Full disclosure, this is one of the blends I made on Adagio Teas. Their create-a-blend tools are just too much fun, and their fandom tea community is active and engaging. I wanted to review my Sabriel blend because I had been stewing over the idea for a long time, and it was so satisfying to have it finally come together.
Sabriel is one of the main characters from the Old Kingdom book series by Garth Nix. I won’t go into too much detail about the books, except to say that the series essentially follows the lives of “good” necromancers who help fight dead creatures or put the dead to rest. The stories are beautiful, imaginative, and just a little spooky.
For my Sabriel tea blend I wanted something impactful but nuanced; her work managing the magic of the dead takes steadiness and subtlety. The body of the tea is made up of two types of green tea. The gunpowder tea is robust without being astringent, and adds a whiff of smokiness that compliments the crackling, toasted notes of the hojicha tea.
The rest of the ingredients are all fragrant and sensory-inspiring. Peppermint brings a cooling creepiness, like fog in a graveyard, or a settling peacefulness like still water. Rose and lavender can have the morbid interpretation of flowers at a funeral, but can also being nostalgic, like remembering a favorite bouquet or garden memory. Cardamom adds some spirit and peppery spice, and feels a bit unexpected without its usual partners of cinnamon and ginger. The scent of cardamom always makes me think of opening the kitchen spice cabinet, and all the cooking possibilities within.
I have not come across a blend quite like this in my tea drinking experience, so I was more than happy to have the opportunity to make it myself. It was also great fun to honor one of my favorite characters and book series in tea form.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
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White Cap Chai from Beach House Teas
White teas have not always been my favorite kind of tea, but they have grown on me with every new flavor I try. Since I already like chai teas, I was predisposed to enjoy White Cap Chai from Beach House teas.
This is a wonderful take on the lighter side of chai. The white tea is earthy and smooth, and gently floral. It makes for a vegetal chai without being grassy like green tea. I was thrilled to find a new low caffeine option for chai that isn’t based in rooibos teas.
I adore the mix of spices in this tea, especially the addition of fennel. Fennel occupies that space between sweet spice and savory herb, and brings a new layer to the expected spices like cinnamon or ginger. Added peppercorns also play into the more savory earthiness of the flavors.
Despite some big chai spice players like cloves, anise, and cardamom, the spices themselves are gentle enough to still allow you to taste the white tea and more understated peony flavors. This kind of balance with a spicy tea really shows that the blenders at Beach House Teas know their stuff.
I will have to stock up on White Cap Chai to help balance out all the other black tea or rooibos chais I’ve got in my cupboard. White Cap Chai is versatile and unexpected, perfect for the changing of seasons or for my ever-changing palette for tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Beach House Tea Co.
Description:
White Cap Chai is a lighter version of the traditional chai making it delicate and unique. This beautiful chai is made with 100% organic white peony tea leaves and organic spices. It’s a modern twist on a sweet and spicy classic. The chai gives you a smooth, mellow taste with subtle layers of flavor.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
White Peony from Swallowtail Tea. . . .
Whenever a tea company offers a sample pack, it’s a great chance to try out teas that you aren’t sure you’ll like. Recently I tried a sample pack of several different teas from Swallowtail Tea company and White Peony tea was a lovely new find.
I’m not always in the mood for white teas. They have a unique smooth, earthiness that is different than pu erh, black, or green teas. In the right blend, this is a winning flavor, in the wrong blend it ends up tasting strange. White Peony from Swallowtail tea was absolutely a winning white tea.
This tea is lightly flavored, mainly allowing the white tea itself to fill out the flavor profile. The tea brews up deep and golden with the buttery and earthy tones I expect from white tea. The floral peony is gentle but present, not at all like perfume, but instead much more natural like crushed dried flowers, or getting a whiff of blooming flowers from a garden as you walk past.
White Peony is a great spring and summertime tea. It is refreshing without being too vegetal or too sweet, and bright and floral without giving you hayfever. A perfect balance of butter and blossoms, suitable for a hot or iced mug on a sunny day.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Swallowtail Tea
Description:
This least processed of all our teas has a shimmering golden liquor with a delicate floral fragrance.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe has a warm and toasty roasted oolong base with added mango and almond essence. The darker oolong tea keeps the blend from getting too sweet, adding an almost savory nuttiness with each sip. The almond adds its trademark, almost-floral marzipan candy taste. The fruity mango adds a nice brightness to keep this blend uplifting and not too dense or cake-like.
I believe the name of this blend is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but even without the reference is it a cute name to have looking back at you from your tea cupboard on rainy days. With sunny mango, bakery sweet almond, and a mid-level of caffeine, this is a great tea for the afternoon slump or a mid-day tea party.
Drink Me Oolong from Plum Deluxe was a limited edition blend, that should cycle back around in their seasonal blends or as part of their subscription service. In the meantime, give Pick Me Up Oolong a try, with almond and maple flavors and a similar oolong tea base.
Or try another flavor of oolong tea. Plum Deluxe teas always have great flavor combinations, and include things like “love” and “gratitude” on their ingredients list, so you can’t help but feel good when you brew a cup of their tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
This tea is no longer available but click below for other options!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sweet Tea O’Mine from the Goat Tea . . . .
It is always a thrill to find a new favorite fall tea. With so many sweet caramel pumpkin teas or apple-pie-spiced blends, Sweet Tea O’Mine from The Goat Tea was a wonderful new take on the pumpkin spice tea.
This is a honeybush and rooibos based tea, which makes it naturally caffeine free and perfect for late night brewing. Along with the herbal leaves, there is puffed rice like a traditionally green genmaicha tea. I have a soft spot for the starchy, almost savory genmaicha teas with puffed rice, so I was thrilled to find a new tea with this ingredient. The honeybush and puffed rice compliment each other’s nuttiness, making for a rich and warming flavor combination.
Meanwhile the familiar autumn spices are still there, nutmeg and mace to name the key players. This makes the tea have plenty of that pumpkin spice taste, but with a pleasant woodsy undertone from the herbal leaves. I also appreciate that the blend isn’t too sweet or artificial. There is a medium sweetness with lingering flavors like brown sugar or molasses.
With its roasted wheat and toasted rice flavors this tea captures all the best parts of corn mazes and hay bales and gets me suitable excited for the upcoming 2019 fall season.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: herbal
Where to Buy: The Goat Tea
Description:
Who says Pumpkin can only be for one season? Enjoy a cup of this sweet tea, swirling with the taste of pumpkin, caramel, and cinnamon. It is like fall in your mouth.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!