I’ve been in Rome a few weeks now and have come to a startling revelation – this is not a tea town. It’s a coffee town through and through. Which I can appreciate – I enjoy my espresso every morning. It’s just what I need to get me going.

But right now I need tea. Like a warm and soothing and good-for-helping-a-sore-throat kind of tea. Because my throat is scratchy and a wee bit sore. The good news is that they do offer tea at the hotel I’m staying at. You get hot water from the same machine as the espresso (sometimes with a little bit of milk accidentally added in – which can be perfect!). Then you choose from about five varieties…Twinings English Breakfast Tea, Twinings Earl Grey, a chamomile blend, a black tea, and Twinings Green tea with mint.

I chose Green Tea with Mint this morning in the hopes of it helping my throat – and it did! It was delicious! I really had no way to control the temperature of the water other than letting it sit. It seemed pretty hot – but I added the tea bag right away and had no bitter taste. It seemed perfectly brewed. The gentle mint with the earthy greenness of the green tea works really well together. I wish I could get my hands on some now! Even though it’s about 80 degrees right now outside, I think I’d still enjoy it due to the refreshing taste of mint.

I let it brew for about three or four minutes then used a nifty trick a friend showed me (you’ve probably already figured this out). You take your spoon, put the tea bag in it, and then wrap the string around it to wring out some of the water. It saves your fingers from burning.

When I get home, I’m getting a box of this to keep in my tea basket.

Till next time,

Mari

P.S. I’m looking for places that sell tea, or a coffee shop that has a good selection. So far all I have come across in my meanderings is two tea rooms that look a bit pricey. We’ll see if I can splurge

Today I’m drinking Strawberry & Vanilla Matcha by Lupicia Teas. This is a green tea and one thing I noticed almost immediately after steeping was that there was a bit of residue in the bottom of my cup. That’s because this is a matcha green tea. Matcha tea is made by drying the tea leaves and then turning them into a powder. The powdered green tea is what’s causing the bit of residue in the bottom of the cup. If that bothers you, then I would try straining the tea. But, for what it’s worth, in my experience it doesn’t affect the flavor of the tea, nor did I get a gritty-ness on my tongue.

Here’s the video:

Organic Gunpowder by Tealuxe (Bin #146) is a classic China green tea.  This is a smooth and tasty green tea.  The leaves are allowed to dry and then are steamed and then rolled into tight balls or “pellet’s”.  The pellets should be tightly rolled and they should be shiny.  The shinier the pellets, the fresher the tea.  If your tea isn’t tightly rolled, or if the pellets are so dry that they turn to dust in your hand, then the tea isn’t fresh.

As with any green tea, make sure you don’t have the water too HOT.  My best rule of thumb is to let the water come to a boil and then let it sit for 3-5 minutes and cool a bit.  The water should be just about right by then.

Now, as I say in the video, I prefer to just dump a teaspoon of pellets in my cup and then poor the water over them because I like to watch the pellets unfurl as the tea steeps.  But, that’s just me! ☺  If you don’t like loose tea in your teacup, then you might want to use a cup or teapot infuser.  The one thing you do want to do with this tea is give it room to “move” in the water and really let lose all the flavor of the tea into your cup or pot as those pellets unfurl.

I really liked this tea.  The tea was smooth, the pellets were tight and unfurled into whole leaves, attesting to the freshness and quality of the tea.  I didn’t notice any charcoal notes on the backend, just a clean smooth tasting green tea.  Very Nice!

Organic Gunpowder Tea (Bin #146) preparation suggestions per Tealuxe.com:
Amount per cup: 1-2 teaspoons
Steep time: 2-3 minutes (or to your taste)
Brewing Temperature: 180f
Caffeine: 10-35mg per 8 oz cup

In the video I said I’d link to a cup infuser so you could see what I meant.  Here you go:

Tea Forte KATI Tea Brewing Sytem – Spring Grass

Norpro Grip-EZ Tea Infuser with Cup

Mighty Leaf Bodum Tea for One Cup Infuser

Affiliate links – The Amazon links are considered “affiliate links”.  Which means, if you buy the infuser I’ll make enough money to buy a cup of tea.  Well, if a hundred or so of you buy one, anyway ☺

And here’s the Videoblog:

Hello Tea Buddies!!

Today I have a tea that is very interesting. This is an incredibly fragrant green tea.  The “Napa” refers to the muscat wine notes in the tea, but there’s also jasmine.  I swear, the first time I took a whiff of this tea, I was bowled over by the aromas!  The warm grape smells just reach out of the bag and grab your nose, that’s how fragrant this tea is!  If you’ve ever been on a bike ride in Napa during “the crush”, when the grapes are ripe and warmed by the sun and ready to pick and the air is lushly perfumed with the smell of the grapes – that is what this tea smells like!

However, on the first steep, I was disappointed because although it smelled fabulous, I wasn’t crazy about the taste.  There were a lot of dark charcoal-y notes in the background of this tea.

BUT!

The second steep was much, MUCH better!  Those charcoal notes on the backend disappeared and the true flavor of the tea shined through.  I’ve had this tea hot and iced, and I like both.  Incidentally, when I made it iced, I didn’t have those dark notes on the back end even on the first steep.

Here’s the video.

NOTE: No Affiliate links.

Episode 1 – Happiness by Lupicia

Combination of green tea and green rooibos tea flavored with fresh fruits and flower petals.

I love this tea! This is a great tea for late afternoon when you need a pick-me-up. This is a very fragrant tea, lots of fruit aromas, strawberry mostly. I also love Lupicia’s tea bags. They have a very nice nylon mesh tea bag in a triangle shape. In my experioence, you should be able to get 2-3 steeps out of a tea bag. Also, although the package directions say bring the water to a boil, I would recommend bring the water to almost a boil. In my experience, the tea tastes a bit burned when I’ve plunked the bag in boiling water. But, of course, your mileage may very!
Here are the steep directions from the back of the bag:

Water temperature: Boiling
Brewing time: 1.5 – 2 minutes

Enjoy!