I have always had my tea in the same way; a splash of milk and never any sugar. Once, my Godmother tried to convert me to sweeten my tea. I determinedly told her I didn’t want sugar in my tea and when she put some in anyway I poured it into the nearest pot plant I could find and stuck to squash when visiting from then on. Things haven’t changed much and I can’t go a day without a cup of tea of some description. My collection of tea is comparable to a spice cupboard; indeed I have a tea chest from Bahrain which holds my rare and unusual varieties alongside my more mainstream leaves. I find tea as fascinating as some people find wine. I think the way that the flavour of tea can be affected by so many things really interesting; hot or cold, dry or damp, early or late picking can affect the appearance, smell and flavour in the finished tea. Then you’ve got all the flavours that can be added to the tea; Earl Grey and Jasmine being two of my personal favourites. I’m not sure I could ever get bored of tea so when Teavivre asked if I would be interested in trying some of their Chinese tea I had to say yes!

First of all I tried the Yun Nan Dian Hong which is a golden tipped black tea. The colours of the leaves are wonderful; they look like autumn. I was really surprised at how dark the colour of the tea was considering the lightness of the leaves. It was really full bodied but refreshing at the same time and not at all bitter.

The next tea I tried was the Bi Luo Chun which is a green tea. It smelled so fresh, almost lemony and the leaves looked extremely dainty. It tasted like I would expect for a green tea but slightly more rounded and complex than some of the others I have tried. read more