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Review of Bora Bora & Double Walled Glass Cup from The Tea Makers

25th June 2015

Last week I was sent some tea by The Tea Makers. I received Bora Bora, White Peony and Tangerine & Coconut Green Tea and also an amazing double walled glass cup. I’ll be reviewing these over the next few weeks, starting with my first review today. I decided I’d start with a fruity review of Bora Bora.

Bora Bora is described by The Tea Makers as a “Sensational Flavoured Exotic Fruit Tea Blend”, read on to see if I agree! 😉

Bora Bora Packaging

Bora Bora Loose

The Look
I’ll start with the packaging which is phenomenal, the overall quality and presentation is exquisite with striking red text set against a matte black background. It’s really nice to see a change from the usual brown and relatively plain packaging loose tea is traditionally sold in. The back of the package has a really cool zip opening the first time you open it, a nice touch that furthers the feeling of luxury.

Looking at the tea for the first time I can certainly see why the tea is described as exotic, there’s all kinds of fruit in this blend, from raspberries and blackcurrants to strawberry pieces and papaya cubes. The smell is beyond words, the first inhalation transports you to white sands and bright blue sea, if paradise has a smell, this is it! The fragrance just bursts out of the packet, with a fun and bouncy vibe.

 

Bora Bora in Double Walled Cup

How It Tastes

As the kettle boiled I felt sheer excitement and literally couldn’t wait for the tasting to begin. Pouring the water creates a whole new smell, the initial fragrance becomes softer and sweeter, sweeter is GOOD.

I take my first sip, probably before the tea is even cool enough, the taste is fresh and succulent, with a rich quality to it. I often find tropical type fruit teas a bit sickly, usually pineapple is the ‘go to’ fruit, but there’s no pineapple to be found in this super tropical blend! Bora Bora has a deeply satisfying fruity flavour, with slight floral undertones that create an aftertaste that dances on the roof of my mouth.

 

Final Thoughts on Bora Bora

Overall I’ve gotta say this is one of my favourite fruit teas of all time. Fruit tea was my first love but in all honesty I was getting bored, bored of every fruit tea tasting the same! Bora Bora has reignited my love for fruit tea, I now cannot wait to try more fruit tea from The Tea Makers 😃 Bora Bora excels because it avoids the tart sharpness often found with fruit tea and steers bravely away from adding pineapple.

 

Double Walled Cup Empty

The Double Walled Glass Cup

I was also lucky enough to receive a beautiful doubled walled glass cup with the tea, which is pictured above 🙂 The cup is beautiful with perfect curved sides on the outside wall and matching contours on the inner wall. It’s a really nice size, as it fits in my hand just right, you can just slide your fingers round it and curl up with it. A few of these would be a gorgeous choice for a dinner party, pair your favourite blend with these cups and you’ll have a perfect finish for your guests.

The double walled finish is not only easy on the eye but is very functional and keeps the outside cool for your hands and your tea warm for a lot longer than a mug. The smooth rim of the glass is blissful to sip from and the cup has a steady base when placed on my coffee table. The glass looks like it would be really fragile but after a week of using it and washing it, I haven’t felt that it would break easily which is a massive plus. Overall I really love this cup, from the look to the functionality and the ease of use, it’s all good.

 

I’ll be reviewing the other 2 teas sent with the Bora Bora in the next couple of weeks so please do check back soon or join my newsletter to read it first!

I’m always looking for new and exciting fruit teas and I’d love to hear any suggestions you guys have in the comments below 😊

The Tea Makers London have a large range of teaware and beautiful glassware, with great prices which are really worth taking a look at.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my review of Bora Bora from The Tea Makers London. You can check out their online store here.


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Teaphernalia

The Adagio IngenuiTEA Is Ingenious!

23rd June 2015

I recently received the IngenuiTEA from Adagio to review, find out how I got on!

First things first, OMG! It’s changed the way I drink tea and more importantly the quantity of tea I can drink, I have so much tea so anything that allows me to drink it faster and more often is fantastic! Read on to find out more.

 

IngenuiTEA Empty

The Build Quality

The first thing I noticed as I was taking it out of the box is the quality, it’s so sturdy and smooth! There’s no sharp edges or rough or visible seams in the plastic and it’s nicely weighted. The handle is the perfect angle and the grooves fit my fingers like they were made for them!

It’s constructed from BPA free plastic which is also totally transparent, it has the look of glass but the strength of plastic. It’s transparency allows you to keep an eye on your tea as it steeps and fill your mug at exactly the right moment, ensuring the perfect strength tea every time. The IngenuiTEA has a built in fine mesh strainer at the base so you never get any tea leaves in your mug.

Valve & Strainer

Another special touch I like is the little feet on the base that ensure the IngenuiTEA doesn’t touch the surface you stand it on, meaning you don’t have to worry about the cleanliness of the surface you stand it on.

I love that when you fill the IngenuiTEA the lid stands proud and stays firmly in place, it would be infuriating if it kept falling down all the time but this never happens.

IngenuiTEA Full With Lid Open

 

IngenuiTEA Full

Ingenuitea Full Half

In Use

The IngenuiTEA is glorious to use, just add your leaves to the chamber, pour on the water and return to whatever you were doing, taking the IngenuiTEA with you. When your tea is your desired strength simply place the IngenuiTEA on the top of your mug and the valve on the base opens, allowing the tea to fill the mug (I still find this exciting and anyone that sees it in action is blown away!). The IngenuiTEA has a transparent base so you can watch your mug as it fills so it never overflows.

The only thing I might recommend is a coaster to sit under the IngenuiTEA if it’s on a precious surface as it does sometimes drip a tiny tiny bit underneath after filling a mug.

I chose the smaller of the two sizes and I do regret it slightly as I’m a real power drinker and the smaller size fills about 1 and a half mugs, so I’d prefer to be able to get more tea per preparation. I do find that I can fill one mug, then refill the IngenuiTEA again and add a few more leaves and make another batch though, which is a great workaround and very economical. The smaller size would definitely be best if you wanted to travel with it or were in an office setting though.

 

Cleaning

The best best part, the IngenuiTEA is DISHWASHER SAFE!! You just fill it up with water to rinse the leaves out and put it in the dishwasher and it’s ready to go when you next need it. The IngenuiTEA is equally as easy to rinse between uses, just fill the chamber with water and rinse the leaves out, then fill it again and press the base, the water flows through the valve to rinse it.

 

Overall

I’ve gotta say, Adagio’s IngenuiTEA is fantastic, I can drink so much more tea and it’s just good fun to use. I love teaphernalia and this is definitely one of the most exciting things I’ve got, I just want to show it to everyone!

It’s well made, looks epic (your friends will be so jealous!!) and makes great tea. My tea is always the perfect strength, I usually find with teaware that requires you to add the leaves to the water, that it over infuses and you end up with bitter tea but this doesn’t happen at all with the InegnuiTEA.

If you’re a home user I’d go for the Adagio IngenuiTEA XL, if you’re a work user or on the go more, I’d choose the regular size Adagio IngenuiTEA. The only important thing is that you buy one of them, it’s a game changer for sure! 😀

 

Signing Off

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my review of the Adagio IngenuiTEA. I hope it made your purchasing decision easier 🙂

A massive thank you goes to Adagio for sending me their IngenuiTEA for review, you can find more info about the IngenuiTEA on Adagio’s website. I also received some tea from Adagio, including the Mango Green pictured (LUSH). I’ll be reviewing these over the coming weeks so definitely check back or join my newsletter to receive them direct as they drop!

If you have used any exciting tea gadgets recently I’d love to hear about them in the comments below! xXx

 

 

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Reviews Teaphernalia

Sick of Your Teabag String Falling In Your Tea? Here’s The Solution!

2nd June 2015

Recently I stumbled upon a simple but fantastic solution to stop the string from your teabag falling in your tea (How annoying is it when that happens?!). The answer to this problem is a nifty little product called Tea Top!

Tea Top is basically a thin piece of plastic that comes in wonderful colours with equally as wonderful patterns. I got in touch with Denise at Tea Top and she sent me a few Tea Tops to try out. I received pink with flowers design, blue with a dotty design and green with a vine like design (I love this last one the most!). The colours are really vibrant and will definitely brighten up any tea session. The quality is superb, they feel really sturdy with nice soft edges, I’m sure these will withstand many of my tea binges!

 

Tea Top Colours

 

Tea Top has a slit in one side that runs through the middle, you then slide the string through the slit to the hole in the middle and place the teabag in your mug with the Tea Top sitting across the top of the mug. You can even fold it and squeeze the teabag with it so it doesn’t drip on the dreaded journey to the bin. It’s simplicity is what makes it so great, it also works with practically all of my mugs and they come in ALL sizes. Tea Top wipes dry really easily so is easy to clean between uses, another plus when I opt for a teabag when I’m in a rush!

Instructions

Tea Top with Teabag

Tea Top in use

 

I’ve gotta say that they really do solve the problem! I don’t often use teabags, I’m more of a loose leaf kinda guy but I’m often sent samples in teabag form so the Tea Top will definitely be my companion for these times or when I’m feeling lazy/busy as hell!

Tea Top comes all the way from Germany! (one of my favourite countries, oh how I love Berlin<3). You can find them on:

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As always I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and you really will love my newsletter!

 

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Teaphernalia

Life With The Libre Loose Leaf Tea Glass

13th May 2015

A while ago I purchased a Libre loose leaf tea glass and have been living with it by my side for the last few weeks. Read on to find out what I think, is this the best tea glass with built in infuser?

The Feel

It feels great! What makes this different to other tea flasks I’ve tried is it features a durable poly carbonate exterior but a glass interior. The lid and infuser are also BPA free so the flask really is almost as good as an all glass flask. The massive benefit this tea flask has over a flask with an all glass construction is it’s durability, it just doesn’t feel as vulnerable in day to day life as an all glass flask. All round the quality is good, the lid and infuser both screw on firmly and haven’t leaked in the time I’ve had with it.

The Use

I’ve really enjoyed using the Libre loose leaf tea glass, it’s so easy to use, remains cool to touch and keeps my tea warm for ages! The built in infuser is good quality but a few smaller bits do make it through as it’s not very fine, not a deal breaker though.

It’s Biggest Advantage

One of the greatest advantages of it is you have a choice of how you want to brew your tea! You can use it like most other tea infusing glasses/flasks, by unscrewing the lid and the infuser, adding the tea, screwing the infuser back on and adding the water, easier but can result in tea that’s too strong. Alternatively you can take off the lid and add the tea on top of the infuser, screw the lid back on, then unscrew the lid and infuser, add water, screw the lid and infuser back on and turn the flask upside down until the tea is your desired strength (see the image below, writing makes it sound over complicated!). Finally you flip it the correct way up, unscrew the lid and infuser and you have the tea your desired strength. I decided myself that I would just use it like all my other flasks and add the tea directly in to the chamber, rather than the flipping upside down method.

Libre Instructions

Overall

The Libre Loose Leaf Tea Glass is really good, it has a solid construction, doesn’t leak and works well. It also comes in two sizes, I went for the large size which holds 420ml as I want more tea per time spent preparing. I do really wish it could go in the dishwasher but sadly it can’t (I have finally found a tea flask that can, review coming soon!).  It also looks really stylish and is sure to be a great conversation starter round the office. Overall I’d say buy buy buy! 🙂

You can get both sizes of the Libre tea glass on Amazon, the smaller size is available here.

The larger size which I reviewed is available here.

Since I reviewed this glass a mug version has also become available which is much the same as above but with a handle, you’ll find that here.

 

As always I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, if you have join my mailing list for more tea joy! Have you found a better tea flask? 🙂

 

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Teaphernalia

MIU COLOR Glass Tea Infuser Bottle Review

8th April 2015

My never ending search for the perfect all in one tea infuser has continued, with my recent purchase of this tea infusing bottle from MIU COLOR.

The bottle arrived really nicely packaged and complete with the black neoprene sleeve and two cleaning sponges. The cleaning sponges are fantastic and really speed up the cleaning, the bottle is also designed to enable easy cleaning as the top and bottom can be removed, allowing the water to run freely through the glass chamber.

I love the quality and overall feel of the MIU bottle, the glass is thick and the brushed steel effect on the bottom and lid has a luxurious feel. The infuser is also great and really fine so you never end up with any bits floating around in your blend. The zip on the neoprene sleeve making the bottle super simple to insert and the non-slip rubber bottom of the bottle both add to the premium feel.

To use the bottle you simply unscrew the bottom of the bottle and lift out the infuser, fill the infuser and then screw the bottom back on with the infuser inside. The bottle can also be used without the infuser for any beverage you like. You then unscrew the lid and add the water and the flavour is infused in to the water. You can flip the bottle upside down with the lid on and undo the bottom and remove the infuser once the tea is your desired strength or you can leave it in and use less tea! The top and bottom have rubber seals so the bottle is totally airtight and I couldn’t imagine it ever leaking.

Although this bottle isn’t double walled like some of my other tea bottles, the neoprene sleeve still keeps the contents warm a long time, without losing the extra capacity that you do with double walled bottles.

The only downsides of the bottle are it that there are quite a lot of parts which can make dismantling and refilling it a bit of a fiddle. Also the solid construction of the bottle does mean that it’s quite heavy, this could make it troublesome if you often carry your bottle out and about.

I bought my MIU COLOR Glass Water Bottle from Amazon 🙂

Conclusion:

Overall I would say the MIU COLOR Tea Infusing Bottle is one of the best I own. It’s style and quality is fantastic and it’s really enjoyable to use. If you like to carry your bottle around you might like to look for a lighter bottle and consider a double walled bottle to keep your tea warm for longer. If you mainly need a bottle for home or office use then this is probably about as good as it gets!

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