Tea Store Is Open

I've been a fan of properly-brewed loose leaf tea for ... longer than I care to realize. I found my favorite unscented, plain black tea decades ago (!) at Mariage Frères in Paris: it's from Yunnan province, China, has a wonderful full flavor that stands up to milk and a touch of sugar - although many of my friends like it just as it is. For a while, Bloomingdale's carried it, so I could buy it right in NYC. But once I moved to the countryside, I started searching online for fine teas, and after trying several companies, found a source for Yunnan tea that made me very happy. Tried a few dozen other teas from the same source and was hooked. I've been offering a wide selection of scented and unscented, regular and decaffeinated black and green teas here at Heaven Scent since the B&B opened. Lots of guests have enjoyed discovering new tastes with these teas, and I'm frequently asked where to buy them. So, I have taken the plunge and started buying for resale. To start, we have a number of guests' favorites, plus a couple of new offerings to try out.

Guests' favorites now for sale include the plain black Yunnan; an unusual variation of Earl Grey with cornflowers and vanilla; a delicate, decaffeinated apricot-scented sencha (green tea) - a great late-night favorite here; lemon-flavored Rooibos ("Red Bush") which of course, is not tea at all, but a naturally caffeine-free, antioxidant-rich plant from South Africa, and in this scent, is often enjoyed as iced tea; and a tropically-flavored green tea blend known as Sunny Dream.

In addition, we're offering a new organic green tea with a delicate orange flavor; black-currant scented black tea, an old favorite flavor of mine; a light-bodied black tea flavored with ginger, peach and apricot; and an all-fruit Red Berries blend, no tea at all, so again, naturally caffeine-free.

We offer two products to make brewing loose tea just as convenient as teabags - and much more satisfying! One is a permanent filter that sits in a cup, mug or pot. Just compost the tea leaves and rinse the filter for re-use. The other option is a package of 200 disposable paper filters, shaped to fit inside a mug with handle-tabs for easy removal.

The complete product list, with prices, is posted at our main site, http://heavenscentbnb.com/. Oh, and note that the tea itself is packaged in handsome, reusable oval tins, glossy black outside, gold inside. An attractive, tasty and tasteful gift, certainly!