2013 Christmas Gifts for Tea Lovers: Gifts under $20

So perhaps you got that quiet lady who sits in the corner for your office Kris Kringle or perhaps you have a friend or family member who loves tea or perhaps you'd like to get someone addicted to tea! Either way, I have trawled through the best of the net to bring you the ultimate tea lovers gift giving guide. This year, to ensure we stick to our budgets and because I found sooooo many lovely things, I'm going to bring you a series of guides based on price. Today it is the best gifts under $20! Enjoy!

Mulled Wine Tea $9.83 by Bluebird Tea Co.

Who doesn't love a nice big mug of mulled wine or even mulled cider when it's chilly outside. Ok, so maybe not for an Australian Christmas but if like me you do enjoy those flavours then this might be a great tea to try. If you like chai then you'll probably enjoy this tea too! Heed caution with customs as this tea contains some fruit pieces.

Miniature Spoon Necklace $9.02 by Hannah Makes Things

How adorable is this cute little necklace pendant. It would make a great gift for a quirky jewellery lover who also happens to enjoy tea and possibly antiquities, or should that be an-tea-qui-teas!

Blue Tea Cup Earrings $9.93 by Jodie Anna

Continuing on the jewellery theme how about these cute but quirky tea cup earrings! Or...

Gold Tea Cup Ring $19.85 by Lisa Angel

...This very Alice in Wonderland golden tea cup ring.

Earl Grey Lipbalm $5.86 from Sweet Cecily's

Umm, yum! Tea that you can wear and smell and maybe even kiss! What tea lover wouldn't appreciate tea flavoured lip balm. What a lovely invention and it sure beats your regular run of the mill flavoured lip balms. 

Christmas Cup Cosy $10.80 from Cookie Crochet

Does someone you know never get to finish their tea because by the time they get around the drinking the rest it's gone cold? If so then this is the perfect gift. This crochet cup cosy fits over disposable cups and the good news is that if this holly design doesn't do it for you they (Cookie Crochet) have tons of other designs, including some cute dogs and a cheeky monkey!

Tea Tote $17.95 by Snowdon Design and Craft

Let your tea loving friend share their passion by sending the world a tea-lightful message of hope. Where else would you put a message of hope than on a lovely multi-use canvas tote! Book bag, laptop bag, shopping bag, it's uses are only limited by your imagination.

Mr. Tea tea infuser $14.95 from Heart & Heim

I know you've often thought it would be cool to brew tea using your pants right? Well now you can, but not with your pants, with Mr. Tea's pants. Fill his silicone pants with your loose leaf tea, allow him to recline in your cup and pull him out when your tea is done. This would make a great gift along with some nice loose leaf tea.

Wedgewood English Breakfast Tea Caddy $7.95 from David Jones

Wedgewood is a brand synonymous with china, quality and lets face it, expensive old stuff. This pretty little tea caddy in the lovely shade of what's commonly known as Wedgewood blue would make a lovely little gift for someone and they'll never know it was under $10!

Dream tea cup and Saucer $14.95 from Myer

This whimsical little cup and saucer comes in a range of pastel colours. It is dainty and sweet perfect for a really girly girl tea lover or just someone who loves a lovely cup!

20 Times to Shine tea sampler $20 from T2

Got a $20 budget? This is perfect! Your receiver gets to sample 20 of T2's most popular teas all individually sealed to ensure freshness and no cross contamination. Just to name a few you'll get Chai, Chamomile, Gorgeous Geisha and Melbourne Breakfast. A great variety box!

Tielka Tea Collection $20 from Tielka

This beautifully presented gift collection of three lovely loose leaf teas from Tielka actually gives twice. Apart from being organic it is also Fairtrade which makes it a great gift for the ethical tea lover. Tielka are also an Australian based company and it's great to support home grown small business where possible. This collection comes in three varieties; dark, light and Rooibos. My favourite is the light collection which includes Moonlight White Tea, Rose Moscato Green Tea and Midnight Blossom Oolong.

Twinings Christmas Tea in tea caddy $10 from Woolworths

If you're in a rush for a gift and you have a $10 limit then this might be the gift for you. Presented in a nice keepsake tin is this christmasy black tea blend. There is also a caffeine free spiced apple Christmas blend in your gift receiver prefers a herbal blend.

Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie $16.98 from Book Depository

Get them started young with this lovely book about taking tea by those two annoying British girls who seem to be on Ellen every day. Ok so maybe some people find them cutesy wootsy but I'm not one of them but that doesn't mean you can't buy this book for your little princess and share it over a cup of tea with her and ted!

Hopefully I have inspired you with these gift ideas under $20. Do you have a gift you need to buy for someone but you're not sure what to get? Let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can include it in my next post!

Stay tuned for gifts between $20 and $50 but in the meantime enjoy your tea!

Harrods Spiced Tea (aka Christmas Tea): A Tea Review

Whether we like it or not, and I do like it, Christmas is closing in. I'm not all that keen on the commercialness of Christmas however the one thing I love the most about this time of year is the food and all its accompaniments. I know I could go and buy a big turkey and roast it up any time of the year, and sometimes I do, but there's something special about cracking open an overpriced cardboard bonbon and wearing the daggy paper crown that makes the turkey taste just that little bit better. There is however one special Christmas treat that tastes just as great and makes you feel just as special all year round, it is my friends Spiced Tea.

It was Christmas eve a few years ago and I was in Singapore Airport with my probably better half. One thing you should know about this airport is that you could literally have your holiday there, it's huge and incredible. All the other times we had travelled through this airport we had been on a different airline in a different terminal. Today we were in a new terminal, well new to us anyway. As we wandered along killing time before our flight suddenly I saw something incredible. My superb distance vision had honed in on a green signature like logo and a six foot bear in a green vest and cap. To you this might not mean anything but to me it meant one thing, Harrods. Much to my my delight, there in the middle of Singapore airport was a Harrods, it might have been the size of my bedroom but it was still Harrods. It stocked your general souvenir type goods and a decent range of teas. As I was being ushered away from inevitable credit card blowout I noticed a red tin, it had Father Christmas on it in his sleigh and he was flying over the iconic Harrods' building. It is fair to say it had my attention. I picked it up, read the ingredients of this 'spiced tea' and before my husband could say 'your tea cupboard is bursting at the hinges', it was purchased and placed inside a green shopping bag that dangled from my hand.

The thing that enticed me about this tea was the blend of flavours. It starts with a black tea base and builds on it with spices reminiscent of chai such as cinnamon, cardamon, clove, ginger and vanilla. It then adds to them with some blackberry leaves, red thistle and orange blossom. It combined a lot of the flavours I love, especially during the cooler months.

After a decent 7+ hour flight we landed safe and sound back in Australia. I don't know if you have ever traversed Australian borders, it's a pretty daunting thing, even when you haven't done anything wrong! I guess nobody wants to end up being the silly person on the television show Border Security. It was around 7am on Christmas morning and we were keen to get home, have a quick nap and head out to Christmas lunch which would be followed by a cup of my new Christmas tea, or so I thought.

As we opened our suitcases to be searched we declared we had food, which we did, I had a stash full of Percy Pigs and Fudgy Bars - don't judge me. Then I remember I had my tea so I put that out on the counter too. Like a hawk the quarantine officer snatched up the tin and read through the ingredients. 'I have to open this' she said. 'That's ok' I replied. As she opened the tin the aroma hit me, it was divine, it was tea heaven. And then my dreams were shattered. 'This has orange peel in it, I have to confiscate it'. 'What, no', I thought to myself as I reluctantly let her pry the pretty tin from my fingers. I was devastated that I wouldn't be able to drink the tea. She mistook my sadness for some kind of border protest and forced some brochures into my hand and told me to read the laminated piece of paper on the counter about border protection. I put the pamphlets back down and kindly told her that I was fully aware of the reason why it was being confiscated and I agree with protecting our country and blah blah but I was just a little upset that after smelling that incredible tea I would never be able to have a cup.

As we walked through the doors out into the airport terminal my head hung low with a certain sadness. I was pretty sure those customs people would be enjoying themselves a lovely cup of Christmas tea.

Fast forward another year and my wonderful husband happened to be passing through Singapore on a business trip. He picked up another tin of Spiced Tea and decided to try again. This time he was successful and they didn't have a problem with the spicy blend. We looked at the tea, there was no orange peel, just flakes of cinnamon curl. We wondered if they had changed the recipe. Regardless, I settled in for my first very long awaited cup of this tea. I was not disappointed. Where does this tea take me?

Imagine that gorgeous English cottage from the Cameron Diaz film 'The Holiday'. I'm sitting in front of the fireplace on a comfy lounge drinking a large mug of this spicy but sweet warming tea. In a perfect world there would also be a little bit of snow outside. I love a cup of this tea in the evening, especially after a long difficult day.

So, regardless of the weather where you are this Christmas, if you can get your hands on this tea, you wont regret it. It also comes in white spiced tea and green spiced tea.

The Verdict

Tea: Spiced Tea (black)

Store: Harrods

Rating: 5/5

Comment: A delicious blend of black tea and chai flavours with a slight natural sweetness. Brew this for 4-5 minutes at 100 degrees celsius and serve with milk.