Live Wire Lemon Tea Review

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that when David's Tea released its Feel-Good Collection I decided that I needed it. The packaging was so beautiful and it came with 5 new teas so how could I say no!

One of the teas that is in this collection is the Live Wire Lemon Tea.This tea has a high level of caffeine. It is a mate tea, also known as yerba mate. Mate tea is a traditional South American drink made for the dried leaves of an evergreen holly plant. Mate tea has significant cultural importance in South America and it is said to have the strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea and the euphoria of chocolate. If all that is true, that's one impressive drink!

This tea is made with apple, ginger, lemongrass, yaupon, and lemon peel. Yaupon is an interesting ingredient because it is a species of holly found in North American, that was used in Native American purification and unity rituals.

With so much cultural significance, I had to try it out and see for myself if it lived up to all of the hype. I made this drink according to David's Tea's instructions, added a couple pieces of rock sugar into my tea bag and steeped the tea for 6 minutes.

I love this tea! It is light, refreshing and tastes of citrus. Being a person that can't drink coffee because it makes me too jittery, this drink never gave me any of those side effects and I felt alert after drinking it. I would recommend this to anyone looking into alternatives to coffee or a new morning drink.

Top 5 Teavana Teas

Happy Leap Day, friends!
Since I've done a Top 5 Teas From David's Tea post it's only fair to do a Top 5 Teavana Teas post as well. Teavana is slightly more expensive than David's Tea and when you purchase tea you must buy at least 50 grams.

5. Maharaja Chai oolong tea has a low level of caffeine. This tea is the perfect blend of wonderful spices such as cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cloves. You don't need to add any sugar to it because it's sweet enough on it's own.

4. Moroccan Mint green tea has a medium level of caffeine with a wonderful taste of spearmint. I love mint teas and this is no exception. It's a great tea to start your day off in the morning.

3. Passion Tango herbal tea has no caffeine in it. If you love Passion Tea Lemonade at Starbucks then you will love this tea. It's refreshing and tastes delicious as well!

CocoCaramel Sea Salt is always a winner! 

2. Grape Wulong oolong tea has a medium level of caffeine. It's one of my current favourite drinks and is only available on the website in larger quantities. It's pretty finicky and needs to be made exactly right but when it is, it tastes amazing!!  It's also very good iced.

1. CocoCaramel Sea Salt herbal tea has a low level of caffeine. As the name states, there are notes of chocolate, caramel and sea salt that blend together to make such a wonderful flavour. I highly recommend this tea to everyone who asks!

Honourable mention: Teavana's Rock Sugar! It dissolves in hot water very well and brings out the flavours of the tea.

Keep calm and steep on!

Teavana's Defense Tea Review

Teavana has come out with a new line of wellness teas. Being a person that is constantly worried about getting sick, I wanted to buy all 7 teas but I restrained myself and only bought Defense. Defense is a white tea that is meant to boast your vitamin C levels.

White tea got its name because the part of the leaves used is covered in white hairs. White tea leaves have the least amount of treatment during production, they are rapidly steamed and dried, leaving the leaves fresh. This is what sets it apart from other types of teas. It is also thought to have a multitude of health benefits including antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer effects.

I'm not normally a big white tea fan, it has a very distinct taste and it's very delicate, the tea leaves burn easily if the water is too hot. This tea smelt so good at the store that I couldn't turn it down and I am always up for a little Vitamin C boost.

I tried this tea at my parent's house with a kettle that wasn't programmable, which makes it harder to get the proper temperature.  I used 2 teaspoons of the tea without
any sweetener added and steeped the tea for 5 minutes as per Teavana's instructions. This tea smells like citrus with hints of lime, pineapple and orange.

I could definitely taste the notes of citrus, however, it wasn't as good as other wellness teas that I have tasted. It wasn't a tea that I would go out of my way to drink but it wasn't bad. The things that I didn't like about the tea were typical white tea characteristics. With that being said, if you like white teas, you will probably like this one. 

Steeped and Infused

Loose leaf tea is not prepackaged into tea bags, the tea leaves are loose in a bag or container until you decide you want a cup. The most important loose leaf tea accessories to have are tea infusers or tea filters. A tea infuser is a device that holds the tea leaves while they're steeping. When it comes to infusers and filters, it really comes down to preference.

Tea Filters

Filters are essentially make it yourself, single use, tea bags.
The ones that I like to use are from David's Tea. They are made of biodegradable and chlorine free paper and the pull string makes them easy to use. I try to use these when the tea has tiny pieces in it, or I am making tea to go because they are $12.00 for a package of 100 filters. There are cheaper options for filters at Teavana starting at $4.95 for 100 filters, however, they do not have the pull string. They have an open flap which can get tricky.

For my tea infusers, there is the traditional mesh ball infuser, which is not my favourite. I find them hard to clean and they tend to let pieces of tea slip through the holes.

My Favourite Infuser

Traditional Mesh Ball Infuser

My favourite infuser is a stainless steel fine mesh infuser that fits into most mugs. I use it in my tea pots and my mugs and it has never given me trouble. It is also easy to clean.

My Penguin Infuser

There are some fun infusers as well. I got a cute red penguin infuser for Christmas and I love it. It's great for days when you want something cute and different and this one works well. Some others on my list to buy are: the Deep Tea Diver, the Pug in a Mug, and the Tea Rex.

Top 5 Teas From David's Tea

Here is my list of the top 5 teas from David's Tea you should try that are available year-round.

5. Forever Nuts 
This herbal tea is an amazing mixture of nuts and fruit. It is a fall and winter tea staple and will go over great if you are making a pot of tea for your friends. It also has no caffeine in it so you can drink it all night long.

Imagine this while drinking your cup of Lime Gelato.

4. Lime Gelato
This Green tea is extremely unique. The flavours are amazing and it's unlike any tea I have ever tasted. It has a creamy element to it that tastes great. It has a low caffeine level and is great for those days when you need a reminder of warmer weather.

3. Glitter and Gold 
This black tea tastes like Christmas and it's delicious enough to drink black. One thing I love is it sparkles in the light so I feel glamorous drinking such a pretty tea. This has a medium level of caffeine and if you like traditional teas like earl gray this is a good loose leaf tea to start out with.

2, Oh Canada
This rooibos tea tastes like what you think a tea named after Canada should. It tastes like maple syrup and caramel. This tea has cute little maple leaf candies that dissolve in hot water. This is a great tea on a cold day and has no caffeine in it. 

1. Cold 911
I'm terrified of getting sick. This tea not only feels like you are drinking something that can save you from that tickle in your throat but tastes so good. It's an herbal tea with no caffeine in it. In the winter, I drink this stuff like its water from the fountain of youth.

Enjoy some hot tea on this cold day!

Hit Me With Your Best Pot

Loose leaf tea is known for being higher quality tea that's fresh and flavourful. Did you know that the 4 main types of tea, white, green, black and oolong, all come from the same plant called Camellia sinensis, which is a warm- weather evergreen? These teas are different in taste based on the parts of the plant being used and the way the leaves have been processed.

Each type of tea has unique instructions for preparation. When buying loose leaf tea there will be a label on the product that states the optimal temperature of the water, amount of tea used per cup and the steeping time to ensure your tea turns out great.

An example of a tea label and an amazing Teavana tea 

I suggest you follow these guidelines if you are just starting to use loose leaf tea. Tea can turn out bitter, too weak or too strong if the instructions aren’t followed and can ruin your opinion of a wonderful tea. I can’t count how many times I have forgotten to take my tea infuser out in time and ruined my tea. Once you start to make it more often and know how strong you like certain teas, it gets easier. The Tea Association of Canada has come out with a general steeping chart for you to refer to if you are ever unsure of how to steep a type of tea.  

Steeping Instructions

Tea Type	Preparation
White	80°C / 185°F	(Steep 2-5 min)
Green	80°C / 185°F	(Steep 1-3 min)
Oolong	80°C / 185°F	(Steep 2-3 min)
Black	100°C / 212°F	(Steep 4 min)
Herbal	100°C / 212°F	(Steep 3-6 min)

For those of you without a programmable kettle, there are other ways of determining the temperature of the water. The Traditional Chinese method being the most extensive and comprehensive method. There are 5 different stages of boiled water which are: Shrimp Eyes, Crab Eyes, Fish Eyes, Rope of Pearls and Raging Torrent. Golden Moon Tea has an article with helpful pictures of each of the stages.

Welcome to the Par-Tea!

As you can tell, I love a good pun. I also have a healthy obsession with loose leaf tea. This blog is my way to express that obsession, while encouraging all those that are skeptical, to jump on the bandwagon - you know you want to!

Throughout this blog you will find:

• recommendations for teas  
• tips on how to avoid getting pieces of tea leaves in your cup
• information on which tea infusers work the best
• the best teas and tea accessories to buy people as gifts 
• many corny tea puns
• and much more

My favourite tea stores right now are David's Tea, Teavana, and Distinctly Tea. So, you will see many tea options from these locations. One of my favourite things about David's Tea, aside from their wonderful tea and tea accessories, is that they draw tea puns on their signs every morning. If you enjoy a good tea pun, I recommend looking up the ones they have done so far.

One of the David's Tea signs at their store 

Tea was discovered by accident - the Emperor Shennong was boiling water under a tree and a rush of wind blew a leaf into his water. When he tried the water he loved the taste and thus began the evolution of tea. If you have happened upon this blog by accident, remember, great things are discovered by accident. Maybe it will revolutionize the way you think about tea. 

I welcome and encourage recommendations for new teas and tea stores. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me or post a comment.