You just have to get one of these nifty teapots, it's just brilliant. The inenguiTEA teapot from Adagio Teas has just revolutionised making a brew using loose leaf tea. It's simple you pop your loose leaf tea into the pot, pour hot water onto your leaves and let it steep, then the magic happens. When it's ready you pop the teapot onto your cup, the valve underneath is released and the tea pours into your cup leaving the leaves behind in the teapot. 

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It fits onto any cup with a diameter of 9.5cm and has a capacity of 470ml.....so easy to clean too by simply rinsing it out or you can pop it in a dishwasher. I'm so easily pleased and at present I keep making loads of tea because I just like seeing it pour through the fancy mechanism into the cup. Will the novelty wear off?.....I'm not sure but I'm enjoying it for now. Even my teenage son thinks its clever so it must good.

I brewed a pot of Pu erh Hazelberry Tea from Adagio which is a blend of pu erh tea, strawberries, cocoa nibs, natural strawberry flavour, natural creme flavour and natural hazelnut flavour. I love this as it has a fruity taste combined with a nutty taste which really works. It doesn't just taste like a fruit tea which I'm not a big fan off, it tastes like proper tea with a hint of the fruit. I also like that I can drink it without milk. If you read my post last week you'll know that I mentioned the creme flavouring, this makes the tea taste as if milk or cream has been added, great if you are following a diet or added reassurance if you are never quite sure about black tea. 

You can purchase any of these products I have mentioned from Adagio Teas at www.adagiotea.co.uk

Here is the link to the ingenuiTea Teapot 
www.adagiotea.co.uk/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html

and here is the link to the really tasty Pu erh Hazelberry Tea
www.adagiotea.co.uk/pu_erh/index.html

Please go and give these super teas a try and you will will be mesmerised by the teapot as I honestly think this is the best thing to happen to loose leaf tea for ages. It's even got entertainment value, what more do you need?

Thank you for reading today, please come back tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday but for now......

​Take care.
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Iam loving this new glass mug with infuser it's just brilliant. It is a nice clear glass mug with a very generous sized infuser and you basically pop the loose leaf of your choice into the infuser and let it brew people.

When all brewed and ready you just take the infuser out, pop it on the glass lid which doubles as a coaster to prevent any spills and job done. Its ready to drink - just like that.....so easy.

This mug is a great alternative if you want to cut the teapot out of the equation. It's quick and easy to clean too. Where can you get one? Well from Adagio Teas along with great tasting tea. I have been tasting the two flavours this week shown here which are the Lemon Meringue Green and Cream. I said before that I love a lemon tea and this is really nice with that extra sweetness just like a meringue so you get a cuppa and a dessert all I one mug.....great eh. 

The Cream flavour is fabulous as it tastes as if you have put cream or milk in which saves adding any extra milk. I love this as I'm trying to loose weight and like to cut down on my milk consumption as much as possible so it's great to have a tea with the taste of cream. A mix of Ceylon Black Tea and a dairy free flavour this really is a treat.

These teas come in very handy re sealable bags with instructions on how to brew and the ingredients which have gone into your selected choice. There are also teabags available too so no worries if you are not a big loose leaf fan. You have to go and see what flavours they have as they are so tempting. Yes my cupboards are full again so I will be reviewing more very soon.

You can buy online at Adagio Teas here on their website at 
www.adagiotea.co.uk

The direct links to the products I have mentioned this week are:

Cream Flavoured Tea www.adagiotea.co.uk/flavors/cream.html 

Lemon Meringue Green 
www.adagiotea.co.uk/green/lemon_meringue_green.html

and for the Glass Mug with Infuser 
www.adagiotea.co.uk/teaware/glass_mug_and_infuser.html

Enjoy and let me know what you think if you decide to try Adagio.

Thank you for reading today....please join me again for What to Buy Wednesday tomorrow.

Take care.

P.s....I started telling you all to 'take care' at the end of my posts after the Manchester Bombing, a year ago today. I've carried it on ever since so please do take care of yourselves and spare a thought for the 22 people who lost their lives and the many that were injured in the Manchester Arena

​- We Stand Together.

I've never been here before so I was in tea heaven when I found this tea room. It is set in such an ideal spot, right on the entrance to a fabulous nursery with lots and lots and plants.

I sat with my mum (my fellow brew'aholic) in a very serine lodge style conservatory with the sun beating down - a perfect spring day. To accompany my brew I tucked into a gluten free Apple, Coconut and Almond cake which was so tasty. Now this is going to sound a bit daft but I'm not a big fan of coconut and don't really like almonds but weirdly I loved this altogether. Maybe my taste buds are maturing in my middle age and I'm starting to like foods I've never liked before. Great!!!!

There was a great selection of cakes as you walk in and a menu with nice light lunches and drinks too. I could have sat there all day but we did have to go and walk off the naughty cakes. Mum from the Brew purchased some plants for her garden and I helped her choose. A very important job! My mum watches a lot of Gardeners World so she knows what she is talking about but I just help choose the colours. 

As we went through the checkout we had a very nice chat with the gentleman who served us. You see we made the mistake of calling this place a garden centre and we were reminded that it is actually a nursery. I didn't know what the difference was but we were told it's mainly to do with the items sold. If you start dabbling in items such as furniture in a big way then you automatically start to become a garden centre as opposed to a nursery which just sell plants. 

So obvious now but I like being told a fascinating fact.....you learn something new everyday. I am so glad we went along, this really is a lovely place to go and so beautifully situated close to Kedleston Hall. You can walk around the estate at Kedleston, get inspired by the grounds and literally pop next door and turn your own garden into something that looks like it should be on the cover of a National Trust brochure.

What more could you want? Apart from cake and a brew?.......Well it's also to sit down and appreciate what is right there around you.........life, love and a bag of compost just waiting to be chucked into a plant pot.

If you have visited Meynell Langley then let me know what you thought and what your favourite cake was. Take care of yourselves and I will be back tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday.

Thanks for reading.

Well tea is a good start but after visiting a lot of teashops I got to wondering what we all like about our sanctuary that is the classic brewhouse.

For me I like to see a good selection of drinks. There has to be a bit more than a pot of PG Tips. Nothing wrong with PG at all but I like to see a choice of classic teas and different flavours too. Loose leaf or bags and a decaf option too.

If not in the mood for tea (I know who is not in the mood?) I do fancy a coffee so I like to see all the different ways of purchasing coffee. Probably still go for a latte but I want to see loads of syrups that I can have in it. Love the syrup and sugar free if I'm feeling like I don't want to blow the diet. Decaf option there too, I do like a proper coffee but sometimes the blends are a bit strong.  

We need soft drinks for those who don't like to indulge in a brew and hot chocolates and milkshakes for the younger teashop visitors. Preferably with the biggest selection of chocolate sprinkles and marshmallows if possible. Unicorns seem to be making a great theme at the moment for a junior soft brew, so imaginative and I do love fairytales and magic, it just makes everyone happy.

Good sweet cakes, teacakes and scones are very necessary in a teashop with an added choice of toast too. All with proper butter, jams, marmalades and  marmite.....yes I'm a lover of the yeasty extract. Biscuits or should I say cookies are nice too if not in the mood for cake. I need to see gluten free goodies and not just a brownie no no no!! I want to be able to eat what everyone eats too.

Does that all sound a bit demanding? No of course not. Most teashops offer most of these options nowadays. The big request is the thing you can't buy but definitely deserves a tip and thats 'a good service'. Apart from the surroundings being clean and fresh food on offer we all need a friendly smiley face. This my lovely teashop fans is the one thing that will probably make one more likely to return to an establishment. 

So next time you go to a teashop, coffee-house or cafe ask yourself did you get everything you wanted. If you've been to a place numerous times then what made you return? There are a lot of teashops around now and all doing really well so we have become a society of brew guzzlers and it has to be one part of the economy I don't mind at all helping out.

Let me know where you're favourite place is to grab a brew and a slice of cake. For now though take care of yourselves and join me again tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday.  

I went to Sainsbury's yesterday for a brew. I was killing a bit of time before picking my youngest up from school and having a bit of time with my eldest son. He had just bought some new trains from Smyths Toys so we were having a very important discussion about theses engines and what part they played in Thomas & Friends. They of course were lined up at one end of the table and I'm sure if they could have joined in with a brew they would.

When I went to buy my brew I was faced with two options.....yes just the two and I was stumped. Would I like a mug or a pot? Well I always feel a bit rushed in these situations even when there isn't a queue. I feel as though being an expert tea drinker I should know the answer immediately and I do really. It should really be a pot as tea always tastes better from the pot. Out of my mouth though came the word 'mug'. What was I thinking??

I was thinking it would just be easier for the Sainsbury's lady to just pop a bag in a mug but it would have been the same job for the pot wouldn't it.? This then got me thinking how many questions you could technically ask when serving tea.

It may go something like this:

Would you like.......

• Fruit, Black, White, Green, Rooibos, Oolong? (there are approx 1.500 types of tea so this could go on a while if you know your tea)
• Teabag or Loose Leaf?
• Caffeinated or Decaf?
• Mug or Pot? (first time I've been asked that)
• Milk, Cream, Soya?

Oh too many questions even with those few. I like the self service places where you can choose a bag, go fill up with hot water, choose your milk  and away you go to make your brew as strong as you like.....even better when you get offered free refills (Ikea).

That's the place I was thinking when I thought of self service as at Ikea they have quite a substantial filling station there. I mean there is quite a bit of choice and as far as I know I think you can still go and refill. I could quite happily spend all day there.....just in the restaurant.

It's the same with coffee.....you've got a Latte, Cappuccino, Americana, then do you have it skinny or with soya, with syrup......oh crikey which flavour of that? Can you remember when you went to a cafe and you just asked for a coffee or a tea and you just got that......sugar was on the table you went to sit at if you needed sweetening up. You had sugar as well there were no sweeteners in some cafes, you had to bring your own. Now, if they put sugar on the table they would probably get taxed. Oh how times change.

Life is full of decisions and choices, maybe too many some may say but hey I think it's called catering for everyone's needs. My need is that I just want a brew!!!!

Thanks for reading today......join me again tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday but for now take care.