WHITTARD'S ALICE IN WONDERLAND TEA CHEST

Ok, so this posts combines two things that I love - tea and Alice in Wonderland. What could be more perfect? Last month I bought this quaint little tea chest from Whittard, and now that I've had a good chance to thoroughly test it (read as: drinking copious amounts of tea) I thought I would share my thoughts. So here's my review of Whittard's Alice in Wonderland Tea Chest!

Last month I went to London for my birthday, and while we were in Covent Gardens, we checked out the Whittard store. It was such a quaint shop, with a whole downstairs that felt like some kind of secret tea hoard. There were tea blends everywhere for you to sniff, and even taste, and another little section for coffees and hot chocolates. I decided to treat myself to some new tea, as I've never tried loose leaf tea before, and everything looked and smelt so good. When I saw that they had specific Alice in Wonderland tea ... I knew I had to get some!

As I knew that I'd buying some loose leaf tea, I also made sure to pick up a tea infuser. They had a few to choose from, but I had to get this little Teatime Infuser (£6). It was just too cute to pass up! It's basically a tea globe, with a tiny little Whittard teapot at the other end to act like a counterbalance. It works really nicely, and the little teapot hangs down the side of your mug like a regular tea bag label does. So with this you have a cute teacup adornment until your tea is brewed, and you can safely remove the tea globe.

Now onto the actual tea! Whittards have quite a few Alice in Wonderland products, and when we visited the Covent Garden store, they had a nice little display of some of the tablewear from their Alice in Wonderland Collection (I must admit, I was very tempted by the Alice mug!) along with their Alice related teas. The two tea sets Whittard currently has, are the Alice in Wonderland Drink Me Tea Selection (which includes English Breakfast, Afternoon Tea, and Earl Grey), and the Alice's Tea Chest, which is what I went for.

Alice's Tea Chest (£15) is an adorable three drawer box of teas decorated with gorgeous illustrations and quotes. It features three different teas, which come packaged in individual tins to keep them fresh and stored in their own shelves to keep them organised. The teas include Bohemian Raspberry, Vanilla, and Afternoon Tea.

Firstly we have the Bohemian Raspberry Tea. This tea is inspired by the Queen of Heart's tarts, and full of black tea, real raspberries and cornflowers for some lovely colour. To be perfectly honest, this tea is what first drew me to this little tea chest - as it just smells so delicious! I love fruity berry teas, and this doesn't disappoint. It's sweet and fruity without being overly sweet or tart, just a happy medium. The tea is quite subtle, but pleasantly so, and still very flavourful. It also smells beautiful while you drink it. For this tea, I prefer drinking it on its own, without any milk. This is the blend I drink the most often, as it's easy to drink any time of day. I usually have a cup with me while I'm working at my laptop - a time when I often forget my tea - as it's nice to drink hot and as it gets colder.

The second drawer contains Vanilla Tea, which also smells divine. This is a creamy black tea with a rich vanilla sweetness, and apparently it was specially crafted to accompany cake and crumpets. I have yet to try it with crumpets, but it does go very nicely with cake! It tastes like a very nice, regular black tea, but with a hint of good quality vanilla. Not cake icing vanilla, but deep, rich vanilla pod. This means that it's not overly sugary (I don't take sugar in my tea, so notice sweetness more) but still nice and sweet. I drink this with a splash of almond milk, and the subtle flavours go very nicely. I highly recommend this if you're not a fan of traditionally 'herbal' teas, but want to try something a bit different. I like drinking this in the evening as a bit of a treat, as it's quite a heavy decadent tea in comparison to the others in this chest, and makes for a nice dessert.

Lastly, we have Whittard's iconic Afternoon Tea - a blend of black and green tea balanced with flavours of bergamot, and a scattering of rose petals. I'm very picky with my black teas, and I've not really found a 'breakfast' that I like, so I was a bit hesitant to try this 'afternoon blend'. But I was pleasantly surprised! This tea is light and refreshing and easy to drink, and very unlike its breakfast counterparts. I've tried it with and without a splash of milk, and it's been lovely both ways. I was expecting this to be my least used blend in the set, but I think that it is actually my favourite! As the name suggests, this is really nice to drink in the afternoon, whether you have a cheeky slice of cake too or not.

All three teas were very good picks - I can easily see them all being at the Mad Hatters tea party! I also like how they are all really different - you have a fruity blend, a sweet blend, and a black tea - and not ones that you could easily get from another brand in the supermarket. That makes them a little bit more special. The chest also contains a lot of tea. You may think that £15 for three teas is a lot of money, but with the amount that you use for each infusion ... this is going to last me such a long time. I don't mind paying a bit more for lots of good quality tea! Now I just need to hold a tea party! Or just get a load of cake in and have a tea party for one! ;)