Quote of the Day- "Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea".

Picture- Teas on sale in Istanbul, (c) Jo Rooke, 2010-2011, all rights reserved. Reproduced here with permission.

Hi. Welcome to The Tea Fiend. I haven't written any tea reviews for a few days, but I'm working on one. In the meantime, please take a look around while you are here- if you scroll down, there's a review of black teas and another of warming winter teas and gifts.

Quote of the day today is-

"Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea." -Author Unknown

Many thanks to the tea garden for today's quote and Jo Rooke for the picture.

A Nice Tea Book and a Sit Down

There is probably nothing as quintessentially British as having "A nice cup of tea and a Sit Down", it's one of life's great pleasures- a thing of beauty, even. So it's perhaps not surprising that someone has now written a book on the subject-
Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down

That "someone" is, in fact, two people- a husband and wife team credited as "nicey" and "wifey" in the book and there book is- frankly-awesome: quirkily brilliant. It is a light and entertaining read, you can dip into it at any point...the problem is putting it down again.

There's an odd and skilful blend of informative content, gentle good humour and wit and a strangely infectious enthusiasm for the book's subject- cups of tea and the biscuits that go with them. Biscuits from an impressively international selection, too.

Check out the softback version on amazon uk here-
Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down

or the hardback here-
Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down

Best Fruit and SpiceTeas for Winter

There's nothing nicer than a hot cup of tea to keep the Winter chills at bay and there are some really great fruit teas on the market at the moment- here's a selection of some of the best-

1) Spicer Winter Red Tea* by Teapigs is a mixture of orange, cloves and cinnamon on a red tea base. You can buy it for £3.49 online
here- Spicer Winter Red Tea by Teapigs 15 Tea Temples

2) I was somewhat surprised to learn that the only nation to drink more tea than the British is the Turkish.... (you can find a table of tea-consumption by nation on wikipedia)- that said, it is not hard to see the appeal of teas like Hazer Baba's Turkish Pomegranite tea*, which is recommended for both hot and cold drinking-
take a look-
here - Hazer Baba Turkish Pomegranate Tea Box 250g

3) Yogi Tea is a brand somewhat known for its yellow and ginger tea*- (on sale online here-
Yogi Tea Ginger Lemon Herbal 15 Bags (Pack of 8))

4) But Yogi Tea also do an interesting "Sweet Chilli" tea*- an infusion of chocolate, spices and chilli pepper which is described as an "Ayurvedic spice blend" (with no black tea). You can 8 boxes (of 15 bags each) for around £15 here-
Yogi Tea Sweet Chilli 15 Bags (Pack of 8)

5) A fairly obscure brand- Celestial Seasonings- do a sample pack of 20 mixed fruit "teas*" (tissanes*) for £4.30, although The TeaFiend has not yet had time to review it- in any case, you can check it out for yourself here- Celestial Seasonings Celest Fruit Tea Sampler-Package Of 20

6) Finally, London Tea make several appealing teas- there's their
"Blackcurrent, Raspberry and Cinamon" "tea*" (tissane*), which comes in a neat cylindrical tin- take a look here-
London Tea Blackcurrent Raspberry & Cinnamon - 30g Tin

and their "Roobos, Nutmeg and Vanilla" "tea*", which you can see here-London Tea Rooibos Nutmeg Vanilla - 30g Tin

* Please note that these products do not contain "tea" (i.e. leaves of the tea plant, Camelia sinensis)- they could be described as "tissanes", rather than true "teas". If you like your fruit teas with true "tea", you should probably take a look at something like
Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose loose leaf tea (green tea with cherry)here- Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose Luxury Loose Leaf Tea 100g

or Simpli Special Tea's "Mulled Spice Winter Warmer" "Mulled Spice Winter Warmer" (loose leaf black tea with Cinnamon pieces, Natural dried Jasmine buds, Cloves and Natural flavourings.)here- Mulled Spice Winter Warmer Loose Leaf Tea 100g

The 10 greatest- All-time Classic black teas?

According to Wikipedia, the average British person consumes 2kg (7oz) of tea per year- in other words over 120kg over a life time (the average man weighs around 70kg). Since there are around 60 million people in the UK, this all adds up to a lot of tea....

Whilst each and every one of those 60 million people has his or her own favourite brand, 10 black teas are consistently popular- as gifts, as a treat or for everyday drinking. Always a good starting point for a tea-gift list, here they are- the Teafiend definitive list of the "greatest all-time classic black teas"-

10) Lapsang Souchong
A very distinctive smoked black tea from the Fujian region of China, "Lapsang souchang" literally means "Small variety from mountain Lap". The leaves are traditionally smoke-dried over pinewood fires, giving the tea a powerful and unique taste- people either love it or they hate it-
you can buy lapsang souchang online here-

Lapsang Souchong Tea


9) Assam
Named after its place of origin, this North East Indian tea is mostly grown at or near sea level and is known for its "body, briskness, malty flavor, and strong, bright color". It is made from the assamica variety of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and is popular with milk. It has a fairly high caffeine content so is often sold as a Breakfast tea.

Check out loose-leaf Assam
here- Assam Tea

8) Oolong
This Chinese tea is partly oxidized, which means that it is strictly part way between being a green tea (unoxidized) and a black (oxidized)tea- in fact, the Chinese describe it as a "blue-green tea". For consumers, this means it has a softer flavour than a lot of true black teas. The name Oolong comes from the Chinese "O·-liông tê"- "black dragon tea". It comes in quite a number of different types and is also grown in Taiwan.

If you like the sound of Oolong, you might also want to check out this impressive gift set from Amazon, complete with tea cups, pot and green and oolong tea-
Gift Set - Tea set black red plum blossom Green & Oolong teas

Once of our Sponsors- "Tea from Taiwan" also does a range of Oolongs- you can take a look at those here- Oolong Tea


7) English Breakfast
This is a slightly vague name- English Breakfast is generally a blend of Assam, Ceylon and Kenyan teas with the exact combination depending upon the brand. It has a fairly high caffiene content compared with other teas and a fairly strong taste, often with some bitter flavours, making it popular with milk and sugar. A very popular tea.
You can buy loose-leaf English breakfast tea here- English Breakfast Tea

6) Irish Breakfast

Similar to English Breakfast tea, Irish Breakfast usually contains more Assam tea and has a slightly softer and less bitter flavour than English Breakfast. Again, a mix with a fairly high caffeine content. You can buy it online here- Irish Breakfast Luxury Loose Leaf Tea 100g

5) Lady Grey
"Lady Grey" is a trade marked tea produced by Twinings, however, very simliar teas (usually described as "Afternoon Earl- Grey" or similar) are manufactured by a number of companies. It is a perfumed black tea, scented with oil of bergamot, lemon peel and orange peel. The Twinings variety also contains cornflower petals, which have a warm but slightly bitter flavour to them. Overall, this is a gentle, fruity tea with a pleasing perfume. It is soft enough to be drunk without milk, even when prepared strongly. Like Earl Grey, it is designed as an afternoon tea and has a lower caffeine content than the breakfast teas. Highly recommended

Twining's Lady Grey is onsale here-
Twinings Lady Grey Tea Bags 50 125g

4) Lord Grey

Again, a trade-marked tea variety- Lord Grey is produced by Wissotzky and sold widely in supermarkets in Israel. It is a variant on Lady grey with lime, lemon and bergamot flavouring. Internationally, for reasons I really don't undertand, this tea is a little more difficult to acquire; however, amazon have it onsale here-
Wissotzky Lord Grey Tea / Box Of 25 Bags


3) Prince of Wales

This is a mild afternoon tea, originally developped for King Edward VIII, when he was the Prince of Wales. It contains a mixture of Chinese teas -traditionally from the Anhui province - and now from Yunnan province and other southern regions of China. This tea is perhaps less popular than it deserves to be and really comes into its own when used to prepare iced tea: I have never found a better variety of tea to use for making iced tea.



2) Darjeeling
Named after the mountainous region of North East India where it is grown (in the state of West Bengal)- this tea has traditionally been very highly prized by the British. It has a fairly light colour, a slightly floral flavour. It is often made from the small-leaved Chinese "sinensis" variety of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) rather than the larger-leaved variety used for Assam. Darjeeling is also often incompletely oxidized- much like Oolong -which is part of the reason for its softer flavour.

One of our sponsors- Adagio teas does both Spring and Summer Darjeeling teas- You can get their
"Summer Darjeeling"online here-

Summer Darjeeling Tea
check out their
"Spring Darjeeling" here-

Spring Darjeeling Tea

If you prefer your tea in sachets/bags, Harney and Sons does a box of 20-individually wrapped gourmet Darjeeling sachets- for details click- here - Harney & Sons Darjeeling, Box of 20 Wrapped Sachets


1) Earl Grey
A famous and hugely popular black tea flavoured with oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange. Generally drunk with lemon rather than milk. A tea that thoroughly deserves its enormous popularity.

Single Earl grey gift boxes are onsale here-
Twinings Tea Bags Earl Grey Fine High Quality Aromatic Ref A00801 [Pack 100]

3-packs of Earl grey with Darjeeling and English Breakfast are onsale here-
Premier's Tea Gift Set - Darjeeling - English Breakfast - Earl Grey