I've Moved!
All my old posts as well as new ones can now be found at http://theyilai.blogspot.com/

A bit of Pepper
Topic: Tea Blends
Today's blend: EnjoyingTea.com's Lemongrass Chai with my usual spice blend of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg as well as peppercorns. A good match for savory foods like the swiss and colby jack omlet I had with it for breakfast.

More Chocolate
Topic: Tea Blends
Today's blend: Stash's Rose and Blood Orange black teas with my usual spice blend. It went very well with the chocolate Frosted Mini-Wheats I had for breakfast this morning.

When in doubt, simplicity
Topic: Black Tea
I wasn't sure what was going on for breakfast today so I decided to play it safe and chose my new Winey Keemum and added a few bits of orange peel. The simpler the flavor, the more things it will match well with. The sweetness of the strawberry jam was a bit much but the ham and eggs were well complimented by the Keemum.

The importance of planning
Topic: Tea Blends

When I chose my tea this morning I thought I was going to be having scrambled eggs with cheese so I chose EnjoyingTea.com's Roasted Mate Chai with my usual spice blend (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove) for it's more savory flavor. I ended up having french toast instead (we got better syrup yesterday) and the flavors didn't really work very well together.

Let this be a lesson on how important it is to make a firm plan before you start preparing a meal!

Jasmine and Truffles
Topic: Green Teas

For Valentine's Day my husband bought me two pounds of truffles and I've been trying to find time to sit down with the raspberry ones and a pot of tea. Today I made the time.

I chose the Jasmine Dragon Pearl (Imperial Long Chu). Unfortunately it was a bit overwhelmed by the strong flavor of the truffles. Next time I'll go with the Jasmine Yin Hao which has a much stronger jasmine note than the Pearl. 

Orange Spice
Topic: Tea Blends
Today I had a pot of Stash's Blood Orange Black tea and added cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Something seemed to be missing from it though.....or perhaps it was the terrible butter flavored syrup which was all there was to put on the french toast.

Bangalore Rose
Topic: Tea Blends
There are still chocolate chocolate-chip muffins left this morning (in a house with a toddler...something's not right here) so I am having another rose-based blend. For this one I am using EnjoyingTea.com's Bangalore Rose Chai with extra spices (since EnjoyingTea doesn't put much spice in their chais for some reason) and a touch of French Vanilla Black tea from Tea Francais.

Empress' Spice Garden
Topic: Tea Blends

Stash's Rose Black with a touch of Jasmine Yin Hao, orange peel, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.

Teas with rose petals go very well with chocolate so I paired it with chocolate chocolate-chip muffins.