Tugboat Tea is based in Truro but sells online (alongside coffee) and I love their simple Cornwall flag-coloured packaging. They blend a large range of teas but their Cornish collection appealed most for it's local twist. Order them for your next British seaside excursion!

Tuesday Tea Tasting My first cold brew! Well it is summer isn't it? Kind of - the English weather needs to sort itself out - but while the sun has briefly decided to pop out then it's about time I gave cold brewing a go. Flavoured teas are supposed to be a good shout for cold brewing so I used London Tea Club's Apricot Peach (Ceylon black with dried peach, apricot and papaya pieces). After following their instructions (like below) I had to wait overnight to taste my brew but, after loading it...

Tuesday Tea Tasting It's not often I'm too busy looking at packaging long enough to forget my tea! But I do love what Exclusivitea sent me. The branding is not trendy (or look like a designer's been chained to their Mac for hours) but I like that, and what I especially like is that the box is a replica of the large sacks used at tea processing centres and is made from recycled damaged tea sacks used in the factory. And I like that the reed box and its contents are handmade, with imperfectly...

Tuesday Tea Tasting Included in my tea tour of Richmond was the tea and coffee merchant Rosie & Java and well, when in Rome, I bought the Richmond Royal Blend Tea, blended to celebrate Richmond's historic Royal heritage. It's a mix of Assam (North-East India) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), a strong cuppa, not too much brewing time needed. Definitely the perfect Rosie Lee (tea) on a chilly day after a long walk, preferably Richmond Park where there are lots of Labradors...but no big bad wolves.

Tuesday Tea Tasting After a brisk walk through the park, kicking up freshly fallen Autumn leaves, it was nice to come out of the cold and hug a cup of Jing Chai. Its a warming, spicy, colourful cuppa which matched the changing landscape out my window. Also, check out my new Tea Infuser Mug! Looks fab (as does the tea brewing in it), and cleverly designed for when you want to infuse your tea but don't want to faff about with a teapot and strainer. My tip: leave the used leaves sitting around...

Whilst admiring their gorgeous wallpaper, I tried a trio of teas at the warm and welcoming Margot May, each a blend from the Tea House Emporium in Bath, and served in a teapot with a cute label giving the brewing time. First was the Ceylon from Nuwara Eliya which evoked memories of the fabulous train journey I once took through those beautiful hills and tea plantations. The Lapsang Souchong was seriously smoky – a speciality of the Fujian province the leaves are dried over smoking pine wood...