**RESOURCES** Chronic Disease Support Groups

Sorry, all. Haven't been posting because my sarc has been raging and keeping me too wiped out to get up and about much. Still pretty exhausted and feeling super cruddy, but wanted to share a couple of helpful resources for those living with chronic diseases. Since I am wiped out and writing this from the bed, I will keep it short.

• Inspire is a site of groups and communities for people dealing with all kinds of illnesses. Sarcoidosis brought me there, and the people are very supportive.
• Facebook group, Sarcoidosis UK is awesome. Nice to communicate with people who understand. We share wellness info and commiserate about the lack of awareness in society and the medical profession. Felt weird to join a UK based group, but I'm glad I did. The next 2 groups are also on Facebook:
• Sarcoidosis Support Group This is the smallest of the 3 groups and it might be a good starting place for newbies.
• Sarcoidosis Support This one is the largest of the 3 groups. There is a lot of sharing of stories about when and how people found out they had sarc. Helpful on days when you are wondering if you're the only one with certain symptoms.

You all know that I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. The groups are one thing that keep me using it. These groups are helpful mostly because they help me realize I'm not along. That's so important. Now that I have moved to another state and lost my original care team, I feel more alone with this disease. I'm often terrified at the lack of knowledge about sarcoidosis and it's sometimes hard for me to communicate with other people about symptoms. No one wants to feel like a "big baby" or to seem like they are whining. Even with your doctors, you feel like you might be leaning on them too much. At least when I am communicating with other sufferers, I know that they really "get it".

Anyway, I hope that some of you will find these resources helpful. Remember, there are support groups for almost any kind of disease or struggle. Reach out, don't give up, and don't give in. 

Peace

--Free

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Out of Seasonal Sync

It's mid-late October and I'm just amazed by the weather in my new hometown. The evening temps have been in the high 40's while it's gotten up to 60 during midday. For a chick coming down from Alaska, this is just crazy.

I thought this great weather might be a fluke because, well, weather all over the world seems to be fluking out lately.

The other day, one of my neighbors asked when I would be getting a car and if I would be joining the Plow Club. Plow Club? Apparently, there is a guy who comes around to plow the parking lot during the winter. He not only does the plowing, but he cleans off the tenants' cars. And all that service is for a very reasonable price each time. I asked how many times a year the service is needed and was told, "Oh, maybe 3, sometimes 4, times." What??? Back in Alaska, we'd need that dude to just park his plow in the driveway for an every morning clean up.

Of course, I don't want to get too happy about having milder weather. It will be my luck that this is the year everyone will remember as the one when we got freak snowstorms every day.

Like I tell people here, I don't mind winter. I've done over 40 of them in Alaska. What I mind is a never-ending winter. The 4 seasons in Alaska were: Winter, Snow Breakup, Great Summer, End of Summer. Right now, I'm still able to take my trash out in the mornings without the cold making my nose run. Yesterday, I forgot to empty the garbage in the morning and some thrown out food started to smell. I made a midnight run out to the dumpster in my PJs and no jacket. I couldn't believe the mild temps. I actually stood outside for a few minutes to look up at the night sky. Wow.

Now, I haven't been taking many photos lately because I've been a little sick, but here's a shot I got yesterday while out looking for used cars.

That tree was dazzling

 This one is from around a week ago. It's out back of the building where the trash dumpsters are.

Probably taken mid-day

Nevertheless, I did make sure to get a nice winter coat and some boots for the winter. Since the weather will be (hopefully) seasonal and mild, I think I might not get as depressed as I usually do during the winter months. I still have my cheap little SAD light out, just in case!

Peace
--Free

Candle Love and Candle Hate

I'm taking a break from writing to vent about my recent experiences with some candles I ordered.

First, let me say that I love a good scented candle. I've got a thing about fragrance and scented candles are a cheap therapy for me. No matter how sick or depressed I feel, a nice fragrance can help my mood.

Now here's the thing: candles can be so expensive! I'm not 'fancy' like that. I don't need a candle that, ounce per ounce, costs more than my food for the week. That's a real thing. This one looks gorgeous, but is a 2.5 oz, single wick candle for thirty four dollars. 

Eek, right? I knew this was going to be pricey because the description reads like it's for a rare 'House of Somebody' perfume. It has notes of "black-currant leaves and Bulgarian roses". For that kind of money, it ought to have 'notes of the only flower of its kind'. On the Plus side, it is made in France. Oh, well, that makes all the difference except I'd be paying with Made In the USA dollars that I can't spare. If anyone would just like to send me one of these, though, I wouldn't be mad.

Truth be told, I can't even afford a large sized Yankee Candle candle because they cost almost as much as Frenchy up there!

Just $27.99

Yikes! It's a candle, people! I know it says "Vanilla Cupcake" but you can't actually eat it and, even if you could, that's more than I want to pay for one meal...

So... $30 candles are crazy out of my price range. I don't see myself spending that kind of money on a candle even if I won the Powerball. But I will sometimes spoil myself and go as high as $10 for a large candle. I will and I recently did.

This candle had great reviews on Amazon and I loved the idea of trying a Baby Powder scent.

The product description (obviously written by the Seller) made me oh so hopeful.

 And just in case I had second thoughts, the "highly scented" teaser was reiterated.

As a product reviewer, I like to trust other reviewers because they have (usually) no incentive to exaggerate, right? The reviews stacked up as all positive. One review was even titled "Make your friend weep with joy". I wept all right. I cried over my wasted $10 while I ate tuna and noodles for a week.

After I finished crying, I went back and checked reviews again.

 Oh, by the way, I'm the only 1-star reviewer...

(I won't go back into my whole rant about Amazon tightening up the rules about compensated reviews. I mean, at least I never rated a lousy item as something to weep over. Maybe they ought to crack down on non-comp reviewers...)

So anyway. I basically stuck this candle in my bathroom and only burn it with the door shut just before any company arrives. If I let it burn for about half an hour, it covers the smell of any cleaning products I've used.

Next,going back to my lemon-based scents, I tried this candle:

It smelled exactly as described but, again, they were stingy on fragrance oil. It smells strongest and best if I use it on a warmer so that's what I do. My apartment is small so, after about an hour, you start to notice that something smells delicious. This one also at least comes in a great looking jar that I will be able to reuse later for holding something decorative. Still, it's ten bucks for something that I could only give a 2-star review. Too bad that after that other candle I wasn't more trusting of reviews since more buyers agreed with me on this one about the too-light scent.

I have decided to never buy another candle without knowing the brand. I don't need to. I always have my favorite scent in affordable wax melts.

The smell is heavenly! Also, even though the price for a $10 5-pack of these is right in there with those other candles, this is still the better value. For one thing, the scent is stronger and lasts longer so I only need to use 2 of these in a warmer. They will last at full strength for about 3 days before I have to add another single cube. In winter, I will put the used cubes in a glass jar and set them near a heating vent in the bedroom for a light fragrance. Finally, I will toss the old cubes into the bottom of my trash cans under the trash bag. Yeah, I'm frugal and will get all the juice out of these! Another plus is that, if I don't want to spend ten dollars, I can get 1 pack for two dollars.

You get 5 o these packs for $10 delivered to your door!

I can't even begin to describe how delicious this scent is. When one of my nieces visited Alaska and came in my room, she fell in love with the fragrance. I ran right out and bought her a pack to take back home with her. Now that I live here, I order most of my home goods (including groceries) from Walmart.com and the delivery people always tell me how good my apartment smells. One of the delivery people said they were going to look for the same "candle" the next time they were at the store. They were a little surprised when I told them I can get these at the local Walmart for two bucks.

By the way, I have tried a couple other Scentsationals scents. This is my all-time favorite, of course, and I like one called "Egyptian Cotton" which sets a romantic mood. My niece likes the duo packs from Scentsationals. That's where half the cubes in a pack are of one scent and the other is another compatible scent. Me, I will just stick with my lemons!

By the way, while I love Amazon, I would never buy my Scentsationals there. Walmart has the best prices so..

If any of you know of any other wonderful lemon or lemon-vanilla candles or melts, please let me know. They must be affordable and accessible.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Cast Iron Tea Kettle (a true tetsubin)

When I posted about the cast iron teapot that I was sent to review, I called it a tetsubin in the title. I did clarify that in the actual post, but I'm here now to tell you about an real tetsubin that I broke down and treated myself to. It was only $31, but still a bit much for my budget. Oh well, guess I'll just eat eggs and toast for a couple of weeks. This kettle is so worth it.

Some of you might think its's not as pretty as the teapot. I didn't either, not at first. As a matter of fact, I almost didn't get it. The price was great, yes, but I could only find this particular one in the black color. I wanted red (to match my other kitchen appliances and decor), but... I just could not find another kettle at this price that had such positive reviews. Now that I have it, I love it. I never want to be without it.

If you read the post about the teapot and tetsubins in general, you might remember the whole thing about the interiors being either enamel or non-enamel. In short, cast iron teapot interiors are enameled and meant only to infuse and serve tea. Cast iron kettles (or tetsubins) are not enameled and can be used to heat the water and serve the tea.

This pot is different from the other one in more than the enamel. For one thing, this one is slightly larger (30 ounces) over the other's 20 ounce capacity. The infusion basket is larger too. Most importantly, this tetsubin holds heat much better than the teapot. The teapot could (with a little help) keep tea quite  hot for for 30-40 minutes. This one kept the tea hot for about an hour. After about an hour and fifteen minutes, it started losing heat and going lukewarm. 

You know how you have to spend some time seasoning a cast iron skillet? Heating it in the oven with a bit of oil at 400 degrees for a couple of hours? Seasoning this was similar. I had to boil some tea in it and let that sit for an hour. Here, let me show you how the manual explains why:

"the tannin in the tea and the iron which dissolved by the iron pot will react to form a tannin-iron surface layer , so the cast iron pot will not easy to rust."

 The instructions for seasoning and caring for the kettle are adorable. I love that, even though they weren't written by someone for whom English is a first language, so much detail was included. That really impressed me.

It took a couple of hours to season the kettle and get it ready for first use, but it was so worth it. The instructions suggest using the pot often in the first few days. No problem! I already used it three times today to drink about 6 cups of tea.

It's not just the idea of having a particular kettle, but using this extends the whole process of preparing the tea. It feels comforting to take the time to enjoy all the steps. Before, I was just boiling some water in a metal pot and pouring it onto a bag. Now, I am boiling and steeping and taking care to get the right strength of brew. I think the Japanese who work so hard have also made relaxation into an art. I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety and adjustment issues lately. This tea making process is a nice, soothing ritual of sorts.

Now, while this interior is not coated with enamel, there is this from one part of the seller's description:

"Our Cast Iron Teapot Features a Fully High Temperature Oxidation Enameled Cast Iron Interior That Not Only Makes Cleaning Easier, But Helps to Prevent The Build-Up of Rust And Oxidation."

Before I received the kettle, that made me think that I would be prevented from benefiting from the iron. Remember that cooking (or boiling) things in cast iron is supposed to literally add iron to your diet. Well, I found another part of the description that took away that worry:

"The use of JUEQI iron pot boiled water containing divalent iron ions, so there will be spring water effect, which can effectively enhance the taste, very suitable for brewing all kinds of tea." (my underline)

Also, the fact that it can be used on the stove is a big clue, right? The interior of the teapot I reviewed was obviously coated with enamel.










This tea kettle ...





























So, it looks like I have found m perfect cast iron tea kettle. I'm really happy with it and hope to get a lot of years' use from it before I have to pass it along to someone else. Once I manage to save up a few extra dollars, I plan to get a nice cast iron rivet to rest the kettle on. Ha! First, let me just get through the next month eating on a reduced budget!

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Cast Iron Teapot (Tetsubin)

Before I get to the review, a little preface:

Just so you all know, not all of the products I have reviewed over the past few years were given to me by sellers or brands. I will review (and have done)  just about anything I personally buy. For one thing, I think that reviews help other people when they are trying to make a decision about a purchase. That's why I will review even the most mundane, everyday type of item. I know that someone out there might be trying to decide between an item by Brand A and Brand B and might just find my review helpful. I know that because I read a ton of reviews before I make purchases.

Anyway, I do get the chance to try out some pretty cool products that I might not otherwise have given a thought. Recently, I was caught completely off guard when I was asked to try out a cast iron teapot.

What? I had never heard of such a thing. My mother used cast iron everything - pots, skillets, griddles - but I don't recall seeing a cast iron teapot. I was definitely happy to do this review!

Another name used here in America for a cast iron teapot/tea kettle is tetsubin. If you're a hipster. If you're like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies, you just call it a good kettle. I like using the term tetsubin, but I now know to be careful about slinging that word around. You will see what I mean in a minute.

I was given the chance to try this cast iron teapot:

 Cute, yes? I think so. Problem is, I didn't realize how tiny it would be. I was thinking about Granny and her big old cast iron kettle. What I got was something very small and finely detailed.

No matter what that label says, this is NOT a tetsubin

It's adorable. Also, when you think about it, it's perfect for serving a decent amount of tea. It can hold 21 ounces of liquid, which is more than a decent amount.

But... teapot or tea kettle?

Once I was offered this, I had to go and look up information about cast iron teapots in general. I started with Wikipedia (of course) and gave myself a headache with info overload. Still, I learned is that this particular teapot is not what the Japanese would call a proper tetsubin. That's because this one has an enamel coating inside because the pot is intended only for brewing/steeping tea. If it were used to heat the water, the enamel coating would be damaged. A real tetsubin is doesn't have the interior coating because it is used as a kettle and can be heated over a fire (or stovetop). This from Japan Design Store does a better job explaining the differences.

Be careful when shopping for a tetsubin

I really do like this teapot. But that is what it is - a teapot. If you are looking for a kettle that you can heat water in and serve tea from, make sure you're not getting a pot with an enameled interior. That can be tricky because that information isn't always clear and not all sellers are as honest as the one I dealt with. They call the pot I tried a tetsubin on the actual tag but not in the online product description (like some less careful sellers do). By the way, I actually asked if this seller carried a non-enameled pot but they didn't have any. Darn.

How did it work?

This teapot is so beautiful  that it could be used as a nice piece of decor. It's not as heavy as I expected and I found it really easy to handle even when it was full The one thing I do have to be careful of is that the outside can get very hot. The handle is heat-free but you still need to touch the lid at some point. That lid gets real hot. Also, when I pour the tea, I tend to reach and hold the lid so it won't slide. Don't do that. The lid won't slide if you move slow.

There is a removable infusion basket that fits nicely right under the lid. That's great for loose tea. With bagged tea, I removed the infusion basket and just dropped the bags right into the pot. Dealing with that basket is when you're at risk of touching hot spots.

The first time I used the pot, the tea didn't stay hot for long at all. I think it started getting lukewarm after about 20 minutes. The second time around, I pre-warmed the pot by letting some boiling water sit in it a few minutes before I was ready to use fresh hot water to steep my tea. (Did that make sense?) The tea stayed hot for about 40 minutes. Not bad. When I went back and re-read the instructions, I remembered that I could have sat the pot on a candle warmer. So... the third time around, I didn't pre-warm the pot, but I put the pot on my candler warmer. That didn't really help. Maybe my warmer wasn't hot enough?

Bottom line

If what you want is an attractive serving pot, then this one would be great. If you are a serious tea drinker and want something super functional, you might want to look at a non-enameled pot. Most non-enameled pots are more expensive. There are a few in the $30-$40 range but you really have to look hard to find them. I wanted a pot that I could use as a kettle also, but didn't have the budget for some of the pricey choices. As an alternative, first look for "tea kettle" in the description, then ask the seller if the interior enamel is the "high oxidation" type that can be safely used on a stove top.

To be honest, I would prefer a cast iron tea kettle. I guess I will be looking around for one in that $30 price range... I just might have found one. If you know of something better, please let me know.

By the way, I want a full cast iron kettle for the same reason I like cast iron skillets: I was taught that using cast iron is healthy because it adds iron to the diet. Old wives' tale? Maybe, maybe not, but I think my mama would want me to have a cast iron kettle! So there.

This one that I tried would make an awesome wedding gift. This one came in the red I chose (of course) and a green shade. There are other pots similar to this one in various colors and with all kinds of designs. This one came in the red I chose (of course) and a green shade.

I rate this one ★★★★☆ because of the need to pre-warm for best results.

I had fun and someone is going to be getting a nice used teapot for Christmas!

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Lapsang Souchong Tea (Pt 3 Choice Brand)

Well, I'm down to the last brand of Lapsang Souchong tea I tried for this series of reviews. I've changed my initial opinion of not liking this type of tea to realizing that, like with anything, it mostly depends on brand. It definitely depends on quality - as is surely true of all tea!

This brand is from Choice Organic Teas. The tea is called Russian Caravan: a black tea blend that "marries rich Yunnan with smoked Lapsang Souchong".

So... still black tea, just smoked

I will let you see from the box where the Russian part of the story comes from:

Interesting, no? I thought so.

Choice brand flavor and aroma

This tea is the Mama Bear of the three Lapsong blends as far as aroma. It's nowhere near as strong as the Taylors (thank goodness). I wonder if that's because this of the addition of the non-smoked tea. And here is where things get confusing for me.

Yunnan is a region in China where (according to this), you can find China's oldest wild tea tree. There are different types of tea produced or from Yunnan. This box label doesn't let us know anything specific about the Yunnan tea they blended the Lapsang with. But okay. All I really care about at this point is whether or not I like the tea. And I do.

Like I said, I'm beginning to notice differences in quality. This tea is pretty decent. I can tell that this one and the Taylors brand are probably better than the Twinings. If I were to drink this tea on a regular basis, this one would win for aroma (not so strong), but Taylors would win on flavor. So, yes, I have done an about face and decided that Twinings is now my least favorite.

Bottom line

3rd place - Twinings of London
2nd place - Choice Organic Teas (came very close to a tie with the winner)
Winner - Taylors of Harrogate

Trying these teas was an interesting experience. I can't afford to try more brands unless I am offered more to try for free. If I do get to try other brands, I will do updated postings. For now, I will give Taylors the winning ribbon.

Stay tuned for my review of non-smoked black teas. I bought those myself because they are affordable and I drink black tea on a regular basis. Cheaper than coffee, I will tell you that!

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Lapsang Souchong Tea Part 2 (Taylors Brand)

The next tea up in this review series Taylors (of Harrogate, if that's important to ya). It

Pricing/Availability

On Amazon (which is were I get offered most products for review), this is Prime-priced at $6.28/box of 50 bags. Also, if you are purchasing this, it's sold as as "add-on" item. It's also available as a loose tea in a tin. Other sellers have it for various pricing scales. If you do get this on Amazon, be sure to shop around for the best price and seller. My sponsor was good on delivery and packaging.

What's surprising is that Walmart prices are about the same or, in some cases, higher that Amazon for this tea. Wow. But that is only for this Lapsang Souchong. If you decide (or already know) that you like the Taylor brand, the Walmart prices for their other tea varieties is great.


Aroma, Taste, Packaging

As you can see, these bags are not individually wrapped. I don't like that. I have a little basket right next to my coffeepot where I keep packets of tea. I have to store these in a plastic baggy - espcially because...

The smoky smell is STRONG. When I opened the box, that campfire-like smell wafted out. I didn't really like that, but I said I would try it and so I did. (This smells much stronger than the Twinings brand from the last post, by the way. MUCH stronger, IMO.)

I brewed a cup using 1 bag. The smell remains strong, but doesn't get stronger with brewing, thank goodness. I went mostly by box instructions and let this steep for 4 of the 4-5 minutes. I don't have a thermometer to see if my water was right at the recommended 100c (or 212 Fahrenheit). To be honest, I first thought the 100c was a liquid measurement. I should have known better but I'm going to play the Sarc card here. Anyway, my teapot was screaming so I'm sure the water was adequately heated.

Usually, I use only 1 bag of Bigelow's and get a nice rich cup of tea. I was surprised that, in spite of the strong smoke smell, this tea seemed pretty weak. That's probably not a bad thing because I don't know how a stronger brew of this would taste. And the taste was not bad. Really. Shocking.

The tea has a weak black tea flavor with a sort of smooth or silky smoky feel that lingers. It's actually pleasant. Next time I brew some, I will try letting it steep a bit longer to see if I like it stronger.

Bottom Line

I'm glad I got past the initial out-of-the-box smoke scent to give this a chance. If you are a true tea lover, this is worth a try. If you aren't kind of crazy about black tea, I would skip this. Or, I should say, I would skip this particular brand. I still have some other brands to try and I'm sure that there will be differences just like there are between the store brand black tea and the Bigelow's brand, right?

I give this one a 3.5 of 5 stars for flavor.

Peace
--Free

P.S.: I wrote these reviews over several days, as my fatigue and concentration allowed and just scheduled the posts. If I get the chance, I will be cutting open bags of tea to show photos of what the cuttings inside look like. I learned that serious tea drinkers take this into consideration which is why some of the prefer loose leaf/whole leaf tea. I will be scouting around for some freebies to review those next!

**REVIEW** Black Tea 4 brands

A bit about tea

I always knew how to choose my coffee to get the strongest brews. I would look for a Dark Roast and avoid Breakfast or Medium and Mild roasts. With tea, I have only gotten as far as knowing that a good Breakfast blend is what I like best. I only recently learned to avoid Earl Grey blends (because of the bergamot), but I'm still getting the hang of tea. If you're in the same boat, check out this article to get started. If you just want to get some basic facts and quick-glance info, you want to go here.

I get my tea online or at a local grocery, but I did find this website that has reasonable prices. If you don't want to buy there, you can at sort and define what types of tea you might like. I will probably check out some of their offerings. If I do, I will let you know how it goes.

Don't forget to check out my reviews of Lapsang Souchong (smoked) tea. You can find the series here:

• Lapsang Souchong for review
• Twinings brand
• Taylors brand
• Choice brand

Teas I reviewed:

I finished trying out the Lapsang Souchong teas I was given to try. It was fun, but I'm glad to be back to my non-smoked black teas.

Because black tea is something I drink on a regular basis, I already had 2 brands around when I was thinking of doing this review. When it was time to replenish my tea pantry, I tried 2 other brands so that I would have more to review.

Before I even get going, let me mention that I love doing reviews. A while back I was offered a chance to try a cast iron teapot - a Tetsubin. I'd never heard of such a thing and, when I did some quick research, I was really interested in the offer, but... Ha. Being me, I wanted one that wasn't enameled. I didn't get a choice in anything except the color so I went ahead and accepted one that had interior enamel. Here it is, in case you are like me and had never heard of these before. I will do a review on it later.

Anyway, back to the tea!

There are some very important things for me to consider when choosing a tea:

• Flavor I hate a weak tea more than I hate weak coffee.
• Price/Value (That should have been the first on this list!)
• Availability

I reviewed the following teas:

• Tetley 80 count for $3.18 (or 0.04 per serving)
• PG Tips 40 count for $.4.28 (0.11 per serving)
• Bigelow 20 count for $2.48 (0.12 per serving)
• Great Value/Walmart 100 count for $1.94 (0.02 per serving)

I was introduced to tea when I was married to a Brit and living on his turf in England. At the time, I never gave tea (or the husband) a real chance. I mostly bitched and moaned about how hard it was to find a decent grind of coffee. It wasn't until I moved away from Alaska back in June that I began drinking so much tea. I still have my coffee pot, a can of Cafe Bustelo and some Green Mountain pods, all getting dusty. Tea is cheaper. At least, it is if you find the right brand. And here we go...

Tetley 

"Tetley" just sounds so veddy British, doesn't it? Anyway, you could go over and read the little backstory about the two brothers who started the brand if you want. I just want to talk about how I love the tea.

In case you go looking for it at the store

I give this tea an A++ for flavor and aroma.

If you sniff a bag, this tea doesn't seem like it's going to be any different from any other decent brand. That's what I thought. But there really is something about that bag design that makes a great cup of tea!

I only noticed it when I was using the tea for the first time, but I didn't give it much thought. Until I saw how the bag sort of helped the infusion of tea into the hot water. Then I tasted the tea and was blown away. Now, remember, Bigelow has been my preferred tea for all this time. Tetley certainly gives Bigelow a run for the money. (Also, I think it's cool that Tetley is part of the Ethical Tea Partnership.

The one thing I don't like is that the bags are not individually sealed and the box just has a normal closing type lid. For freshness, I put the bags into a sandwich baggie.

An 80-count box is $3.18 (.04 per serving) online at Walmart. Also, I tested how well the bag did when I re-used it. It passed with flying colors. I didn't make a full cup with the used bag but it made a good half cup of tea. (Hey, you never know when you're going to get low on fresh tea!)

As far as availability, I had trouble finding it in most of the local stores that carry a decent variety of teas. On the other hand, I was able to get it at that great price via Walmart.com.

Flavor ★★★★★
Price ★★★★★
Availability ★★★★☆

PG Tips

This is a tea that I was only vaguely familiar with. Once I saw the box, it seemed like I should know the brand but I don't recall ever having had it. Oh well, it's apparently a pretty popular tea according to customer reviews at the Amazon and Walmart sites.

When I brewed this for the first time, I noticed that the inside of the bag gets really foamy while steeping.

See what I mean? That's a cup of Tetley brewing on the left. You can see how foamy the PG Tips bag is The bag is more a pyramid design than a regular paper tea bag.


Of course, because it's paper, the bag doesn't hold shape as well as some of the other pyramid bags I've seen, but I like that it is paper.

It didn't seem to affect the flavor, but I thought the PG Tips would be stronger in the end. It wasn't. It brews slightly less robust than the Tetley, but it still makes a great cup of tea.

I like the Tetley better just because it brews stronger with less steeping time. I didn't even bother trying to re-use this one.


So, while I enjoyed this tea and wouldn't be unhappy if it was the only choice, I can't rave as much about the flavor or the price.

Like with the other teas, it was easily found online but not so much in our local stores.

A 40-count box was $4.28 (0.11/serving) at Walmart.com.
Flavor ★★★★☆
Price ★★★☆☆
Availability ★★★★☆

Bigelow

This has been a favorite since I started seriously drinking tea. It is so flavorful and I like that the bags are individually packaged. It's the one tea on this list that I can find at almost every local store.

make sure to read the history on the box panel

I have to be careful when I go out to buy this tea. Once, I accidentally got the wrong flavor and I hated it.

 The one on the left - the blue one - is the one I love. That other one, in silver, that one has oil of bergamot in it. I do love bergamot - as a scent and as a hair and skin treatment, but not in my tea!

So, this one is the one I love.

 Here's the thing, Bigelow is the priciest of the bunch. It's right up there behind PG Tips. Tetley tastes just as good - maybe even better - and it's one of the lower priced of the teas I tried. A 20 count box of Bigelow cost me $2.48 (0.12/serving). The one thing that might tempt me to buy Bigelow instead of Tetley is that I can find Bigelow in the local stores. I don't have to drive 8 miles to Walmart either - or order online - because the store 5 blocks away keeps it in stock.

I will get Bigelow in a pinch, but I plan to be smart and always have some of the better priced Tetley on hand.

Flavor ★★★★★

Price ★★☆☆☆
Availability ★★★★★

Great Value

(Walmart) Brand

Okay, folks, you know that I had to try this one. First, it is a Walmart brand and Walmart is I take my broke behind to do most of my shopping. Second, I had always seen this in the stores but never picked up a box. I don't know why. Maybe because I was so much more into coffee then.

I know that some people look down their noses at Walmart items, but I usually like the Great Value brand. The coffee is almost as good as the Yuban I used to favor and I will often save some pennies by opting for the GV brand of cleaners and other miscellaneous products. I figured the tea would be a decent as the coffee.

Anyway, you can see that this comes in a large quantity:

100 bags of tea.

Yeah. When it was delivered with the other teas, it took up most of the space. Or maybe that's because I decided it would be thrifty to stock up on such a great value...It wasn't.

 There's a reason the tea is priced so cheap. When this tea is steeping, there is zero aroma. The taste was so flat and bland that I had to spit it out. Since there were 100 bags to a box (and since I ordered four boxes... ~sigh~) I tried using two bags. Well, that didn't help. All I got was twice the blandness.

After I slapped myself for over-ordering this tea, I had an idea. Guess what? The one way this tea can be used it for an iced beverage. I tested this out by steeping a couple of bags for as long as possible - to suck out as much, um, flavor as possible - and still ended up with a very light brew that was perfect for pouring over ice. The only problem is, I'm not an iced tea drinker. I ended up giving all this tea to my brother and his family. They love iced tea.

Even the bags are cheaply made. Just about every time I tried to pull a bag from the envelope, either the tag tore loose or the string came off. Ugh. I finally managed to get a bag loose to get the photo.

I was so unimpressed with this tea that I wanted to double check that it actually was tea. 

Whatever.

The 100 count was $1.94 (0.02/serving), but the lack of flavor and the fact that even doubling up on the bags didn't help... Well, this one was a failure.

Flavor ★☆☆☆☆
Price ★★☆☆☆
Availability ★★★★★

This got the 1 star for flavor since it can be used (by some people) as an iced tea. I can't give any better rating to the price because Tetley is one one of my top faves for flavor and is also only slightly more expensive.

Bottom Line

I think that Tetley is my new all-time favorite. It tastes great, the price is perfect, and I can keep stocked up if I order up online before I'm almost out. Bigelow is my next favorite, but that price has to come down.

Just to give you a last look:

The winner, once again, is Tetley. 

This was a fun review to do. I was already drinking tea so I just had to switch them up cup by cup. Also, this was a nice break from working on the book. I will come back and do updates on any health benefits I'm experiencing but I already think that I am losing weight due to tea. My blood pressure has been so good lately that it's scared me! Don't know yet if that due to the tea or just a change in lifestyle and the lower stress levels. At any rate, I hope you like the review and maybe learned a little something about tea.

By the way, if there are any tea drinkers out there who are reading this, please let me know if you have favorite black tea. I'd love to try new ones.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Lapsang Souchong Tea (Pt 1 Twinings Brand)

When I first heard of "smoked" teas, I wasn't sure what to expect. It just sounds like such an interesting idea for a tea to be smoke flavored, doesn't it? And it's not just the flavor either, these teas are actually infused with smoke. Part of the tea-drying process is done over a pinewood fire. Honestly though, when I was sampling these teas, I couldn't tell it was pinewood, just that it was smoky.

individual packaging is nice

Twinings brand flavor and aroma:

This one was actually the stronger brew of the three smoked teas I tried. The aroma was not the strongest or weakest of the 3. That was nice because, to me, the smoky scent can be off-putting when strong.. I did prefer the aroma strength of another brand.

Another thing I noticed with this one over the other 2 brands is that it had a smoother feel on the tongue and the taste lingered in a not-unpleasant way.

One thing I personally didn't like is the appearance. After adding my cream, it looked weak (it wasn't) and more like a watery coffee from than a good black tea. I'm so influenced by visuals that this put a damper on the experience.







Bottom line:

 This wasn't bad. I give it 3 of 5 stars. I can put it right smack in the middle of the 3 teas I tried. I wouldn't run out to buy this one again, but I wouldn't mind if it's the one smoked tea I had on hand.









By the way, I gave my brother some Lapsang to try and he fell in love with the smell. Different strokes, I guess. I will end up giving him most of the rest of these teas when I finish the reviews.

Peace
--Free

**Upcoming REVIEWS** Lapsang Souchong (and other) Tea

Bye Coffee Why

Long-time readers of this blog know that I love coffee. In the past few months, though, I've been loving it too much so I decided to cut back a lot. I'm having problems with anxiety and restlessness and drinking so much coffee doesn't help. Also, since I don't smoke like I used to, coffee is the enemy because drinking coffee makes me think of cigarettes!

Anyway, instead of coffee, coffee, coffee, I've switched almost completely over to black tea. I'm finding that, even though tea can be highly caffeinated, it doesn't trigger my nerves. It actually seems to calm me down a bit.

My all-time favorite tea is...

but not the kind with bergamot oil! Ugh!

                                                       
I big-a-love my Bigelow! (Minus the bergamot. Not so crazy about that.)

I love this tea so much that I can sometimes drink it without any kind of sweetener. Sometimes. I do love to add my own creamer-sweetener (see below to recipe), but that's because I need my sugar! The thing is, Bigelow's can be out of my budget sometimes and I have to use a store brand. What I find is that store brand tea is usually weak and flavorless. Ugh.

I recently got the chance to try a new (to me) kind of tea called Lapsang Souchong. (Yeah, I had to copy/paste that one!)

So, what is Lapsang Souchong?

My brain is lazy today so...

There ya go

I will refer to this tea as L.S.

I read several stories about how this tea came to be. One is that while some warrior and his crew were  in the middle of a battle, they brewed tea one night around a campfire. The teas became flavore by the smoke from the fire and... voila. There a other stories I won't go into, but it's aslo said that this particular tea is the first black tea in history.

When I was told about this tea having a "smoky" flavor, I almost passed on it. Every Google search came up with that same general description. I just wasn't that tempted. I thought that saying that my tea would be "smoky" is like saying my coffee would be "buttery".

Wait a minute. I do LOVE buttery coffee, right? When I first heard of buttered coffee back when I learned about the Keto diet, I had the same reservations.

Once I decided I might try this tea variety, I still wanted to know more about it - especially whether or not it would be any better for me than regular black tea.

Possible health benefits...

I gathered these bits and pieces from around the web. Sorry for not tracking my sources.

• Immune sytem booster This is one of the big draws for me. I've always heard about tea being good for you. This L.S. is supposed to be some kind of super booster. This could help you fight off colds and other nastiness. Hopefully. 
• Caffeine alternative.  You get caffeine, like with coffee, but this tea has less and is supposed to release into your system all through the day instead of with one big bang. This is exactly what I was looking for.
• Helps in weight loss I just heard cheers going up all over! I myself have quit banking on anything for weight loss except for calorie cut back. However, I know that some things can help suppress appetite. L.S. is supposed to help the metabolism work faster and better. 
• High in antioxidants & heart healthy We have all heard about antioxidants protecting against cancer. This tea (and maybe most others) has a combo of antioxidants that can help (they say) protect your DNA from the damage of free radicals.The antioxidants also help with evening out blood sugar and lowering blood pressure. That sounds good to me!
• Has nutrients and minerals that are good for lowering bad cholesterol. Yay.
• Relaxing and energizing? L.S. good source of L-Theanine which helps reduce stress levels. Of course, there's also caffeine. Apparently, when the caffeine is combined with the Theanine, there is the effect of relaxation and mental alertness and energy. ~shrug~ Okay.

Because I got to try more than one brand, I decided to review them separately. The brands are:

1. Twinings
2. Taylors
3. Choice Organic

By the way, I learned that some cooks like to use a smoked tea as a rub for the pot roasts and other meats.

Other Tea

For those who aren't adventurous and just want to enjoy a plain, old, good cup of tea, there's black tea. I already pointed out that Bigelow is a favorite of mine. I also pointed out that it can be pricey. Still, I will do a single post review on black tea from Bigelow Earl Grey (with and without bergamot), Tetley, and PG Tips.






Benefits of Black (and green) Tea

I was surprised to read that black tea can be just as healthful as green tea. All this time, I've been hearing more about green tea benefits. I like green tea on occasion but, to paraphrase someone, I'm not a son of gun about it.

Here is some of the info I scoured when looking at the benefits and other news about tea:

From Organic Facts:

• Treats Diarrhea. Black tea has a healing effect on intestinal disorders due to the presence of tannins. It is advisable for all diarrhea patients to sip plain, black tea slowly for maximum benefits. (I actually remembered hearing this during my younger years when elders discussed natural remedies.)
• Improves Digestion because black tea is rich in abundant tannins and other chemicals that have a positive and relaxing effect on the digestive system of human body. This anti-inflammatory quality of black tea is also helpful for curing digestive disorders. (This must be why my British former mother-in-law could eat so heartily and keep a nice figure.)
• Prevents Breast Cancer. Drinking tea, either black or green (my emphasis) varieties, aids women in preventing cancerous growth in the breasts, especially women in the pre-menopausal phase. Tea assists in raising the level of globulin hormones during the female menstrual cycle periods. The presence of theaflavins in black tea destroys abnormal cells in the body before they cause any major damage or change into cancerous cells.
• And more pros for plain black tea it is...  rich in antioxidants known as polyphenols and also has minimal contents of sodium, proteins, and carbohydrates. According to Boston’s School of Medicine, it reverses the abnormal functioning of blood vessels, which may lead to strokes and other cardiovascular conditions. (I haven't gotten to the stage of drinking my black tea "plain black" yet, so...)
• Here is a warning about drinking too much tea: Black tea is also known to cause acidity issues in the stomach. Therefore, do not get addicted to black tea. Furthermore, avoid drinking tea after lunch or dinner, as it may lead to poor digestion, whereas at other points in the day, it can promote healthy digestion.

Info from WebMD:

• I found this very interesting: Green tea, black tea, oolong tea -- they all come from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The leaves are simply processed differently, explains Weisburger (82-year-old John Weisburger, PhD, senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention in Valhalla, N.Y.) Green tea leaves are not fermented; they are withered and steamed. Black tea and oolong tea leaves undergo a crushing and fermenting process.
• "In my lab, we found that green and black tea had identical amounts of polyphenols," he (Weisburger)tells WebMD. "We found that both types of tea blocked DNA damage associated with tobacco and other toxic chemicals. In animal studies, tea-drinking rats have less cancer."

Bottom Line

Moderation really is the key - whether you are doing something that is either good or bad for your health. I hope that you stick around for the reviews I will be posting. 

Peace

--Free