Just my cup of tea…

Good morning!  What’s in your mug today- tea or coffee? My first cup in the morning is 99.9% always tea, but I can’t say I prefer it over coffee.  I am an equal opportunist i.e. there’s a time and place for both.  However this article seems to think tea trumps coffee, especially as tea calms you down whereas coffee turns you into a crazed lunatic – haha!

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As much as I love my cappuccinos and Americanos at Starbucks, I won’t lie: they make terrible tea.  Fortunately I came across my new favorite place in London to get my tea fix: Amanzi Tea Centre off Marylebone High Street.  Aside from the glass jars displayed on one wall of the shop with different tea flavors, the first thing that blew me away was the variety of blends (white, green, oolong, black & rooibos) and flavors available:

Front side
Front side

Some of the flavors that instantly stood out include:

  • Lychee Mar-Tea-Ni
  • Mint Chocolate Roobios tea
  • Lavendar Chamomile
  • Coco Loco Caffeine-Free Tea

Depending on your mood, they can all be ordered as hot or iced, unsweetened sweetened with agave or honey.  I was pleasantly surprised to see almond milk & soy milk were both offered on the menu alongside skimmed & semi-skimmed milk.  Despite such a tea selection, I’ve only stuck ever with their fruit flavors (White Pear White Tea & Cherry Pineapple Green Tea), unsweetened on ice which were both perfectly refreshing.  I also had sips of my friends’ Mango Green Tea Smoothie & Iced Spiced Chai, which were equally delicious.  If bubble tea is your thing, various flavors are also on the menu like honeydew melon, coconut, and vanilla.

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At home, I usually alternate between peppermint, green & English breakfast tea but I’m thinking it’s time to spice up my selection with some of Amanzi’s flavors.  Fortunately you can also buy the teas to take away.  Choosing just one flavor is quite the dilemma, but their Roasted Almond Herbal Blend seems like my best bet.

Front side

While there is also a small coffee section on the menu, I doubt I’d ever order off it…wouldn’t that be like going to McDonalds and ordering a salad? Amanzi might not pop up on every corner like Starbucks, but it’s more than worth the journey.  And yes, free wi-fi is also available there :)!

Tea or coffee?

What’s your favorite tea flavor? 

42 thoughts on “Just my cup of tea…”

  1. That tea shop sounds wonderful!! I am a tea addict. I love some Cappuccino here and there, but only for the milk foam to be honest 🙂
    I brought home some David’s Tea when I was in Boston and I am obsessed with the roasted walnut or honey bee flavor.

  2. Thats so awesome that they have a variety of teas there- often we associate the UK with strict Earl Grey drinkers :p

    While I am a fan of cinnamon tea, I consider coffee to be liquid gold! Cannot go a day without it, and the off chance I do…. Well being around me ain’t pretty!

  3. I’m pretty sure everyone knows that I don’t drink coffee so clearly not going for that one…but at the same time, I really haven’t been drinking tea that much either lately. I think it’s more of a winter thing for me! I do need to get back to Starbucks for a shaken passionfruit iced tea, I do love that!

    1. Ooh good to know that Starbucks does make some good tea- will definitely check out the shaken passionfruit iced tea next time I’m there 🙂

  4. Hahah I love how you compared that to ordering a salad at McDonald’s–so true! I totally agree with you about there being a time and a place for both. Right now I’m drinking a cup of coffee with vanilla almond milk that turned into a mocha when I decided to blend it with cocoa powder and honey 🙂 I love coffee, but it makes my bod kind of messed up so I should prob try to drink tea more often. I actually really enjoy a cup of tea, but something about coffee makes me crave it way more! Ok sorry I just wrote a novel.

  5. Oh, I definitely love both! I always start and end my day with tea, but coffee is always my number one. I love it, usually around 10 so then I don’t crash at about 3 😉
    I’m so obsessed with flavored teas though – like I think I have about 10 different ones. It’s a problem.
    These flavors all sound SO amazing!

  6. Hmmm… so I love having tea when I’m home, but when I’m on the go, I always do coffee. All the cafes mess up my tea, it’s too diluted and I need it just right, hence why coffee works outside.
    The days I work, I drink coffee, weekends I do tea.
    Love English Breakfast. :-)))

    1. One of the reasons I tend to order coffee over tea at cafes (bar Amanzi) is because they tend to hand me a pot of hot water & a Twinings tea bag- drives me mad!!

  7. I’ve always been obsessed with tea! I’m allergic to caffiene, which means I have to be more careful in my choices, but I drink about 3 cups of rooibo tea a day! That tea sop looks great, but if you’re ever at Starbucks and in a tea mood, their vanilla rooibos is really good!

  8. Tea all the way! Mint Chocolate and Coco Loco sound pretty awesome.
    I’ll admit I’m a bit of a tea snob: No fruity teas, not really appreciative of all of those “fancy” roibosh blends [if it’s just a whole lot of artificial flavouring, that is – nothing against poor little roibosh itself], no green tea. Actually, I drink herb and spice teas almost exclusively :). As of now my favourites are Sweet Chili (think cocoa shells, cinnamon and many other spices) and Celestial Seasoning’s Bengal Spice Tea. Just yesterday, though, I splurged and got myself a new Almond Biscotti-flavoured white tea.

  9. Oh my! My coffee addiction is what’s contributing to my lunacy!!! 🙂
    When I lived in Abu Dhabi, we used to get a “chai” from the little stores in the “souk” and while I am now 99.99% a coffee drinker, I won’t forget those cups of chai! Tea and sweetend condensed milk! totally unhealthy but totally Yum!

    1. Those sound like the tea you get from the roadside stalls in Bombay- not healthy at all but oh so delicious 🙂

  10. i am all about the coffee, but i think that has a lot to do with the fact its rare that i come across a good tea shop in boston. starbucks teas are pretty horrible. but the few times i have had good tea, it was like eye-popping amazing. i wanted more and more.

  11. I LOVE tea so that place sounds pretty incredible!! Is it worth flying from the U.S. to go to? 😉 Haha, if I ever find myself in London again, I will definitely have to check it out!
    Green tea is my absolute favorite, though I love most any herbal tea (except for chamomile – not really my cup of tea. And yes, pun totally intended 😉 ).

  12. In Canada, there’s a company called David’s Tea and they have the BEST flavors of tea! I love their chocolate chili chai and pumpkin chai.

    However, I need coffee in the morning (Tim Hortons). I can only drink Starbucks coffee during the holidays when they have their specialty holiday coffees.

    1. I didn’t get a chance to try Tim Hortons when I was in Montreal a few years back, but my friend constantly raves about their coffee!

  13. This store looks amazing and like something my mother would love. She is a huge tea drinker, although it never really rubbed off on me. The best flavor I had was a loose tea, and it was Orange Ginger. It was good, but I never restocked when my supply ran out. I think the Roasted Almond Herbal blend sounds like a solid choice. Anything with nuts….

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