Bits & Bobs - Taj's Tea Parlour Brighton

Last weekend I took a few hours out to explore Brighton's South Laine and visit its newest pop up tea parlour Taj's (vintage style) Tea Parlour. Taj has been working her old school High-Tea magic since June this year and has great plans for her lovely little corner of Brighton Square! Go and visit if you get the chance and keep your eyes peeled here for some crafty happenings in the coming weeks.

Bits & Bobs - BlueBird Tea Co. Brighton

Bluebird Tea Co. are new in Town (B'town) and keen to whip us tea lovers up into a frenzy with their unique flavor combinations and self pronounced mixolgy style. At £3.00 for a sample packet these herbal infusions do not come cheap but after trying their 'Nearly Nirvana' white tea with Jasmine flowers and spearmint and gulping down a whole pot to myself in one sitting its fair to say they make a fantastic brew! 

Craft - DIY Teabags (mint & camomile)

If like me you drink a lot of herbal tea and get a bit bored of the what's available in the shop and how much it costs to keep a good stock of flavours in the cupboard then this project might be just up your street! Not only can you blend your favorite varieties but by using 2 tsp per bag you cam make a magical 2 cup bag this will keep you going for a while and can be topped up with hot water repeatedly, or used to make a whole pot if you'd prefer. What's not to like about that! Perfect for herbal tea addicts

You will need:

Caffetiere filter paper

Dried tea leaves, mint 'Infusion' and dried chamomile 'infusion'.*

Scissors

Sewing machine

Machine thread

Thick cotton thread

Tape measure

A big tea cup or pot

* I bought my dried ingredients from a local store called Ecostream refill store where you buy by the weight.

So lets get started!

With the folded edge at the bottom measure a with of approx 6cm and then cut straight up to the top curved edge making a rectangle out of the filter.

Neaten the top by squaring off with scissors and thread your sewing machine.

Sew along both sides making sure your folded edge lies along the bottom. Try and leave 0.5cm allowance on either side! Tie off ends and snip them short as your go along to save yourself getting all tangled up.

Now you are ready to fill your bag! 2 tsp of your dried tea mix should be perfect, I used half and half chamomile and mint... my current favoutire!

To seal you need to fold the top down 1cm and crease firmly.

Next, fold corners in to meet the bottom of the first folded edge.

Cut a few lengths of the thicker thread approx 10cm, these will be your tea bag strings!

Now holding the corners flat and keeping the string evenly in the centre of your bag sew across the top folded top in one neat line. The trick here is to start on top of the folded corner furthest away from you pinning it down and continue all the way over to the nearest corner doing the same here.

I have used off cuts from the filter peper to make tabs for the string which is done by  repeating the previous step.

Bits & Bobs - Nordic Coffee Collective Brighton

Brighton has its fair share of cafes and coffee shops, but when the Nordic Coffee Collective opened last year in my neck of the woods I was excited by its crisp white walls, Scandinavian aesthetic and home baked cakes! Its the perfect place to meet for an early morning cuppa and as it opens at 8am it means I can pop in and plan my day en route to the studio. What I love about this place is the calmness, the great music, and constant flow of people looking for a little calm in the city centre. Today Anthony Hogarty accompanied my Teapigs mint and liquorice tea and the cinamon buns were fresh and chewy. Go and visit as soon as you can it's lovely!