Tea Time Tuesday - Unconventional Earl Greys

I'm going to get a lot of crap for saying this, but I have to be honest. I'm not into Earl Grey. It is the one tea I cannot drink - consider it my Kryptonite. I know, I know! How can I be the Tea Queen if I don't like one of the most common forms of tea? I don't understand why but it makes me gag every time I try to sip it.

So I just don't. Until...

I was introduced to an Earl Grey made with green tea . . . oohhhh yeaahhh! It was crisp, refreshing, and reminded me of springtime as a kid, when Dad just mowed the lawn and the air was pungent with the aroma of freshly cut grass. Two words: positively delightful! So I now make green Earl Grey my springtime tea of choice.

Now, I don't know where you are, but here on the East Coast we've been slammed with a lot of cold, yucky winter weather. Normally I consider myself a Winter Woman but lately I've been jonesing for spring! Old habits die hard, as they say, and I just can't bring myself to open up a tin of green Earl Grey until the temperature rises above, say, 60 degrees F. So what am I to do? Continue with the torture as I stare at the calendar, willing it to be May?

No, I try a different tea. Duh.

Enter Zhena's Gypsy Tea. (Yes, again. It's good. Plus, all of their teas are Fair-Trade and certified organic. So very, very good.) Their Raspberry Earl is traditional black tea with Italian bergamot, but it's accented with - you guessed it! - freeze-dried raspberries and raspberry flavor.

One sip, and I'm reminded that while spring is not quite here, it's just around the corner. The sweetness from the raspberries reminds me that February is past and winter is drawing to a close.  :-)