Archive for the ‘Mighty Leaf Tea’ Category
When I started building this site in the summer of 2009, I asked many of my friends who shop online where they shop and what they buy online. One of the most enthusiastic responses that I got was from Lesa who is a big fan of a particular premium tea vendor (who will remain unnamed until they agree to be listed on this site). I pushed Lesa’s “tea button” and got about an hour’s worth of information about the virtues of premium tea — not the kind of stuff you buy at the grocery store, but the really good stuff. As a result of Lesa’s passion for good tea, I signed a number of high-end tea dealers as participating vendors for “ShopOnline.”
Your humble Webmaster fell in love with the tea sites that signed on with us and promptly placed an order with Mighty Leaf Tea for a green and white tea sampler assortment. The price for this 30-teabag assortment was $21.95, plus $7.95 for shipping and handling. With every order, Mighty Leaf lets you select two free teabags of your choice, so I received 32 teabags in seven different varieties stored in an attractive tea tin.
It was love at first sip.
The first variety I tried was Green Tea Tropical, a healthful, low-caffeine green tea infused with a melange of sweet, fruity flavors. Rocked my world. I’ve now tried all the varieties in the sample assortment, which also included Mountain Spring Jasmine, Organic Hojicha, White Orchard, and Marrakesh Mint. I have to be honest with you, some of these flavors didn’t appeal to me — until I actually tasted them. Jasmine is too floral and perfumy for me, but I like this tea in spite of that. Mint tea has never been “my cup of tea,” but I love Mighty Leaf’s Marrakesh Mint. It pleasantly surprises me every time I taste it.
So what’s the difference between “the good stuff” and the grocery store stuff? A good tea is like a fine wine — it has lots of “complexity.” Different parts of your tongue register a rainbow of complementary flavors. It’s a party in your mouth. After I’ve had a couple of cups of grocery store tea, my tongue feels like Astroturf. Not so with the good stuff. The teas I’ve tried from Mighty Leaf have a smooth, almost creamy, consistency. Bye-bye “turf tongue.” And the huge variety of teas available from the premium vendors offer something for every palette. I’ve now got a tea wish list as long as my arm.
Suffice it to say that I look forward to a cup or two of tea every day now. It has become my 15-minute vacation to peaceful, exotic lands.
If you did the math in your head when I laid out the price of the package that I bought, you probably came to the conclusion that I’m paying almost a dollar for each cup of tea. I’m happy to point out that you would be quite wrong! I’m a big guy and I brew a big cup of tea, about 16 ounces each. Every Mighty Leaf teabag (excuse me, they refer to them as “silken, hand-woven, biodegradable tea pouches”) is good for a minimum of two of these mega-mugs of tea, sometimes three. That cuts the price per cup to less than half of what you would have guessed at first. If you brew normal-sized cups, you might be able to get even better mileage.
Sometimes, for the third time that I use a “tea pouch,” I’ll use two of different flavors. Tonight I enjoyed a blend of Marrakesh Mint and Mountain Spring Jasmine. An outstanding pairing! As a former Diet Coke addict, I am happy to blissfully sip a couple of mugs of tea per day, rather than mindlessly gulp down vast quantities of unhealthy soda pop. Another of our tea vendors, Adagio Tea, charges much less for shipping and offers free shipping on orders of $50 or more, and with all of our vendors, loose tea is a more economical option than teabags.
So now I’m a premium tea convert. I recently read an interview with a man from England who was in Australia for a conference he was speaking at. The interviewer asked him if he would consider relocating to Oz. The Brit replied that the country was gorgeous and the weather was incredible, but he couldn’t find a decent cup of tea in the whole country. Tea was the deal breaker. I’m not that far over the edge yet, but I spend a lot of time browsing the tea site here on ShopOnline, planning my next purchase.
I encourage you to take the plunge into the world of premium teas. They make outstanding gifts (I just celebrated my spiritual birthday — 38 years as a follower of Jesus — so if any of you want to bless me with a belated birthday gift…) and they are a real treat for yourself, as well. And all of the tea vendors at ShopOnline pay a nice commission for the ministry of your choice, so place your order, brew a cup, put your feet up, and prepare to get cozy.