My family has always been a big fan of Chinese green tea. My father drinks tea every morning before breakfast, complete with his morning news show and ceramic pots. He even has spare tins of Taiwanese tea and a variety of ceramic pots in different designs. In the end, my mother shares this passion with him, and they always offer me tea even though most of the time, I will say no.

But how I love tea. I drink them in the evenings, when the weather gets cooler, when my stomach is full, and I sit in front of the computer, just writing or watching a DVD. I love the scent, I love the taste. Those two factors are most important to me, along with the texture of the tea leaves. The more bitter the tea, the more I love it (just like I love iced tea without sugar). I also like lighter tea with subtle scent.

That is why I start a collection - in the corner of my drawer, I begin collecting little teas from everywhere. My first tea collection started when I discovered Sonnentor a while ago, and then tried every variety they had. Unfortunately, I was unable to find them in Jakarta. Instead, I tried different types of tea - brandless Japanese sencha tea, Sari Wangi, and most recently, Dilmah.

Dilmah tea originated in Ceylon (now known as Srilanka) in 1950s, and is famous all over the world. I first heard of it in Australia, in an advertising class. Dilmah is named by its owner, Merrill J Fernando, after his two sons: Dilhan and Malik. The Fernando family acquires the skills to grow, pack and market their tea as the finest in the world. In 1988, Dilmah launched its 100% pure ceylon tea in Australia, with guaranteed freshness and quality. It is said that you will know the difference between Dilmah and other ordinary tea by the first taste.

Dilmah has two different types of tea: tea packaged in sachet packs of little teabags, and those with natural petals or tea leaves packaged in tins, known as the T-time series. I personally prefer the latter, since I can better control how I want my tea to be - light, as in packs, the tea tends to get overbrewed when I leave it in a cup, and it gets darker than I prefer it to be. The teabags kind is more suitable for brewing tea in a larger pot, and the T-time series is more practical for single use. Besides, the T-time series are available in adorable collectibe metal tins and very intriguing flavors.

A friend gave a tin of the T-time series as a gift, and it was chamomile tea. It is my favorite tea in the world, to me it sounded so foreign and romantic at the same time, as if I were in Europe, sipping wonderfully fragrant tea with sunflowers. Dilmah's chamomile tea is very light in aroma, and light in taste just the way I like it. I only need a spoonful to make a few cups of warm tea.

Then I start buying other flavors: Rose with French Vanilla, Vanilla Ceylon tea, and most recently, Earl Grey tea. I have only sampled the first two, and I should say they are very relaxing. I especially love the rose tea, it has the subtlest scent of sweet vanilla and the taste is not so strong. As for the romantic Vanilla tea, it smells like vanilla butter and only a slight sourness of plum, but the taste is not bitter nor sour at all - plain, with hints of magnolia and plum, very clear. My least favorite is  Jasmine green tea  -  for me the aroma of jasmine is not too bold and distinctive, almost  like it is the same as ordinary green tea.

The T-series are available in different sizes: 20gram (a tin costs around Rp. 25 000,-), 42 grams and a larger tin of around 100grams (Rp. 79 500,-). I bought them in http://eastmeeteast.multiply.com. Some available flavors: mild gentle sencha, steamed green tea, aromatic and full bodied Earl Grey, subtle Vanilla ceylon tea, Darjeeling Estate tea, Mediterranean Mandarin, Chamomile, Mint Morrocan green tea all wrapped in foil to protect their freshness and flavour.

The variety packs are available for Rp. 39 500,- (I think it costs slightly more in the Food Hall), per pack contains 25 sachets. Available flavors are: fruit packs (mango, rapsberry, lemon, lychee, strawberry), caramel, jasmine green tea, ginger, mint.

Some of the bestsellers are: Earl Grey and English Breakfast Dilmah tea.

In rainy days or lonely nights, a warm cup of tea is the surest way of calming you down (at least it works for me). Please share your stories about Dilmah tea :) any favorite flavors?