There is just something so comforting about curling up with a good book and a hot cup of tea, especially when it starts to feel like Fall outside. It is very therapeutic for the soul, at least to me. I love when the worlds of tea and books come together. Call Me Sweetea is a new tea company to me that is doing just that, bringing tea and books together. They are creating unique blends that capture the essence of a particular book. Blends are made to coordinate with popular reads but if you are not a fan of the book that is the tea inspiration no need to worry, the blends are fantastic and can be enjoyed alongside any book.
Today I tried Death’s Morning Cuppa, a unique spin on an earl grey. Any guesses on what book inspired the blend? I am an earl grey addict so I was especially interested in this tea and it didn’t disappoint. The base is comprised of China black tea and assam along with bergamot oil, orange peel, cassia chips, cornflowers and orange extract. I absolutely loved this tea. The addiction of orange peel and orange extract along with the bergamot gives this a more complex citrus edge while the addition of cassia chips imparts a warm, earthy cinnamon flavor. I especially love the combo of orange and cinnamon in this blend, it gives the tea a holiday vibe to me. I really loved this tea and look forward to trying more teas from this small company. And, needless to say, I will be sipping on this tea the next time I curl up with a good book! Harry Potter perhaps?
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Call Me Sweetea
Description
Do you believe in the Deathly Hallows? And if so…what do you think Death likes to drink before gathering folks for the journey to the other side?
Death’s Morning Cuppa is a bright, yet earthy earl grey blend that will wake you up and soothe you at the same time.
You might enjoy this blend if you:
- Seek Hallows over Horcruxes
- Find magic in the ordinary
- Intend to greet Death as an old friend and go with him gladly when your time comes
Ingredients: earl grey (organic China black and organic assam tea, organic bergamot oil), orange peel, cassia chips, cornflowers, orange extract (alcohol, orange oil)
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sakura & Berry/Lupicia -Stephenia-
Each year Lupicia Tea, a Japanese tea company, comes out with a Sakura collection to celebrate cherry blossom season. The collection changes each year and for 2021 the theme is traditional Japanese culture that has been handed down through the generations, such as crafts and traditional Japanese patterns. The collection is well balanced and features a green tea, a decaf tea, black tea, rooibos, even a sakura matcha! The tins this year are beautiful and feature a lovely floral motive. I have wanted to try teas from Lupicia’s Sakura collection for some time so I decided this year that I would order a few.
The first one I am reviewing is Sakura & Berry. This has a black tea base with salted cherry leaf, rose petal and flavoring. The description says that this has a “sweet strawberry flavor.” The dry leaf smells amazing and actually made me think of when my mom would make me strawberries and cream oatmeal as a kid. I steeped the tea up at 212 degrees for 3 minutes.
I really love this one. The first taste is a nice fruity strawberry flavor, nothing too strong. It actually has the same strawberry flavor as strawberries and cream oatmeal but without the cream aspect. On the second taste I get a hit of the black tea base, it is smooth and mellow. I had hoped that I would get taste of the salted cherry leaf however that didn’t come through in the flavor.
Overall this is a tasty strawberry tea in a beautiful tin and certainly worth trying if you love strawberry-flavored teas. I really enjoy Lupicia tea, in fact their rooibos-based honeydew melon tea is in my top 5 favorite teas of all time! If you are interested in the Sakura collection I would not wait as fulfillment for the US comes from the online Hawaii Lupicia store and they get very limited amounts of inventory on these special edition collections.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Description
We are happy to announce the arrival of our seasonal SAKURA & BERRY tea: A blend of Darjeeling and Nilgiri black teas with salted cherry blossom leaves, mixed with sweet strawberry flavor and aroma. Popular as a hot or iced tea, try it with a bit of milk! A LUPICIA Hawaii staff favorite. (Only available in limited quantity)
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
TeaLady Grey/Rare Tea Company – Stephenia-
I admit it, I am obsessed with earl grey tea. Every morning is started with a cuppa of earl grey and many times I end my day with a caffeine-free rooibos version. I literally have over 40 different varieties of the stuff from all sorts of companies in my tea collection but I am always looking for THE holy grail earl grey. I think I may have actually found it!
I recently saw that Rare Tea Company released a new version of earl grey. If you are not familiar with Rare Tea Company it was founded by Henrietta Lovell. She wrote a fantastic book called Infused which recounts how tea has shaped her life and has been a constant companion through times of trouble. I can’t recommend the book enough, especially if you love tea! At any rate she created a new blend called TeaLady Grey. I was immediately drawn to it because of the addition of lemongrass. Lemongrass is perhaps one of my absolute favorite herbals and I especially love when it is added to earl grey. It helps to deepen the citrus notes of the bergamot. I ordered the tea during one of their free ship events. Make sure you are subscribed to their email because free ship events are offered several times a year.
The tea begins with a beautiful base. And really, a tea blend is only as good as the base used with it. I find so many companies start with an inferior base in hopes that the other ingredients will mask the fact that the tea leaves are not good. The base is black tea from the Shire Highlands of Malawi. It is a smaller cut leaf typical of teas from this region. The base is strong, malty and a perfect tea to carry the Sri Lankan lemongrass, Malawi lemon verbena and Italian bergamot. Because Henrietta has such a great relationship with her tea farmers she is able to secure the highest quality and freshest ingredients which translates to an exquisite tea experience. This is an absolutely perfectly blended tea and on par with all the other great teas I have had from Rare Tea Company. The layering of the citrus notes from the bergamot, lemongrass and lemon verbena create a perfectly bright and well rounded cup. If you are a fan of earl grey I highly recommend this version. This blend checks all the boxes for me and then some on what I am looking for in a perfect earl grey.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Rare Tea Co.
Description
This tea is our Rare Tea Lady’s (founder Henrietta Lovell) riff on a traditional Earl Grey; a more delicately herbaceous and distinctly lemon blend.
Instead of containing just black tea and the essential oil of bergamot that composes a traditional Earl Grey Tea – we’ve built up the lemon notes, not with more citrus but uniquely with delicious lemon herbs.
Rich yet elegant black tea from the Shire Highlands of Malawi blended with Italian Bergamot, Malawi Lemon Verbena and Sri Lankan Lemongrass.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Masala Chai/Tea Sparrow – Stephenia –
I admit that I love getting tea subscription boxes. Who doesn’t like getting monthly packages with new teas to try? Recently I had the opportunity to try out the Tea Sparrow tea box. Tea Sparrow samples hundreds of teas each month to select blends that they feel will inspire their customers. This means that each month you are guaranteed a whole new selection of tea blends to try. The box comes with 4 teas. I was eager to try them all however since Chai is my favorite tea blend I of course went with that first.
The Masala Chai they sent is the classic blend of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom with the addition of ginger liquid and cinnamon liquid. All the ingredients are organic.
I steeped the tea per the package directions (1 tbsp per 10oz of water using boiling water, let step 4 minutes).
I really loved this blend. It is a mellow chai, the spices are not intense or stand out on their own, rather it is a light mingling of flavor. I especially love these types of chai for an afternoon cuppa when I want a little pick me up but don’t want anything too intense.
I am eager to try the other teas in my box and look forward to my next month’s teas!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy : Tea Sparrow
Description
Did you know that ‘chai’ means ‘tea’? It’s Masala Chai that means ‘spice tea’ – or ‘chai tea’ as some Westerners like to call it. Except wait, that’s ‘Tea Tea.’ Never mind, just drink it!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pumpkin Chai/Laughing Tree Tea
As a tea addict I am constantly on the hunt for tea. I mean literally every store, event or venue I go to I check to see if tea is present anywhere. I suppose some folks shop for clothes, others for gadgets and gizmos but I shop for tea. So when I was at the Freight House Farmer’s Market in Davenport I of course went in search for tea. I was surprised that there were several stands selling everything from kombucha to matcha to loose leaf. Tea was well represented here!
After walking around a bit I stumbled upon Laughing Tree Tea’s vendor stand. I must admit the free sample of peach green tea got me. I am a sucker for samples. But the sample was very nice so I decided to scope out the offerings. There were a lot of teas to smell and different sizes of tea to purchase. I do appreciate when companies offer sample packs of tea because honestly I am drowning in tea reserves. I often times want to sample a tea but don’t want to commit to a whole 2 ounces. Plus my husband tells me I might have to rent a storage pod if I continue to add to my collection. At any rate i purchased 4 samples to try.
Like a kid in a candy store I ripped open the first sample as soon as I got home! The first one I have tried and am reviewing today is Pumpkin Chai.
Laughing Tree Tea (try saying that 3 times fast) is a hand blended and locally sourced company that sells their tea in their cafe in Waterloo, IA but also at various farmer’s markets in the area. I smelled the sample of Pumpkin Chai in the vendor stall and immediately loved it! The scent is spicy, sweet and a bit nutty. I steeped my sample up at 212 degrees for 3 minutes. I felt that the tea could actually benefit for a slightly longer steep time so I let it steep an additional 2 minutes after my first sip. The base of this tea is black tea with rooibos. I enjoyed the mix of teas as the rooibos lends a nutty and sweet dimension to the blend. The traditional chai spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and black pepper are present as is coriander. I absolutely love coriander, it gives such a warm distinct flavor to blends. Also, almond, orange, flower petals and nut oil are added.
I really loved this tea. The spices blend so well together without being too spicy. There is a slight hint of pumpkin so I am suspecting that is contained in the natural flavors that are added. I loved this tea on its own but did find that adding a bit of soy milk enhanced the flavor. I suspect this will make an amazing latte.
This is an excellent blend and I have high hopes for the other 3 tea samples that I picked up. It seems that so often we hear about the large tea companies out there but the smaller companies like Laughing Tree Tea are doing some amazing things with tea that deserve to get noticed!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Laughing Tree Tea
Description
Warm up with this with this pumpkin flavored chai. If you like pumpkin this is your chai. Offered seasonally be sure to pick up your brew. Chai is traditionally served sweetened and this fun tea is pre-sweetened with ghost and pumpkin candies.
Ingredients: Tea, Cinnamon, Apple & Rosehip pieces, Ginger, Cardamom, Black & White pepper, Candy, Hibiscus & Calendula & Sunflower petals, Clove, Nutmeg, and Natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!