I love loose leaf tea but to use it I think you have to have a good infuser to allow all the delicious flavour to flow out. There are many different ones available and they all work in different ways. There are plain practical ones or funny novelty infusers which add a bit of humour to your brew.
Personally I love the novelty ones as not only do they seem to work well they just make me smile. I was treated to this lovely floating flower one (pictured above) from my cousin. Yes she knows me very well!! It is so pretty as it looks like a little water lily floating on my brew. For me a flower and a brew go hand in hand, two of my favourite things as well as handbags but we won't go there today. This little gem is so easy to use. You can scoop some loose leaf tea into the infuser or spoon it in if you prefer, pop the flower top on and launch it into a mug of boiling water. Leave for a approx 3 mins or longer if you like a stronger brew and it's done. It even comes complete with a plastic container to put the infuser in so you don't have to leave it leaking out on the kitchen work top, see no mess! Absolutely perfect. I like the fact that it floats as the infusion process seems to work better. I suppose it simulates a floating teabag but I prefer the taste of loose leaf and I have so many different teas and flavours. If you need more than one cup or have guests you can get the teapots with the infusers inside which are also really good. I have two, of course I do! Why wouldn't I? I do use them a lot and again it makes it so easy to use the loose leaf tea without too much mess. You can find a good selection on Amazon by clicking on the image below (this post contains affiliate links)
If you prefer the floating infusers, here again is a link to those on Amazon (click on image)
I can recommend them both, but it all depends on how big you need your brew. Yes there are times the teapot is required as maximum brews are needed but most of the time to make a quick, no fuss, loose leaf brew the cup infusers are just the job!
Let me know what you think, do you have one you use at the moment? Which is your favourite type of infuser? Are you a teabag person never to be tempted by all this palaver? Leave me a comment below or on my Facebook page. Thank you for reading and I will be back tomorrow for 'Whatever Wednesday'. Take care for now........
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I visited the Food and Drink Festival at the weekend which was held in the idillic setting of Elvaston Castle near Derby. This two day event displayed everything that is good about food and drink, including chocolates, fudge, cheese, potatoes, noodles, Prosecco and Pimms, Gin, ice cream, the list just goes on and on. In fact you could walk around this festival and have a multi course meal, all your meals set out for a whole weekend. I love a festival that involves a sense of 'survival' in which ever direction you look.
Survive I could because there it was, like a little piece of heaven, yes a tea stall!! A lady who just welcomed me into her gazebo and allowed me to smell her loose leaf tea. Just amazing! I must have walked away from that stall like a sex addict walking away from an orgy. There were jars and jars of her tea on display and the flavours blended together were just delightful. A variety of teas including black tea, white tea, green teas, rooibos tea, fruit and herbal and all looking so pretty. You really got a sense of the flavour of the tea just by smell alone. I literally could not decide what to purchase, completely spoilt for choice but I ended up going for a Strawberries and Champagne White Tea and a Lemon Rooibos. They both taste so refreshing and have also tried them as an ice tea as well especially how the weather has warmed up so much in the past couple of days. It was a bit rainy on the day we visited but it didn't seem to matter as it is always sunny for me when surrounded by tea. The people at Snail and Rabbit certainly know their tea as well as I was told all about which tea would have certain benefits on my health. There were plenty of decaffeinated options which I do tend to drink a lot of nowadays, mainly because I do drink a lot of tea. There were a lot of other tea accessories to buy, gifts and crafty items too. There was a brilliant handmade gift idea which was a book containing little samples of tea inside, so quaint and beautifully displayed, a guaranteed buy for any tea'aholic. She also made advent calendars for Christmas which I cannot think of anything more perfect than 31 days of tea. I am definitely purchasing one for December this year. So a big thumbs up from me for Snail and Rabbit, you can find them at: 82 Trent Boulevard in Nottingham NG2 5BL or on their Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/Snail-and-Rabbit-Personal-Training-Studio-Loose-Leaf-Tea-Shop-348196278535363/ They do have a personal training studio as well if you fancy getting fit. Seems a good combination to me, get fit and drink tea, yep I can go for that. Take a look anyway! Thanks for reading on this very warm Tuesday, it is very much like being in a teapot, boiling hot!!! I'm not going to moan as I love the summer and I would like to keep it for as long as possible. So keep cool and look after yourselves, please feel free to join me tomorrow for Whatever Wednesday. I needed some plants for my garden, the cake and tea just possessed my body quite by accident while walking around. Funny that! I praise the person that decided to put restaurants and teashops in garden centres, it is just so right.
Swarkestone Nursery and Garden Centre is a lovely place to visit, so many plants available and also garden furniture, bird food, planters and garden tools so a lot to choose from. Neatly situated inside the restaurant there are also a few gifts and cards. There is so much room here, outside the restaurant is a small sand pit for the children to play in, I say children as I was tempted to build a sandcastle but I feared there may have been an age limit. It also boasts a large outside seated area towards the back to catch those rays of sunshine we have been treated to recently. So much choice at this restaurant with a cool selection of sandwiches or a hot food counter with a tasty looking breakfast going on during the morning. The cakes were what caught my immediate attention though and so many too. The best selection of gluten free I have seen so far with two types of cheesecake strawberry and rhubarb and a lemon one too. There was a gluten free carrot cake but I plummeted for a Belgian chocolate meringue roulade which tasted absolutely divine, washed down afterwards with a pot of ginger and lemon tea. I like to see a good selection of gluten free cake, I think it shows someone has actually made the effort to think beyond the basket of Cherry Bakewell's and yep the famous Chocolate Brownie. A really nice and relaxing experience. the staff were very friendly both in the restaurant and the garden centre. Overall very impressed, would definitely return and can recommend it for a visit. If you would like more information about the garden centre, restaurant and to check out some forthcoming events there go to: www.swarkestonenursery.co.uk They have a Summer Craft fair coming up in August (12th & 13th), a Food and Drink fair on 7th & 8th October and a Christmas Gift and Craft Fair from 17th-19th December. Plenty to see and do so pop along. Thank you for reading I will return tomorrow for Whatever Wednesday but for now take care. I totally agree with this statement on my brew 'Behind every GOOD WOMAN is a lovely cup of TEA. Oh they must have seen me coming to give me that, just perfect. A lovely brew at Darley Park Tea Rooms and in such a beautiful setting.
I love this park for a good walk, it is massive and I have visited it for years, since I was a little Sue from the Brew. It has very steep hills which were brilliant for sledging during proper winters when we actually got snow. I went for a big walk the other day with my son, he loves to walk too and it works a bit of energy out of him. The tea room is just perfectly situated in the middle of this vast space, a large outdoor seated area and space to sit inside if a bit chilly outside. It was a lovely sunny day when we passed by and to be honest I could have sat there all day. It is a very popular place for all visitors especially walkers and those with dogs. The tea room actually cater for the doggies too and provide bowls of water which I think is really nice. Dogs need their brew too! We just stopped for a drink this time but they offer a full menu with a great breakfast, tasty cheese toasties and apparently their chips are fabulous. there are cakes and snacks too as well as ice cream. What more could you want? There are no airs and graces, you just get your mug with hot water and the bag in but I love that and there are other places that do the teapot thing and fancy plates, that's just for another day. The staff are friendly and service is quick, so one of my favourite places to be. There is a children's play area a bit further down on the park, a pub near by if you want a stronger brew and you can take a wander by the river in Darley Abbey, very beautiful. So if you've not been you need go and have a bacon butty and a brew and then walk it off with a nice big walk. You will not be disappointed. They are situated at Abbey Yard, Darley Abbey, Derby. DE22 1DS and they can be found on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Darley-Park-Tea-Rooms-158441190889073/ Thanks for reading and I will return with Whatever Wednesday tomorrow, take care for now....... |
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