The Earl and I have been buddies for a long time. He’s begun, gradually, over time, to let his guard down. This weekend, in fact, he invited me out camping.
“There’s going to be cider,” he said. “I’m going full Johnny Appleseed on this.”
“That’s rustic!” I said.
“The castle’s a little stuffy. I’m branching out,” he said.
“BRANCHING?” I said.
“I LOVE IT WHEN SOMEONE GETS MY PUNS,” he said.
After a long day of hiking around a charming English forest, we set up our tents for the night.
The following morning, he slow-simmered some tea over a small fire. He threw lemon peel into it, apple bits, and a tiny bit of bourbon extract (no alcohol!).
“What do you think?” he asked as I sipped. He was slouched forward, hands clasped. He looked nervous. I could see his knuckles standing out white against his clenched skin.
“I ADORE IT,” I said.
He settled back against a tree, smiling.
“The lemons! The bourbon! Who would have thought you could take your classic recipe and do something so new with it? This is rich, and sweet, but the original is still there, too. It’s like you dropped a sweet, sweet remix on that beat!” I cried.
He blushed.
“You took the tea less traveled — and that has made all the difference!” I said.
“Speaking of which, we are really lost,” he said. “And I hate the woods.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’s 2017. We have GPS now.”
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is not currently available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Beneath the Pines from Global Tea Hut. . . . .
I had a little bit of trouble getting to this tea. I had to use a combination of my foot and a can opener to wrench the tin open.
Packaging difficulties aside, this tea tastes a bit like what I imagine seafood tastes like. (No, I’ve never had seafood. Of any sort.) This is a flavor profile that doesn’t usually pop up in black teas.
In part, the taste probably differs from a straight black because the tea has been fermented. Fermentation is how a “black” tea becomes a “pu’erh” tea.
To make it more confusing, people in Asia think of our “black” tea as “red.” And they call pu-erh “black.” If that hurts your spirit, feel free to forget I said anything. If that intrigues you, you can read a lot more about this tea and its processing technique here.
Though this tea wasn’t my favorite, I figured you’d get a kick out of my experience of opening it. Plus, the combinations of tea & fermentation types can turn into a wide bounty of flavor options! Who knew? This tea or one like it might be for you!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Global Tea Hut
Description
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Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tropical Fruit from Storehouse Tea. . . .
Confession: I’ve written two reviews for this tea. The first review was written longhand in my journal after a party where I made a few non-tea-beverage tactical errors. It said:
“This tea tastes like what’d it be like to receive a Care Bear Stare.”
The rest of it is, basically, incomprehensible, mostly in terms of handwriting. So I’m writing it again.
“Tropical Fruit” ‘s ingredients include organic orange peel, organic apple, organic rose petals, organic calendula, and natural fruit flavors. Apples, oranges, and flowers aren’t really all that tropical, but the result is still sweet and fun anyway. It tastes like very vivid pastels might taste. I’d probably qualify this taste as more of a “spring” than a “summer” (as the tropics might be), but the accuracy of title-to-flavor isn’t one of my major sticking points.
I’ve drank both of these samples iced. It seems fitting to enjoy the tropics with a cool beverage at your hand.
Cold temperatures also seem to bring out the sweetness in a tea, which I especially enjoy doing with rooibos. It brings out a velvety, vanilla-like quality that makes everything taste like a wash of ice cream.
Or, you know, the Care Bear Stare.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Storehouse Tea
Description
Combines natural exotic tropical fruit flavors with caffeine free, Fair Trade red and green rooibos makes this infusion deliciously refreshing and rich in anti-oxidants. Excellent iced.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Elderberry Blend from Storehouse Teas. . . .
I literally purchased this tea because it was purple.
I also like berries, and I have to cut back on caffeine, so this tea seemed to check off a lot of my boxes. But mostly I will buy anything in purple. I once drove a purple car. She looked precisely like this.
Like the ingredients, Elderberry Blend’s steeped final result is a plum/magenta color. It’s super-appealing in my clear travel container.
But enough about the appearance! WHAT OF THE FLAVOR? YOU ASK.
Elderberry Blend tastes great iced on-the-go. Granted, in today’s case, “on-the-go” means “at my desk,” but I traveled with it to a county fair yesterday. The berries are sweet, but the hibiscus/currants/raisins give it a tart edge that keep the sweetness from being overwhelming.
It tastes like a low-key superhero woman. Like, maybe a lawyer who defends people who have been harmed by evil companies. Kind but NO NONSENSE. She doesn’t flip cars over with her muscles; she flips THE PATRIARCHY over with her MIND. Like, maybe Scully from X-Files would be the fictional equivalent of this tea.
Not JUST because the tea brews up sort of red.
But maybe PARTIALLY because the tea brews up sort of red.
I’m hoping to work my way into other parts of the rainbow in later posts. Stay tuned. 😉
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Storehouse Teas
Description
This succulent blend of Caffeine Free herbs and fruits imparts a refreshing deep berry flavor, tart with a subtle sweetness creating a satisfying deep dark red infusion. Contains powerful anti-oxidants which may help expel toxins, relieve sore throat, and shorten the flu cycle. Excellent iced.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Winter Treat from 52Teas. . . .
I told my husband I’ve been borrowing his t-shirts sometimes, and he said that was “sneaky.” Later in the day, I told him I’m drinking a “Winter Treat” tea in August, and he said that too, was “sneaky.”
I don’t think drinking a winter tea in September is sneaky; it’s more “ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT, MAAAAAAN.” I won’t let the seasons dictate what I drink, maaaaaan. I’ll wear white after labor day AT A WEDDING, maaaaan. Like a teenager who skims Marx after their history homework and uses that shaky grasp to buy a Rage Against The Machine album, maaaaan. BERNIE 2020.
I don’t know if you can tell, but I went through an ill-informed “rebellious” phase I’m slightly ashamed of.
Unfortunately, my reviewing Winter’s Treat in September means it’s not currently available, but you need to listen up: 52 TEAS KNOWS WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OOLONGS. I’m not sure I have literally ever been disappointed by one of their oolongs. I am not owned by them; I have no financial stake in any tea company whatsoever. I am saying this FOR FREE. Keep an eye on those new releases as they come out. When an oolong that speaks to you emerges, BUY. IT.
This tea is a marshmallow, banana, cinnamon mix. I’m not sure what bananas have to do with winter, but NO MATTER. It’s very sweet. It’s like a chai that someone in the tropics might make. They’re like “it’s 100 degrees out here, but we’re on a banana plantation, and it’s technically ‘winter,’ so… let’s do the thing.”
The oolong makes a rich background, a perfect canvas for the other colors to shine. But I doubted nothing less from 52Teas, the Oolong Queen of Tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is currently not available but click below for teas that are.