Teapigs

Tea is quite possibly the answer to every mind-boggler, good or bad. Graduated from uni? Great! Stick the kettle on. Someone died? Oh dear...I'll make us a brew. It's one of the simple pleasures we have all come to rely on. 

Over the past few years, the clever people at Teapigs have been working on creating more and more tea blends. Some traditional - earl grey, everyday brew; some a little more unusual - chocolate and mint, rhubarb and ginger. The range is so extensive there's bound to be one that even the non-tea drinker (do they exist?) would like. Not only have Teapigs got creative with their blends, they've also been coming up with different ways to serve them. Iced teas, teashakes and cocktail teas(!!!) are all easy to make either by using the ideas suggested on the Teapigs website (see here), or by coming up with your own.

I tried out a few of their tea blends and had a little experiment with a couple of them for myself.

The biggest difference I've noticed with Teapigs compared to other brands, is the intensity of the flavours. I don't usually like fruit teas because I always think they taste pretty wishy-washy, but the Super Fruit Teapigs tea is completely different. It actually tastes like fruit as opposed to sawdust. Kind of like a hot Ribena (without all the sugar!).

Likewise with the Lemon & Ginger and Mao Feng Green Tea. You get a much more authetic flavour without any of that gritty, metallic taste you often get with other brands. I tend to leave the tea bag in just to get some sort of flavour but that really isn't necessary with Teapigs. A couple of minutes brewing is all you need for a full-on flavour.

Now it gets fun. I decided to use the Darjeeling Earl Grey blend and the Rooibos Creme Caramel to come up with a few variations. As you can see, the results were pretty good. 

This ones for the kids (or big kids). All you need to do is pour 200ml boiling water onto the teabag and allow to steep for about 10 minutes. Pour into a blender along with 3 scoops of good quality vanilla ice cream and blitz. That's it! I topped mine with some caramel sauce and little fudge pieces. Not exactly a skinny dessert but we all need a treat now and again don't we?

This ones for the adults. Pour about 500ml onto two teabags and leave to steep for 4 minutes before topping with cold water and ice. Once ice cold, add a shot of gin (vodka would work too), add honey to taste and a slice of lemon. What you're left with the is a perfect, refreshing cocktail tea.






These a just a couple of examples of ways to jazz up your teabag. Both the ice cream and the cocktail teas could be used with almost any Teapig offering; just experiment with flavours and toppings!

Boiling the kettle just got interesting...

Nic
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