I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most special moments of me drinking tea. I was eighteen years old and I went to live with my biological mother for four months. I had just met her months earlier and it was awkward for both of us. She and her ex-husband lived a very quiet life in Boulder, Colorado. He was a professor at one of the universities and she was a housewife. After years of drug addiction and being in and out of jail, she deserved the break. I was homeless so she and her husband agreed to let me come live with them. Each evening my mother and I would find a spot in the living room with a cup of tea and a book.

Now, years later, I'm a self proclaimed tea expert. I start each day with a wonderful English Breakfast tea to get me going. As the day progresses, who knows what wonderful tea I will crown queen. But for sure, I have at least three cups of tea a day. And yes, when I can, I have tea everyday at about 3:00 P. M. I love to invite my friends over for tea and cupcakes and so far everyone thinks it’s a delightful experience. I am always in search of the best blend of tea. Yes, I’m a tea snob, I prefer loose tea but I do like some bags also. I have learned not to judge a book by it’s cover. Some bags can be quite nice. And yes again, any Diva knows, what you drink your tea out of is very important.

Tea for me is a way of life. It's wellness for the mind body and spirit. Here, I will explore every expect of tea possible, with a high concentration on wellness. I will review the best teas, the best places to have tea, the best ways to brew tea, the best tea accessories, what tea goes best with what foods, and the list goes on and on. I plan to share my passion for tea with you. And I've been told, nothing I do is ever boring so be prepared to go on this tea journey with me.





RLT Collection Tea Ball Frosted Clear Beads!

Mint Medley by The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

About This Tea:

Until recently I had never drank Peppermint Tea made with loose leaves. And Honestly, I will probably never go back. The freshness of loose Peppermint Tea cannot be denied. When I open the can of Mint Medley, From The Persimmon Tree Tea Company, I feel as if I stepped into a garden of peppermint leaves. It is a perfect blend of organic peppermint and spearmint leaves grown in the US.

Mint Medley has become a favorite and I find myself reaching for this tea tin almost everyday. It is great for on-going nausea. The health benefits and endless. It relieves muscle aches, headaches, migraines, stress. And now that it feels like someone is sitting on my chest and I have a mean cough, I'm sure it will help to relieve some of this congestion in my chest. Mint Medley has been in my tea cup more than any tea as of late. It has really helped with my winter cough, congestion related to this bout of pneumonia. You can read my full review on The Persimmon Tree Tea Company Mint Teas.


RLT Collection AIDS Awareness Tea Ball!




Welcome to my world of books! As an pre-teen books changed my world. I fell in love with the writers of the Harlem Renaissance period and the more I read the more I wanted to read. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It spoke to my own degradation and gave me hope for a better tomorrow. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

I love to read! Inside a book I escape into someone else's life. There is something wonderful about turning to the next page of a wonderful story. Something intoxicating about the smell of the book and the story it brings to life. Reading brings me joy, and these days with my health in the balance, I find solace in my books.

I spent hours in my bedroom sequestered with the door closed reading the classics from the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes, Larsen, Hurston, Wright and Baldwin. Books became my escape and my salvation. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

Reading is the one thing that the pain of my life could never take away from me. It was the thing that helped to make it better. And even today, living with AIDS, books continue to be the safest place for me. It’s the one thing that belongs to me that AIDS cannot take away from me.The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS.

The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS. I have read hundreds of books from many different genres and I will pick the best of my reads over the years. I warn you, it will not be exclusively white or black, male or female, fiction or non fiction, it will be all of them.

I’m so excited and I’m grateful to everyone who wants to be a part of this venture. We already have 110 Book Club Members. You can email me @ RLTReads@raelewisthornton.com. The Twitter hashtag is #RLTReads. We can make this book club as wonderful as we want to make it. Who says that Oprah has to have the only ownership to a wonderful book club?

This Month We are Reading In My Fathers House by E Lynn Harris


Read along and join our discussion July 19th at 7 pm CST







For more Tea with Rae "Vlogs" Click here to visit her youtube channel

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tea With Rae: Perfect Tea Glass!

This Tea Glass is perfect for a woman on the go like me! It allows me to have premium loose tea on the run! I took it on my last speaking engagement to Johnson C. Smith University and it was perfect. At the time, I was recovering from pneumonia, but I was still very much congested. I wanted to take along the mint tea that I had been sipping on all week to help with my cough and congestion. The Libre Tea Glass was perfect.

Then last week, it was a Godsend, or at least I thought so. As you all know I started IV medication last week. It's once a week for 6-8 hours. I typically pick me up a tea from Starbucks on the way to the clinic but somewhere around 2:00 p.m., I am dying for tea. And no, at my clinic there is no place to pick up any tea, let alone some fancy premium tea.

In the past, I just had to suffer though it. LOL. But last week I came prepared! I had my first cup of the day from Starbucks and my Libre Tea Glass with fresh mint tea for my stomach, because nausea is one of the side effects from my medication and peppermint provides some relief.

I fell in love with this wonderful creation all over again. This Libre Tea Glass has a health-conscious glass interior for fresh taste and a durable polycarbonate exterior for ‘on the go’ durability. The stainless steel tea filter is surrounded by BPA free polypropylene as is the lid's interior. Honesty, I just used all their fancy words. This is what I'm saying, it is high impact-resistant so it can take hot water. It is scratch-resistant with a hard coating applied to polycarbonate to make it even more durable. The stainless steel tea filter is surrounded by BPA free polypropylene as is the lid's interior.
So this is how it works. Just place your loose tea in the top of the strainer, put the water in the glass, turn it upside down, and let it brew; or just put your herbal tea in the glass and let it brew. Either way the leaves will be on the bottom or on the top.
I'm in love with the Libre Tea Glass. It is the perfect way to have premium loose tea on the go. And for home, it's perfect for the blooming flower teas, you can sit back and watch your tea bloom and brew at the same time. And honestly, on days like I've had as of late, when I'm weak and pain medication has me a tad off balance, I find that the tea glass is easier to control over a regular tea cup. They also have it in a mug, ummm that would be even easier for me to handle. Need to check into it.
I'm going to be honest about this tea journey I'm on. It has been some kinda fun. Each new day I am introduced to wonderful teas and products to make the life of tea be the best it can be. And best of all, it's not so much about AIDS, but in spite of AIDS. I'm still living and learning about something that brings me joy.
I'm glad that I have companies on board like Libre Tea who are willing to be on this journey with me. At the top of my list is the Libre Tea Glass! It's a wonderful invention for tea lovers! You can take it to work and never be without your loose tea!

Postscript: Libre Tea has an affiliate program that I am planning to join. If you purchase through me I will get a percentage of the sale. Working on it this week.

at 8:00 AM
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