Show & Tell: Tea

Sparkling's last theme is tea (thanks for great topics!!).

I love tea! I drink several cups a day! My routine is tea in the morning, then coffee when I get to work, a cup of tea at 11ish, coffee after lunch and then tea in the afternoon around 3-4pm. Then a cup of tea again before bedtime. Sometimes I drink coffee after dinner but then only decaf unless it's the weekend. I don't worry about the caffeine in tea though because black tea has thirty times less caffeine than coffee (and red and green tea even less). I always drink black and red tea (and white) with milk but never take milk in green tea or infusions.

My absolute favourite tea is called Sir Williams. We always get ours at Sibyllan's tea shop in Sibyllegatan in Stockholm, but you can buy it under the name Mittens rike at Kahl's tea shops as well. It has a slightly smoky taste*, bergamot, hibiscus and a hint of jasmine. It contains seven different Chinese teas, e.g. Earl Grey, Jasmine, Lapsang and green tea.

Sir William's looks like this when you buy it from Sibyllan (image borrowed from Snor & Glamour - great name for a blog by the way!

Another favourite of mine, which I buy from the same tea shop is Earl Grey Cream, an Earl Grey tea flavoured with vanilla and bergamot. There's a Lady Grey Cream too but it's a bit too flowery and sweet for me (the combination taste sweeter somehow).



Another favourite is Rooibos tea. But it has to be plain Rooibos, not flavoured ones that unfortunately seems to be the only versions Swedish cafés serve. Very few Swedish tea brands (or teas sold in Sweden) do Rooibos well so I try to buy mine in the UK. But the kind my South African friend, living in the UK, brings from her home is the best!

In terms of tea in general, I like most teas unless they are too sweet or too fruity. It feels wrong for me to throw out tea I don't like that much. Unless it's awful I will drink it eventually, or bring it to work since others may like it (except the Brits I work with are like most British tea drinkers; they don't have a very sophisticated tea taste buds so prefer English Breakfast or PG Tips type tea**).

An early tea memory is drinking tea at my (maternal) grandmother's who was the one that introduced milk in my tea (if I remember correctly) and dunking cookies :) Another tea memory is having tea with my other (paternal) grandmother while watching House of Eliott on TV every Monday (think it was Mondays?). She usually had hers with lemon while I stuck to milk. Good memories to have now when one is no longer with us and the mind of the other is not so with it anymore.

Show & Tell themes for February coming later today!!


* But not that smoky cause I don't like smoky teas such as pure Lapsang
** A funny story about the difference between Swedish and British tea drinkers: In my work I often accompany British delegations on visits to Sweden. They often gets a searching look in their eye when going through the selection of teas at a Swedish meeting or a Swedish café. They are quick to ask "don't you have any normal tea?". "Of course", says the Swedish meeting host or the Swedish waitress, "here you go", and presents some Earl Grey tea bags. "No, regular tea", the Brit replies, because Earl Grey, whilst being the default tea in Sweden, is considered fancy in the UK. A little example of culture clash :)