Tea Time - Share your favorite teas and bisquits

[Maria]

First, Maria : you are right ! I didn't realize that about colored mugs ! Thanks I was about to order the Cassis mug.
On the theme of Joasia's reference to Provence, Cassis is a town of that area. A friend of mine was an au pair there between high school and college, very fortunate opportunity !

I am going to change to the white.

But it is distressing that these come from Thailand, let alone China. A lot of the new lines offered by Le Creuset do have that look, I admit. Maybe it's only the wonderful cast iron pots and pans which are actually made in France ? These other lines maybe are all made in cheap places. Aha. Thanks for being alert to check that !

PS. Now it's my time to turn the table : what about that organic apple juice ? I am SO suspicious of ANY apples anywhere
unless one grew them on their own tree or someone one knows.
Apples commercially produced just have that feeling of something unhealthy about them. Same with oranges.
Not to toss cold water on your excellent regime, Maria. Just check the origin of those organic apples in the juice. Or the brand, of course.

Yes, most "organic" apple juice now comes from China, where the contaminated water and air leaves much to be desired. With the Dark Act having passed the Congress and now in the Senate, this will not be good as we will not know the origin of our produce or our teas.

p.s. What is really sad, is that almost all topics now involve politics. Almost everything now has political overtones.
However, let's try to keep on topic and avoid politics as much as we can.

[Barbara]

Joasia, how timely ! I just for the first time in well over a year, pulled out my Rishi Rooibos tea. It smells so good just boiling it in water. Freshens up the entire house with a lovely smell.

Then some BLUEBERRY Rooibos arrived in the mail the same afternoon.
So I am elated to see your mention of this very tea !

However, your Provence blend sounds absolutely fantastic. Where is David's Tea ? I have never heard of it.
I just used up my last Organic Assam from the supposedly good Harney. Otherwise I have never tried any of these "gourmet" teas by top companies like that.

I really want to look into this. I figured it maybe is a Canadian product ? That would make sense with the trade with France.

Really sounds exquisite. The aromatic combination of herbs must have been an uplifting treat after that such a long Liturgy during Lent !

[Barbara]

PS - It is the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of the St Zosima, Savvaty, and German of Solovki today.
Hence, one thinks of the frozen North, and how soothing such a tea as Joasia mentioned would be on any winter day.

Probably good as iced tea, too.

[Barbara]

Maria, I have the solution for YOU ! And all of us.

It's a Michigan company which has won so many high awards for integrity of their production as well as top quality food.
Not to bring in politics or anything, hee hee, but it's also a conservative one, anti-abortion, etc. It was ridiculed on Salon.com for its principled stance. Thus, one is buying from a company one can thoroughly support : what a RARE CASE today !
Most of them, I figure that if I actually saw or met the owners, I would not want to buy their products, no matter how healthy-sounding !

I was going to write about this company anyway here. I may do on another thread as well.
But here is the link to find probably the VERY best Organic Apple juice around :

http://www.edenfoods.com/store/fruit-ju ... ganic.html

I don't think the giant healthy juice companies like Knudsen are anywhere near the quality of Eden Foods.
IT'S THE BEST !

They also make many other helpful products like really nutritious nuts, dried fruits, etc.
I'll go into this later.

For now, if anyone is fond of macrobiotic diet, Eden sells the best condiments for that regimen. These include the
Japanese teas which macrobiotic people adore. Kukicha twig tea, Sencha, Genmaicha, and one I didn't recognize called Hojicha tea. These are supposed to be balancing and healthy, though the taste takes getting used to !

[Maria]

Thank you.

[Barbara]

Joasia, I finally had a chance to look up David's Tea. I didn't like the company all that well from the things I read.
First, their website is CRAZY ! One can NOT find any information on there ! At least when I looked today, it was so jumbled and disorganized. There were no real headings. Only by going back to the search engine was I finally able to read the section about the founder - and was not impressed.

I see it started in Canada and now has branches in some states. Which ones, though, I could not ascertain as there was no clear listing available such as "Our Locations". Really a strange site.

To find out more, I clicked on reviews of one David's Tea outlet. This caught my attention. First, the Mason jar [ a hint for the wise about the general tone of business here ? ] Then an assertion mentioned of too much presence of artificial flavoring, even with vastly unhealthy additions such as candy and caramels ! It sounds like a kids' delight, but hardly the type of tea shop to which I would consider going.
Peets is better and more professional in my opinion. But there are a lot of "teenagers" of ALL ages roaming this country, so perhaps David's locations are a magnet for THEM. And for those who have yet to be introduced to the superior quality of good teas compared with Liptons or crass instant coffee.

"They're happy to fill my mason jar. The people who work there are all so friendly and genuinely enjoy helping customers figure out the right tea to buy. And their prices are reasonable, too. I've given up my diet coke addiction and replaced it with a ritual of making tea and tea lattes, thanks to David's.

Oh, and for people complaining about artificial flavors: yes, some of the teas have candies or caramel bits or whatnot added."

Another reviewer writes, though, that tea may be on the way to replacing coffee. If so, that is fabulous news !

"Lets face it. The market is saturated with lattes, mocha this, caramel that, Starbucks here, Peets there, Java Joe everywhere"

Both reviews to be found on "yelp" :
http://www.yelp.com/biz/davidstea-burlingame-3

No offense to you, Joasia ! It's probably overdone in the States and may be much more tasteful up in Canada !

[joasia]

Joasia, I finally had a chance to look up David's Tea. I didn't like the company all that well from the things I read.
First, their website is CRAZY ! One can NOT find any information on there ! At least when I looked today, it was so jumbled and disorganized. There were no real headings. Only by going back to the search engine was I finally able to read the section about the founder - and was not impressed.

I see it started in Canada and now has branches in some states. Which ones, though, I could not ascertain as there was no clear listing available such as "Our Locations". Really a strange site.

To find out more, I clicked on reviews of one David's Tea outlet. This caught my attention. First, the Mason jar [ a hint for the wise about the general tone of business here ? ] Then an assertion mentioned of too much presence of artificial flavoring, even with vastly unhealthy additions such as candy and caramels ! It sounds like a kids' delight, but hardly the type of tea shop to which I would consider going.
Peets is better and more professional in my opinion. But there are a lot of "teenagers" of ALL ages roaming this country, so perhaps David's locations are a magnet for THEM. And for those who have yet to be introduced to the superior quality of good teas compared with Liptons or crass instant coffee.

"They're happy to fill my mason jar. The people who work there are all so friendly and genuinely enjoy helping customers figure out the right tea to buy. And their prices are reasonable, too. I've given up my diet coke addiction and replaced it with a ritual of making tea and tea lattes, thanks to David's.

Oh, and for people complaining about artificial flavors: yes, some of the teas have candies or caramel bits or whatnot added."

Another reviewer writes, though, that tea may be on the way to replacing coffee. If so, that is fabulous news !

"Lets face it. The market is saturated with lattes, mocha this, caramel that, Starbucks here, Peets there, Java Joe everywhere"

Both reviews to be found on "yelp" :
http://www.yelp.com/biz/davidstea-burlingame-3

No offense to you, Joasia ! It's probably overdone in the States and may be much more tasteful up in Canada !

Barbara, I guess it's a matter of taste. But, my only source for Rooisbos de Provence is with them which I can get locally and I am definitely satisfied. I've tried other "organic" blends of green tea and others which I like. I like the fact that these are loose teas. I'm very particular about bagged teas. Yes, they do provide those sweeter versions and I don't like them. But, like you said, they are trying to get to the young folk. Us older connoisseurs have more refined pallets. But, I'm sure these young newbies will change their preferences once they reach our age.

The only website that I see for them is davidstea.com. And you say that the information is confusing? There are tabs for "Teas" which you can chose and they do describe the blends and provide pictures. What's the website that you went to?

What did you find not so impressive about the story of the founders?

I'm always looking for wonderful tea supplies. Do you have any websites?