An Introduction To My Favorite Tea

Tea "Connoisseur"

I'm a self proclaimed tea connoisseur but I was raised  drinking one type of tea - black tea. There are many types of black tea but generally speaking the tea my family bought was a mix of early grey and Ceylon leaves. One goal of my blog is to try new teas and let my readers know what I think...I have some exciting teas lined up :)

Tonight's tea (pictured below)  has a rich mahogany color and an incredible fragrance. A fragrance that is entirely hard to explain but when I smell it, I feel instant happiness. To me, it almost has a woodsy smell, very solid and strong. 

Loose Leaf Only

I'm pro- loose leaf and anti - tea bags. Unless you are in an absolute rush I wouldn't ever want to resort to tea bags. The leaves are so flavorful and deserve to be brewed, not crushed and bagged! Check out a picture of the tea I drank tonight. I buy this from Yekta, a local Iranian super market to my area but if you don't have a store near you online is always an option! Here are some links below to some of the teas I have enjoyed over the years.

1. "Best Tea" - This brand name always makes me chuckle but also warms my belly the BEST. This is the brand my mother & I have been stuck on for a while!

2. Top Tea - Woah, are these teas full of themselves or what?! This is my second favorite. Although I like best tea's flavor slightly better, this tea has the best fragrance I have ever experienced

3. Sadaf Special Blend- This is one of the more popular brands of tea and it is good but doesn't measure up to the previous teas, in my humble tea connoisseur opinion :)

If you live in Maryland, check out Yekta market on Rockville pike! 

* The Best Cookies *

Pecans & Mini Chocolate Chips & Egg less, edible batter

Are you looking for a simple cookie recipe? This is my personal favorite. These are technically pecan sandies with chocolate chips but are much softer as opposed to the classic shortbread consistency of pecan sandies! Below is the recipe I used which I adopted from here

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Basically you add all these ingredients together and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes but I have a few suggestions.

1. Cream the sugar first because it makes for a more even tasting cookie 
2. One cup of pecans & one cup of mini chocolate chips is an estimate. I usually pour some, mix it in and keep pouring until I think the batter is pecan and chocolate chip filled 
3. TASTE THE BATTER! There are no eggs and therefore no risk! 

P.s. When I made this batch I tried a sprinkle of cinnamon in the batter and if you're into that I would suggest it, great hint of flavor!

How do you like to drink your tea?

Believe it or not tea can be enjoyed in many ways. Cultures from around the world brew and drink tea in different styles. Here is how I enjoyed my tea this morning and how I do most mornings! Comment below about how you like to prepare and drink yours!

Glass. 

Drinking tea out of glass is one of the most important differences in how I enjoy tea best and how you usually see it marketed. Call me crazy but I can actually taste the difference when I drink tea out of a mug versus out of a tea glass. Growing up with an Iranian family exposed me to the tea glass and that's what I've stuck with. Don't get me wrong, around Christmas time I enjoy using my santa and penguin mugs to get into the holiday spirit but glass is always #1 for me. The main effect on the taste is the thickness of what you're drinking out of. A thick rimmed mug leaves little transference of flavor while glass or a thin bone china mug allow the flavor to be released. If you study how cultures from around the world drink tea, most use glass or bone china! 

My mom & sister gifted me my tea glasses but you can find them online anywhere! check out these that have a similar shape to the one in my picture: Tea Glasses on Amazon

Honey.

Bless you bees! I'm not sure what I would do without this sweet nectar  you create for my tea! SAVE THE BEES. The way I was raised to sweeten tea was with sugar cubes, my friends used to often wonder why I had so many sugar cubes. Are you doing some kind of science project?? Nope, just making my tea super sweet! So you take a sugar cube and hold it in your mouth, as you drink the tea the hot liquid softens the sugar and each sip becomes sweet. It's quite effective! As I've grown older and tried to be healthier I have shifted towards honey. Although honey is still very sweet I feel better about putting that in my body versus lots of sugar cubes. Honey definitely has a different taste with the tea versus pure sugar but it is one I have grown to love.  Honey is expensive and I would suggest buying in bulk but if you want to treat yourself check out the link below with my personal favorite brand!