Tag Archives: New Orleans

Decaf Spice

Louisiana, Maryland, Tea 5 Comments

DecafWithAlmonds

How did I get to this beautiful image you see above?

The Spice & Tea Exchange has been bringing it with their teas.

This will be another in the long line of positive posts.   There’s been so many great teas that have come into my life, the bad ones have been few and far between. So another mixed-to-bad review will have to wait.

Nevertheless, their Decaf Earl Grey was effortless to drink and immensely fun to prepare.

I haven’t done a lot of decaffeinated teas for my blog, if any, so I felt the time was right.  I’m not sure if it’s the tea, my state of mind, or the weather slowly turning cooler, but I am a bit tired.  It’s more of a relaxed feeling.  I’m more focused than usual.

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The tea smelled so natural.  The ingredients are shown to you here.  The aroma of the tea leaves and orange peels permeated throughout, as soon as I opened the package.  I will admit, I cheated before and already knew how it smelled when this was given to me as a birthday gift.   The initial Spice & Tea post can be found here.

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The Tovolo Tea Infuser also makes its long-awaited return!  I’m in love with this thing.  As it gets cooler I’ll be prepping more loose teas, so you’ll be seeing more of one of my favorite gadgets!

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What I love about the infuser is you get enough time to see the color literally evolve from beginning to end.  And I have enough time to see this in front of my eyes.  It may only be a matter of moments but the way the beauteous color of this tea is manifested is a sight to behold.   And I want everyone to see it as well, hence the clear glass.

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I savored every sip with a small plate of almonds.  And the sips were savory.

Like I was saying, this tea was a gift from dear friends of mine, from the Ocean City, MD store.  I have been to OC  few times this summer, but the store was never open when I was in the area.  Maybe the timing was not right.  But I hope to check the shop out soon.  Yes we’re still technically in the Summer!

Where was shop alluded me, another did not.  I had the honor of privilege to visit New Orleans a couple of months ago, and maybe it was fate, but I got to visit their NOLA store!  The staff member there was kind of enough to ask me any questions while realizing I was acting like a complete tourist.   I literally stumbled upon this store while walking around the French Quarter.

And in touristy fashion, there will be plenty of photos for your viewing pleasure.

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There will plenty of posts to come from this great company!  And I will continue so next week…

Thanks so much.

Best,

Ideen

Enjoying the View

New Orleans, Tea 3 Comments

I visited New Orleans recently and of course I’m going to seek out places to drink tea.  Now if you’re reading this, and you live in this beautiful city, or have visited, you may think there’s some obvious choices.   Well I’m not always about the obvious.

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After a gorgeous day of sightseeing and wandering, I come upon a charming coffee shop, Pulp & Grind.    How I ended up in the Warehouse District, I don’t know.  But that’s the fun of visiting a city with little to no planning.  I discovered a gem of a spot.

Of course I was in the mood for tea.  There’s never a bad time for a cup.  And it was a bit humid out, so a little refresher was in order.

Since I’d never been there before, I took a little more time perusing their menu items on the big board.  I’ve had Wheatgrass shots before and getting one here was the perfect way to rejuvenate me and get my day doing again.  I wish I had taken a picture.

In researching their shop, I see they’ve only been open a few months.   They had some fruit and pastries on display, but I didn’t have the biggest appetite.

I was in New Orleans and all I’ve been doing is eating some amazing dishes.  So all I could take was a piece of small chocolate at the register with my cup.

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So I got the White Jasmine.  I’m going to believe it’s either a tea that is sent to them or from some magical place.  Well I’d really like to believe the latter.   The city itself is magical and full of a unique energy I have never felt before.

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The tea was just fine.  It wasn’t anything special or blew me away.  But for where I was, I didn’t care.  I sat and enjoyed my snack and hot cup, and enjoyed the view outside.  I wasn’t in the touristy part, near Bourbon or Frenchmen Street.  That would take place before and after this tea break.     But aside from these few photos, I just sat and admired the scenery for at least a good 30 minutes.

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The tea soothed me, the view outside soothed me, and  being in a vibrant and amazing city soothed me.

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I will add the staff and locals inside were very nice, all smiled, and said hello.  It’s not something I’m used to.  I’m usually very friendly but it’s not always reciprocated.   A friendly response make everything look, taste, smell, and feel better.

And I felt so good.

All The Best,

Ideen