It's Cocktail Time - featuring Rutland Tea Co

Hello there,

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

Regular visitors to the blog will know that we love a good cup of tea with our afternoon tea or maybe a glass or two of bubbles....but we also love a great cocktail! We think there is nothing better than a well made cocktail to tickle the taste buds!

Recently I've been experimenting with some tea in my homemade cocktails and I wanted to share this one as I am so pleased with how it turned out! 

This is a sweet and fruity cocktail, probably slightly better suited to the summer months....but I can't see the problem with being prepared for the warmer weather! I can just see myself in the garden with a glass of this on a summer's evening. The flavours are tropical - think oranges and pineapple and you're on the right lines!

For this cocktail I have used the wonderful Earl Grey Blue Rose tea from Nottingham based Rutland Tea Co. This is a scrummy tea whether you enjoy it hot or cold. Its a traditional Earl Grey with citrus flavours which has been super charged with pineapple-peach flavours. The flavours are tropical, but remain light and refreshing. 

I discovered this tea as part of a Tea Tourist monthly subscription box, but you can also buy this tea directly from the Rutland Tea Co.

For this cocktail you'll need to brew the tea in advance and then leave it to go cold.

I have used Orange Marmalade vodka from Chase Distillery, as this is my preferred citrus vodka. You can substitute this for another brand if you have a favourite. I also used a sugar syrup - I was lazy and used a shop bought version. If you're feeling in the mood or don't have any pre-made you can easily whip up a batch of sugar syrup at home...

Homemade sugar syrup

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring cold water and sugar to a boil.

Turn the heat low and constantly stir the mixture until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear, this will take approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

Leave to cool

Finally I have topped my cocktail off with a little Prosecco - I can't remember which brand I used....you can use whatever you happen to have at home or your favourite brand. 

Now the important bit....

To make the cocktail

This is really simple....no shakers or mixologist skills required!

In a glass (I used a wine glass) with ice combine:

100ml of the cold tea

25-50ml of sugar syrup - I recommend putting a little in and tasting it for sweetness

50ml of citrus vodka

then top it off with a little Prosecco

Et Voila....you've got a glass of sunshine to enjoy! 

I topped mine off with a slice of orange (it was a clementine to be precise) but I was just trying to be fancy! If you have no fruit to hand, don't worry!

Have you used tea in your cocktails at home? Do you have a favourite recipe? I'd love to hear about it and maybe give it a try myself - get in touch and let m know!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel 

The Friday Review - The Tea Route

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're well today!

It's Friday....it's time to put the kettle on and try a new cup of tea! This time we are sampling some of the tea collection from The Tea Route.

Teas from The Tea Route

The Tea Route is a Greek tea business which offers tea lovers unique tea varieties and flavours - inspired by the diversity of Mediterranean nature. Their range includes Mediterranean herbs, fruits, flowers and fragrant spices blended with exquisitely scented teas. Chamomile, mountain tea, lavender, sage, rosemary, as well as cinnamon, Chios mastic, clove, figs, apricots, oranges, and richly scented blossoms including rose and jasmine are paired with black, green and white teas from the gardens of the Far East. 

We couldn't wait to try this intriguing range!

Let's start with something that was vaguely familiar.....a cup of Earl Grey Lord Byron...

This Chinese black tea is blended with intense bergamot flavour to create a warming and sweet cup of tea.

The leaves smell sweet, with a light citrus fragrance.....

When brewed you are rewarded with a cup of light brown tea, with a really pretty citrus aroma. It has a really mellow flavour, which will brighten a dull winter day.

Next for a tea which is more exotic....Palmyra....

This is another black tea, this time blended with dates, sultanas, sesame, almond, fig and vanilla. The leaves are very pretty, they smell like sweet nuts or popcorn. They made my mouth water!

Once brewed we had a lovely rich amber colour with a lovely popcorn aroma.

The flavour of this tea is quite surprising, it's light and very refreshing with a nutty, sweet taste. A really lovely cup of tea!

We'd like to thank The Tea Route for sending us these teas to try, if you'd like to find out more about The Tea Route pop by their website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

The Friday Review.....JING Tea - Part 1

Hello there,

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a fab tea-filled week!

This Friday Review we are taking a peek at a couple of teas from JING Tea. Launched in 2004, JING is drunk in 75 countries around the world. Their range of loose teas and whole leaf teabags includes authentic examples of Asia's greatest teas, from China, Taiwan, Japan, India and Sri Lanka. And their hand-blown glass teapots and cups are just beautiful!

JING Tea teaware - photo from JING website

I was given several different JING Tea whole leaf tea bags at a tea event recently and looked forward to trying the teas.

JING tea bags

JING pack their whole leaf teas and herbal infusions into large teabags to allow maximum room for the leaves to expand and infuse. I decided to try the Earl Grey and the Jasmine Silver Needle tea bags first...

Silver Needle is a white tea from China. Its buds are picked and sun dried in April, in the mountains of China’s Fujian Province. In August, the tea is laid beneath a bed of fresh jasmine flowers for seven consecutive nights, combining the sweet white tea with a fresh, fragrant jasmine aroma.

JING recommend drinking this light tea at lunchtime or in the afternoon.

JING whole leaf tea bags

This tea should only be brewed for 2-3 minutes as its a light, fragrant tea. Once brewed the tea had a very pale yellow colour and the aroma is a very subtle jasmine.

Jasmine Silver Needle - JING tea 

The tea was light with a very refreshing flavour - the jasmine is distinct but not overpowering and I agree that it makes a lovely tea for afternoon drinking.

The classic Earl Grey is a Ceylon tea, scented with natural bergamot, from Sri Lanka. The tea also features blue cornflower petals, making it a very pretty teabag! It's a robust cup of tea, which once brewed is a lovely dark colour and has a smooth flavour.

Earl Grey - JING tea

The flavour of bergamot is obvious, but not overpowering - again its a refreshing cuppa! I would probably prefer to drink this in the morning as its a more robust tea than the Silver Needle.

For more information about JING tea and to see the other teas in their range pop by the JING tea website....you should also take a peek at their gorgeous teaware while you're there!

JING tea teaware - photo from JING website

Do you have a favourite JING tea? We'd love to hear from you if you do - leave us a comment or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

The Friday Review....The Tea Makers

Hello there,

Happy Friday! So, I bet you've been wondering....what has Rachel and Lorna been drinking this week. Ok, well you probably haven't been thinking that...but we're going to tell you anyway!

This week we have sampled two teas from The Tea Makers of London, who are loose leaf tea specialists. Their teas are sourced from tea estates around the world such as China, India, Sri Lanka, Japan and Taiwan. They have a large range of teas, from Green Tea, Black Tea, White Tea, Oolong Tea, Pu-erh Tea, Special Blends and Fruit Infusions - something for everyone!

We were lucky enough to be sent two of their tea range - Supreme Earl Grey Tea and Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea. The teas can be bought in various ways, including these lovely tea caddys....

Let's start with the Supreme Earl Grey Tea which is a blend of Ceylon teas selected from tea growing estates in the Nuwar Eliya and Dimulla regions of Sri Lanka. The Ceylon leaves are scented with Bergamot oil and infused with the cornflowers....

The Tea Makers give brewing guides on their website for perfect home brewing. For this tea they recommend using 3-4g of tea in a 200ml cup. The water should be 100°C and the leaves should be brewed for 3-5 minutes. 

Once brewed the tea is a beautiful rich amber colour, which is matched with an equally rich but well balanced flavour. It's a very aromatic blend, which you can enjoy with your nose as well as your taste buds.

Next, lets take a look at the Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea which comes from comes from the Fujian Province in China.

A little tea education for you - Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea is created by hand rolling specially plucked long silver velvety shoots into little tea balls which are naturally scented multiple times with fresh, aromatic jasmine flowers. Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea is named after the shape of the tea like pearls. Let's take a look at those little pearls.....

To make the highest quality tea alternative layers of fresh jasmine petals and tea leaves are layered until jasmine scent is fully merged with tea leaves. Then the petals are removed, and the tea carefully dried again. Each pearl will blossom when put into water.

Brewing recommendations for this tea are as follows - you should use 2-3g tea in a 200ml cup. This time the water should be cooler, at 80°C and brewing time is only 1-3 minutes. 

As you can see this brew produces a beautiful champagne coloured tea, but what you can tell from this photo is how fragrant the tea is. The tea is light and delicate - very refreshing. 

To find out more about these teas and the others in the Tea Makers range please visit their website.

We like to thank The Tea Makers for sending us these teas to try. Although we have received these teas to review, please remember that this has not effected our taste buds and all opinions expressed here are our own. 

Have you tried any of the others teas in The Tea Makers range? We'd love to hear what you thought!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

The Friday Review....Jenier tea

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends....it's Friday....let's get the kettle on!

If you popped by earlier this week, you'll have seen our post about Claude the pop up tearoom from the ladies at the Vintage Cake House in Farnham. When I popped by to see them on Gostrey Meadows last weekend, they told me about the loose leaf teabags they are using to serve their takeaway tea. As a popup tearoom Claude has no teapots....but they didn't want to scrimp on the quality of the tea they served and discovered Jenier tea.

Very kindly they gave me some teabags to try at home.....so I got my pretty teacups out and let the tea tasting commence....

Jenier World of Teas operates from Scotland, and source high quality teas from around the world. They currently have a variety of black, green, white and flowering teas on their website.

I had the Cream Earl Grey, the Egyptian Chamomile and a green tea to sample.

I started with the Egyptian Chamomile which comes from the Nile River Delta, Egypt. 

The 1st Grade chamomile flowers are field grown and sundried. I thought the yellow teacup was the perfect choice for this cup of tea....

The tea had a beautiful yellow colour, with a pleasant and fruity aroma. The taste was crisp and fresh, with a warming, fruity taste. It was a very relaxing cup of tea and is obviously caffeine free.

Something full of caffeine was the Cream Earl Grey tea....

This is a traditional Earl Grey with a hint of vanilla which gives it a creamy flavour.

This tea has a lovely copper colour (the photo doesn't do it justice) and a lovely creamy vanilla aroma. The black tea is softened by the vanilla, creating a lovely sweet tea that is not artificial nor overpowering. It's a very mellow brew!

Finally we have the green tea....now this is where I have a confession to make...I'm not entirely sure which green tea this was....

I know it was a pale amber colour once brewed. It was a punchy green tea, Strong in flavour without being bitter. This tea (whichever it is) will not disappoint anyone looking for a decent cup of green tea!

To find out more about Jenier teas pop by their website. If you live in or near Farnham, Surrey, you can try these teas at Claude the popup tearoom! Read more about Claude here.

I'd like to thank the lovely ladies at the Vintage Cake House for giving me these teabags to try!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Friday Review... French Earl Grey from T2

Hello there,

You may remember that I recently visited T2 (you can see that post here).  Whilst there I was describing the themes for my Mad Hatter's Tea Party this summer and how I wanted things to be not quite as they seem, traditional with a twist if you like.  I was recommended their French Earl Grey as an alternative to good old English breakfast tea and given a small sample to try out at home.  

So this week I gave it a go.  From the moment I opened the packet I could smell the lovely aromatic blend and it looks so appealing.  It has a traditional, medium bodied, black tea base but they have added hibiscus, rose petals, mallow flowers and sunflower petals to add a fabulous floral and fruity twist.

The floral twist makes for a delicious cup of tea which is absolutely lovely on a summers afternoon.  It manages to taste bold yet be delicate at the same time - I find it very difficult to describe so suggest you have a try for yourself!

If you would like to try this tasty tea or find out more about T2 you can visit their website here.

Have you tried any traditional teas with a twist?  We'd love to hear about them if you have.  And if you do have a try of this lovely brew please leave us a comment to let us know what you think and help me describe it!

Thank you for popping by today,

Lorna & Rachel