From day to day we find ourselves taxed with work, school, and the other things that make our life worthwhile. And when we try to sit down to pursue our hobbies, may it be writing, reading, or any other creative venture we find ourselves creatively drained. We either stare at a blank page or a room that holds our craft that refuses to give us the needed inspiration to fuel our venture.
This, my friends, is where I have found myself a lot this month. Balancing school and my desire to put the story, that I have been holding on to for ages, onto paper seems to be a momentous task. But that is where tea comes in.
To be specific James Joyce’s Tea Blend by Simpson & Vail gave me the needed boost to finally put something down on paper. Now, this is tea not alike the others I have tried for this tea is very simple in nature. This cuppa is like Irish/English Breakfast and as a matter of fact, it tastes like a blend of those two. It has that perfect maltiness that I have come to love in Irish Breakfast with a little bit of the robustness that English Breakfast has to offer.
The price of this tea won’t hurt your wallet either for you can get either a 4 oz package for $6.90 whereas if you want the decorative 4 oz tin that will be about $3 extra at $9.75.
Even though this tea didn’t have anything new or different added to the blend I still appreciate it. Drinking this blend brought me back to the days when I first tried hot tea. Calling this tea simple is not negative in this case for a simple cup of tea could be the only thing you need to get you back on track.
See you for the next cuppa!
Kara
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description
James Joyce was born February 2, 1882 in a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. He attended a private boarding school until his father’s debts caught up with the family and he and his siblings were forced to leave. He would later attend college and, while he achieved high marks, his views never aligned with the Jesuit professors. A collection of his short stories, The Dubliners, was published in 1914 and introduced Joyce’s dense and atmospheric prose to the world. He would go on to travel Europe, spending most of his productive years in France, where Ulysses was published in 1922. Joyce’s influence continues into the 21st century where his method of conveying the complexity and chaos of random thought as a stream of consciousness is still in use.
For Joyce, tea was an expected part of life and it appears in his works as a routine part of the day. As a man of taste, he enjoyed the finer things in life and, as an article describing a meeting at his house says, “Mrs. Joyce gives us the best tea and the nicest cakes that are to be had in any house in Paris.” Our James Joyce tea blend uses a distinctly Irish mix of black teas to mimic the type of drink he and his friends would have enjoyed.
This delightfully bold blend of teas brews to a golden cup with a malty flavor and a slightly fruity aftertaste.
Ingredients: Black teas from India, Sri Lanka and Kenya.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Go to Wonderland with a cup of Lewis Carroll tea from Simpson and Vail.. . .
Springtime feels like the time for Alice in Wonderland: flowers blooming, spending more time outside, feeling a little more whimsy after the winter blues. I’ve seen a few new teas popping up this time of year, themed for just such an occasion.
I recently tried the Lewis Carroll blend of black tea from Simpson and Vail. In case you don’t know, Lewis Carroll is the author of Alice in Wonderland, among other works. Alice in Wonderland tends to be a favorite among tea fans for the famous tea party scene featuring the Mad Hatter, not to mention all the cute tea cakes that wreak fantastical havoc for Alice’s adventures.
This Lewis Carroll tea blend features an Indian black tea base, combined with Chinese Rose Congou black tea, highlighted by added violet fragrance and flavoring. All these flowers are meant to put us in a fantasy world, whether in the queen’s roses, or in the garden beside the tea party. There are lots of blossoms in the dry leaves, and the brewed cup smells as sweet as a blooming garden.
I enjoy the fragrance of this tea, but strong floral blends aren’t my personal favorite when it comes to taste. I found I enjoyed the tea more with a touch of milk and sugar, which helped mellow out the strong floral flavors and made the brew more like a flower-scented dessert.
This is a great tea to put you in a springtime mood, perhaps sipped while out-of-doors after a dreary winter. If you’re one for having fancy tea parties, this may also be a great choice, whether it fits your Alice in Wonderland theme, or just because it feels fancy and ladylike, and makes the flowers on your teacup smell like they are alive and fresh!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description:
A tea party plays a memorable role in Carroll’s most celebrated novel as the setting for Alice’s nonsensical meeting with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. “A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden” where, as the Mad Hatter told Alice earlier, “it’s always tea time.” To make our Lewis Carroll blend, we added our fragrant violet flavor to an Indian Black tea and Rose Congou tea, a China black that has been scented with rose petals during the drying process, to create a deep amber cup with an incomparable bouquet and a flavor that is absolutely heavenly.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Assam Tonganagaon from Simpson & Vail. . . .
While searching for some pretty unique yet powerful black teas – one MUST try the offerings of Simpson & Vail!
If you have been following the Sororitea Sisters for a while you probably aren’t a stranger to that company and for good reason…they have some pretty fantastic teas!
This time around I would like to share with you Simpson & Vail’s Organic Assam Tonganagaon. It’s not a tea that stayed in my tea stash for long – that is for sure! I sipped it up pretty quick – it’s just that good!
S&V state on their website that – In the northeastern state of Assam in India, along the Brahmaputra River grow the hearty, malty Assam teas. The heavy rainfall and hot, humid day time temperatures in this area create the perfect green house like environment for growth, as well as helping to create the unique taste found only in Assam teas. Their distinct flavor can be enjoyed “as is”; however, Assam teas are often used in conjunction with other teas to create numerous blends, specifically breakfast teas. This small estate is located in Northeast India near the Namdapha National Park, which is recognized as one of India’s richest areas of biodiversity.
I fully agree with their assessment that this is a delicious Assam! The medium-black, slightly tippy leaves brew to a medium amber cup with a delightful, well-bodied malty taste…just what I look for in an Assam!
Yet another WIN for S&V and for ME as I continue to sip!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description
In the northeastern state of Assam in India, along the Brahmaputra River grow the hearty, malty Assam teas. The heavy rainfall and hot, humid day time temperatures in this area create the perfect green house like environment for growth, as well as helping to create the unique taste found only in Assam teas. Their distinct flavor can be enjoyed “as is”; however, Assam teas are often used in conjunction with other teas to create numerous blends, specifically breakfast teas.
A delicious Assam! This small estate is located in Northeast India near the Namdapha National Park, which is recognized as one of India’s richest areas of biodiversity. The medium-black, slightly tippy leaves brew to a medium amber cup with a delightful, well-bodied malty taste.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Raspberry Rooibos from Simpson and Vail. . .
If I were going to name this tea, I’d name it “Lemon Lemon Lemon Raspberry Rooibos,” because the lemon is really the main feature here. It’s the spotlight-grabber. It’s the one that turns ALL the chairs around on The Voice.
It’s a very zesty lemon. Not fake or sugary. Like someone actually squeezed out a lemon into a bowl and allowed you to drink some. It’s the real deal. If you like lemon, welcome to the main attraction.
The raspberry is the slacker younger sibling. When it arrives in class, its teachers are like “we expect great things from you, just like your big sister Lemon!” But Raspberry always shows up to class late, in the aftertaste. And it’s a bit underwhelming. There’s nothing wrong with Raspberry; it’s just meek and doesn’t always turn in its homework. We don’t taste it all the time. To be fair, it never really had a chance against ALL THAT LEMON. Perhaps if it’d been born to a different tea, it would have been able to hold its own.
The rooibos adds a bit of sweetness to the ensemble. It’s behind the scenes.
If we’re going with this school metaphor — and I feel like I’ve committed to it by now — rooibos is the mom at home. Rooibos sends the children out with their lunches neatly packed. The influence of rooibos is there, very delicately. But it’s clearly the least of the influences, even behind poor Raspberry.
If you love lemon, and want to go to the Lemon Show, by golly, come on over. She loves all that attention.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
We have blended this “miracle tea” with black teas and herbs to create a wonderfully refreshing beverage. Enjoy hot or cold.
Ingredients: Black teas, Rooibos, organic lemon peel, organic raspberry leaves and natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
St Nick’s Tea from Simpson and Vail. . . .
This is one of my new acquisitions that I bought in a turkey stupor over Black Friday weekend. I bought a LOT of tea on Cyber Monday. Like, I’d be embarrassed if it, if I still had the capacity for that. But blowing money on my tea collection is part of my REPUTATION at this point. Gotta maintain my street cred.
I picked this one specifically because Christmas is coming. I have been assiduously avoiding “Santa Baby” like the plague, but I imagine it’s only a matter of time until I hear it. I’m having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year, so I thought maybe this would help.
RESULT: Nope, I’m still not bothering with a Christmas tree.
HOWEVER: this is a very tasty blend. It has a nice nut-chocolate vibe. It tastes like hot chocolate mixed with an oatmeal nut cookie. Its caffeine content content keeps him zingin’ along as he halts time and gives out —
ATTENTION: THIS IS THE INTERSTELLAR TIME-SPACE CONSORTIUM. YOU DID NOT HEAR THAT. SANTA IS DEFINITELY FICTIONAL AND DEFINITELY NOT A REAL LIVING TIME-TRAVELER WITH THE ABILITY TO STOP TIME. YOUR PARENTS MADE HIM UP. ALL GIFTS ARE BOUGHT FOR YOU BY YOUR PARENTS. LOOK INTO THIS LIGHT.
— Where was I?
This tea is very sweet in a healthy homemade cookie way. If you’re not sure if you can get the Christmas spirit going, try this. Even if you don’t wind up getting the tree, at least you had a tasty tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there….”
Add St. Nick’s Tea to your holiday wish list because this blend is Nutty & Nice! Black teas are enhanced with the flavors of chocolate and roasted nuts with a hint of maple. The tea brews to an amber cup with a smooth, nutty, slightly sweet taste. It’s the perfect blend to enjoy on winter nights while you’re sitting by the fire. A definite crowd pleaser!
Ingredients: Black teas, almonds, organic cacao nibs, vanilla beans, flavoring and orange blossoms. Contains Tree Nuts.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!