My favourite teas.

I was arranging my tea stash and realized I hadn't been drinking several of them for ages. One thing lead to another and as you can see I ended up drinking quite a LOT of tea, of course photographing it as I went and noting to myself some things about each tea type, why I liked it and so forth. So here you go - my favourite teas (of the ones I currently have in my stash, if you think I've gushed about a tea that's not here it's entirely possible that I've finished it already)(I'm a tea fiend)!

Japanese green tea with Matcha powder mixed in 

This is my typical go-to tea if I have it because I seriously love the cloudiness of the taste that the powder creates. It's also one of the most beautiful colours for tea that I know, definitely my favourite of all the ones on the list although I'll readily admit tea of almost any colour has its own charming beauty.

Has a very distinct flavour and mouth feel due to the "powderiness". Very charming and energizing tea, goes well with almost any food and situation.

Keisari (= Emperor) black tea mix

First of all I'll have to confess I rarely buy tea mixes and that I don't generally enjoy them as much as plain types. Keisari is an exception to this rule, it's fun and playful and the scent reminds me of my teenage years.

Several black tea mixes titled Keisari-something (Emperor's Bride, Emperor's Cup) are sold in Finland and they're all very similar, it's like there's a type of black tea mix that shares that first name Keisari. Whether or not this is true one thing is definite: my love for tea began at my teenage years and was caused by these Keisari-tea mixes. A very nostalgic tea for me.

Ylliblómate

This is an Icelandic herb tea and far as I'm aware it indeed is only made of herbs. It takes a long time to brew - longer even than the 5min marked on the bag - but the time spent waiting is well worth it. A very distinctive flavour of flowers and excellent scent.

Gyokuro Tokiwa

Here's the prissy little princess of my tea collection. Very specific about correct water temperature and a short brewing time (you can't leave the pot for a second alone, that's how exact it is), yet has one of the most charming flavours when correctly done, almost like it had natural sweetness. This is a bit of a specialty for me and usually I'd only drink it for celebrating something but it could not be left out of my favourites list.

English Breakfast

Lots of teas seem to go by this name but this one actually tastes like English tea. It reminds me of everything good about England, although I know I tend to complain about Birmingham a lot I did have some great moments there as well. One of them was getting used to drinking tea instead of coffee. I can't say it was easy for me at first and it did also cause me my first massive culture shock but hey English teas are actually really, really good! Even cheap kinds are easily better than some expensive types you can find in Finland.

...and of course this is how I like it best. English tea is special also in that milk compliments it well, something that I learned at the student housing when someone would make tea and ignore my request of not wanting milk in mine - happened a lot and because I never made any note of it and drank my tea with milk it just became the way my tea was made. :D I learned to actually like it a lot! Excellent morning tea just like the name suggests, at its best on light, early summer mornings.

Milk Oolong

Another go-to tea for almost any situation, although never with food or snacks because I love the flavour as it is. It has this soft, milk-like touch to it that's really unique among the teas I have. Another positive part of it is that the leaves can be brewed several times, each brewing yielding a slightly different outcome!

Genmaicha

Ok I cheated! My apologies but this is actually cold tea. It's the kind of genmaicha that comes in a bag (it does of course exist as "normal" tea as well), you fill a bottle with water, dunk the bag in, close cap and soon you'll have a bottle full of tea. Genmaicha has roasted rice mixed with the tea which give it its taste - difficult to explain but seriously yummy. My favourite tea whenever visiting Japan during the hot seasons.

Icelandic chamomile tea

This is another herbal tea (Icelanders do herbal teas really well but that's possibly not surprising knowing the long history that herbal teas have here): nothing but chamomile flowers! Much better than any Finnish chamomile tea I've had. Also much stronger flavour and scent plus natural chamomile-sweetness, my mother who hates chamomile tea would probably not stay in the same room with a cup of it. :D

Jasmine tea

A tea mix with jasmine flowers included, a typical tea type you most likely know well already. Best tea for the cold season, excellent choice for all kinds of desserts such as cakes, pastries and cookies. Another tea that links strongly to my teenage years, my mother always had jasmine tea but I never showed any interest to it until I first got myself firmly hooked on the Keisari-teas. A stable part of my tea stashes always, everywhere, cannot have a proper tea stash without it.

***

I know there are several tea lovers among you guys - I don't make a habit of including a question at the end of my blog posts but now I'm genuinely curious: what are your favourite teas? Anything you'd like to recommend me?