Tea

Excuse the sad iPhone photos but these will have to do for now. When I was in Vegas, I stopped at the Van Cleef & Arpels store which has the Alhambra collection. I was drooling over the necklaces and the saleswoman was very nice showing all the pieces I wanted to see and chatting. Of course, she wanted the sale which is frankly, not something I buy on a regular basis. Anyway, she offered chocolates at first but it turned out they were all out. Instead she brought out a little bag with 4 teas.

As you can see they are shaped like tall pyramids and today I decided to look inside it. First, the packaging is so unique and adorable with a little leaf/ stem coming out of the box. When I shook the box, I could hear the tea leaves moving about and smell the tea. :) The brand is called Tea Forte.

I like tea but I've never understood the appeal of tea drinking. I put the teabag in some hot water to steep and right away I noticed the water turning a darkish color. In my experience with regular old teabags bought at the grocery store, the tea doesn't do that. My first sip was an aha moment of now I get what the fuss is all about ! Strong and flavorful. No sugar or lemon for this. I usually add it because it seemed like it was just hot water so it needed something else. By the way, I used English Breakfast tea which the caffeine content might bite me in the butt later tonight when I need to sleep. I honestly didn't think about it but reading about it on their site I agree with their rating of Robust. It is definitely a wake me up kind of tea. :)

Now I'm looking into their herbal (decaffeinated) teas but I might switch out my coffee soon for the English Breakfast tea of theirs. It'll save me on the creamers/sweeteners that I absolutely have to have with coffee.