The August Teatourist Subscription Box - take a peek here!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - today we're taking a peek at the August box from Teatourist to see which six teas we are discovering this month!

We always love it when a new Teatourist box falls through our letterbox - a delivery of tea is definitely better than bills! Each month Teatourist sends subscribers 6 tea tasters from a variety of different tea companies. This month's selection is called "fresh and frisky"- a selection of teas to extend that summertime love!

As always there is something for everyone, from green teas to a cardamom chai, a flavoured rooibos and a camomile blended with fennel and rose. Some of the tea companies will be familiar to hardened tea addicts, but there will also be some new companies to discover.

This month's selection.....

This varied selection of tea makes for a very pretty tea leaf photo.....

The clever thing about the Teatourist box is the tea is sent in little pouches, each pouch has enough tea for a couple of cups.....perfect for trying out new blends. If you like something you can buy more, but if a tea isn't to your taste at least you haven't wasted lots of tea and money. It's a great idea for anyone wanting to discover new teas and be a little adventurous with their tea drinking.

Each tea pouch comes with a brilliant little card which describes the tea and how to brew it, along with information about the tea company. I particularly like the tea tips they that provide, giving you tips on making the perfect cuppa.

If you'd like to find out more about Teatourist and their tea-riffic monthly tea subscription pop by their website!

If you've got the August box we'd love to hear which is your favourite box - leave us a comment here or get in touch on Twitter or Facebook!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel and Lorna

Time for something sweet - bonboosh marshallows

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're ready for something sweet today!

Last weekend I was at the Odiham food festival where a friend introduced me to the delights of bonboosh marshmallows - a local company who take marshmallow flavours to the next level, producing light as air marshmallows in flavours such as sweet violets, gingerbread and their latest creation sloe gin and blackberry.

Regular readers out there will know my sweet tooth took over as soon as I saw the stall (I didn't even stop to take a photo of the stall!) and of course I had to buy a bag (just the one I hear you cry!). After a lot of deliberation I opted for the new flavour....the combination of sloe gin and blackberry sounded just divine!

Now this is where I feel I need to educate everyone a little on the dangers of being a marshmallow owner on a hot day. Listen carefully and you'll avoid the disaster that follows.....

Before sampling my marshmallows I popped in on Joe's mum on the way home, leaving my bag of goodies in the car. I disappeared inside without a further thought about my latest purchase and enjoyed a couple of hours catching up with Annette. When it came to home time I opened my car door to be greeted by the most intense, mouth watering smell of .... well of sloe gin and blackberries! At this point I just smiled to myself and drove home, looking forward to trying a marshmallow. I remember thinking it was a bit warm in the car, but it was a hot day so nothing surprising there.

However.....and I bet you can all guess where this is going.....yes my little bag of marshmallows had suffered somewhat in the heat.....

#marshmallowsdieinhotcars

Yep.....I was now the proud owner of a bag of melted marshmallow! It did smell amazing in my car, but I learnt a valuable lesson that day....marshmallows die in hot cars! 

Stories like this should have a happy ending though....and luckily this one does! I have made my own marshmallows before, and so I decided to take the gloopy mess and try and reset it, using icing sugar to stop my new marshmallows from sticking to everything. It did work....although my marshmallows don't look very pretty and I managed to lose two in the process of resetting them!

The flavour was amazing though - the perfect balance of sloe gin and juicy blackberries! The texture was also still really good, with the marshmallows being light and fluffy despite the whole ordeal! They melted in the mouth as you ate them - a sign of a brilliant marshmallow!

Just in case you were wondering....this is what the marshmallows should have looked like (I've borrowed this photo from the bonboosh Facebook page!)...

I will definitely be trying the other flavours in the bonboosh range - you can buy via their facebook page.  If you already have a favourite bonboosh flavour that you think we should try, drop us a line and tell us all about it!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel 

The Friday Review - Natural Oolong, In Nature Tea

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends, we hope you're feeling tea-riffic today!

So, it's been rather a long time since we wrote a Friday review post showcasing a new tea that we've been enjoying....but fear not....we're back with a new tea for you to discover!

Today we're sharing with you a tea from In Nature teas - their Natural Oolong. In Nature teas is a family run company set up by the founder who moved from the UK to China, where he travelled and enjoyed some of the best teas in the world....which he wanted to share with tea lovers everywhere! In Nature work with small, family-run farms who use traditional methods to produce their teas.

For a small family run company, In Nature offer a great range of teas including three different Oolong teas. We had the pleasure of sampling their Natural Oolong tea which is known in Chinese as Nai Xiang-Jin Xuan, which translates as ‘fragrant milk’. Which is a great name for the sweet, creamy aroma of this tea.

 This tea is sourced in Taiwan and In Nature buy during Autumn when the leaves are best harvested. If you look closely at Oolong leaves, you'll see that they are twisted tightly....but watch them swell once they are added to water.

The leaves have a lovely fruity aroma to them, which hit you as soon as you open the packet.

To brew this tea, use one tablespoon of leaves per cup of tea you are making and allow the leaves to brew for just a minute or two to enjoy a light, refreshing brew. Your water should be boiling when making this tea, but beware of leaving it to brew too long - you don't want to ruin this delicate tea!

Once brewed you have a pretty peachy tea to enjoy....

The aroma was slightly less fruity once brewed, but it still smelt sweet and creamy. The flavour is light and refreshing, slightly fruity / floral - perfect for warmer weather. I really enjoyed this cuppa!

And just look at how much the leaves swelled with the water....

If you would like to try this tea it is available from the In Nature tea website and starts at £6.00 for 50g of tea. For more information and to see the other teas on offer pop by the In Nature website.

I'd like to thank In Nature for sending us their tea to try. Please note that although we received a complimentary sample of tea, this has not affected our taste buds and all opinions expressed in this article are our own.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna