Tea of the Day – Kusmi Tea

Today at breakfast I was offered a selection box of different teas to sample. I chose an orange packet called Euphoria by a company called Kusmi Tea.

Kusmi tea have been making tea for over 140 years but I’ve only discovered them today!

A very subtle Orange and Chocolate tasting tea.
A very subtle Orange and Chocolate tasting tea.

Euphoria is a wellness tea and the flavor was very light but interesting.

It was a tasty blend of roasted maté, chocolate and orange. Euphoria is the perfect drink for a wellness-inspired teatime, but it can work at any time of the day except for maybe just before bed as it does contain caffeine.

Chocolate lovers can now indulge without feeling guilty.

The Orange and Chocolate flavor was blended with Roasted Maté.

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World Water Day 2015

The earth is a closed system, similar to a terrarium, meaning that it rarely loses or gains extra matter. The same water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today.
The earth is a closed system, similar to a terrarium, meaning that it rarely loses or gains extra matter. The same water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today.

World Water Day is an annual celebration whereby each year it highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. This year’s event falls on March 22nd 2015 so mark it in your diary.

How I personally drink water has changed over the years. Growing up in the 70s/80s I don’t think I ever saw the classic plastic bottle of water you can readily pick up at every store today. We used to just fill our glass from the tap and we were ready to go. I remember taking drinks to school in my beaker, with probably a dash of Robinsons Barley Water added for interest but that was it. I don’t remember thinking that the water tasted of chlorine or smelt strange but as I’ve grown older I began falling into the trap of grabbing bottled water when out and about and even adding the larger bottles into the fridge.

After much research and lots of taste tests I ended up with a favorite bottled water and if you are caught short on your travels and want to stay hydrated, then I can recommend my tried and tested water tipple of choice was Highland Spring. It just tasted fresh and clean and would quench my thirst. It was an easy to drink water.

How Do You Drink Your Water?
Where does the water you drink come from? If it’s from a bottle, there is a better way!

What do I mean by “easy to drink”? Well, have you ever had water that actually feels heavy and thick in your mouth and you could almost chew the water? I know that sounds daft and if you haven’t experienced that sensation I hope you never do, but most tap waters will make you feel like you’re swallowing something super gloopy. Take notice the next time you take a drink from the tap, you may be surprised by the heaviness?

Now maybe I have ultra sensitive tastebuds but the other thing I’ve noticed is a really strong smell and taste of chlorine in water these days.  Now maybe I just pick up on smells really easily but I don’t think so. The added chlorine also adds to the mouth drying effect that water can have which is the complete polar opposite of why you were drinking it in the first place! With heavy chlorinated water I feel I have to drink more but never really get to the thirst quenching experience.

Water quality is also very dependent on where you live so you may experience the things I’ve mentioned here as well as other elements that affect water quality. When I lived in London the chlorine taste was very apparent but now I live in Florida I can also taste the chlorine so it pretty much seems standard wherever you live. There is an alternative to get back to great tasting water, save money in the process and remove those unwanted chemicals and pollutants that have crept into the humble glass of H2O without ever having to resort to buying expensive bottled water again.

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Tea

Have a nice cup of Tea!
Have a nice cup of Tea!

In a world of coffee drinkers I sometimes feel in the minority. Not sure why, considering people have been drinking tea for centuries. In fact it was first discovered in China. Legend has it that it was found by The Emperor of China way back in 2737 BC. Now that’s a long time. Let’s take a quick look at the the Coffee bean history. The first evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears to have been in the middle of the 15th century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. Given that tea has been around longer how did coffee overtake the humble cup of tea as the hot drink of choice?

Let me re-introduce you to Tea as an alternative to that caffeine laden cup of joe 😉 you may be surprised, and even if you don’t completely stop your caffeine fix, at least it’s something else to try from time-to-time! If you’re already a die-hard tea drinker, maybe I can uncover a tea you haven’t yet sampled.

During the Han Dynasty around 202 BC thru 220 AD tea plants were quite limited and only the extremely rich or Royalty would drink a cup of tea! During this time tea also spread to Japan and was consumed by priests who enjoyed some of their medicinal benefits.

Soon Buddhists would share tea in a ceremony known as the The Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Tea arrived in England during the 17th Century and never left. It’s the tea you take at 4pm back in the days of old and it’s still offered when you’ve experienced a stressful event or shock – “Shall I make you a nice cup of Tea!” with the emphasis on the nice.

American tea was heavily taxed and so gave way to The Boston Tea Party which sounds lovely until you realize the political protests and American Revolution connotations but I won’t go into any political shenanigans here but I’ve linked to any useful background on the subject should you be interested in exploring that avenue further.

Luckily it’s all calmed down now, maybe they all drank a nice relaxing Chamomile Tea and moved on, but however they resolved their problems and differences we’ve been left with a wide variety of different teas and the list seems to be growing everyday. As the list of teas is huge come back from time-to-time to see what else I’ve uncovered on my tea adventures. I’ll pop the kettle on…

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The Most Tasty Cocktails

When you visit Miami Beach you can not leave before tasting a cocktail or two.

To help you make the decision I’ve picked a selection of hand-crafted tasty cocktails to make your evening not only memorable, but a colorful one.

However, you don’t have to wait until you’re at the beach or on vacation. If you’re lucky enough to have a bar handy at home check out the selection and if you’re missing a bottle or two you’ll be well armed for your next shopping trip so you’ll know the right ingredients to buy so that you can give some of these a whirl.

I’ve listed the classic ingredients that go into each one so you can impress your guests the next time you throw a party or want to show your drink expertise and knowledge when you’re out on the town.

I’ll also reveal what glass your drink should be served, whether it’s on or off the rocks and what garnish should be added to complete the look.

Cheers!

cocktail-mojito
The best on hot sunny days and evenings

The Mojito is the most famous drink to have whilst visiting the beaches and sits at the top of my list.

This classic recipe consists of:

4 cl (4 parts) White rum
3 cl (3 parts) Fresh lime juice
6 leaves of Mint
2 teaspoons Sugar
Soda Water

Lime not your thing? No problem, check out the strawberry version in this article.

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