Tea India - A New Review!

You may remember that late on last year, I reviewed Tea India's Black Tea & Masala Chai. This post still gets loads of hits, so I must have been doing something right that day!  Well, when they got back in touch recently to ask me if I'd like to do a second review, I was hardly likely to say no, was I?

This time, it wasn't me opening the door to the postie, it was Daddy, who is slightly less terrifying first thing in the morning  I was greeted with a box containing Black Tea and Vanilla Chai.  (And some tissue paper which has been stashed in the craft box for a rainy day. We have lots of those.)

While I'm not a big tea drinker, I always keep some on hand in the house for visitors, and so I enlisted the help of a couple of willing volunteers (aka my parents) to test out the black tea.  They were very impressed with the box, it's such a pretty design, and really gets across both the "tea" and the "India" sides of things, even if you took away the words, the paisley print teapot is so pretty!  On tasting, my dad said "It's tea, it tastes of tea."  Well, yeah.  Mum was a bit more detailed, "It's GOOD tea, one to save, not just for breakfast every morning."  I'll take that as a complement, I noticed the box sneaking out of the house in her handbag, so they're back to whatever's in my cupboard next time!

I kept the Vanilla Chai for myself.  I'm not good at sharing!  I love love LOVE vanilla chai.  I'm not even sure where I picked the habit up from.  It's not something I can find many places, but when I do, it makes me a very happy person, so receiving my own personal stash of it was a really big treat.  I make it with milk, but you can drink it black if that's your thing.  If you're really technical, you can even make it into a chai latte by heating the milk and using more milk & less water.  That's a bit too much work for me though.

I'm still of the belief that Chai isn't *really* tea.  It's nicer.  And the vanilla is so soft and smooth and soothing, after Squeaky's gone to bed, I can curl up with a mug and a couple of biscuits and have a few minutes of "me time" before I get back on with the busy life of a mum, blogger, laundress, nail polish addict and whatever other titles I may currently have.

Have I tempted you enough to want to try Tea India out for yourself?  I have? Excellent!  Right now, on their facebook page, Tea India have a You and I and a cup of Chai campaign going on.  Click on the link, and invite your best tea-drinking buddy around  for a very special cuppa.  You're then in with the chance to win a selection of teas, including Black Tea, Cardamom, Vanilla, and Masala Chais to share with your friend, and earn you a favour or two!  Read the terms & conditions before entering.  I'm not in any way connected with the promotion, just giving you a heads up!

Tea India is available in various supermarkets nationwide.

Disclosure: I was provided with the packs of tea shown above free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for your convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme and will not receive reward for their use.

Tea India Review

It seems to be compulsory in the UK to drink tea. Lots of tea.  Even more so if you live in Wales.  When Tea India got in touch & asked if I'd like to try out some of their teas, newly launched in the UK, I was intrigued.  What's so different from any other cuppa?  Well, the postie turned up obscenely early on my day off, and I answered the door with scarecrow hair, PJs, and eyebags too big for Easyjet hand luggage.  Clearly a cuppa was just what I needed.

I love Chai.  I can't convince SqueakyDaddy, because he's not a tea drinker at all, but to me, Chai isn't tea.  It's not.  It's a million times nicer, more complex, and just yummy.  I was sent the Masala Chai to try out, but they also have a Vanilla Chai & Cardamom Chai varieties, so one for every mood.  The Masala Chai is blended with ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, cloves & star anise to give a really warming rich taste.  Just right for the autumn nights.  It's a really complex flavour, and hard to describe.  I've never been one for being able to tell you what drinks taste of, I'll never put Oz Clarke out of a job!  Even though there's quite a few sweet spices in there, it doesn't make it a sweet tea.  It's a big flavour though, one to savour, not to bolt down.  It'll last ages with us as well, as it's only me drinking it!

I'll confess to not being a massive "normal" tea drinker, so for the black tea, I realised I should enlist the help of some experts.  My colleagues are well known for their great tea-drinking skills, and they deserve a little treat every now & then, so I took the box of black tea in for them to try out.  First impressions were that I was really spoiling them, the box definitely looks like a step up from the supermarket norm.  The tea itself passed the taste tests with everyone, from the no-milk tea drinker, right through to the lots of milk & at least 2 sugars end of the spectrum.  Not too strong, not too feeble, and no tanniny aftertaste.  The tea leaves are picked from only the top two leaves & the bud, where the tea is freshest, which is what gives the rich & smooth taste.

The Masala & Cardamom Chais have both been awarded a 1 star gold rating in the Great Taste Awards 2012, and the Vanilla Chai and black tea were each awarded a 2 star gold rating, confirming the quality of the range.  Tea's what you want it to be, a quick pick-me-up, or a real treat.  Tea India makes the treat side a whole lot more sophisticated.  I'm never going to be completely converted away from coffee, believe me, it's for your benefit as much as mine.  But I'm very happy to have an alternative.

Tea India is stocked in selected Tescos & Booths stores, Tescos stores mostly in the South East, Booths in the North West & Yorkshire.  Including my former stomping ground of Ilkley.  That makes me very happy.

Disclosure: I was sent two boxes of Tea India teas free of charge for the purposes of this review.  All opinions are my own & I was not told what to write.  Links are provided for your convenience.  I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

Pukka Tea Review

I'm a coffee drinker at heart.  I need it like Simon Cowell needs delusional fools to be on his shows.  But I'm pretty open-minded, so I decided to give Pukka Tea a go when box of Morning Time dropped through my door.

Squeaky's daddy is always on at me for drinking too much caffeine, so I thought Morning Time might help me get a bit of peace & quiet, as it's naturally caffeine free, but designed to give you a bit of an energy boost. Rooibos is pretty similar in taste to "normal" tea, and you can drink it with or without milk.  I prefer it without, but unlike fruity herbal teas it doesn't turn the milk into pink yogurt.

The Fairtrade logo in the corner jumped out at me as soon as I saw the box.  I do try to buy Fairtrade where I can, long long ago I was a charity volunteer for an overseas aid charity when Fairtrade was first coming onto the UK consciousness, and it's stayed with me to try and support the farmers and communities rather than the pockets of big companies where I can.

The first cup I tried, I think I let steep for a bit too long.  The box says to steep for at least five minutes, but for my taste it was too long, and the tea was too strong.  To be honest I thought "this really isn't my cup of tea".  And then I firmly berated myself for making such an appalling joke, shrugged my shoulders and got on with my day.  I'm not one to be defeated that easily though, so I gave it another try the next day.

This time, I didn't leave the bag in for so long, only about 3 minutes or so.  For me that was just right.  Tastes like tea, but doesn't strip the inside of your mouth off.  The Rooibos and Honeybush make the tea a little bit sweeter than a mug of builder's (before the 4 sugars!), and it's a nice refreshing taste.  I think I might be converted.  Not every day, but it's good to have a choice.

The ginseng is a natural stimulant, has healing properties, and apparently is an aphrodisiac (don't tell daddy!), though I didn't notice that effect. Maybe that's why I should leave the bag in for longer!  Morning Time also contains Licorice Root to promote clarity and deal with stress, and Maca Root to increase energy & libido.  No seriously, DON'T tell daddy!  I'm keeping these to myself.

I also had a few samples from the rest of the Pukka range, you can't see Love here, because I drank that one as soon as I opened the envelope!, but there's a great range for most times of day & emotions.  I love the Relax and Revitalise ones.  Now I just need to convince my office mates that drinking herbal tea doesn't turn me into a beansprout knitting weirdo and I'm still the caffeine addict they know & love, just slightly calmer!

Disclosure: I was provided with a box of Pukka Tea Morning Time, and a selection of other Pukka Teas free of charge for the purpose of this review.   I was not told what to write, and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for your convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.