After 12 days of repeat teas I get to the final tea...
#25 Christmas Day Bonanza
Tea Style: Rooibos.
Flavours: cinnamon, rooibos, hibiscus, ginger, coconut, lychee.
Teavent 2016: Playing Catch-up and the Final Teas?
Teavent 2016: 7 & 8
Teavent 2016: Tea with a Vengeance
Teavent 2016: 3 Wise Teas
In which I belatedly start on my advent calendar...
Let me spin you a tale, dear Reader, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and stock control. Don't worry it isn't that boring. I was sadly on a last minute business trip last week which means I missed the opportunity to purchase an advent calendar. I figured that I would be able to get an interesting and different one in the States but alas I was wrong. I also figured that I would be able to pick up a discounted one in a UK supermarket on the 2nd after I landed but alas Tesco's stock control meant they didn't even have an awful one left!
I had basically resigned myself to not finding one this year.
20,000 views!
In which I discuss some blog stats...
Firstly thank you everyone who has come to my little corner of the internet to get me to this point. When I started off a little blog about tea 3 years ago I never expected it to be seen by anyone outside my group of friends. Secondly I actually ticked over 20,000 views about a week back but haven't had the time to write this post until now.
Data Drudgery, Steampunk Stark & Tepid Tea!
In which I discuss the borishness of data anlaysis, try an interesting new tea and lay out my next Tailor project...
Data? I 'ardly know 'er!
In a break from continuous Thesis writing I have recently been running another imaging experiment. This was, as you could expect, a fairly hectic few weeks with early mornings and late nights. It was, however, much better than the weeks following where I am now stuck with the unenviable task of analysing image after image in ImageJ. Regardless of your research area this is the boring part of a PhD - repeatedly doing the same thing over and over again. Hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel though and this will be my final experiment - Great Success!
Now all I have to do is finish writing an 80,000 word thesis...
2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here's an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,700 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
Osmanthus Green: Thesis, YouTube, Update!
In which I review some floral green tea and update you on my life...
Thesis Writing
So thesis writing is fully under-way now and my supervisors assure me that writing will get harder and longer as it continues - fun, fun, fun!
It takes me a while to get into writing but I expect I'll make a video about Thesis writing soon. I actually quite enjoy writing though so I hope I'll be able to keep the pace up and stay on schedule :)
Lost A Pint Of Blood? Replace It With Tea!
In which I discuss the safest way to lose blood and it's proper replacement...
Blood Donation
So I want to take a break today from PhD based ramblings to talk about giving blood. Did you know that 96% of people rely on the other 4% for blood donations? [1] Maybe you've not thought about it before or are a little worried about what it entails so I'll tell you now that it mostly involves biscuits, drinking and sitting down. Easy eh?
10,000 Views!
In which I celebrate...
Look what greeted me today:
Thank you everyone for reading my ramblings, costume ideas, recipes, geeky computer ideas, airsoft tales, reviews and tea posts! Everyone knows that people who read my blog are the best kinds of people!
Thank you all!
Tom Out!
Warming Camomile & PhD 3rd Year Retrospective
The Worst Tea Experience of My Life
In which I describe a tea failure of epic proportions...
Dear Reader,
Let me set the scene for you. It was a warm but not unpleasant summer afternoon. The kind which threatens rain.* The kind we British deem perfect barbecue whether. And indeed I did barbecue for it was the last evening of Cubs this term.
An enjoyable game of kwik cricket, two burgers and a few glasses of fiery ginger beer later I was satiated. The cubs all left with their respective guardians and I set off home.
On the drive back I got to thinking, as I often do, that I desired some good company and a pot of tea. Potentially even a biscuit to round off the evening.
It's A Brand New Tea!
On Tea - Tea Throughout the Day
In which I give my thoughts on what tea to drink when throughout the day...
So as a British person (66% of Britons drink tea daily) I feel the need to consume a good quantity of tea everyday. The average Briton drinks 3½ cups a day - you'll find me at the top of the bell curve dong my best to keep the average up. I normally have around 6 cups a day.
Sencha Green Tea
In which I blog about the last two weeks, gain another year and try some green tea...
The Last Two Weeks
It's been a busy few weeks so I'm afraid the blog has suffered slightly. I had a hectic week filled with work and rehearsing and just about managed to make a rather ridiculous cake. This was followed by a pretty stellar concert by CAOS which filled out the church and enjoyable festivities thereafter. I plan to update more regularly in the future.
Other than that I have turned another year older and received many gifts of tea, cake and board games. The tea will be reviewed shortly. As for the board games I now have Ticket to Ride: Europe, Alhambra & Hare and Tortoise. I probably won't review these as they've been around long enough to be well reviewed online but I've enjoyed playing them already :D
Leaf & Belfast Brew
In which I explain the new plan for my tea blog and a lovely trip to Leamington...
Leaf Tearooms and Piano Bar
In Leamington Spa meeting up with old friends I found myself in possession of a hangover and thus the need for a recovery breakfast. The Leaf tea rooms and piano bar were suggested as the place to go and go we did. It was a lovely experience - I think we walked in to Paparazzi by Lady Gaga being played on the piano. The tea room has a nice relaxed atmosphere and the soothing piano playing is the perfect backdrop when you have a bit of a headache. Although I wasn't there at tea time I am informed that not only do they do a very filling afternoon tea that they also have a wide selection of delectable cakes.
White Tea
In which I review another tea from the outlet...
The only other white tea I've tried before this was an Earl Grey variant which overpowered the tea a little. So this is my first time properly trying white tea.
It's a delicate tea and so only needs a quick brew of 2-3 minutes. This tea tastes as if it falls between green tea and black tea. It's very enjoyable :)
It's nice to have something to break up my green tea-black tea-green tea rotation I have at work :)
Web-link
http://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/teabags_1/white_tea_50_teabags.htm
Interesting Tea Uses
I might start putting interesting links at the bottom of the reviews :) Here's the first one courtesy of Alex:
Green Earl Grey
In which I restock my work tea...
Teat for the Tea God! Mugs for the Mug Throne!
I was down to my last few tea bags at work and so decided to head the the Lowry Outlet Mall where there is a Whittard's outlet shop with a few friends.
There were some good discounts available:
- Buy one get one half price on all tea/coffee
- Ridiculous discounts on all Christmas packaged products (up to 80% off)
And now I have a large stock of new tea for work and for reviewing!
I will endeavour to review other tea brands in between all these Whittard ones too!
Green Earl Grey
"Stop what you are doing and savour!"
Regular readers will now I am a big fan of Earl Grey. With the aforementioned offers I just had to risk it and get hold of some green Earl Grey. This tea is essentially just green tea with bergamot added.
It's a lovely brew and means I can enjoy Earl Grey at work without the need for milk or lemon*. It's lighter than the black tea equivalent and very refreshing. I would heartily recommend it!
*Yes I drink Earl Grey with milk - I like it that way!
Web-link
Lowry Outlet Mall: http://www.lowryoutlet.co.uk
Tea: http://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/green/green_earl_grey/green_earl_grey_50_teabags.htm
Tom Out!
Ginger Tea
In which I review a ginger flavoured tea...
While at a conference (a little while ago) I had the opportunity to visit Cambridge's lovely market. There I purchased a ginger flavoured black tea to try.
This is a lovely cup of tea with or without milk. There is a hint of ginger in the aroma but you can definitely taste it. I love ginger and this is a very pleasant tea experience. With milk in the tea it would be the perfect accompaniment to dessert. Perhaps some gingerbread :) Without milk the black tea flavour is stronger and I might even consider having it as a regular tea.
Conclusion
Lovely gingery black tea. Perfect with milk!
Tom Out!
P.S. Once I find a link for the tea seller I'll update this post with it.
P.P.S. I hope people are enjoying the slightly different review style :)