Just TEA-sing

[Note: this article is best read with the use of a monocle, a lacy hankie, a top hat, and a silly accent. Don't forget to stick out your pinkie.)

Oh tea... how I love thee. I have loved tea for a long time, ever since I was a kid and my mom and I would have it together in the afternoon, and I especially love having some on cold fall and winter afternoons and evenings. I love iced tea too. I'll drink any kind of tea (except rooibos, I find it too woody-tasting), especially green and white teas, and I also like nice herbal teas (these usually don't contain any actual tea leaves and are thus caffeine-free). Drinking chamomile has always helped when I have stomach aches, and hot lemon or licorice tea with honey is nice when you have a sore throat.

Although I usually find that loose-leaf teas are far superior in taste and quality (Adagio is my favorite loose-leaf tea company--they have a pina colada herbal that I adore and I got the cutest tea ware from them), there are some bagged teas that I really like and that are good quality as well. Stash, Tazo, and Trader Joe's all make nice bagged teas (Lipton is TERRIBLE), and Tetley and Bigelow are all right, but I've always loved Celestial Seasonings when it comes to fruity herbals. They have a scrumptious vanilla honey chamomile that I highly recommend. And their packaging is out of this world! I love the fun illustrations on their boxes and they usually print literary/inspirational quotes and fun facts on the boxes too. So imagine my delight when I read this interview with their blendmaster. How much fun would THAT job be, creating new blends of flavored teas? I'm intrigued by this Pelican Punch that is referenced throughout the article and comments section. I don't recall having it when I was a kid but how could something called that NOT be delicious? I also want to try some of this Candy Cane tea they're talking about. I like peppermint tea when it's not super minty, if that makes sense--I like a fresh, mild, almost sweet minty taste, not overpowering, clear-your-sinuses mint.

I'm sad because I currently don't have a tea kettle at home (my last two succumbed to rust, ugh), and you really can't get a good cup of tea without brewing water for it in a kettle, but I've asked for a new, rustproof model for my birthday so I should be enjoying tea again within a week. :) 

What kind of tea do people like most? How do you take your tea? I prefer not to add sugar to any of my tea--lemon or honey are it for me. What are some other recommended flavors? I also like the pomegranate white tea at Trader Joe's, and their Bedtime blend, which is almost identical to the Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Tea, is delicious too. I also like the CS Tension Tamer Tea.