As I’ve grown to be a more discerning tea drinker over the years, so has my collection storage improved. But I’ll be honest– while in a perfect world, all of my teas would be stored in dark glass jars, all of coordinating colors and sizes and quirkily labeled, fitting perfectly on a quaint display tray near my favorite honeypot– this is far from my reality.
I have quite a few tea tins I’ve picked up with purchases over the years, a handful of mason jars– but a large percentage of my loose leaf still lives in the bag it came to me in. So when I opened my most recent sample box and saw this beautiful dark, dark navy (almost black!) screw top glass tea storage jar, I squee’d with delight. My Pinterest-esque tea-storage-dreams were coming true!
This jar was just perfectly sized to toss a small bag (maybe an ounce or so)’s worth of tea into. The screw top ensures that it’s sealed right away from air, moisture, light– all the things we know to be detrimental to loose leaf tea over time. And it’s beautiful, to boot! This is one I’ll gladly place out on our countertop in an Instagram-photo-worthy display. Great design and reasonably priced– well done, Infinty Jars!
Here’s the scoop!
Where to Buy: Infinity Jars
Description
- Ultraviolet Light Filtering Technology
- Preserve & Rejuvenate Freshness
- Light-proof With Airtight Seal
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Caramel Apple Fun from Blend Bee. . .A Custom Blend. . . .
Who else was a big Charlotte’s Web fan in their younger years? Stay with me a second– I promise I’m going somewhere with this. You know the scene in the book (and movie!) where Templeton the rat has a hay day at the fair and dances around, gluttonously digging his little rat teeth into all the leftover treats and goodies that he can get his tiny talons on? Sipping this tea turned me into a human-Templeton, you guys.
This delightful caramel apple blend is like the best day at the fair– slightly sticky-sweet, with heavily spiced apple in the background and warm, sugary caramel straight up at the front. With a bit of cream and sweet (I highly recommend condensed coconut milk and a tiny splash of maple syrup for a SUPER decadent treat), it’s sugar-magic in a cup. The allspice and cinnamon elevate things just a bit– perhaps this is Templeton’s more refined older adult relative’s fair-food-binge instead.
Regardless, whether you fancy yourself a caramel apple aficionado or a junk-food-lovin’ human embodiment of our favorite loveable trash rat, this tea needs a home in your cabinet!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Custom Blend
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description
Create your own custom blends at Blend Bee. Click below for more options.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Black Cherry Berry from Celestial Seasonings. . . . .
I’ll admit it, tea-ple– I can be a bit of a tea snob. I’ll pretty much try anything once, but give me a weak English Breakfast or a watery-looking bagged tea, and I’m probably going to politely chuck it in the nearest flower-pot while no one’s looking, all the while dreaming of my cabinet of tea delights at home.
It’s gone so far that when my lovely fiancé offers to take me out for a cup of tea at our local chain coffee joint, I am purely going because he is sweet and wonderful, and usually wondering if there’s a way I could just bring *my* tea and have them hand me a cuppa hot water to brew for myself rather than choose from some ‘meh’ bagged options. I AM HORRIBLE, I KNOW.
But let’s get to the point: when I saw this sample bag of Celestial Seasoning’s black cherry herbal, I was… skeptical. Bagged tea? And not even bagged loose-leaf, bagged… tea shavings? But every-committed to my reviewing duties, I thought, hey! This sounds like it’d make a tasty iced tea, and into my big ol’ cold brew pitcher they went.
They almost immediately turned the water a lovely, saturated pink (hello, hibiscus!), and after a chill 12 hours in the fridge, it was ready to sip! While I’m impressed with the ingredients in this blend (rosehips, roasted chicory, blackberry leaves, and of course: hibiscus, first and foremost), there’s that “natural cherry flavor” that I wish would’ve come from cherries itself. And while it’s a tasty, fruity, obviously-berry brew, I can’t say that I’d have immediately recognized the flavor as “cherry” so much as “general berry-ish” without the cue from the name. Does it make a delicious iced tea? Yup. Is it even yummier with a splash of lemonade or plain seltzer? Heck yes. Am I going to become a bagged tea convert and spurn my beloved loose leaf anytime soon? Probably not. But let me be the first to admit my snobbish ways would’ve made me miss out on a yummy summer treat if I hadn’t given this one a try– I’m glad I did!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Celestial Seasonings
Description
Reminiscent of nostalgic fruit punch, this tea combines a burst of cherry and berry flavors with tart, ruby-red hibiscus and other herbs. Delicious hot or iced.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Earl Grey Le Creme from The NecessiTeas. . . .
Dear Earl of Grey, (I’m just assuming that’s your title. Correct me if I’m wrong.)
I have to be honest with you, dude. Sometimes, you’re awesome. And sometimes– well, you’re just not. You can be fruity and tangy and light and mellow and robust and fragrant and creamy and all sorts of good things– but if you knock that balance off, even by an inch? Well, you can be kinda gross. (Sorry not sorry. My tea-reviewer oath ensures I tell it like it is.)
But this particular iteration of you? Well, you’re kinda dreamy. You’re fruity and bright, but creamy and vanilla-y– you know, the warm, buttery kind of vanilla, not the saccharine-sweet, fake-frosting kind. Mmmm. You take milk and cream well (way to play nicely with others!), and your bergamot and fruitiness isn’t anywhere near overpowering. In fact, I’d say this is one of your finer iterations. I’ve met your other “cream” brothers– they’re not all as well-balanced as this version, friend.
In short, I am a fan of you. I’m sure you’re very busy Earl-ing it up somewhere (you know, being caffeinated and all), but who doesn’t like to hear a nice compliment now and again? And that’s what I’m here to give you. Way to go, Earl Grey Le Crème. You should be pretty proud of yourself.
With sincerest sips, Mary
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Our Earl Grey Le Creme is a forgiving indulgence essenced with bergamot, vanilla and cream. Go ahead, treat yourself!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
D’s Teas from 52 Teas . . . . . Diving into the New Permanent Line of Teas at 52Teas. . . . .
If you’ve been a loose-leaf tea drinker for any amount of time, you’re familiar with 52 Teas. And if you’re familiar with 52 Teas, you know that their constantly-rotating blends are in high demand– due to their limited-edition status, sure, but first and foremost thanks to their delicious sip-a-bility and seriously crave-able flavors. (Raise your hand if you’ve got a hoarded stash of 52 Teas somewhere in your tea cabinet. *raises hand*)
All of this to say: to know 52 Teas is to love 52 Teas. And also to be kind of sad that once your favorites are gone, they are ne’er to be reblended.
… until NOW! Anne and her team at 52 Teas have heard the cries of thirsty tea lovers everywhere and started to offer a permanent line of some of the very, very best sellers– Marshamallow Treat Genmaicha (yum), Pancake Breakfast (yumm), and Graveyard Mist (yuuuuuummmm). You’ll find these three under the special 52 Teas delineation, D’s Teas.
I’ve been sipping on these three for the past few weeks, and friends: they are worthy of not only a permanent spot in Anne’s offerings, but also in your tea cabinet. Keep your eyes peeled for a separate review post to come highlighting tasting notes and other tea musings, but first, I wanted to share some of Anne’s perspectives on why she brought these three back in particular. I had a chat with Anne the other day (all while sipping a fresh, creamy, minty cuppa Graveyard Mist)– read on to hear what she had to say about this new permanent offering from 52 Teas.
Mary: Hi, Anne! Thanks for chatting with me. We all know and love 52 Teas’ ever-changing stock of delicious tea blends. What inspired you to add these three in particular to a permanent rotation?
Anne: When Amethyst and I decided to take over 52Teas, we talked about creating a permanent line of teas because I knew that there were some teas that people would want in stock all the time based on reading other people’s reviews and tasting notes of certain teas. The three that most often came up when favorites were discussed were these three. Then when we took the reigns, I found that I the thing I was asked about most often was reblending teas. I get at least one or two requests per day. The three teas that are requested most often are these three teas, so when we decided it was time to start the permanent collection, I knew I wanted to start small and grow from there – so I chose the three teas that were most often requested knowing that having these teas available permanently would make most of the regular customers happy.
M: What, if anything, is different about the D’s Teas teas as compared to your rotating 52 Teas blends?
A: The biggest difference is that when one of the D’s Teas sells out, it will be reblended as soon as possible and available again soon. Another difference is that there are more large pouches available of these teas – they’re tried and true and most of the customers love them – so when I’m packaging D’s Teas, I package more large pouches and when packaging the rotating blends, I package more taster pouches. Eventually, we’ll have different labels for the D’s Teas.
M: What kind of feedback have you gotten from tea lovers about these three over time that encouraged you to keep them as permanent offerings?
A: We’ve only been doing this for 2 years (we took over 52Teas in June 2015) but when we first started talking about taking over, we did a poll of sorts on Steepster, asking people what reblends they’d want in the start-up Kickstarter. These three got the highest number of votes in that poll. And over the course of these 2 years, when we’d reblend these teas and as soon as they sold out, we’d have people asking for more. I even had one customer order a full pound of the Graveyard Mist at one point. These teas are big fan favorites. I decided that if the people really want these, that I should make them available to them when they want them. I can’t do that for every tea that we’ve made (we’d definitely have a storage space problem if we tried!) but for a few favorites like these three, we can make room for them to be a permanent part of our collection.
M: Which of the three is your personal favorite?
A: I like all three for different reasons, so I think it would really depend upon my mood. Pancake Breakfast is the only black tea of the bunch and I usually personally prefer black teas – especially earlier in the day when I need a caffeine boost. I love the balance between starchy/savory and sweet in this tea – and maple is one of my favorite flavor profiles so this tea has a big place in my tea-loving heart.
When I want something cool and minty, Graveyard Mist is nice. The mint is not overbearing because of the soft, sweet note of marshmallow. I think that this tea, in particular, helped me gain an appreciation for Spearmint. Before really working with this tea quite a bit (since the 52Teas take-over), I would always lean more toward either Peppermint or Wintergreen over Spearmint, but working with this tea helped me to appreciate the subtle nuances of Spearmint – it’s actually a much nicer herb to work with than Peppermint: far less assertive and much more amenable when paired with other flavors.
When I want something sweet and dessert-y, Marshmallow Treat is a tea that I’ll reach for again and again. Marshmallow Treat actually has a little bit of history – when Frank originally crafted the tea, he did so using Matcha infused Genmaicha and mini marshmallows. I fell in love with that blend. The subsequent reblends from Frank were not as good, in my opinion, because he didn’t use the Matcha infused Genmaicha and he switched from mini marshmallows to marshmallow root. I actually prefer the mini marshmallows – I’m not vegan – but now that I’m doing the blending – I also recognize the need to be inclusive and not shut out my vegan customers. I want everyone to feel welcome at 52Teas and not excluded from something we offer which is why we strive to keep all our teas vegan, gluten-free and allergen free (except for coconut). However, now that I’m doing the blending, I do use a Matcha infused Genmaicha. It’s more expensive, but I love the difference it makes to the cup so it’s worth it to me.
M: What types of teas or flavors of blends do you most enjoy creating?
A: Banana is a favorite flavor of mine. I find it kind of funny, I’m not a huge fan of bananas on their own, I’ll eat a banana now and then – I like them but I don’t love them. However, when it comes to banana flavored things, I’m usually a big fan except for Banana Runts, I don’t like them but I’ve been told that sometimes the banana flavored teas that 52Teas creates (before I took over) taste like Banana Runts. I don’t get that – it doesn’t translate to my palate like that, but to each their own, I guess! Other flavors I enjoy working with are marshmallow and maple. The truth is that I really enjoy what I do, so most flavors excite me, especially when I get to taste test the finished product. It’s a pleasure to find out if the flavor worked or not – a bit sad when it doesn’t but it’s kind of fun to find a way to (as Tim Gunn would say) make it work!
M: And finally, I’ll admit– I’ve just always wanted to know this next one. How do you find inspiration for your endless, deliciously-flavored blends?
A: I’m inspired by so many things. I find most of my inspiration from recipes that I happen across on the internet. I’ll see a recipe for a cookie or a cocktail or something and I find myself wondering how that would work in a tea. Shopping also provides inspiration. I get inspiration from customers too – they will often write me with ideas. When I read the tasting notes or reviews from customers, they let me know the things that I’m doing right and the things I’m doing wrong and I find that information invaluable and I try to apply that feedback to my future blends so that I’m continually learning. I love tea – and ultimately, the tea blend needs to pass my own taste test – if I don’t like something, I won’t sell it – but I greatly value the input from others too – because not all palates are the same.
Thanks, Anne, for your abundant tea-knowledge, and sharing your delicious talent with us all! Check in soon for a thorough review of these three fan fave teas.
Here’s the scoop!
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn even more about this permanent line of teas and more about 52Teas in general here!