By Jess Hodges

For many of us tea is our everyday drink. It's enjoyable, reliable and safe, just something to make the day go a little more smoothly. We make a cup of tea when we have a break, when we're having a chat or when someone needs looked after. There aren't many people who boil the kettle in celebration, as a rule that's when we start looking for the corkscrew, but does it have to be that way? Does tea have a champagne equivalent?

Tea can go one better. It can offer you something just as tasty as champagne, in some cases just as expensive and with a firework display thrown in. Well maybe not a real firework display but something just as pretty and you can hold it without getting burned, as long as you don't spill it on yourself!

Display teas or flowering teas are a Chinese invention in which the tea is brewed from a handmade bundle of leaves and flowers which have been carefully tied together so that they start off compact and small and gradually unfold like opening flowers when the water is added. Watching the petals gently unfurl in the water makes for a gorgeous and very calming tea drinking experience and is undeniably special.

Flowering tea is usually served in a glass cup or bowl or brewed in a glass teapot so that the display can be more easily appreciated and the bundles can often be reused a couple of times making the price seem slightly more reasonable.

So next time you have something to celebrate why not put down the generic bottle and instead go for something hand crafted, beautiful, special and elegant? Or if you're really feeling decadent why not have one for your next tea break? Find yourself a glass mug and you'll certainly be the talk of the office!