Checking in...

31 followers...*Dances*

If you notice on the right hand side, there's a Facebook Fan site button. =) Clicky, clicky..

Writing is slow but sure. 3,000 words for chapter one so far. The Heroine has met the Hero and he is amused. She is not. He's an arrogant SOB...she wants to take a sword to his head.

Oh, so much fun... LOL

Anyway...

I'm enjoying a cup of tea, finished messing around with the Facebook fan page...and am catching up with my best friend.

*whispers* I snuck her name into the dedication of my novel...*grin*

We're getting there...so close now. I'm so nervous.

Tea order!

Our tea order came today!

Hehehe. I say "Our" when I mean "Mine". I'm the big tea drinker in the house. =)

Today's order...


English Breakfast Blend 1/4LB
English Breakfast Blend 1/4LB
Earl Grey De La Creme 1/4LB 
Earl Grey Royal 1/2OZ
China Lichee 1/2OZ
Cinnamon Orange Spice Tea 1/2OZ
Vanilla with Finest Madagascar Vanilla 1/2OZ
Cocoa Cardamom Tango 1/2OZ
Holiday Dream 1/2OZ
Chocolate Cream with Cocoa Pieces 1/2OZ

I love those 1/2OZ sample bags. You can't beat a pot and a half of tea for a $1.00...and to try out the tea to make sure we like it is great.

Like, we're now drinking the China Lichee. We've discovered that it's not all that great. It's not bad, just not our...well...cup of tea. LOL. So, we won't be ordering it again. Out a $1.00. That's it.

I love Earl Grey De La Creme...Mmmm...

Tea time...

I love tea. I've written about it before and I'll probably always mention it somewhere until someone yells at me to knock it off.

Anyway...

I remember the days when I would get home from school, starving (ok, anyone who knows me or knows what I look like knows I have never starved, nor will ever starve!), but it was too early for dinner. we would get an after school snack before hitting the books to do homework.

I do the same thing with my daughter. When she gets home, she gets a snack and then it's home work time before I start the dinner process.

I have instigated "tea time" instead of after school snack.

I know what time the bus drops her off, so I have a pot of tea ready for when she walks in the door. I'll have snacks either made or store bought, set out on the nice china dishes. The china tea cups and saucers are set out as well.

Normally, I use my Asian tea pot, it's just easier, but today I changed it up and used the silver as instead of tea, I made mint tisane and added hot cocoa mix to it to make a mint cocoa.

We sit down and have tea and snacks, talk about her day in school, relax and chat. When tea time is done, I clean up and she gets cracking on that homework, and I get some writing done before I start dinner.

It's a nice little tradition and it gives us time to connect with one another, where we can act like ladies and she can practice the fine art of handling delicate china, and I can practice pouring and use my silver!

Mmmmm...tea.

I am a tea drinker. I love tea. Tea conjures images of pretty dresses, women gathering around and sipping tea from pretty china, and little dainty foods to go with it. (Oh, yes, my Victorian era fascination!)

Now, I'm no where as snobby or particular about my tea. I have my favorite flavors and blends, either tea or tisanes (herbal steeps with no tea in it)...I'm happy to toss a tea bag into a mug and steep it in hot water to desired strength. As long as I get my morning tea to wake up with and my cup of tea as I write, and sometimes a bedtime cup, I'm human and content.

I had an Asian teapot I was given. Nothing fancy. It was rather ugly, in fact. It was definitely not one to use for serving to guests. I would toss a few tea bags into the pot, ad hot water, let steep and there's my tea.

I came across a website that sold loose leaf tea. I perused their site, knowing very little about the special blends or curing techniques, or even about the different types of tea there are.

I ordered. My review of the teas is here: http://isobael-liu.blogspot.com/2009/02/tea-review.html

Six orders later, we're loyal customers and fans of SpecialTeas.

Their shipments are always on time, their prices superb. Shipping is truly affordable and the selection is great. While we do not go for those specialized blends, we have our own favorites that we tend to order most, they have the options of sample packs, 1/2 oz packages, of many of their teas and for a $1.00 a 1/2 oz, who could pass that up? It's perfect for a 2 - 3, even four mugs worth of tea.

Our last order just arrived today and I was so excited!

If you like tea and enjoy steeping loose leaf tea, check out SpecialTeas. You can find the link on the right, under the heading, "My Stamp of Approval".

Oh, and by the way, I was not paid for this post in any way, shape or form. I'm just sharing my opinion with you.

Now, I'm going to go kick back with some tea and relax.

=)

Tea Review...

I ordered some tea from a company called SpecialTeas last week and it came today via UPS.

We wanted to try Rooibos teas, which is known as Red Tea and is naturally decaffeinated, which is a good thing!

The package contained a shipping slip, a catalog, and a little card. Then, beneath those were the tea packages.



I ordered a few 1/2 packets of various teas to try out and then a sample pack of the rooibos teas.

These are the sample packets. They are 1/2 oz samples of:

Black tea - Caramel with Caramel Pieces
Rooibos White Chocolate Toffee
Rooibos Chocolate-Mint
Rooibos Earl Grey
Harvest Fest - A bountiful blend of rooibos, pineapple, mango and papaya bits, coconut and almond, walnut, peanut and hazelnut bits.
Cocoa Cardamom Tango - Full-leaf black tea with a decadent blend of cocoa bits, cardamom pods and cinnamon.
Black tea - Chocolate Cream with Cocoa Pieces
After Dark Herbal Melange - Relaxing herbal melange with orange/chamomile flavor. Contains citrus peels, rose-hip peels, chamomile flowers, orange blossoms, lemon grass, nana-mint and hibiscus.
Black teas - English Breakfast Blend
Lapsang Souchong Superior - Carefully cured in the smoke of fragrant Chinese pinewood, this superior quality Lapsang is deeply aromatic and uniquely flavorful. Its smoky characteristics and smooth taste compare to those of a single malt Scotch.

The Rooibos sample pack came in a little cardboard box.

Inside were:

Rooibos Chai - Rooibos with chai spices - cinnamon, lemongrass, vanilla and ginger

Green Rooibos Key Largo - Fresh, light taste with a sweet, fruity character

Rooibos Capetown - Rooibos with hibiscus blossoms, rose petals, blue mallow blossoms and sunflower petals

Rooibos Vanilla - Rooibos and finest grade Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla

Rooibos Orange - Rooibos blended with orange blossoms and critus peels

We opened up the Rooibos Orange. It smelled WONDERFUL...

You can see the opened packet there, the rooibos tea mixed with dried blossoms and citrus peels.

On the front of the packet, it had the ingredients and the brewing instructions.





Don't mind my ugly tea pot. It's a casual use Asian teapot, which I don't like, but did not want to drag out my silver one.

ANYWAY...

Here I put 1 teaspoon per person and then 1 teaspoon "for the pot" which was not the instructions, but my way of making tea.

I let it steeps for a few minutes then poured it.

Don't mind the mess on my counter.

Two cups of rooibos orange in my tea cups, one for my daughter and one for myself.

I rather liked it. Unsweetened, it was nice, not too strong, not too weak, with faint orange hints. Sweetened, it gave it a nice flavor to sip alone or with lightly sweetened treats.

The next one we try will be the Rooibos Earl Grey. =)