Monday's Musings - Literary Libations - Tea Shop Mysteries - Shades of Earl Grey

Wanting to expand my horizons a little, instead of getting a Simpson and Vail tea this time, I chose to go with Harney & Sons for my Earl Grey. Their tins are very cool and I have a thing for cute containers. But does the tea stand up to the taste test? We shall see.

Shades of Earl Grey is the third book in the Tea Shop Mystery series by Laura Childs. I've been buying my collection through our semi-local used book store, Blue Vase Books, (which right now has a buy 3 get one free with free shipping deal going), Thrift Books, or Abe Books.

What I liked:

As always, the aura of the Indigo Tea Shop is beautiful, cozy, and inspiring. Descriptions of various teas as well as their accompanying goodies make me want to try them. I also like the idea of tea infused bath and beauty products and might try looking up some lotion recipes to make those. I don't often take a bath, preferring showers, so will skip the bath recipes. 

I also like learning online a little about the Charleston Tea Plantation and seeing that Bigelow Teas are produced there. I really enjoy Bigelow's Constant Comment.

What I could have lived without:

Two of the main characters have started somewhat playfully bickering with each other. I can live without that since some of the bickering sounds kind of serious. It's annoying. The antics of the cat burgler seem a little far-fetched, but I guess they could be plausible.

The tea:

Harney & Sons makes a truly superb Earl Grey. It's full-bodied and aromatic. It makes a great iced tea also. I prefer mine hot with a drib of milk. It's wonderful.

The recipe:

Again, I didn't get to the recipes except to look them over. I have made scones as well as Lemon Curd before and thoroughly enjoy them (maybe too much!). There's also a recipe for relaxing Chamomile tea with honey which I've done multitudinous times. So I guess I have tried the recipes, just not really recently except for the Chamomile tea.

Again, I encourage you to come along on this little tea exploration. There are a lot of tea sellers out there to try and I've settled on a few favorites like Simpson & Vail as well as Harney & Sons.