Birthday teas

Last week, I turned another year older.

I'm grateful for all the birthday messages, texts, calls, and cards from family and friends. These tea-themed cards are so me!

 

My birthday week kicked off with a virtual Mad Hatter Tea Party with my 5-year-old godson. The Itty Bitty Prettys Tea Party Surprise was my present!

In my Royal Albert January teacup: Geek+Tea's Butterbeer black tea.

Birthday week teas that I enjoyed:

Left: Tealise's Organic Birthday Tea was a tasty tropical black blend (mango and passionfruit).

Right: Harney & Son's Celebration was a delicious fruity black tea with some subtle floral notes.

 

I also drank these yummy cake- and pie-inspired teas during the week:

1) Dessert by Deb's Chocolate Orange Biscuit Cake black and rooibos tea

2) Dessert by Deb's Coconut Pie Chai black tea

3) Tea Amo's Chocolate Perfection Pie Hojicha (roasted green tea)

4) Clearview Tea's Gingerbread Pear Cake green tea

2020 Wrap-up

 We've made it to the end of this loooong and difficult year!

Thank you for your visits and comments throughout 2020! The pandemic would have been much harder without your friendships.

 

Drink What You Own Advent Calendar: Days 21-24

One of my 2020 tea goals was to support small Canadian tea businesses. Nearly all of my tea hauls this year were from my favourite local tea companies.

Spring: Tea at the White House, Geek+Tea, Dessert by Deb, Monarch Tea Co.

Summer: Blair Elements, Blue Mountain Tea Co., Tea Amo, DavidsTea, Tealise

Fall: Monarch Tea Co., Tea Sante, Tea at the White House, Dessert by Deb, DavidsTea

Holidays: Celestial Seasonings, Plan de Vida, Geek+Tea

Other seasonal hauls (not featured): Clearview Tea Co., Tea Amo, T by Daniel, DavidsTea, Dessert by Deb 

My primary pandemic coping strategy was drinking lots of TEA!

 

Tea empties: January to June

 

 

Tea empties: July to November

 

 

May 2021 bring better days!

Please join me next week when I celebrate my 6-year-blogiversary. You don't want to miss out on my fun giveaway!

Summer Teas: Oranges and Peaches Edition

August just slipped away, so it's time to wrap up my summer teas series! 

At the beginning of the summer, I was obsessed with the orange creamsicle flavour profile.

Orange Tea #1: Dessert by Deb's Orange Ginger Shortbread Rooibos Tea (cold and hot)

Orange Tea #2: Dessert by Deb's Orange Creamsicle Mousse Rooibos Tea (hot and cold)

Orange Tea #3: Løv is Zen is a lovely rooibos blend of orange and caramel.

This month, I also leaned into my favourite summer fruit tea: PEACH!

Peach Tea #1: Tealise's Peach Melba herbal tea made a great iced tea!

Peach Tea #2: Stay Young, Go Dancing with Monarch Tea Co.'s peach ginger black tea.

Peach Tea #3: Tea at the White House's Peaches and Cream Oolong (hot and cold)

August sipdowns

 My tea empties for this month.

Oldest (2017?): Taylor's of Harrogate's Rose Lemonade herbal infusion (pink teabag wrapper)

Newest (June 2020): Tealise's Pina Colada black tea

***Tea Buying Ban Update***

I've gone over 2 months without purchasing a new tea. Woo-hoo! Now that there's space again in my tea cabinet, I can treat myself to some fall teas that are being launching in September. Bring on the cozy fall season!

Summer Teas: Tropical Edition

The closest that I'll get to a tropical vacation these days is by sipping some refreshing mango or coconut teas!

Left: Organic Mango Green Tea by Touch Organic

Right: Summerhill is a mango black tea blend by Clearview Tea.

Ahmad Tea's delicious Mango & Lychee Souffle green tea served hot (left) and cold (right).

Dessert by Deb's Matcha Cream Puff green tea had a nice light coconut flavour.

Left: Coconut Crunch Oolong by Tea at the White House

Right: Coconut Milk Oolong by Blue Mountain Tea Co

 

Tealise's Pina Colada black tea

 Blair Elements' Coconut Almond black tea

Coconut ice cream topped with crushed pineapple.

Thank you, Maristella, for the suggestion!

Summer Teas: Cherries & Berries Edition

It's August which means it's peak season for sipping fruit teas!

Top: Cherry Bomb black tea (Geek+Tea)

Bottom: Sakura Blossom Jelly green tea (Dessert by Deb)

Tea at the White House's Hope Blend is a delicious Earl Grey with strawberries.

Clearview Tea's Martha's Vineyard black tea is a tasty blend of strawberries and peaches.

The Peddlar's Strawberry Oolong made a great hot and iced tea!

Clearview Tea's Garden of Eden Oolong is a lovely blend of berries and mango.

Look at the size of the raspberries and strawberries in Tea at the White House's Very Berry White Tea!

My July tea empties

Oldest (from 2013; yellow post-it note): Jasmine Dragon Pearl Tea that my cousin brought back from China in 2013 (I only opened the package this year though so it was still fresh).

Newest (June 2020): Tealise's Peach Melba herbal tea

I'm also proud to share that I haven't purchased any new teas in nearly 6 weeks. Woo-hoo!

The last of my tea hauls (I hope!)

We're in the midst of a heat wave and my A/C is broken, but I'm still drinking hot tea!

Sipping delicious maple teas from handmade in Canada mugs on Canada Day:

1) Morning: Sipping Geek+Tea's Dark Side oolong from a teacup by Scott Barnim.

2) Afternoon: Sipping Dessert by Deb's Butter Toffee Cream black and rooibos tea from a mug by Greg Voisin. The raspberry matcha chocolate almonds were by a Toronto chocolatier.

June empties

Oldest sipdown (Sept 2018): Chinese black tea with the cream packaging.

Newest sipdowns (May 2020): Monarch Tea Co.'s Love is Love herbal tea and Stay Young, Go Dancing (a peach black tea).

I regret to report that I also ordered more teas in June. I wanted to support the small Canadian tea companies!

Blair Elements (free shipping): two black teas and one green tea

Blue Mountain Tea Co. (free shipping): Two of the teas were gifted to other people. I kept four teas for me (three black teas and one Pu-erh).

Tea Amo (free local delivery): After months of online stalking, I finally bought this cute 3-cup turquoise teacup and teabag holder. I also purchased one green tea and one Pu-erh.

Me on my June 15th post: I also received a Davids Tea gift card, but I'm going to try to wait a while to use it.

Eleven days later, this was delivered to my door: Jasmine Creme Brulee green tea is one of my favourite DT blends and I had been wanting to try the Sticky Rice Oolong and Organic Black Thai teas. This was my "last chance" to stock up on these discontinued teas. 

I added the "Fan Faves" and metal strainer to get the free shipping. The tin was a free gift with purchase of 100g of tea.

My last June order: one fruity herbal and two black teas from Tealise.

Once again, the number of new teas exceed the number of sipdowns. My poor wallet! There are several more tea companies on my wish list. But I'll try my best to use up some of my stash before buying new teas.