Weekend Cooking: Try a Cuppa Plum Deluxe Tea

Happy Thanksgiving weekend for those of you in the United States. I hope your holiday was wonderful.

I ended up with a bad cold, and spent most of the week drinking gallons of tea. Although you might think it was bad timing to feel sick during a holiday, I was actually a little lucky.

A few weeks ago, Plum Deluxe Tea asked me if I'd like to sample some of their blends. I checked out their website and was impressed that their teas are both organic and fair trade.

I had a hard time deciding what kind of tea I wanted to try, but Plum Deluxe was nice enough to send me three different blends of black tea, my preferred brew. Note, however, the company sells green tea, white tea, herbal tea, chai, and a couple of others. Here's what helped me survive my holiday cold.

• The Mindful Morning Black Tea is Plum Deluxe's take on Earl Grey. The blend contains the expected bergamot oil as well as vanilla, blue cornflowers, and orange peels. They suggest a quick steep, which is what I did. This was definitely a brighter Earl Grey, and I admit to adding a shot of whiskey--just to help take the edge off my cold.
• I couldn't resist trying Heritage Blend Black Tea, which Plum Deluxe describes as Scottish Breakfast tea. I love breakfast teas of all sorts, and this one stood out with its touch of maple syrup and flowers. It was, however, a little more bitter than I was expecting, but some honey smoothed out the brew.
• Finally, the tea I was most looking forward to trying was the Brunch in Paris blend. This one was by far my favorite. It smelled so good, even before I poured boiling water over the leaves. Blended with the black tea foundation are cocoa nibs, orange pieces, and honeybush tea (see the photo at right). This could easily become a household staple.

Plum Deluxe had plenty of other organic tea blends that caught my eye. I mean, who can resist a tea called Reading Nook Blend? It contains black tea, rose petals, lavender, chamomile, and vanilla essence. The Gingerbread Chai Tea looks perfect for the holidays, and some of herbal blends also sound good.

If you're looking for a gift or want to treat yourself, check out Plum Deluxe's organic tea of the month clubs. They also sell gift sets and tea accessories.

Whenever possible, I like to buy organic, fair trade, and non-GMO, and Plum Deluxe meets all those requirements. In addition, they donate a percentage of their profits to, as they say, "making the world a better place." I love companies that give back to communities and projects in need.

Thanks to Plum Deluxe for the chance to try their teas. The photos are from their website, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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