Tea for two.

I consider tea a food, because it falls under the "no tax" rule for food products.

What comes to mind when I mention tea? Maybe a little Tetley Orange Pekoe. Possibly Lipton's Chamomile. I bet you know the original staple tea that everyone has had in their cupboards at some point, Red Rose. 

loose leaf tea

In the last few years, we've seen tea take off. I'm not talking about Red Rose, but a new appreciation for the different variations of tea, including loose leaf. 

Companies such as David's Tea and Teavana have introduced more flavours and a different way in which we usually make tea. This process is called steeping, in which you literally take loose leaves of tea and fruit, and make it in some sort of steeping device.

Tea in tea bags are smaller pieces of tea, which quickly brews, but doesn't provide the quality or taste of full flavour loose leaf teas.

Perfectea Maker

My favourite way to steep tea is in the Teavana Perfectea Maker (shown on left). It's super easy to figure out—tea and sugar in the plastic tub section, pour water in, steep for 1-5 min, and done.

There are several different loose leaf teas that you can get. For example, there is white tea, green tea, herbal tea, black tea, Rooibos, Mate and Oolong.

Black tea is great if you want caffeine. It's also a great metabolism booster, containing ingredients such as Pu'erh, a natural weight loss. Black tea tastes similar to orange pekoe, just has better quality leaves.

White tea has lots of antioxidants, one of the first lines of defense that the body employs, claiming to prevent diseases. Also, white tea has a weaker taste, less of a full-body flavour.

Herbal tea is the opposite of white tea, providing a burst of flavour and less caffeine. Herbal is great to drink before bedtime, and you can also mix it together with other teas to give more flavour. 

Green tea is also a great metabolism booster and is a source of antioxidants. Green tea also needs to be steeped for only 2 min as it's quality is dependant on the temperature of the water and steeping time. There are also several ways in which green tea leaves are pressed.

My favourite teas at Teavana are:

White tea: Youthberry

Green tea: Sencha Jade Reserve

Flavoured green tea: Fruta Bomba

Oolong: Pumpkin Spice

Black tea: Earl Grey Creme

Flavoured black tea: Strawberry Slender

Rooibos: Caramel Chai

Herbal: Strawberry Lemonade or Peach Tranquility