February 24, 2009 - Living for Jesus is Fun

Tea addicts live here. Well, tea snobs. We like good tea, and while in Honolulu I discovered Lupicia Tea. I bought a few little ones (okay, admittedly, I bought one little 3 pack on the Christmas clearance because it was half off...and the tins were cute) and I bought a tin of Hoku. When I got home, I decided Hoku was my new FAVORITE tea - it's pretty - which is important because tea creates an atmosphere; it smells delightful which is part of the atmosphere; it tastes like a tea I bought several years ago and have never been able to find again (probably because that long lost tea was an oolong, and Hoku is in an oolong base). Anyhow, HOKU is ONLY available at the Lupicia tea shop in the Ala Moana shopping center in Honolulu, HI - and they WILL NOT SHIP IT TO YOU. If you want that tea you either have to go there and get it yourself, of have a friend or relative that lives there to buy it and ship it to you. This creates a problem. I mean, I know people there, and my sister is there, but - WE DRINK A LOT OF TEA. Other families drink soda - the Smith family (minus Kurt, he's a rebellious coffee drinker) drinks tea. So, I checked their website and picked a few other flavored oolongs and am pretty sure we could live without the Hoku if we had to because the Mango and Momo (peach) oolongs are AMAZING - in fact, every Lupicia tea we've tried so far is wonderful! We also got Ume (Japanese plum oolong) and of course a plain black tea :)

Favorite tea places are:
Lupicia - Where we just got our new and wonderful teas, free shipping on orders over $35
Harney & Sons - AMAZING teas - Hot Cinnamon, Viennese Earl Grey, Wedding Tea - we have many favorites here, their Indian Spice is one of THE BEST Chai blends we have ever found - not overpowering, just perfect.
Republic of Tea - Lots of good stuff here, in trendy tins and all that - *tip* unless you really NEED the tin, just buy the refill bags and save $
Townshend's Tea - Try the Alberta Street Chai - they blend it with Russian Caravan, aka Lapsang Souchong, SMOKEY TEA - one of my faves :) It's certainly a fun one - and it's blended in Oregon, you can check them out in downtown Bend, OR in their little brick and mortar there OR in Portland, OR - their main shop!