Tea - and Give Away!

Now, being English - I LOVE TEA! So, I thought it was only fitting that I do a give away relating to tea! I know that a lot of you that read my blog are in fact from the USA, so I have decided to make this one available to the USA too! More info about the giveaway will be at the end of the post.

The key to good tea:
A good mug
I have so many, but all of them are selected because they are nice to drink out of and look good too
A good, clean kettle
If you live in an area that has hard water, your kettle will get full of limescale. Other than descaling your kettle, the best way to prevent this is to empty water that has not been used, but has been boiled and start fresh. I never boil the same water twice. It doesn't taste as good!
Filtered water
Filtered water prevents limescale and tastes a lot better
Water at the right temperature
One thing I have found is that some people don't make their tea with water that is hot enough. I always make sure the water I use for tea is boiling or as close to boiling as possible! (Obviously, be super careful)
Brewing the tea
Tea needs to be brewed. I personally hate the tea bag being kept in the water. Saying that, with some herbal teas, I do leave the bag in. With black teas, it does have an impact on the taste and makes it too strong or even a little gritty.

Now, let me talk you through my favourite teas and how I drink them...

My all time favourite tea is made by Tesco. It is their Vanilla Chai. This is the tea I drink all day, every day! My mum is also addicted because it is soooooo good!

This tea smells deliciously sweet and spicy - but I don't think it tastes sweet. As I don't take sugar in tea or coffee - it is perfect! Let this one brew - I leave it for 2-3 minutes to brew, then I add a little milk - done! I always have this in a big cup :)



Cup Cake Tea's Sweet Banana Honey
Sadly, I cannot find a website for them anywhere - do let me know if you have! I see these in TK Maxx all the time - which is where I got them from!

This is a nice black tea with the most gentle honey scent - I personally cannot actually smell or taste banana. Although the packaging says to brew for 2 minutes, I feel this is too long - I leave it for about 1 minute, then I add just a drop of milk to it - it is just so yummy! I also find that the Cup Cake Tea's are nicer in a small cup - no idea why - obviously just my crazy preference!

Cup Cake Tea's Strawberry Cream! Also got from TK Maxx.

This is also a black tea with quite a strong strawberry scent. This one I like to brew for around 3 minutes. It smells so creamy - it is great with and without milk. The taste is just incredible, like strawberry cream cupcakes (ironically..!)! Now this is a sweet tea - so if you do take sugar, taste it first!


Cup Cake Tea's Chocolate Mint. Also from TK Maxx!

This is kind of a herbal tea. I say kind of because it has got chocolate in the title! It literally smells like mint chocolate - like an After Eight! I let this brew for about 3 minutes - I like mint teas strong and this tea doesn't really get too strong - but it is lovely! The after taste of this is very chocolatey but not too in your face. It is quite nice after a meal when you don't have a pudding!


Cup Cake Tea's Vanilla Cherry, guess what? Also from TK Maxx!

Now this tea is odd - I love it, but it is odd. Now this black tea, when it is brewing has a horrible smell to it. Almost fish like! Let it brew for 2-3 minutes and add a little milk then taaahdah! You have a yummy vanilla cherry tea!

Twinings Spicy Chai!

This tea is just amazing. There isn't a single thing about it that I don't love! This smells spicy and amazing. This doesn't need to brew for too long for the flavour to be there - but I recommend a 3 minute brew, then a little milk. YUM!

Twinings Camomile and Maple!

Now I normally don't like Camomile tea. I think it tastes of flowers..! But this, tastes like pancakes and fills the room with an amazing scent! I leave this to brew for as long as possible - in fact, I normally leave the bag in the cup as I drink it!


Clipper After Diner Mint

This is my favourite mint tea - it is so yummy! I leave the bag in with this one :) Not much to say about this one - nice and simple!

PG's Vanilla Redbush

I love redbush tea - it is so great with or without milk and it smells amazing! This tea is so good. I love vanilla tea - it is brilliant! This is great with milk and left to brew for about 3-4 minutes.

Winners are:
Myrabrev
Maple Leopard

Thank you so much to everyone that entered!!!!

SO! Now for the give away!

I am giving away each of the teas I have sampled (and some added surprises!) - and I will send these to who wins - despite your location!

There will also be a small runner up prize :)

All you have to do is to comment on this post with your favourite tea and why!

Can't comment on here? I will take a Facebook/Twitter comment happily - links on homepage :) 
Make sure you include an email address or a way for me to get in touch if you are the winner!

The winner will be drawn at random on the 31st March - good luck!

Disclosure: all opinions stated in this post are my own. I only post reviews about products that I am passionate about and think you should all know about! Thank you for reading :)