Sakura flower tea

This is the best non-cafein tea I've ever had: sakura flower tea. You can get it from Japanese super market, about $8 for a small bag like this:

Because there is a lot of salt used to preserve the flowers, I use a tea strainer to remove the salt first, then use water to clean it. I let water from tap run through the flowers for several seconds.

After lightly shaking the drainer, you can see how much salt was removed!

Then I use hot water (90 C degree) to  brew it. Watching the flowers blooming inside a transparent cup is every relaxing!

Summer tea

I think this way of making tea is very popular in Russia: mix sour cherry syrup with black tea. It's a perfect match for a heavy dinner.
I bought this jar of cherry and cherry syrup at a Russian store in LA downtown.

Tea for summer: Adagio from Lupicia

This non-caffein tea you can find at Mitsuwa Torrance. 

This is how I brew it

Special tea from Fook Ming Tong tea shop

This is a special tea box we bought at Hongkong airport: Dongshan pre qingming.

This time my husband use a traditional way in Asia to make tea.

The tea leaves are so different to the ones  you can find in normal supermarket.

Taiwanese ginger tea

It's so cold recently. Since I came here, this is the coldest winter in Irvine. Just feel too headache because of the freeze wind outside, I need 1 cup of ginger tea to warm up. This is very special ginger tea from Taiwan (Taiwan sugar corporation), it's different to all the ginger tea I bought in America (from Asian market).

Japanese herbal tea

Yesterday, we found this tea in Mitsuwa, Costa Mesa. It is a very simple tea combination but very suitable for a humid and cold day like recent weather in Irvine.

They combine 6 kinds of teas and herb in a big tea bag: barley, oolong, soybeanm cordata, chapanpsao, and cassiatorea. It is suggested to brew with 600 ml of broil water, but I use more than that, I think 1 1000ml. The flavor and color of the tea is still very great! At least this tea has less caffeine than the original oolong tea or back tea, you can drink it at night.

I use the glass tea pot from Ikea, it can hold up to 1000 ml of water.

And this is the color of a cup of tea

Tea time with Rooibos tea

Rooibos tea is nice with no caffeine! The one I bought from Lupicia still smells good after months.

Afternoon tea with lette macaron

 It's 83 degree outside with a little bit windy outside my window. Just want to enjoin a cup of black tea - Darjeeling -  with some lette macarons. This is the most macaron brand I like in USA, not so sweet, not so hard or soft.

These tea leaves were blended and packed in England for Taylors of Harrogate, all the flavor will come out if you use a right temperature. It's so simple with the kettle for Breville. Just fill water and use black tea setting, you will have a very awesome afternoon tea time.

See how beautiful the color of tea is!

Green tea

Let's brew a cup of Japanese green tea in such a hot afternoon. Don't use broiled water, just 175 degree is the best. Here I use Variable Temperature Kettle from Breville. Simply, just use the green tea set up...

RE-USE jar for preserving tea

It so simple to have a nice tea in labor day. This time I brew herbal tea: Piccolo (Rooibos tea scented with honey, apricot and sweet berries) from LUPICIA, without caffeine: 

Buying loose tea is much cheaper than tea bags. With 50gram tea, I can brew it for at least 20 times (compared with 10 tea bags for the same price $7.5), each time for 2 cups.

1. Put one tea spoon in a small glass bottle 

2. Use hot water (French press level)

3. Add 2 tea spoons sugar (prefer brown/can sugar) or one spoon honey when it becomes cooler (don't add honey to hot water)

3. When the bottle gets cool, put it to refrigerator for an hour, or out ice to tea for a faster solution

 The tea bottle I use to brew tea is a recycled one. It was used for juice before I use it. I also use a jar (for brown sugar), after cleaning and drying, for tea. Just cut the tea bag and stick outside the jar, you will have a nice tea jar~~~~