Top Tea Picks: Why Our Staff Loves 'Em!

At English Tealeaves, we take great pleasure in helping you find teas that you will enjoy. We are often asked to name our favorite teas as part of that process. This is such a common question that we thought all of you might enjoy reading about which of our staff likes which teas. You will see that our lists of favorite teas are as different as our personalities. Also, most of us cannot list just one tea. There are too many great teas to enjoy.

 

Robin, our manager, loves to brew a cup of our Earl Grey Cream. This is a black tea flavored with oil of bergamot, which can be harsh for some people. Robin finds that the vanilla mellows out the bergamot, thus creating a smooth, delightful cup.

 

She also thoroughly enjoys our Mint Vanilla Pu-Erh and our Ginger Pu-Erh. If you have never tried one of our pu-erh teas, these flavored pu-erhs are a great place to start. Robin finds these two varieties are great when your tummy feels under the weather.

 

Shelly first fell in love with our Divine Temple. She is not usually a fan of green tea but was quite surprised at how much she loved this green and white tea blend. She explains, “It is fruity, but with lychee and papaya being the top flavors, it was a "different" fruity than I was accustomed to. It has natural sweetness from the fruits, is well balanced, and is lovely iced or hot.”

 

She agrees with Robin about our Earl Grey Cream. As bergamot is not one of her favorite flavors, she says, “It is not overpowering in our tea, as it can be in others. Add the warm vanilla creamy flavor and it is just comfort in a cup.” Doesn’t that make you want to hurry in and try it?

 

Loving to experiment, she created a “Coffeetea Mocha Latte.” Starting with our Coffeetea (black tea plus cocoa and espresso beans), she added a bit of cocoa mix and a sprinkling of latte mix and whipped it all together. She describes it as “not overly sweet like a coffee house drink. Rather, it is creamy with a bit of chocolate and a bold hint of espresso with the underlying tea flavor still shining through.”

 

Emily’s favorites start with Pineapple Upside Down Cake because she feels “it has the perfect amount of natural sweetness and works well with the base black tea. It also lends itself well to cream and sugar if you like that sort of thing.”

 

Our special Yunnan Gold black from the Yunnan region of China is another of her favorites because it reminds her of the fall time with the undertones of yam and honey.

 

When she wants an iced tea, she reaches for our Black Cherry black tea because of the prominent and refreshing cherry flavor.

 

Bunnii loves our classic Orange & Spicy black tea, especially since she feels it is a perfect fall tea. She says, “It’s slightly sweet, but you get a lot of the orange flavor, and the cinnamon complements it.”

 

Another tea she feels has a “lovely autumn vibe” is our Spice Cookie. She explains, "The cinnamon and apple blend well, which I think says a lot because I dislike apple teas.” She loves to drink it as a regular hot tea and a latte.

 

A third favorite is our Coffeetea. She likes to tell others that it is a perfect blend of tea and coffee and is excellent hot and iced. For you coffee drinkers, Bunnii says this tea is a great way to get into tea if you prefer coffee.

 

Sam feels like the rest of us that it is hard to choose just one favorite, especially since we have such a broad selection of teas. Despite this, one tea she keeps coming back to is our Cloud Catcher, a fruit infusion with strong notes of cherry and coconut. She explains, “One of my favorite things about this tea is its versatility. It's refreshing as an iced tea and comforting as a hot tea in the colder months. A bonus is its gorgeous pale pink color! Another of its merits is that it's completely caffeine-free so that you can enjoy it all day long.”

 

Destiny is a lover of our Sweet Peppermint, an herbal tisane with peppermint and hints of citrus and licorice. As she loves teas with strong licorice root flavors, this one is right up her alley. She “loves the sweet after-taste it adds to the tea, and the peppermint is the perfect complement as a refreshing forefront flavor.”

 

Susie’s list of favorite teas depends on the category. When she wants black tea, she says, “The more robust, the better.” For this reason, she loves our Assam Leopards. It is a blend of black teas picked from the finest estates in the Assam region of India. Another of her favorite blended teas is our ever-popular English Breakfast. This tea was created for our British founders and is a blend of black teas from Assam, Nilgiri and Sri Lanka. She also enjoys a wonderful cup of our Nepalese black tea, Shangri La, and loves its smoothness.

 

When she wants a green tea, she loves the toasty flavor notes of Genmaicha, a Japanese green tea blended with toasted and popped rice. For pure smoothness, she reaches for our Chinese Gunpowder tea. For its healthy profile, she reaches for our Matcha. If you have read our blog post on Matcha, you will know we now carry a beautiful ceremonial grade, Chiyo-no-Shiro. If you think you do not like matcha, we encourage you to give this one a try. It might change your mind!

 

There are times when Susie wants to enjoy a flavored tea, and she adores fall flavors. That is why she enjoys our Caramel Nut and our seasonal Pumpkin Marshmallow, both black teas. For a fruit infusion, she finds Apple Almond Crisp hits the spot. Her absolute favorite, though, is our Yuzu Kukicha with Matcha. This is a unique blend of Kukicha, a green tea made with stems, stalks, twigs, and a touch of matcha. The yuzu flavor is infused to create an incredible tea. As the yuzu is only available seasonally, we have a limited supply. Although she would love to hoard this tea, she has promised to leave some for all of you to enjoy.

 

She even will grab some of our herbal tisanes, and in that category, she says, “The more herbs/spices, the better.” Her favorites are Yoga Spice (think of chai without tea leaves), Tranquility, a calming blend of chamomile and spearmint with citrus notes, and the fruity Turmeric Bliss. She also finds our tropical Pina Colada a fun tea and notes its “flavor changes as it cools.”

 

Michele enjoys so many different teas, although there are three “go-to” teas for her. Our Everlasting light oolong from Taiwan is “a beautiful tea with its light, bright and refreshing taste.”

 

She brews a pot of our Golden Red when she wants something bolder. This high-quality black tea from China has a complex flavor profile without any bitterness you sometimes associate with black tea.

 

One of our 2023 Summer teas has also found its way to her “favorites” list – Watermelon Oolong. With this wonderful light, oolong comes incredible watermelon flavor and aroma. Sadly, it is a seasonal tea, and she will have to wait for it to make its way back to us.

 

As you can see, our staff have different favorite teas, and it is hard to name just one. If you need help figuring out where to start with our incredible tea selection, try one of these Staff Favorites, and we hope some of these make it onto your Favorites list.