Estes Park Tea, Rocky Mountain Chai from Sereni TEA

My first full day in Colorado, we drove over to Estes Park.  It was spectacular.   The views were majestic.  God has such creativity in His creation.   I love seeing different areas of the US.  I bet He had so much fun creating the world.

In Estes there were a few cafes.  But, I was super excited to find a tea shop, dedicated to all things tea.  We were only in town for about two hours, so we didn't get to see everything, but this was one place I decided I had to stop in to this shop.

 

I thought this was a real nice Chai.  Having the jasmine and rose in the chai threw me off a bit with the warming spices, but I did still enjoy it.  The store was adorable, the prices were good, and the staff was really friendly.  I gave the tea four tea cups out of five.

Luxury Ingredients: Black tea, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Black + White pepper, Clove, Nutmeg, Coriander, Jasmine + Rose + Lavender petals.

Tea(s) From: India / Thailand / China / Egypt / France

Region(s): Assam + Kerala / Petchabun /Fujian / Nile Delta + Fayoum / Provence

Antioxidant Level: High 

Caffeine Content: Medium 

https://www.rockymountainserenitea.com/

I loved how many kinds of tea you could try and for only $3 a cup.  I wish more tea places had tea at their shops that you could try before you buy.

These are high altitude and luxury loose leaf teas, created in Estes Park.

They had a very nice and large selection of teas.  I purchased some, but would have loved to try more.

Very fun store.  Lots of great tea items.  I was glad I had discovered this place.

Starbucks Apple Crisp Chai, Brighton CO

While I was in CO on vacation I picked up the Colorado Starbucks cup.  Even though I am not a huge Starbucks fan, I love their mugs, lol.  I do like their passion iced tea and their flavored chai teas.

At my friends local grocery store there was a Starbucks, so I was able to pick up Apple Crisp Chai.  Did you know that you can ask them to add any flavoring to their chai teas.  If they can make it as a coffee, they have the syrups to make a chai too.

https://www.starbucks.com/menu

I liked the chai flavor, but the apple crisp flavors were not as strong as I would have liked them to be.  However, the chai flavors were on point.  The staff was friendly, the store was clean, and the prices were good.  I give the tea four tea cups out of five.

It is a beautiful day in Brighton Co.  I can not wait to spend the week in Colorado.  

I was here to see about 8 friends.   These are special people to me.  These are friends I have done mission work in the past.  For the first four days here I am staying at four different houses.    

I started volunteering with the Christian & Missionary Alliance in 2013 on mission trips and working with kids.   I met up with these ladies in 2017 and have gone on five trips with them.   We have been Thailand, Spain, Malaysia, and the Dominican Republic twice. These people are family!

You can see the Rocky Mountains in the distance.  It is just beautiful here.

Big Heart Tea Co, Blue Lullaby

https://bighearttea.com/products/blue-lullaby-1

I was given this tea as a gift and I love it!!!  First off the packaging is super cute, but then the taste is even better.

I enjoy mint and I love Tulsi- which is holy basil and very good for you.  I have several teas with tulsi added to them.  It has a distinct flavor, hard to describe, but I love it.  The easiest thing to say is has a spicy flavor- but not hot.  It is kind of peppery.

 Tulsi or Holy Basil can help protect against infection, lower your blood sugar, lower your cholesterol, ease joint pain, and protect your stomach.

This is a herbal tea, so your water can be higher. I did 200 degrees.  It says to steep for 2 minutes, I would normally steep for longer for an herbal tea, but I did steep for 2 minutes.

The tea bags are cute too.  I like the encouragement on the bags.

This tea is great mix of mint and tusli.  The butterfly pea tea does not have much flavor at all. 

You can also see that there is a lot of real herbs added.  There are not dustings here.  There are real herbs here!

The tea is a beautiful color too.  And if you add citrus to it is changes to a beautiful purple color. 

That is one of the great things about butterfly pea flower- it makes your tea a beautiful blue color, but as soon as citrus is added it becomes a gorgeous purple color. 

Here is the green color tea- what it looks like before you add lemon to it.  Then I mixed it lemonade and it became purple.  It is gorgeous and tastes as great as it looks!

Glen Eyrie, Afternoon Tea in a Castle and chai at the Carriage House

My friend Yeng, treated me to a fairy tale day!  We had tea in a castle and it snowed!!  Not sure how the day could have gotten better.

I met my friend in 2016 when we worked on a mission trip together in Thailand.  She is just wonderful!  I love doing life with her.  Over tea we caught up and shared our hopes, frustrations, and what God is doing in our lives.  It is great to have girl friends in your life like this.  Even if you only see them ever few years you are able to pick up where you left off.

It snowed while we were having tea!!  It was magical.  This castle is on the grounds of Navigators.    It is used for conference center and retreats. 

https://www.navigators.org/about/

https://gleneyrie.org/tea/

This is the inside of the castle.

Even the little bathroom was super cute. 

The tea room was just light, bright, and almost perfect. 

Here is another room.

They let us pick our table.  We choose a table with a view.

They asked if we had any dietary needs, I mentioned I was gluten free.  They brought me separate food that was all gluten food.

The menu was delicious.

We each got a pot of tea.  I ordered the Oriental Beauty Oolong and it was delicate and tasty.  We then ordered another pot of chai.  We each also had our pots refilled with water.  We drank a lot tea while sitting there.  Yeng ordered the Japan Roasted Hojicha.  I tried it and it was good. I don't think I had ever had a roasted tea before- but I decided to serve a tea like it at one of my Christmas teas in December.

We were actually there so long that they gave up the 5 minute warning.  They were closing the dining room in 5 minutes.

We started with a Ginger & Butternut Squash w Rosemary and a Parmesan Crisp

Then I was served a spinach salad- this was the gluten free option.  Yeng had a spinach Orzo.

Then I was given this great plate of gluten free food.

Menu-

Blue Crab Salad on Sourdough

Turkey Tarragon w Smoked Almonds on Wheat-  mine was on a gluten free bread

Sweet Potato Crostini w Sliced Pear, Brie & Honey

Banana Scone w Pumpkin Cardamon Spice Cream Cheese

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

White Chocolate Pumpkin Crunch Tart- mine was minus the tart, so it could be gluten free

The tea, the food, the service, the decor, the day...all get five tea cups!!!!  Everything was outstanding. 

Ahh, the snow!!

There were wild turkeys in the picture below...

Even though we had just spent over 2 hours drinking more than 3 pots of tea, we headed to their bookstore for more tea!!

The Carriage House was another beautiful venue. 

I love old doors.  There is just something about them.  Wondering what is behind them.  Where will the door lead? Who has stood at the door before me.  What has this door seen? Who made this door?  When was it made?  All these questions I have about one door.  It also reminds me of God standing at the door of my heart and knocking- asking if He can enter.  I let Him in, I hope you do too.

In the bookstore I ordered a Cochin Masala Chai.

This chai was just okay.  I thought it lacked flavor and depth.  I would not get it again.  I am only giving it two tea cups out of five.

The Carriage House/bookstore was really cute.  I loved the coziness of it with the brick walls.

The had a nice selection of teas, tea books, and mugs.

What great memories we made today.