My cousins and aunt got me the best present ever for my birthday last week. A variety of boxes of tea bags and a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate, thriftily sourced from their kitchen cupboard. We like to think we’re a bit like the Royal Family with our gifting eccentricity.

I’m not one for hyperbole, but the box of Celestial Cinnamon Apple Spice has totally knocked my socks off. In all of my 44 years, it’s the first herbal tea that I’ve tasted that has any sort of intensity to the flavour. If ever there was a “hug in a cup” that smacks you in the taste buds, this is it. It makes a wonderful change from coffee (there’s only so much one can drink before the caffeine has me bouncing off the walls like a loon), peppermint tea (meh), and water (boring, just so boring).

It’s always a bonus when your food/drinks have health benefits. Some studies have suggested that the compounds in cinnamon have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and antimicrobial properties, and that they might offer protection from cancer and cardiovascular disease, among other like type 2 diabetes, PCOS and Parkinson’s Disease.

No matter, I finished a box of 20 in less than a week, so had to source a new supply. Locally, I found some in Sostrene Grene (bizarrely, we have a branch of this adorable Swedish gem of a shop in Bangor), you can also find it in Iona health food shop in Holywood and from amazon.co.uk.

Have a nice Sunday, see ya!!