The first day of October has arrived and it is slowly feeling more and more like fall. I always find myself leaning more towards black teas this time of the year. Assam, Golden Monkey, Keemun, Darjeeling, you name it – it’s in my cup. In fact, as I am going through this September round up I have the last bit of a Russian Caravan steeping next to me. It was gifted to me by Amy of The Art of Tea and Tasseomancy earlier this year when we swapped teas. It’s her personal blend that consists of oolong, keemun and lapsang souchong black tea. Slight sweetness with a malty taste that is really warming me up next to the breezy window as I catch up on some great tea related reads, recipes and a few YouTube videos from last month.
Tea
My Japanese Green Tea | How to Brew Shincha – Shincha has been a hit or miss for me in the past. Truthfully, I really enjoy the tea but it took some time for me to find out how exactly I like it. Ricardo shares a super helpful and straight forward guide on how he prepares this tea.
Drink More Tea | MuZha Tie Guan Yin Oolong from BTTC – Collin’s blog is a newer one I follow and I have really been enjoying how he reviews teas. This particular post is a great example of how he takes the reader with him on a journey through each steep from his tea tastings.
Up For A Cup | Chinese tea ceremony: Experience the magic of tea – Ilona has a lovely write up and photos shared on her latest blog post from her first ever Chinese tea ceremony. I never thought of this as a Bachelorette get together until now. What a truly awesome way to celebrate and connect with bridesmaids.
Food
Vermilion Roots | Matcha Tofu Cream Cheese – I was so excited when Christine sent me this matcha recipe she created. Just this past week I’ve been thinking about vegan cream cheese recipes I want to try and then I get a message from her with this blog post. So of course, now I know what is going on my bagel often. There is a nice, quick how-to video with this recipe too.
Veggie Desserts | Recipe: Matcha Horchata – Horchata and matcha are a match made in heaven. I love this recipe from Kate. What really caught my attention was the fact that she took a short cut here and used store bought rice milk instead of the traditional way to soak the grains of rice overnight. Still quite tasty when you are craving it and can’t wait!
Miss Mary Lu | Tutorial: Earl Grey Cookies! Baking with Tea – This is actually a YouTube video from a girl with a wonderful personality! I make earl grey tea cookies myself, so it was interesting to see how she makes hers. She even takes you through a quick step to make tea butter!
Lifestyle
The New Girl | High Tea and Salt Cave kind of Day – I haven’t been to the Windsor Arms Hotel for high tea in what feels like forever (realistically like 4 years). Going through Darlene’s blog post with stunning photos from her recent visit had me missing the place and planning a trip back. Also, have you been in a salt cave before? So cool!
Honestly, Morgan | Testing Pinterest DIY Mugs – Another YouTube video to watch in this round up! I’ve seen these DIY mug art online forever but have yet to try them. Morgan gives it a go to dress up her mugs for tea time 🙂 I think I’ll have to try the marble look somehow.
Misc.
Wonderment Magazine | For the love of tea – A while back I connected with Nicole from Wonderment Magazine. As a tea lover herself, she was working on a creative piece on tea and had asked me a few questions for it. It is finally published and does an excellent job at celebrating tea for what it is.
Enjoy the reads and videos from this September round up! Do you have a blog you think I should check out? Let me know in the comments below!