Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Tea Review - Red and Green Company: Red Plum Tea


Blend Name: Red and Green Company Red Plum Tea

What the company says:  Grown at the famous Dragon Well Tea Plantation in Hangzhou -renowned for its historic relics and natural beauty- red plum tea is processed using a unique method of fermentation and roasting which produces a smoky aroma and rich, malty flavor. Appropriate with sweets or rich foods.

Sweetener Used: None
Milk Used: None

Steeping Time: 3 minutes

Overall Opinion: The tea smells like any other black tea. Upon steeping, there is a slight plum taste, but still a very strong black tea. It's a good tea but it probably needs sweetener to accent the flavor.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Tea Review - Fae Inspired: Minterrific


Blend Name: Minterriffic

What the company says: A tea to turn your taste buds upside down! A blend of spearmint and peppermint, combined with the boldness of cinnamon, spicy cloves, and rose hips for an extra kick of vitamin C, not to mention my “secret ingredient”. What is it? I’m not telling! This herbal infusion is perfect for those who don’t imbibe in caffeine.

Sweetener Used: None
Milk Used: None

Steeping Time: 3 minutes

Overall Opinion: Wow. Okay, wow for real. I love this blend! The smell is an amazing mix of mint and clove. The taste of the the is minty but not overpowering. The clove adds an amazing note as well. Super soothing on sore throats and upset tummies.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Tomorrow...

Dear readers,

This time tomorrow I will be in Texas. Not only am I blessed with the ability to visit my very best friends but I'm getting a visit from the tooth fairy. Apparently once in the mortal realm one must abide by mortal rules... this means dentists. I think I prefer to call them tooth fairies. 

I am not looking forward to that part. 

Well.. maybe I am. I like knowing my teeth are shiny so you don't all come up to me and stare at them. (You're going to do that anyway, not that you've read this, aren't you? *sigh*) Anyway! While I am in the great land of Texas, I will be drinking tea, searching for trinket shops to add awesomeness to my collections... and possibly writing. I'm bring my spinning along too. 

I promise photos, because blogs are always so much more interesting with photos.

<3
Rubiee

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Tea Review - Cozy Leaf: White Jasmine

Blend Name: White Jasmine

What the company says: (Organic Contains Caffeine) Warm and smooth start to your day! Green tea has a tremendous amount of health benefits including its potential to fight cancer and heart disease as well as lowering cholesterol, burning fat and preventing diabetes. Not only is this incredibly good for you, it also tastes fantastic!
Organic Ingredients: Jasmine Green Tea, White Peony Tea, Heather Flowers, Rose Petals
Taste: Smooth and flavorful with a soft floral touch


Sweetener Used: None
Milk Used: None

Steeping Time: 3 minutes

Overall Opinion: First sniff yields a tea that smells like any other jasmine green tea. My first sip: Green tea, but softer than most. I didn't taste any of the floral notes either, just green tea. I'm not saying it's a bad green tea, just more... bland than I was expecting. I will try this tea again, perhaps with sweetener and a longer steeping time. 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Pooka Post: Homecoming

Today, just a bit of writing:
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Shadow Grove was beautiful as always. The weather was gorgeous and the trees in the area shaded my cottage from the sun, making the day even nicer. Shadow Grove was home, no matter where Mab's whims sent me I could always return to Faerie and to the home of my heart.

I looked down to the roses that lined the front wall of the cottage, they were every color imaginable and dappled with the spots of sunlight that escaped from the leaves of the trees overhead. Some of the roses had come from the mortal realms and others yet came from Faerie itself. The trees around the cottage whispered in the breeze and I tilted my head back to listen to their song.

"You're home!" I heard his cheerful cry before he threw himself at me. I had to laugh as I gathered the canine creature into my arms. He looked like a mortal dog, a terrier to be exact. In truth neither of us knew what he really was.

"I've missed you too, Tobias." I scratched behind his ears and let him back down to the ground. I would joke how much of a mutt he was, we sometimes would sit in the gardens and try to figure out exactly what mix of fae was in his blood. It was our game.

He guarded Shadow Grove while I was away and he was my best friend no matter what court politics were underfoot.

"I see the roses are all in bloom." I commented and he padded over to inspect them.

"They weren't yesterday, they must have known you were coming back." His words made me get that happy warm feeling that so many mortals would talk about, I laughed.

"Must be. Come on, let's go inside... I have so many things to tell you about my adventures this time." As I walked towards the door of the cottage I couldn't help but whisper a word of thanks to anyone that would listen.

I was home.

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Just a smattering of the life of a Pooka Fae when not in the mortal realms. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Tea Review - Ashby's of London: Cinnamon Plum Tea


Blend Name: Cinnamon Plum Tea

What the company says: Flavored with fresh ground cinnamon and the rich essence of plum.


Sweetener Used: None
Milk Used: None

Steeping Time: 4 minutes

Overall Opinion: The smell of this tea threw me off. Too sweet for my personal tastes and it reminded me of a pie or something similar. I couldn't smell the cinnamon or the plum, just sweet. The first taste yielded a tea too sweet for my palate, even without sweetener. I admit that I only tried one more sip before giving up, this blend just isn't my thing.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Shiny Bits Thursday!

Yet another post of shiny bits! These are shops that I love, mostly from etsy.

Needlefelting awesomeness. Seriously, have you ever seen such cute toadstools? They also have felted acorns, which are just gorgeous.


Gorgeous, stunning porcelain buttons that I drool over. 


Okay really, who can live without octoplode earrings!? And they have octoplode hairsticks and all of these neat things. (Octoplode = Octopus) 


Bread and Badger
Awesome glasses. Seriously. Go look.

So there they are! The shiny bits I'm currently loving! 




Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Tea Review - The Tea Table: Lychee Congou


Blend Name: Lychee (Lichee) Congou

What the company says: "Lichee Congou tea is made by combining fine China black tea with the exotic taste of lichee fruit, which adds an amazing fragrance and and natural sweetness. This tea is great hot, but just stunning as iced tea! Also great blended with either Earl Grey or Jasmine Yin Hao, then serve over ice."

Sweetener Used: None
Milk Used: None

Steeping Time: 3 minutes

Overall Opinion: I love Lychee, I have to say that first. This of course means that I had high hopes when trying this tea. The smell of the tea (in the tin) was really great. Very much the lychee I was hoping for. After steeping and the first sip, I found that the black tea is not overpowering at all. The lychee flavor is still very strong after brewing. The tea itself felt more like a green tea to me, most likely because I went for 3 minutes and not the full 5 that they tend to allow.
Even cold the tea is very light and flavorful.