our senior R&D team consisting of professionals after years’ research. The pure tea extract made by the patented technology of PLEESIT, is full of essences extracted from natural tea leaves. Its safe, convenient, instant, healthy, and eco-friendly features make it a trendy drink for the whole world. 

LeCharm pure tea extract, using nano-level extraction from tea leaf cell and integrated solution of production system by applying advanced nuclear essences extraction technologies. With raw material of well selected tea leaves from ecologic tea garden, is manufactured by our independently-invented whole set of bio-engineering extraction system, its multistage membrane separation technology, after breaking the cell wall of tea leaf under high pressure, efficiently and extracts the beneficial components of tea leaves and removes the useless elements like fiber and pectin and the harmful components such as pesticide residue and heavy metals by different molecular weights, and then has the beneficial components technically blended, making pure tea extract without pesticide residue, additive free, natural and of excellent taste. "

I decided to try this instant tea.  I have to say I really enjoyed it.  The Peach flavor , it really comes through. It's super easy to make, I heated the water, added the tea and in seconds I had a cup of tea. 

I did not need to add sugar or anything to this tea, it was great all on it's on.  I could not see where any sugar is added to this tea, it appears to be all natural.

I would say that you want to be sure NOT to taste the powder.  I had some of the lip of the cup, I tried the powder and it was horrible.  So, do not try the powder!

How to Brew tea in 3 seconds

Mix with 6.8-10 fl.oz. of Hot/Cold/Iced Water. Shake well if mixing with Cold/Iced water. Mixing with less water if stronger taste preferred. Add Lemon/Honey/Milk/Sugar depending on personal preference.

LeCharm Instant Tea

https://www.lecharmusa.com/

"Each sachet contains only 0.6g tea crystal that is extracted from over 20g tea leaves.  Essence is always small. 0.6g of tea crystal with full content of tea essences without even a particle of additive or waste, can go for up to 200 – 300 ml nice healthy tea drink." From the website

"LeCharm pure tea extract, using nano-level extraction from tea leaf cell and integrated solution of production system by applying advanced nuclear essences extraction technologies. With raw material of well selected tea leaves from ecologic tea garden, is manufactured by our independently-invented whole set of bio-engineering extraction system, its multistage membrane separation technology, after breaking the cell wall of tea leaf under high pressure, efficiently and extracts the beneficial components of tea leaves and removes the useless elements like fiber and pectin and the harmful components such as pesticide residue and heavy metals by different molecular weights, and then has the beneficial components technically blended, making pure tea extract without pesticide residue, additive free, natural and of excellent taste" From the Website

I have been enjoying these instant teas.  They dissolve quickly in water and have great flavor.   You can get 16 sachets for $9.95

 The sampler includes a selection of 2 pouches teas each of: Jasmine Green Tea, Rose Black Tea, Peach Iced Tea, Blueberry Black Tea, Lotus Leaf Tea, Slimming Tea, Detox Tea and Ginger Herbal Tea. 

ECPURCHASE 4.3 quart Tea Kettle Stovetop Whistling Tea Pot

I am doing more product testing, and I was excited to see a tea kettle come across my screen.  Lately, I have found a tea cup warmer, disposable tea/coffee cups, an electric milk frother, a matcha set, and this tea kettle.  I am excited to be able to share some of these products with you guys.

Tea Kettle Stovetop Whistling Tea Pot, Stainless Steel Tea Kettles Tea Pots for Stove Top, 4.3QT(4-Liter) Large Capacity with Capsule Base by ECPURCHASE

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MFCYCVF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

from the website:

• Premium Material: 18/8 food grade solid stainless steel constructed water kettle, durable and rust resistant;capsulated base heats up quickly and retains heat well, provides even heat distribution
• Whistling Teakettle: A convenient whistle sounds when water comes to a boil
• Easy to Pour&Fill: Ergonomically designed bakelite handle for comfortable grip and anti-scald, the flip-up spout cover for safe and easy pouring and filling
• Tea Pot for All Stove Tops : Compatible with various cookware like gas cooker, induction cooker, electric ceramic furnace, halogen, wood stove etc
• 4.3QT Capacity: Make tea/coffee with this 4 Quart large stovetop kettle for your entire family or party, a great kitchen tool

Based on the size of this kettle, this seems to be a pretty good price.   Most of the 2 liter kettles run around $20.  This one is double for only $10 more.  

Believe it or not, this is my first whistling kettle.  I really have never used a kettle before, it's only ever been tea pots or electric kettles.

This stove top kettle holds more than my electric kettle, so if I ever want to heat a lot of water, I would use this kettle.  For one cup of tea or even just two cups I will stick with my electric kettle, but if I want to do a large amount of water I will use this kettle.  It is a nice kettle.

If looking for a large kettle I would recommend this kettle.

Tea Forte Winter Chai

Christmas Day 2019

Christmas with only 2 of my four nephews/niece.  I love these boys, but I missed the other two!!!

https://www.teaforte.com/store/gourmet-tea/winter-chai/

Christmas breakfast is pretty traditional for us.  This year we did not have the egg casserole, but we did have most of the other traditional items.   We also added some new item to the menu- we had french toast with blueberry syrup.  Some of the traditional items- cream cheese coffee cake, fruit, cranberry juice, and can you see the snowman napkins?  My cousin made those over 30 years and we still use them all these years later.

This year I made Winter Chai.  I enjoyed the tea and was surprise to learn it was a rooibos tea.  I was pleasantly surprised to like it.  I am not usually someone who likes rooibos tea.  I am a fan of the chai falvors mixed with the vanilla notes.

Our gourmet blend of caffeine-free rooibos, exotic cardamom, and sweetly fragrant vanilla.

Cheers, Here's to Christmas 2019.

Christmas games and I worked TEA into one of the games

Our family likes to play games, especially at Christmas.    

This year my gift to everyone was games.  Everyone got a different game. We had some much fun playing these games during the break.

We played a Yahtzee Bingo sort of game.

We played 5 Second Rule- which I won!!!!  PlayMonster 5 Second Rule Game - New Edition

We played Pass the Pig

Bananagrams Word-a-Melon: The Family-Fun Word Search Game

We played Word of Watermelon, and I got to play the word TEAS!  This was s new game for all of us and we enjoyed it.

I only watched this game, it was a smart peoples game....

We also played pass the Jenga game.  I am not sure if I ever won this game, lol!

Bananagrams Fluff Rolling Dice Game - Family Game with Cups Like Liars Dice

We played shuffle board, Fairly Odd Novelties Tabletop Shuffleboard Compact Portable Mini 0.87 Lb Travel Family Board Game, White

The boys and I loved playing- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

My dad and mom enjoyed watching us play games and have fun.

What are some of your favorite games????