Like most of my Tea Features, I came across Nazanin from Tea Thoughts on Instagram! I enjoyed her beautiful tea-inspired pins and recipes. Through her social media, it is obvious that she loves tea and has built on that love. In this post, I plan to introduce Nazanin and her pins, as well as review a tea she gifted me from Pique Tea!
First let me introduce Nazanin, who is the brains behind Tea Thoughts. Tea Thoughts is a blog that features reviews, food and drinks recipes inspired by tea. It is also the name of her Etsy shop. Through her shop, she sells tea-inspired merchandise such as cards, wrapping paper, paintings, ornaments, and of course pins!
I related to her as I run a blog and have owned an Etsy shop in the past. So, I wanted to know what she thought about tea and what it means to her:
“Tea has been apart of my life from a young age. When I was a kid, drinking tea was normal. I enjoyed it and it was my go to for any problems! As I got older, I realized that it played a much larger role. Tea became an essential part of my routine, it’s something that helps me start the day on a positive note and end the day on a peaceful note. Tea is something that brings me calm in the chaos.
One of the most important aspects of tea for me, is that it is a symbol of connection and togetherness. In my life, tea has always brought family and friends together across all lines and opinions. Tea is a conversation starter, people are warmer when they have a cup of tea in their hands. It was rare for a family gathering to not start with everyone sitting down, with a cup of tea ready to talk and laugh. Tea heals, tea connects. Tea has it all!”
Now that we know a bit more about Nazanin, let’s go look at her pins and drink some tea!
Tea Thoughts: Tea Cup Planter Pin, A Purr-Tea Enamel Pin & Tea Pun Lapel Pin
Review: I always wanted to support Nazanin because I understand the struggles of trying to run a small business and I love her very honest attitude. While it can be hard to manage a business, she never gives up and is very frank about her ups and downs. When she posted that she had created a Kickstarter, I knew that I had found my way to support her!
The Kickstarter was for her Planter pin. I pledged for two pins (planter and chai pin) and a digital PDF. Since I don’t drink chai much (cinnamon sensitivity), I asked if I could switch it out. Nazanin kindly offered to substitute the pin for the Corgi pin.
Since her Strech Goal was that if she surpassed the funding goal, she would also add a new pin – Kitty in a cup. As an avid cat lover, I thought the pin was adorable. Nazanin gifted it to me so I could have both the cat and dog pin. The package also came with a personalized card!
The Tea Cup Planner pin is made of hard enamel, lined with gold plating and came with a pink heart rubber clutch. The kitty pin was silver lined like the corgi pin. The corgi is from an older run, so it had a back round clutch.
I have to say, to me, these pins are decent in size. They have a bit of a weight, so I found that when I pinned them to a cotton shirt, they would pull down the shirt slightly. I’d recommend a thicker or sturdier fabric.
The rubber backing is easy to pull off, compared to some pins that I’ve owned that had the butterfly clutch that you had to push to open. I keep mine around for decorations, so I cannot comment on if how these would fare during day-to-day use.
I think that this would be great for a tea lover, or someone who collects pins. Nazanin is always posting about her pins and makes me want to get more!
EDIT – Feb 02, 2018: I wanted to tweak this review and change my rating from a 3.5 to a 4. I wasn’t sure how to rate this one because I don’t wear it and therefore can’t comment on how the pins will fare during day-to-day use.
That being said, I can still rate it based on how it aesthetically appeals to me, and I love them. I think they are bright, colourful and very pretty. My favourite one is the plant one! I actually expected it to be the cat one, but I like how classy the plant one looks with the gold trim (4/5 rating).
- Company: Tea Thoughts
Pique Tea: Passion Fruit
Description: “Fragrant passion fruit with a hint of spring grass.”
Review: I had seen this brand while browsing social media, so when Nazanin sent me some, I was very excited to try it! The concept behind these teas is that they are a powder that can be mixed with water to create the tea. No worrying about overstepping! Despite drinking a fair bit of tea, I oversteep things still sometimes.
I liked how small each pouch was. These could be handy for someone. There weren’t a lot of instructions on the packaging aside from pouring it into 8oz of water. When I looked at the website, there wasn’t a recommended temperature, but I found that one of the other green tea blends had it, so I used that (175 F).
The green tea powder was a mustard colour. For green tea, I admit, I was expecting a green/green-yellowish colour like matcha. There was a strong fruity aroma the second the water hit the powder, which was promising.
The liquor was a golden amber colour and was mildly cloudy. The powder dissolved without any stirring. When sipping on the liquor, there was a grassy and fruity flavour. However, when it touched the tip of the tongue, there was a fair bit of astringency.
I wanted to give this a fair shot, so I tried brewing a new cup. The second time around I used lukewarm water and the liquor was more of a bright yellow. It took a bit longer for the powder to dissolve, and although stirring helped, I could still see some floating particles. I found that the bitterness was cut down, but it still lingered. The flavour was more fruity with a hint of floral sweetness after the bitterness disappeared.
Overall, I am pretty torn on this one because I really enjoy the concept of this one. It is easy to use: one packet, water, and a cup. There is no need to measure anything or worry about steeping times.
There was astringency both times I tried it and I only had two packets so, I cannot test this again. Also, and since it is a powder, there an is no way for me to adjust the steeping time in order to potentially cut down on the bitterness (2/5 rating).
- Type: Green tea
- Origin: Japan
- Caffeine: Medium caffeine
- Ingredients: Green tea, natural passionfruit flavour
- Other: Organic
- Company: Pique Tea
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am so glad that I was able to support Nazanin and be a part of her Kickstarter campaign! I love my little pins, and I always try to treat them gently so they do not scratch. Speaking of pins, Nazanin did release a new one today: a book and tea one!
As for the Pique Tea, I really wanted to enjoy it. However, even after using both methods to steep it, I ended up with a slightly bitter taste. Since I only had two packets, I sadly can not test this tea moreso than I already have.
Do you like tea-inspired items?
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