I thought I had given up this tea tasting lark, but I was walking through the tea aisle of my local shop recently and all the packaging is just so tempting. I figured if I was going to ease myself back into the world of fruit and herbal tea, I should probably do it cost effectively, so I opted for a box of mixed flavours. And given that it is January, there’s only one option on that list that seems appropriate - detox!

My tea tasting adventure has taken me to lots of new brands that I hadn’t been aware of previously, and the next to fall into my path was Tea India. They were marvellously kind to send me a package with some new flavours to try that should be in the shops in the UK soon, if they are not already. “The range includes a premium Black Tea and three authentic chai infusions, Masala, Vanilla and the unique Cardamom Chai - each with their own distinctive flavours selected from the many varieties found at vibrant bazaars and served up by chai wallahs.

It’s been a while since I tried a new tea, I’ve been content drinking my Clipper Ginger and Twinings Nettle. However, that didn’t stop me buying new and exciting teas, to the point where I had four boxes sitting and waiting to be tasted. I finally got round to trying a new one, another Clipper, this time berry flavoured. Clipper Raspberry Leaf £1.69 for 20 teabags A refreshing, distinctive and delicious blend of raspberry leaf and other natural herbs enhanced with natural raspberry flavour.

Fresh from my experiment with the free taster teabags that Twinings send out to potential customers, I decided to go with the same company for my next purchase. I’ve never really understood the idea of nettle flavoured things - aren’t they those irritating plants that make walks in the country just that little bit more dangerous? So, Nettle and Sweet Fennel. I bought this before realising it was quite so aniseedy.

After the last edition of my tea tasting adventure, my dad emailed me about the Twinings website, which offers you the chance for some free samples. You get to choose two different flavours and they’ll be sent to you in the post. I opted for two flavours that I thought I wasn’t going to like - thinking that if they were as I expected, I wouldn’t have an entire packet of tea I didn’t want.

After my first tea tasting post, I finished the box of apple & ginger and the tea really grew on me. I bought a second box as well, and started to wonder if I hadn’t found the very tea I’ve been looking for at my very first attempt. Nevertheless, I browsed the tea aisle of the supermarket for a while, marvelling at the number of different brands and flavours there are.

My relationship with tea thus far has been limited. As a child, I just didn’t participate in any hot beverages - except for the occasional hot chocolate, and a hot orange squash when I was under the weather. Since I’ve been with Mr C, I’ve drunk more tea but still not really enjoyed it. Recently, I tried some tea without milk in and liked that a lot better. My Life List has had “Try different types of tea” on it for a while, but I think I’m in the right frame of mind to do it now.

I think everyone is OD’ing on the coffee to try and stay awake and focused on this Blogathon. Are you? Unfortunately I don’t like coffee, so this option doesn’t really work for me. I love the smell of it, and could sniff it all day, but to actually drink it gives me a headache. At work, I don’t drink tea or coffee. There’s a really nice canteen that serves good hot chocolate that I used to drink but I’ve gone off that now.