Tea All About It

It's tea time! Go out in your yard, pick some of those abundant yellow dandelions, boil some water, and sip. Oh well, wash the flowers off first.

No this is not an April Fools' Day prank. Dandelion tea is actually quite scrumptious and basically free! It reminds me of summer in a cup: warm, sweet, vibrant, and green. Apparently the flowers also contain Vitamin A and Vitamin B12, which are both good vitamins to have I suppose. You can make tea from other parts of this flower, but so far I have only tried the flowers. It sure does make for a pretty cup of tea.

Other types of tea that I have been drinking include Pomegranate, Pear, and Ginger, Earl Grey Bravo (extra bergamot), Dragon Well (totally unsure what's in this one but I think it's green), VitaWell (still unsure what's in this one), Lemongrass and Ginger (yum!), Yellow and Blue (chamomile), and good old English Breakfast. Most of my teas come from the local tea shop or Harney and Sons online. I drink mainly loose leaf and I try to let the tea leaves float as much as I can, but sometimes I do use a tea ball or some sort of contraption like that if I'm on the go.

Just recently I purchased a nifty little contraption called Mrs. Tea. Apparently the product's production was discontinued, but The Farmer's Daughter found it at a Goodwill for $5. Worth a try right?

This morning I enjoyed three cups of English Breakfast all by pushing one button. I think the thing I will like most about this is that I can prepare the machine the night before and then let the tea brew and steep while I get ready. It takes about 10 minutes to steep an entire pot. I was skeptical that it would not be as strong as I like since the water drips over the tea rather than the tea sitting in the water, but I didn't notice a difference. Another plus is that it's an easier mess to clean that tea leaves floating in a pot or crammed into a tea ball. Since it uses a filter, I just grab the paper filter and throw the whole bit away once I've used all the goodness in the tea leaves. I also really like the cute design although I do wish it wasn't entirely white (that may be changing soon). I will still probably do some tea by boiling water in my tea kettle and then steeping in a teapot or mug, but some mornings it will be nice to have the convenience of pushing a button just like all of those coffee drinkers have.

Cheers!