I Won the SaChasi Blends Giveaway

Back at the end of February a friend entered a SaChasi blends giveaway and I decided to as well. Part of the entry was to share what else have you used tea for and I replied that I have used it for my dry or irritated skin, made a hair rinse, and have baked quite a few tea-infused items: such as Crispy, Chewy, Matcha Green Tea Cookies; The Picture of Earl Grey Tea Cookies; Lavender Earl Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies; Cranberry-Spice Scones; Lavender and Earl Grey Scones; Cranberry Chai Scones; and Brown Butter Matcha Brownies.

Unfortunately, after I won I realized I hadn’t paid attention to the giveaway rules and that it was actually only open to UK residents. I apologized and said I would understand if they would need to choose another winner, as it was clearly my fault for not reading the rules correctly. However, they decided to send me my giveaway prize in exchange for a review. You know me and free, I just can’t resist.

I ended up winning a sample bag of Maple Pecan Pie Tea.

A slice of heaven. Famous for serving a sweet, buttery crunch with every glazed, nutty bite – our Sri Lankan black tea and wholesome rooibos perfectly recaptures this delicious North American dessert. All intricately enhanced with a sprinkling of indulgent, yet bountiful, carob and creamy lucuma.

SaChasi Maple Pecan Pie Tea

Ingredients: Ceylon black tea (Orange Pekoe), rooibos, dried apple, dates (rice flour), organic cacao husks, organic carob powder & lucuma powder, pau d’arco, vanilla powder, orange blossom and natural flavouring

I tried the tea and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was delicious, comforting, sweet, and a little nutty. I have to say this tasted much better than a lot of other pie flavored teas I’ve had before. A lot of pie flavored teas are either extremely weak and need multiple teaspoons or tablespoons like the Pinky Up brand. SaChasi gave you a full flavored tea that didn’t require adding extra amounts of loose leaf to your tea cup/infuser.

Prices range from $4 for a sample size (20g) to $8 for 50g and $16 for 100g.

As Wednesdays we have tea (one of my book clubs meets on Wednesdays) I decided to share the tea with the other members.

Two of us members loved the tea while the other two thought it was a great Pecan Pie Tea, but could use extra maple pieces or maple sweetener to really make it pop for them.

I still thoroughly enjoyed it and drank most of the pot all by myself! (Sorry book club members, once I start drinking tea it can be hard to stop).

For more giveaway posts, go to I Won the Ellery Adams’ September 2020 Giveaway + My Review of the First Two Books in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society Series

For more tea posts, go to Magical Matcha Latte

A few years back I was given a collection of five teas, A World of Teas. As I was about to try them out, I started thinking: which books would best suit these teas? After all, nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea.

Thats me

Since then I try my best to repeat it whenever I review new teas. 🙂

Let’s spill the tea.

I was trying to think of which book best went with this tea. I needed something comforting (a comforting read), something that was relaxing but sweet and fun; along with having a few nutty characters thrown in there…and finally decided this tea paired perfectly with Emma.

For those of you who haven’t read it, Emma is the story of a girl who has been mistress of her house and doted on by her father. After her governess marries (a match she believes she put together) she becomes bored and intends on trying her hand at matchmaking. She pygmalions her new acquaintance, Harriet Smith, and plans to set her up with the new minister. Things do not go according to plan as her matches do not take hold and her “creation” takes a life of their own.

For me Emma is a fun comedy (although it does have its dramatic parts) with quite a few nutty characters and situations. We have Emma’s failed matchmaking, Miss Bates’ silly chatter, Mr. Woodhouse hypochondria, etc. Everyone in the book is guilty of being silly at one point or another.

For me it is a comforting read and even though Mr. Woodhouse wouldn’t approve of the sweetness of maple pecan pie; when I drank the tea it made me think of spending a chilly day by a fire (or heater), and the following quote popped in my head:

For more Emma, go to The Emma Project

I Tried Tea & Me’s Tea Hair Rinse

So a couple weeks ago Tea & Me did a post on things to do with your tea bags and loose leaf tea, after you make your cup.

Something that has always bothered me about making tea is throwing the leaves away after you use them. Even though you can’t make endless cups with them (that would be SUPER weak tea), if only there was something you can do with them.

A MYSTERY!!!

She gave out a list of things you can try to do with tea, and one was to do a hair rinse.

Hmm…

My hair and I have a “special” relationship. Basically it does whatever it wants and I hope that I can do something with it.

Even my hairdresser has said she has never seen such contradictory hair. If I want it to be dry-it stays wet. If I want it wet-it dries instantly.

When I get it a way I want it-DONT MESS WITH IT!

Lately my scalp has been driving me crazy. I have been switching from product to product-trying to find something that would help-but to no avail.

Ugh!!

So I was psyched about the tea rinse. I waited so long to do this review, because I wanted to try out at least three different teas.

1. Make a cup of tea-as you usually do.
2. When you finish steeping your tea, put them in another cup and steep in hot water for about 15-20 minutes.
3. Allow the tea to cool completely before using.
4. Detangle your hair before you step into the shower to avoid knots and breakage.
5. Wash and clean your hair well with your usual shampoo.
6. Proceed to condition your hair. …
7. Rinse the conditioner out of your hair.
8. Pour your hair rinse through your hair and squeeze out the excess liquid.
9. Do not rinse hair any further.

So first I tried black tea, Earl Grey, my favorite!

“Black Tea [is supposed to] strengthen hair roots [and] darken hair.”

The second time I did the green tea, Kukicha Green Tea.

“Green Tea prevents early grey hairs, [along with] strengthen[ing] and shin[ing] hair.”

The last one I did was this calming Lavender tea that my friend bought me.

“Lavender Tea moisturizes and conditions hair.”

So after the black tea I didn’t feel any different. I’m sure this is something you would have to do over time to see a difference. I’m not sure I will as I do not want to darken my hair.

With the green tea-I don’t have a grey issue, I think the strengthening would take time, and my hair is always shiny looking-so I couldn’t really tell a difference.

Hmm…?

I did see an improvement with the lavender tea as I needed my hair to be moisturized and conditioned.

Above all, I really enjoyed this as I loved using the tea bags and leaves. It was great not just throwing them away-it definitely felt less wasteful and that I was recycling.

For other things to do with your tea bags and leaves, check out Tea & Me’s post, I Made Tea…Now What?

For more tea posts, go to Use Tea to Soothe Dry or Irritated Skin

For more hair posts, go to Why the Princess Leia Crown Hairdo is Awesome