This 'n That Thursdays: Tea!

By Carlos Porto

It must be obvious by now that I love tea!  I am not a coffee-drinker, so I have tea every morning with breakfast, and occasionally I will have a cup in the afternoon as well.  Black tea is my preference, but I also enjoy a good white tea later in the day.  My favorite tea is Twinings.  The taste is always excellent, and I like a lot of their flavored varieties.  Darjeeling and English Breakfast are my staples, and Mixed Berry and Blackcurrant Breeze black teas are my favorite flavored types.  If you are unsure as to what your preference might be, they even have a "Tea Explorer" to help you choose!

Celestial Seasonings is best known for their herbal teas and seems to be phasing out its line of black teas, but they still make my favorite Christmas black tea called Nutcracker Sweet.  Another company that I like is Bigelow.  They are best known for their Constant Comment tea, but I prefer the Cinnamon Stick, Lemon Lift, and Vanilla Caramel flavors.  And just for Valentine's Day, Bigelow is offering a flavored black tea called White Chocolate Kisses (I've tried this and it is delicious!) as well as an herbal blend called Sweetheart Cinnamon.  Harder to find in the United States is Harney & Sons tea.  Their English and Irish Breakfast teas are very good, and for Valentine's Day they are offering a Valentine's Blend of black tea with chocolate and rosebuds!

Perhaps the most unique tea packaging comes from Williamson Tea --  their tea bags are available in an elephant-shaped tin!  You can choose from English Breakfast (blue tin), Darjeeling (pink tin) or Earl Grey (grey tin).  My personal favorite, Traditional Afternoon tea, is coming soon in a green tin!

Okay, I'm thirsty now -- time for a nice cup of tea!

Update: Williamson Traditional Afternoon Tea in the green elephant tin is now available for purchase!