All you need to do is come up with the wining blend of tea. The contest runs from now until August 16, 2009. You just need to go to the site, look through the hundreds of teas, and create magic.

That’s not so hard is it?

There are some seriously good prizes even if you don’t win the grand prize. Besides they will sell the winning blend in their stores. Now, how many people get to say that they created a tea blend?

We created out own signature tea for the tea room. We went to a local roaster/tea blender and told her basically what we were looking for. She blended and flavored and came up with our Cameo Rose Custom Blend, which we still buy. It is lemon, blackberry and rose in a long leaf jasmine base and it makes the best sweet tea ever.

It was great fun doing that, experimenting with different possibilities and all. And people kind of look at you funny when you say you have your own custom blended tea. That’s fun, too.

So…head over to Teavana, check it out and give it your best shot. And when you win, remember us little people.

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

They are still letting me write it, I am still going to be doing  all of those amazing reviews, cool coffee and tea recipes, and snarky Starbucks sarcasms that I always have.  No worries!

Just here.  Same blogs on the blog roll, same odd and offbeat posts.  Different look.

So, I will be coming back in a bit to continue with the reviews of Silver Joe’s Coffee, and then we will be moving on to other things…

Iced Tea season is coming up …You guys in the North are probably unaware of it…but it is almost Spring!  The trees here have budded, the Bradford Pears and Quince are in flower..I even saw some bluebonnets yesterday.  And it is raining.

If it is raining in Texas it must be one of the two days of Spring that we normally get every year.

Adagio has some new teas, as does Teavana…so see?  Lots to talk about.

If you are wondering, yes Simply Home Remedies was retired.  But, I will start discussing medicinal teas here as well, they are teas right?  So,  don’t go far…As always, you don’t want to miss a minute of it.

Image:SXC

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Listen up!

If you have someone to buy for that loves tea then check out Teavana!  Today they have free shipping if you use the coupon code word FREE at the checkout. Plus get 20 percent off if you order a pound or more of their new teas….hurry up.

Image:Teavana

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So…what is Mate?

Maté is a plant, a shrub actually,  from Argentina that is used to make a tea that contains a stimulant which is similar to caffeine.  However, the similarity stops there.  Mate doesn’t give you any of the jittery, jump-out-of-your-skin feeling that caffeine can.  Plus there are alot of health benefits of Mate

First of all, there is the energy without the crash..that’s good, right?  It also has the tendency to supress the appetite.

Even better.

Now, add to that antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals and you have it.

Teavana has several new Mate teas that sound really good.

• Samurai Chai is chai Mate with citrus.
•  Spice Nut Mate is described as having a  taste of cocoa with  coriander, pistachio and macadamia nuts, red peppercorns, and orange peel.
• MateVana is supposed to be the tea for coffee lovers and it got great reviews but they don;t say what it tastes like!
• Mate Lemon Blast is a combination of Mate and Lemon grass…
• Yerba Mate is the original mate tea that they drink in Argentina.  It is comparable to green tea.

Get a little energy boost with Mate!
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 Teavana is introducing 25 new teas this season. The image is the Azteca Fire that I reviewed last winter.

I can’t remember when I have ever seen a company come out with so many new flavors and combos at once. It is almost overwhelming.

I think that Teavana has the largest tea selection that I have ever seen in one place, especially when you add in the fact that they will mix different teas together to make unique combinations for you.

To add to the sweetness they are running coupon deals all month. Here is what they say:

Buy 1LB. or more of any combination
of the new teas listed for a particular
week and save 20% off your entire tea
purchase. One per person. Valid at all
corporate Teavana locations. Coupon
cannot be combined with other discounts
not good on previously purchased
merchandise – Not Redeemable for Cash

This week’s coupon which ends on November 8th lists the following teas:

Kamiya Papaya Oolong (oolong)
Imperial Açaí Blueberry (white)
Sour Cherry Serenade (black)
Fruta Bomba (green)
Bangkok Lemongrass (rooibos)
Tarocco Ruby Orange (herbal)
Emerald Bamboo Forest (white)

If you get one of those then you will save on your entire order, either online or in one of the many Teavana Stores.

I have been happy with all of the teas that I have tried.   The White Acai Blueberry sounds good to me.  I am almost out of LUSH and the LUSH store happens to be not far from Teavana at Northpark…..

What looks good to you?

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Post from: Kettle and Cup

I haven’t been able to get back to Teavana and I really want to.  It is a money thing.  You know…Kettle & Cup is not a big enough blog to have people ask ME to do reviews.  Yet..

Anyway..I have spent some time on the site and have been absolutely amazed at the variety of teas they have.  Plus you can have them mix two or more teas for a custom tea.  WOW!

One of things I am going to do this winter is to drink several cups of Oolong a day to see if it really does cause your metabolism to fire up.  I will let you know.  I am so tired of being cold.  I have so many of the symptoms of thyroid problems but all the tests are always o.k..I think it is Wilson’s Syndrome but try telling the VA that.

Anyway..I am going to try the Oolong to see what happens, and as I was reading the various descriptions I got to this one:

Formosa Nut Oolong

A complex combination of Chinese and Taiwanese oolong teas with sweet fruity and nutty overtones from apples, pistachios, almonds, and candied violet flowers. A natural way to diet, since it helps digest fats and increase your metabolism.

That sounds amazing to me and I am planning on getting it.  I will let you know how it works.  Candied violet? Brilliant!

Image:Marye Audet

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Mmm. Teavana Raspberry Sangria.  It just sounds good, doesn’t it?  Do you know that I fed the used tea, after I had made my drink, to the chickens and they loved it ?  Why wouldn’t they?   Have you looked at all the dried  fruit in this stuff!

I really, really liked this tea.  It was tangy and fruity with a lot of raspberry flavor.   The aroma drew in every one of the kids in this entire house, no small feat- that, so my recommendation is not to brew it when you want some quiet time.

Perfect sweetened.  Sort of a sophisticated kool-aide I suppose.  I am looking forward to trying it this summer, sweetened with too much sugar,  so icy cold that the pitcher steams up and water drizzles down the outside, poured in frosted glasses with a slice of lime..and sipped slowly on the front porch.

Don’t get me wrong, this was great as a hot tea.  But it is trying to hit 70 degrees today, and I am looking wistfully at the empty vegetable garden, and the horses are looking wistfully at the pasture we have them locked out of (so it can grow) which is just tinged with with lightest green of spring.  For the first time ever I am tired of crackling fires and being cold.

But I am very ready for summer, and Teavana Raspberry Sangria tea is a summertime tea.  Drink it now to remember that there are days when it is too hot to do more than page through a magazine, as you recline limply on the couch.  Drink it now, so you can close your eyes and mentally walk through  moist woods in the morning, picking ripe berries as you find them and enjoying the solitude.

For those of you that are more prosaic and less poetic : that translates as a combination of hibiscus blossoms, apple bits, and rosehip peel flavored with raspberry (and I think raspberries in the tea? I thought I saw some).  very high in antioxidents.  4.50 for 2 oz.

Good stuff, either way.

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I am not real fond of green tea.  It seems to me, mostly, to be on the insipid side and I like things to be intense..I don;t like watercolor paintings either, preferring the vibrant oils of the Dutch Masters. That information was just a gimme, you don’t have to pay for it.

I picked up Teavana’s Cloud 9 tea because of the name.  Can anyone really resist a small piece of Cloud 9? I am not sure about Cloud 8, or even Cloud 10, but Cloud nine seems like the place to be.  I admit to being an advertising company’s dream, I will pick something up totally because of the way they name it.  That is why I like Celestial Seasonings so much. How  can anyone resist names like Tummy Time, Red Zinger, and Early Morning Thunder?

Rambling, me? Sorry, I am only on my second cup of coffee.

So…Cloud 9 it was. Cloud 9 is a blend of green rooibos tea, apples, strawberries, rosehips, hibiscus, lemon peel ….and…..are you ready?

Teensy-weensy marshmallows.

How brilliant is that?

:::Geez, Marye, get to it, how did it taste?::::::

It was really good.  I liked it.  It was a comfort cup of tea, for when you want to curl up and read Pagoo. Sweet, koolaid-y sort of, but with the distinct tea flavor.  The one thing I was disappointed in was that, of course, the marshmallows disintegrate leaving only the taste, and even if there is some left they are strained out.  I kind of wish they would package the little marshmallows separately. LOL!

Worth trying, even if you don’t normally like green tea

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This is one of my new favorite teas. I don’t really know what I was expecting..“chocolate and strawberries with a spicy twist. Blend consists of crushed cocoa, apple bits, strawberry pieces, chocolate bits, safflower petals, and crushed chili pods.”

I dislike chocolate teas, but when I was in the store and the cover came off this cannister I knew I was taking some of it home. Chocolate…spice..something…it was undefinable and I needed more.

So I did…took some home that is. I made a cup…and tasted it. The chocolate is the primary flavor but not regular chocolate..not like Hershey’s or something..Definitely not a sweet chocolate taste. This was a deep, intense bittersweet chocolate that was enticingly married to, but not overpowered by either the tea or the other flavors.

I think this is going to be something you will love if you like intense flavors, and chai. It is not a light afternoon sipping tea but more of a robust, sitting by the fire and warming up tea.

This is a tea for drinking on it’s own. It’s flavors are best experienced on their own.

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Everyone knows that I like Earl Grey Tea in all of it’s forms. I have had Earl Grey Creme, Earl Grey, Earl Grey with orange, Lady Grey..and on…

After I returned from my shopping adventure ( this is twice in a month, which is honestly more than I have shopped in the previous five years)  I made a cup of the Mrs Earl Grey because the description intrigued me.

Our classic Earl Grey spiced up with cinnamon, orange peels, cloves, and vanilla bits

The smell was spicy, orange-y but not like an orange spice tea.  The vanilla was strong and gave it a creamy scent. I really could stand in that store and huff tea all day, I swear.

It was a little lighter in the cup than I expected but the aroma was definitely there. I sweetened it lightly and took a sip…

The spice is really not as intense as the tea smelled but it was a very good melding of flavor because you couldn’t pick out any of the tastes clearly.  I would consider this a breakfast or mid morning tea, personally, it is cheerful, comforting, and sparkly. Mrs Earl Grey was obviously a high school cheerleader in a past life.

I did like it alot and I will put it on my list of teas to try again.  If you get a chance try some of it.

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