september tea thoughts

With September, and sadly autumn already, upon us here in the northern hemisphere, I will at least drink my tea in style during these dark months to come. It has been a summer of tea purchasing and many new, lovely flavours experienced (and I haven't even tasted them all yet).

I am also a sucker for a pretty tin - old or new - so when it says special tea so-so I always think it's a neat little souvenir. Always.

The two tins above M brought home from his last business trip to China in April. He had a fine time attending a tea-ceremony sampling teas at a tea-house (oh my green envy) and bought these two tins. Both are supposedly fruit teas, I've only had one of them. As is visible it's very pretty too look at and yes it tasted lovely too, however I can deal with the fact that not every tea goes well with milk (it curdled) but I'm rather put-off by tea (or any beverage) that is overly or pre-sweetened. In this case it might be the raisins in the tea. But still, perhaps not the best of ideas.

:: The tea from legendary Berlin department store KaDeWe came in a pretty tin - I have an old one in green ceramics from ten years ago, the earl grey tea in the tin back then wasn't praise-worthy though - I am however very much not a fan or rooibos tea. So I got it for the tin, but the raspberry-vanilla rooibos inside doesn't smell half bad so maybe it will actually be drinkable.

:: Löv organic is strangely enough a French brand (as far as I can figure out from their website) though the word "löv" means "leaf" in Scandinavia (even if we spell it differently in respective country, it is the same word) and they claim to have been inspired by Scandinavian life with this tea and its packaging. Be as that may, the packaging - bright, colourful tins with different flavorus of organic teas - are extremely pleasing to the eye (and heart) and the red fruit tea with raspberry and strawberry I bought tastes fantastic.

Not available in the Stockholm parts of Sweden as yet, if the website information is correct, but their webshop is about to open soon.

:: Not a fan of Starbucks coffee - but I love their free wi-fi, when it works... - but I quite enjoy their fresh, un-sweetened, natural ice-teas on a warm summer day. That said, I got this Earl Grey tea for the tin's sake... Haven't tried it yet, Earl Grey rarely excites me, but I think it might be good for making ice-teas and such.

:: When on Åland - exactly a month ago now, on my last day of holiday, before my month of August crumbled - I found this liquorice tea from Finnish Forsman Tea. I've had a few others of their teas years ago, but they never really appealed to me. I'm not a fan of liquorice either. But, I just couldn't resist the almost tangible scent wafting from this bag. And I have to say, it has been one of the loveliest teas I've ever had. Deep and rich in liquorice flavour, pretty amazing. And soon the bag is empty already, alas.

:: Another Finnish tea brand, that I've had as a big favourite for years now and always get M to buy when he's in Finland on business, is tea bags from Nordqvist. My favourite flavour is Faithful Friend - and not only because it's cat paws on the bag - and Cheery Rainy Day, but most of their flavours are great. Plus, needless to say, I adore their colourful, perky packaging.

Again, not a fan of rooibos, but as I enjoy most of Nordqvist's flavours I thought they might possibly created something drinkable with this. My verdict is - drinkable, but certainly not something I will be buying again. Black and green teas are my cup of teas. But heart to the pretty bags.

:: I will also be enjoying some more cups of the polka tea, there's still some left in the bag.

:: And I did get myself another bag of the chocolate tea from Malmö Chokladfabrik - not only will it arrive in the mailbox of a lucky winner soon, I will get to have a few comfort cups of it myself during the months to come, hooray!

:: Kobbs is an old Swedish tea brand, they sell some lovely teas, but admittedly I don't buy them very often. When I stumbled over an organic elderflower tea of theirs in Denmark (their factory is situated there) I got it though. Elderflower is, for some reason, so very Danish to me. It will be nice to have a cup of warming "Elderflower harmony" and think of Copenhagen this winter.

:: The organic forrest fruits tea bags from Danish Fredsted have been a very nice breakfast tea, though perhaps the flavour is tad too black-currant-tasting for my personal preference.

:: Olof Viktors bakery and café in Glemminge, southern Sweden, seems to be a place people rave about. We visited there this summer and I can safely say we won't be returning. Crowded, screaming children running around, an appaling lack of vegetarian options and very much lacking the cosy, welcoming feel one would have expected with that house and surroundings. I had a nice chocolate cake, but neither the food nor the bread were worth a praise. So imho, or rather in our opinion, very much overrated and not really worth a visit.

Bought three food things there though, one of them a white tea with coconut, pomegranate, cornflower and sunflower etc. Sounds exotic and intriguing, but I have yet to open the bag. I think I will save the opening date until I've finished some of the above teas. I hope it will be much nicer than the other things offered at the café...

:: That I didn't get to take more of TeaGschwendner's lovely ice-teas with me home from Berlin - so not checked off the Berlin-to-do-list - is still something I feel a bit sad about... Thus I will save this 'bottle' for a special occasion.

:: Last, but certainly not flavour least, when in Dalarna for the Bryan Ferry concert at Dalhalla, I found this special blend called Dalhalla tea. The bobbaloos, who are also very proud of their shopping skills, insisted I'd get a bag of it. As I'm very fond of rhubarb and cream tea I concurred. It's a rhubarb, strawberry and cream green tea and oh my, it tastes like a dream. It makes for a heavenly cup of tea, with or without milk. I am glad I heard the bobbaloos' voices that told me to get it.

Sidenote: Overall, one should probably listen more to the bobbaloos. They seem to have the perfect attitude towards life and harbouring a surprising amount of wisdom in their little woolly miniscule beings.

~

So what tea will you be drinking this autumn?