It’s no secret that my sweet tooth rules my rational mind, it makes me crazy, moody and needy. Addict like urges prompt me to walk a two mile round trip to the farm shop and back in the beating hot sun or pouring rain for shortbread, sugary cereal and ice lollies. A practice I hope to curb after admitting the hideousness of it here and a lightning strike moment the other day when my favourite jeans felt so snug around my thighs I had to rip them off in a rage. In a bid to start small and cut the sugar, honey and maple syrup from my favourite hot drinks, I accepted a kind offer from Jing Tea to try out their loose leaf teas, beautiful glassware and a Tea-iere.
A few years ago I completely eradicated refined sugar from my diet for about 18 months – I was light on my feet, zingy and carefree. Then I fell hard back down the rabbit hole of cakes, sweets and pudding. Does this happen to you? I am such a sucker for the way cakes look and that treat feeling. Rewarding my good self with a pretty slice of cake and soothing my sad self with a stack of syrupy pancakes.
I am hoping to get back my natural inner glow, as of now. It is the first couple of weeks, when making a change like this that are the toughest, if I can make it past the first few days of saying no to myself I can usually get there. This is day one.
Instead of my usual frothy latte made lovingly for me by Dean, which normally includes sweetened soy milk and maple syrup (insert horrified faced emoji here) – today I am pressing light and fragrant lemon verbena leaves in water that has just come off the boil. I love using the tea-iere as it doubles up as teapot and tea strainer in one, and I can watch the bright green leaves swirl and come to life in the water.
To serve I have had my eye on these beautifully crafted and hand blown double wall glass cups for a while now. This design keeps your tea hot whilst the surface remains cool to the touch, just remember that the tea will be hot! I love the clear glass, it makes tea drinking feel extra clean, light and even more detoxing and healthy somehow.
With enough water room for two cups in the tea-iere it’s perfect for sharing, or I can have a second cup instead of a biscuit. Once I have had time to properly mourn the loss of biscuits from my daily routine I am sure this will seem an even more exciting prospect!
The tea leaves are so beautiful and really do taste lovely, next up to try lemongrass and ginger and my favourite after dinner tea – peppermint.
