This is the second of the promised tea posts. It is about my recently developed infatuation for Pukka teas.
Look at all the pretty boxes in my cupboard! (There are some more hiding behind these)
I have previously mentioned that I drink a lot of tea. Whatever the question is, the answer is normally tea, and if tea doesn't actually solve the problem it will at least be mitigated by the presence of a steaming hot cup. Tea is for when you wake up, when you go to bed and pretty much all other points of the day - well aside from the couple of points where water might be required and the evening bit where wine can be drunk. Tea is calming or wakening, comforting or social, its sort of whatever you need it to be.
I do occasionally wonder whether I drink too much tea. I remember having a conversation with a student a few years ago where he told me he was cutting back because he was drinking three cups a day - I laughed, it was just before nine and I was at that point wondering whether I could dash to the staff room to make cup four before period one started.
I also occasionally try drinking different sorts of tea - but it never really sticks. Still, a couple of month ago, I thought I'd make another attempt. I was starting to get afternoon headaches and I thought it was worth investigating the possibility that it had something to do with chain of cups passing across my desk. With this is mind I stood in the tea aisle of Tesco looking for something Green and the pretty Pukka boxes lured me in and their Lean Green Matcha matcha made it into the trolley.
I made a cup as soon as I got home and drank it as I put the shopping away, it was really nice, slightly spicy, but refreshing and not at all how I remembered Green tea tasting from the last time I tried it. The following week I bought the mixed selection of Green Teas and the week after the herbal selection and I haven't really looked back. I still drink a lot of tea, but it seems like I think about it a bit more rather than mindlessly making another cup. Have I become a mindful consumer of tea? No, that's clearly a ridiculous statement, but I'm definitely less mindless!
These are my current favourites. They are really, really nice. The lemon and ginger is great mid afternoon to ward off a headache, I love the soothing coolness of the mint matcha green and both the relax and night time are great when winding down. I am currently drinking a nice cup of three mint after having my parents round for Sunday dinner (yes, it is Saturday, but I'm not sure how much that matters) and it was the drink that said 'me' when I looked in the cupboard.
Some other reasons to like Pukka teas are: they're all organic and they positively support the environment; all their packaging is biodegradable and they use vegetable dyes to make their really pretty boxes. The boxes are probably another reason to get the nice tea - the boxes are really pretty. It is entirely possible that the prettiness of the packaging makes the tea taste nicer.
And now I'm off to bed to read a NEW book as I've finally finished the Of Human Bondage, its Saturday evening and clearly time to relax.