Mothers, Daughters, and Tea {A Best International Tea Tea Review}

My mother stopped over last Sunday with my niece, and my brother. She had some things to drop off and my brother had yet to see our house. Even though we’ve been here a year. He’s a busy guy. I made a hearty soup for lunch (potato leak with a little Lapsang added in for a smokey taste). After lunch and the tour my husband, brother, and niece took to the video games in the living room and my mother and I took to the kitchen.

She was good enough to paint my nails while we chatted. As we did I really wanted to try the tea I was sent from Best International Tea. I had a cold when it first arrived and wanted my sniffer and taste buds back to normal before I tried it. So I asked my mother if she wanted a cup. She likes tea, but it isn’t her go to drink of choice as it is for me or my grandmother (perhaps it skips a generation in our family). So I had her take a sniff of the English Breakfast Tea they sent. With her approval I got to making the tea and we continued chatting until the kettle boiled.

S. D. Bell’s Natural Leaf English Breakfast Tea

Sure it was mid afternoon, but I tend to drink English breakfast whenever I feel like. I added a little sugar and cream to both cups and we settled in for a chat while Mario Kart and giggles carried in from the living room. Schuyler was clearly having a ball not playing the game right.

Now my mother and I talk all the time. I kid you not we probably talk on the phone everyday. But there’s something about a kitchen and a nice cup of tea that brings out those great mother-daughter conversations. Most of it revolved around the family and catching up on grandma, as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins. But it ended with talks you can only have with your mother. Which is all I’ll say about that part of the afternoon.

Mmmm…

I did ask her what she thought of the tea. I knew what I thought. It was a great mix of Assam and Ceylon teas. Not too robust, but nice and mellow. Perfect for a morning cup or an afternoon cup like we were having.

To my surprise she really liked it. She said it was the perfect tea for the non-tea person or the casual drinker. Which made me smile because I find it difficult to find a tea my mother will like when she comes over and asks for a cup. But it seemed we had a winner!  Conversation continued as the afternoon turned to evening. All in all a wonderful afternoon spent with my mother that I hope to enjoy again very soon.

Now I had another tea from Best International Tea to try. This was the Darjeeling – TGFOP (high grade for those of you who don’t follow the alphabet soup at the end). I tried this one after breakfast this morning. I was not awake enough to make it with breakfast (eggs in a basket (toast)), so I enjoyed it after. The funny thing was I was expecting bagged tea based on the letter I received. But to my surprise when I opened the box this is what I saw…

Loose Tea!

This made me very happy, I still would have tried it even of it were bagged. But there’s just something about loose tea that is so much better!

This smelled fantastic. Light, and floral…I got down to making it as soon as possible. In the past Darjeeling teas were not a favorite of mine. But there have been some exceptions.

Once it was ready (I did add milk and sugar – I’ve always had this type of tea turn bitter quickly without it) I took a sip, and instantly tasted hints of a fruity and floral nature. In fact these notes came out even more as my cup cooled. For me it got better as it cooled. Not that it wasn’t good to start with. But for me the flavor just seemed to pop as the cup cooled. A really nice cup that I think could be enjoyed any time of day too.

Many thanks to Dara for getting in touch and sending me such generous samples of the teas to try. If you happened to be interested in trying out these teas you can only get them from Best International Tea as they have the exclusive selling rights to S. D. Bell Teas. In fact

Our black teas from the United Kingdom are rich in flavor and history. For over 125 years and four generations S.D. Bell of Belfast, Ireland has been blending exqusite black teas. The name S.D. Bell is synonymous with quality tea and is known as a worldwide leader in fine premium black teas. – BIT Website

That’s pretty impressive. To be honest I’d never heard of S. D. Bell until now, but that just means my tea education is lacking in the area of fine tea blenders abroad.

If you happen to be interested in purchasing either tea or the others they have to offer visit their website.

English Breakfast (125g tin) will cost you $13.50, it does come in other sizes.

Darjeeling – TGFOP (125g box ) will cost you $17.50.

A tad on the pricy side, but right now if you place an order and use coupon code WINTER15 you will receive 15% off your order.

Best International Tea also offers other varieties of loose and bagged tea, imported coffees, and chocolates! Give them a look and let me know if you try anything from them.