Tuesday Teacup - Floral Holiday

I came up with this simple tea blend whilst sitting typing away at my computer one grey, rainy day last week. I found my Damask Rose Tea Buds tucked away in the kitchen cupboard and when I popped the cork of the container my nose was filled with thoughts of Turkish Delight. I decided to add these buds to some Choi Jasmine Pearls, once the two started to infuse together it smelt amazing. The mix of rose and jasmine is super decadent and delicious. 

If you would like to make a little cup of Floral Holiday for yourself then put 7-8 Jasmine Pearls in a cup (if you can't find Choi Jasmine Pearls then look for Dragon Pearl tea it tastes pretty much the same). Boil some water and leave it to cool a little, if you pour boiling water onto green tea it will spoil the taste and destroy a lot of the wonderful antioxidants. Pour the water into the cup over the pearls, I don't bother straining the this tea because it is top quality so there aren't loads of bits that float around the cup. I then drop 3 Damask Rose Buds into the concoction and leave them to float, infuse and make me feel wonderful.  

The Jasmine Pearls are at the high end of my tea hoard, being £15.99 per 100g. They are a little pricey because this tea is made from the young shoots of the green tea plant which are then hand rolled with jasmine flowers! This tea is amazing and worth every penny, its worth keeping in mind that 7-8 pearls per cup will make 3-5 cups of green tea because the quality is so high; so once you look at it like that it doesn't work out that expensive per cup. If you want a cup of tea that makes you feel like an exotic princess this is it! When I drink this tea I close my eyes and just pretend I am sitting on a beach in Thailand soaking up the sun, then I open my eyes and get back to work with the rain pattering on the window. 

If you are local to Nottingham then you lucky things can pop by the Delilah Delicatessen and purchase all the tea featured in this blog and maybe have a spot of yummy lunch while you're there. 

Hope your week is off to an inspiring start <3

xkx

Tuesday Teacup

Being British means that you categorically have to drink tea. I love tea... green, black, white, its all yummy, as long as you get the good quality leaves! If any of you have tried green tea bags that are just off the supermarket shelf you probably will have pulled that 'eeek it's bitter' face. This is because they use the good quality leaves for the loose leaf and then chop up and chuck the rest into tea bags. (There are some top quality tea bags though such as Tea Pig). Every Tuesday I will share my favourite tea of the moment with you to try and spread the tea love <3

So my Tuesday Teacup this week is one of my own blends that I have been drinking a lot this week in the day time, I like to call it Floral Gunpowder. I blend 1-2 tsps Gunpowder Green Tea with 1 tsp Jasmi Yin Hao Lotus. I pour not quite boiling water onto the leaves and leave them for around 3-4 minutes before pouring. It is best not to use boiling water as this can scald the leaves and it can make it taste a bit funky. Experiment with the brewing time as well depending on how strong you like your tea. I finish off this tea with dropping one Damask Rose Tea Bud into it. The gunpowder tea has grey green leaves that will unfurl to produce a slightly fruity flavour, this is why it works beautifully with the heady fragrance and taste of the Jasmine tea (which I find too strong to drink on its own). I sacrifice a rose bud to this tea because it adds a heady subtle sweetness that promises turkish delight. The tea leaves should last for 2 pots of tea and the rose bud should last up to 5 cups so its rather pleasing on the pocket as well.

Before my Friend's Wedding.

On Friday my partner Ed and I went to our friend’s wedding. It was a super lovely day, despite all the rain. This was us whilst we we settling into the hotel room before the wedding began. As you can see I love men with beards hehe.

This is the first time that I have worn this dress and I absolutely adore it. This dress was handmade in the 40s, I love the thought that this dress has been alive for over 70 years. If only dresses could talk, I'm sure it could tell me lots of little secrets. This dress was an Easter present from Ed and we bought it from one of my favourite vintage shops Violet Rose Vintage. I have picked up some beautiful clothes from here and I hope to do a post on them in the future. 

And last but not least I better not forget to mention the shoes...

I spied these shoes in the sale! These little beauties are by Irregular Choice and I have got to say that I have never had so many compliments on a pair of shoes before. I have only wore these twice so far, but everyone seems to just fall in love with them. The are really comfortable as well, which is a massive benefit for me as I usually wear flats. The Irregular Choice website is definitely one to go and have a browse through, it is one of those pages that I look at if I am feeling a little bit glum as all the wacky, colourful designs cheer me right up.