A Few Pots Of Bellevue Tea

Hmmmm....

Nothing quite like a lazy Sunday morning, laying in bed until mid-morning after a luxuriously long sleep in.

Pure Bliss

A pure blissful experience that I for one do not have the pleasure of experiencing, and certainly not on a Sunday morning.

I am a Mum

And a Mum to a rugby playing child.

Sunday's are no longer (and haven't been for as far back as I can remember) for lazing about on the sofa in holey PJs and mismatched, oversized T-Shirts, watching the Hollyoaks Omnibus, despite having watched every episode of it the previous week religiously.

Nope - none of that these days.

These days it's up at 6am, dishing out the medicine for a poorly tooth, getting the washing machine going, totally flying around to make sure everyone and everything is organised and sorted.

And then it's out of the door by 9am to get to the first of two rugby matches of the day.

Sunday Slob-Out Sessions are no more.

But it doesn't mean that I'm not going to fully enjoy a few minutes to myself with a refreshing cuppa.

That's got to be done.

Priorities in order, right?

I have to say though, I'm very much a coffee girl first thing - I need all of the caffeine I can get to wake me up to help counteract all of my early mornings.

But - of course - I do love a good cup of tea too.

I'm a Yorkshire lass - this surely goes without saying...

Last week at the Leeds May Meet (here) I found an array of lovely tea samples inside my over-flowing goody bag (here) from Bellevue Tea and have been trying them out ever since.

I even went out and bought myself a little glass teapot.

Each of the tea boxes contained a sealed foil package which has six individually wrapped tea bags inside to make sure everything stays as fresh as possible.

All the teas are "rich in antioxidants" as well, which sounds all lovely and healthy to me.

First up, the red boxed, Rooibos Tea - the one that tea expert Kelly told me I'd love the most, what with me being a fruity tea lover and all.

I loved the bright orangey colour of this tea, which obviously darkened the more the tea was left to infuse.

The back of the packaging told me that I could enjoy this tea with or without milk - so I tried it both ways.

Without milk or sweetener there was a real subtle, sweet, slightly nutty aftertaste and I could easily drink the tea like this, but by adding sweetener and a dash of milk, there is an almost creamier sweetness present (if this makes any sense at all!!) which I really liked too, and wasn't expecting at all.

You were right Kel - I do love this one, a lot, right down to it's colour.

Next, onto the paler green packaged Peppermint Tea.

This one smelt absolutely amazing - even before the water hit the tea bag.

Described as being "aromatic, refreshing and calming" - I can certainly see why.

This tea was a slightly pale green colour in the teapot, and it had such a lovely, light, quite healthy taste really which I enjoyed hot and without sweetner as well as with it.

This tea can be served cold over ice too - but for me a cuppa has to be as hot as possible, so I haven't tried it this way, but it could prove to be a fab tea drinking option in the summer.

Any early morning just isn't complete without breakfast, so the bright yellow boxed Breakfast Tea was next on my list to try.

And this one, having caffeine in too, would be again really perfect for me in a morning.

This tea has a very strong flavour and whilst I did try it on it's own, it was just too much for me like that.

I had to add sweetner and milk to it - as I would with any "normal tea" and I enjoyed it a whole lot more once I had done this.

I could certainly see this tea heping me to wake up at 5am every morning that's for sure.

And then we had an Earl Grey Tea - which sounded like a pritty "normal" kind of a tea to me, so I was expecting good things, especially since this was filled with lots of morning-boosting caffeine.

Although this tea smelt absolutely beautiful in the pot - quite fruity/floraly - it surprised me the most when it came to it's taste.

You see I usually have to sweeten up every warm drink I have - even if it's just slightly, but with this Earl Grey I much preferred it completely on it's own.

Totally untouched by anything - just tea and hot water.

Adding even a dash of milk or the smallest amount of sweetener really spoilt the taste and totally took away from it's lovely, subtly fruity flavour.

I loved it and it may be a contender for my new favourite drink.

Even my eight year old son asked to try some of it and he said it was "Yum" too - and he's not a tea drinker at all.

(...eight year old boy + caffeine = disaster in the making!...)

And then it was time for my least favourite tea - the one I had purposefully left until last left - the Green Tea.

I think green tea is quite an aquired taste - I've had, and enjoyed, fruity green teas in the past (they make me feel all healthy when I'm at work) but plain green tea on it's own - hmmm - I'm not overly convinced about.

Anyway, I had a try with this one regardless and was majorly shocked that I didn't find it horrible at all.

Drinking it very lightly infused, with no sweetener (and obviously no milk) is obviously the way forward to be enjoying green tea.

It's changed my opinion on it anyway.

And there we have it!

Some early Sunday morning tea-ness.

Thanks Bellevue Tea - I've loved all of your offerings.