Not tea but…

It's too late for tea, but man, I'd love a bowl of ice cream. With Will's home-made chocolate chip cookies and bailies. Yum!

Golden Treasure

Last October I was poking around Silk Road's website and discovered the Golden Treasure floral tea. http://teajenny-erin.blogspot.com/2009/10/desire.html

I really wanted it and I haven't been able to forget it. So, I broke my no more buying new tea rule last month when I went on a trip to Victoria. I bought some. I finally let myself make some and it is lovely. Very lovely.

The flower was nice - pretty, though very brown. The tea is a pale gold but the flavours are simple and mellow. I like this one without anything added to it. I'm going to go have a second cup.

Gotländskt äppelkakste - from Kränku

Oh but I love this tea. It's a shame that I'm down to a couple of cups and don't know when I'll get my hands on it again.


I first discovered Gotländskt äppelkakste (Gotlander Apple-cake tea) when I went to Visby for my honeymoon. I'd heard about Kränku from some of my Finnish friends and I was desperate to visit. It was everything I'd hoped. Oh, the smells! I highly recommend a visit should you find yourself on Gotland.


After probably an hour of sniffing teas, I left with several. This was the one that stuck with me. It's the one I had to get more of. But now I'm on my last bag.

It's sweet, with hints of apple, cinnamon and vanilla. It's absolutely lovely with milk. It's my relaxing in the afternoon tea. Nibbling on biscuits tea. Actually - it's good for pretty much any time except first thing in the morning. I've been keeping it in my moomin troll tin. I guess I'll need to find something else to put in that tin soon!

Tuhat ja Yksi Yötä

Another last cup. Tuhat ja Yksi Yötä was one of my Finnish imports. I believe the name translates to 1000 and 1 nights. It's a black Ceylon tea with fruit and a bit of lemon and brews to a lovely dark colour. It was lovely - sweet enough from the fruit that I only ever added milk to it. Even so, I'm not sure I'd feel a desperate need to get more.

Last cup of paradise

I have just made my last cup of Silk Road's Peach Paradise. I wanted to enjoy it the same way I enjoyed the first - half strong tea, half sweetened condensed milk. But, it seemed a bit wasteful to open an entire tin of sweetened condensed milk for the sake of one cup of tea.

I made it my usual way, with skimmed milk and vanilla syrup. It's better for me anyway, and it does taste lovely. I will savour it as I finish the edits on the final thesis chapter.

Flora Tea

Yesterday I was given two packages of tea from Flora Tea. I only recently came across the idea of flower tea when I was snooping around Silk Road for my last entry. And then suddenly, I'm given some. It's from a company called Flora Tea. The package didn't say which one this is, but from watching their video, I would say it's probably Flower Lover. Why would a company have a video on-line but no catalogue?

Thankfully, I have the perfect Bodum cups for this, so I warmed one up with hot water and popped in the rather unattractive looking ball of leaves. Poured in boiling water and watched my flower unfold. It was very lovely to watch. I confess, it looks somewhat alien though.

I can smell the green tea and something else... maybe jasmine? I'm not sure. It isn't my usual type of tea as I tend to avoid green tea like the plague. I think it's jasmine, anyway. The taste is nice for a green tea - not as bitter as many of them can be. But, I'm puzzled as to how to drink this without straining petals through my teeth.

My cup, which I thought was perfect, is actually too small. The flower base is confined and hasn't opened fully and the floating flower isn't stretched to its full height. I feel almost guilty drinking it, as I am slowly sipping away the flower's medium and forcing it to sink back upon itself.

Two things would make this better for me. Firstly, if it had been put into a clear teapot and then I could enjoy watching it bloom then pour it into a teacup and not have to strain through my teeth. Secondly, a bit of honey or something else sweet. I wonder if you can get any of these as black teas?

Desire...

It's been a long, long time since I visited Silk Road. In my last post, I popped over to the website to make sure I had the link right. In doing so, I saw Golden Treasure, a shaped tea, and I'm afraid that now I really, really want it.

The flowers are gorgeous, and this flavour combination sounds beautiful.