Tea Crazy

During the long weekend, I was cleaning my cupboard and found bits and pieces of my tea collection everywhere. I placed them on the table & start to wonder how am I going to finish all of them? This is way too much and will last me for at least 1 year. I then realise I have different brands, functions, tea bags/ leaves, different countries, etc. From night time, cleansing, warmth, detox, calming, increase stamina etc, I have them all. I stored some at home and some at work. I am not a tea connoisseur but I do appreciate great taste and quality. I really don't mind spending a little bit extra for good tea coz I know they taste great, aromatic and it will taste like real tea, not like diluted mud water euuwww... (not that I have ever tasted mud water). I just cant have bad tea. Life is too short to drink bad tea.

My theory is you get what you paid for, but it does not mean that expensive one is always good. I know a tea shop with branches everywhere in here, charging premium price & their tea is not the best (will not name the brand coz it's just my personal preference). If you are starting to get into tea, keep trying different stuff till you find one that really click with your tastebud.

My old time fave:

• Peppermint
• American Ginseng tea (from Eu Yan Sang)
• Freshly brewed mint leaves bunch + hot water

My current fave brands:

• TWG (Emperor Sencha, Moroccan Mint & Alexandria)
• Madame Flavour (White tea with rose petals & Green Jasmine pear)
• Pukka (Night Time, 3 Ginger, Cleanse)

Some of my mini tea collection ...

Harrods English breakfast loose leaf - Really beautiful, incredible aroma, robust and rich...taste great. I love it for breakfast/ afternoon tea with a slice of cake.

Korean Honey Ginger tea - texture wise it's like jam/ solid with some smooth fibres particle, you just use 1-2 tablespoon & dilute it with hot water. Very practical. A little sweet for my liking though.

Yun-Nan Pu-erh tea from Ying Kee Tea house, one of the legendary tea house in Hong Kong. They are conveniently available in HK airport too. I feel Pu-erh is refereshing, mild and has some detox effect (if you are having some greasy Chinese food or yumcha, Pu-erh seems good to have with). Tea leaves are quite tiny but they expand a lot with hot water.

American Wild Ginseng Tea from Eu Yan Sang (Chinese herbal shop) - great for health especially during winter, increase overall stamina & clear excess heat in your body. It has a subtle bitter taste which is lovely, I really heart this product, I buy them every year. Instructions ask you to infuse it for 10 mins, I like mine to have stronger taste, so I let it sit for about 20 mins.

Pukka brand - Night time, Cleanse, Three Ginger - depending on the weather, mood, need etc, I have varieties to alternate. Three ginger is great for winter time, too strong for summer. Night time ... hhmm this is quite an interesting one for me, I am a sleepy head by nature & I am not sure if this has any effect on me.

Alexandria from TWG - a mix of Morrocan mint, green tea and vanilla. This is great one for after dinner tea, really refreshing and light. Brew for about 5 mins & OMG...superb aroma.

TWG teabags - Emperor Sencha, Moroccan Mint Tea and Alexandria. I love them all, really practical to bring to work/ during travelling. 15 teabags in a box. Generous amount of tea leaves per teabag.

TWG teabag is the only one that I know so far that has hand sewn cotton cloth teabag. It works really well to release the flavour. The only drawback is if you leave it too long, you might have mini puddle of water around your tea mug (the string absorb water & just drip). You just have to make sure you take out the teabag after 2-4 mins.