Rejuvenating teas
These rejuvenating teas will help to cleanse your palette, calm your digestive system and give your body a well-deserved boost of antioxidants.
If you’ve been overdoing things recently and fancy a little serenity in your life, these rejuvenating teas will help to cleanse your palette, calm your digestive system and give your body a well-deserved boost of antioxidants.
The Tea Spot
The people at The Tea Spot specialise in loose teas from around the world. They stock Rooibos, Aromatic Teas, Estate Teas, Black Tea Blends and Green Tea. They frequently feature “guest teas”, such as White Angel - a white tea, Pai Mu Tan blended with rich cinnamon, fresh Sencha green tea, lemon peels, almond slices, lemon grass, orange blossoms, and red rose petals. The company regularly hosts tea tastings around the UK and is hell bent on spreading the love of tea. We’ll drink to that.
Available to purchase from: http://www.theteaspot.co.uk
Kenzai
If you’ve been planning to shirk your morning cup of caffeine, but don’t have the time to faff around with loose green tea, Kenzai might have the solution. Their organic green and white teas come ready prepared in handy little bottles, so you could quite easily get sipping on the go if you haven’t got round to making a brew in the morning. The teas contain no chemicals, additives or preservatives and are 100 times richer in antioxidants than vitamin C. Brewed from organic tea leaves, rather than from extract, these teas are a great way to detox. A small amount of organic agave syrup has been added to the green tea for touch of sweetness. If you’re new to any tea besides English breakfast, you might find the white tea a little subtle on the taste buds as it has a very delicate flavour, so start with the green tea, which has a good depth to it. Available to purchase at Planet Organic, Wholefoods, Fresh and Wild, Luscious Organic, The Organic Grocer.
Mariage Frères
This teahouse was established in Paris in 1854 and proudly stands as the city’s oldest tea importer today. There are now three Marriage Frères shops in Paris, all of which welcome you with warm blasts of scented teas from all over the globe. Hundreds and hundreds of teas are available to purchase from this teahouse, whose shop gives way to a traditional teahouse, serving up loose teas with ceremony and passion. If you find there’s too much choice on offer, try iLoveMyGrub’s tea tip: Thé sur le Nil.
Available to purchase from: http://www.mariagefreres.com
Rooibos Tea
Naturally caffeine-free and low in tannins, Rooibos tea is incredibly hydrating. It’s also high in antioxidants and flavonoids, and contains nine trace minerals. You can sip on Rooibos tea served up with a slice of lemon or a spoonful of honey. Alternatively for a thirst-quenching drink on hot days, sweeten Rooibos with sugar and honey and serve with ice cubes and a dash of lemon juice. For die-hard traditionalists, you can breathe a sigh of relief as it’s also quite acceptable to quaff your cup of Rooibos with milk. Rooibos is available to purchase as teabags & loose leaf from Dragonfly, Eleven O’Clock, Redbush, Tetley, Tick Tock and Twinings.
Ping Pong’s flowering teas
If you’ve ever eaten at one of Ping Pong’s restaurants, you may have ordered yourself one of their flowering teas. Before you place these dried tealeaf balls into hot water, they look fairly unassuming in appearance. But on immersing each dried tea ball in hot water, the hand-sewn tealeaves unfurl into a stunning bloom from which a beautiful flower emerges. Aside from looking quite stunning, they also boast the antioxidant benefits associated with green tea. There are three flavours to choose from: Flowering Jasmine Arch, Flowering Red Amaranth and Flowering Osmanthnus. Brilliantly, you can now buy Ping Pong’s flowering teas at their restaurants, or online at: http://www.pingpongdimsum.com.
Leaf
Leaf offers hand packed, 100% natural, high quality tea and herbals in quite beautiful packaging. This company manages to win on both fronts when it comes to style and substance. Only the tastiest and most health potent leaves and ingredients are used to bring you a more superior tasting brew. The company has a wide range of teas on offer, including Black tea scented with rose petals (pretty as well as flavoursome), flower teas and green tea balls (a mix of hand rolled leaves, buds and flowers).
Available to purchase from: http://www.leafshop.co.uk
Yogi Tea
Yogi Tea, the spiced tea specialists have four green tea blends to help revitalise and invigorate you: Green Energy, Green Balance, Green Jasmine and Green Guardian. Each blend contains organically grown tea from the best estates of India, China and Sri Lanka. The green teas have been blended with beneficial herbs to create a delicate, pleasant flavour and a naturally sweet fragrance. Available to purchase from local health food stores, Holland & Barrett, Whole Foods Market, Fresh & Wild and from www.teaworld.co.uk.