Oolong; too long underrated

Interestingly enough oolong is one of the nicest teas and yet its very underrated and less common in the North American markets. Made by the process of drying the whole tea leaves on the stem in the sun. This process is most likely the reason for the name. Oolong translates to Black Dragon, quite possibly due to the coiled and twisted leaves giving the illusion of tiny little dragons in your cup.
The largest growing region is also the most popular consumption place in the Fujian region in the southeast of China and Taiwan, known for their tea ceremonies in celebration of this fine beverage.
Other varieties include Darjeeling, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Nepali, African, Assam and Thai. All of the flavours vary by region as well as the method of cultivation

In the case of Fujian Oolong, the flavour is light and subtle, slightly herbal and sweet with a hint of a honey flavour. Nice for a cold day or it makes one hell of a refreshing iced tea in the summer time.

There are a wide variety of flavours and variations but I recommend trying the basic, simple Fujian Oolong. I picked up a box of Xiamen tea import co. Fujian Oolong at the local Chinese Grocery after first trying this type of tea in a sushi restaurant. I fell in love with the flavor and this was the closest tea I've found to that one I had in the restaurant. Light and sweet with no other flavours masking the natural tea flavour.

If you do prefer something a little more fun I recommend Stash teas interesting array of flavoured oolongs. My personal favourite is their Coconut Mango oolong, which has a nice and subtle tropical taste and I've always had a love of tropical fruits. This one in particular is very nice in the summer either hot or chilled.



Cheers!
Lady Berlynn

Rooibos, what is it exactly?

I wondered about this over a cup of higgins and burke Caramel rooibos tea today. (tastes divine but smells a little medicinal)
And so now here I sit, sipping said tea and researching what exactly this plant is and why its suddenly so popular amongst tea snobs such as myself.
Rooibos (pronounced Roy-bos) is a plant grown primarily in South Africa which translates to Red Bush, which makes sense given the tea's natural red hue. The needle like leaves are harvested from these tall, broom-like plants with yellow flowers and oxidized into what is essentially a red herbal tea. An unoxidized green Rooibos is also available on the market, however it has a more grassy taste than the red.

Its one type of herbal tea that you can, however get away with putting milk in without it being a curdled disaster. and apparently it can be made into a fancy cafe beverage like the london fog (called a Cape town fog. definitely on my to try list!)

Some nice teas I reccomend:
Tetley Vanilla Rooibos
Higgins and Burke Caramel Rooibos
David's tea Creme brulee green rooibos. 

first post!

I haven't operated a blog in a long time and I figured I might as well start up again. a little on the random side as a purveyor of hot beverages. How did this come about? Well I've always enjoyed tea but became something of a coffee addict instead in college... Which then promptly escalated to an addiction to Monster and Rock Star energy drinks. So in an attempt to rid myself of that carbonated monkey on my back and the fact that I have a ridiculous amount of tea, I am going to try to drink tea every day, and write about the different ones I've tried. 

I also would like to provide information for the tea connoisseur of discerning tastes.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do writing it!
Cheerio darlings!

Berlynn