In case you haven’t already noticed, I’m a fan of all things tea and Harry Potter, and lucky for me there are a multitude of amazing small tea shops that specialize in fantasy-inspired tea blends. I tried several teas from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe, and loved the tins and labeling for every single one. I ordered Severe Consequences blend to complete a set, not sure if the flavors of the tea would suit my palate. Much to my surprise, the blend turned out to be my favorite flavor of the bunch.
This blend is named after one of the favorite things of strict and unscrupulous Professor Dolores Umbridge. Like her outwardly pink and kitten-loving appearance, this tea is sweet and fragrant. Red fruit flavors of cherry, strawberry, and raspberry are as lush as breakfast jam against the black tea base. Vanilla flavoring adds a buttercream dessert finish after all the fruit. The careful addition of rose petals make this tea feel extra fancy, suitable for afternoon tea, without taking over the blend with their floral scent.
You can order this tea with or without rose gold sugar pearls. When brewed the pearls melt and add sweetness to the brew like a sugar cube. I recommend including the sugar pearls– they make the dry leaf look even more precious. Besides, you know Umbridge herself would not limit her indulgences. Brew this strong and sweet and serve it in your favorite dainty tea set. Just don’t let your teatime cosplaying get out of hand, or there will be Severe Consequences.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Riddle’s Tea Shoppe
Description:
Severe Consequences is the preferred tea of Dolores Umbridge, and is a cherry, cream, and rose tea with strawberry and raspberry pieces. Floral, sweet, and perfectly lovely to look at, the optional light pink sugar pearls will keep you in line while you avoid telling lies…
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Death Eaters Tea Club Specialty Box from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe
Bring out your inner good or bad wizard with a box of wizarding-world-themed tea goodies. Riddle’s Tea Shoppe offers quarterly boxes alternating between the Death Eaters Tea Club (canonically, the bad guys) and the Auror Tea Society (the good guys). The 2018 spring Death Eaters box was my first hands-on experience with Riddle’s Tea Shoppe, though I’ve long admired photos from afar.
This box was jam-packed with well-designed surprises. My box featured a canister of Basilisk Egg tea bags (spicy, earthy chai with lemongrass and peppercorns), a bag of loose Devil’s Snare tea (rich black tea with dark berry and cocoa flavors), and a bag of loose Venomous Tentacula tea (a decaf blend of black tea and rooibos with strawberry marzipan flavors). To pair with my tea was a vial of shimmery Unicorn Blood (simple syrup). Each treat featured original artwork or uniquely designed labels to make them feel extra magical and make them suitable to display in your tea shelf.
Beyond tea, the box included a laser cut wood bookmark and enamel pin, featuring stylish typography of favorite evil wizard spell words. There was also a print of an original watercolor painting of the Chamber of Secrets from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe’s creator. Of course, the Death Eaters Tea Club cute-and-creepy skull logo is on the box itself and various stickers and labels.
This box gave a lot of experience and beauty for a modest price. The one challenge is ordering before the pre-orders sell out, and waiting while the materials are assembled and shipped. To keep up-to-date on the next box, check out Death Eaters Tea Club (@deatheatersteaclub), Auror Tea Society (@aurorteasociety), and Riddle’s Tea Shoppe (@riddlesteashoppe) on Instagram. Also check on Riddle’s Tea Shoppe on Etsy for non-box goods related to tea and fantasy fandoms. The shop updates randomly, so check back often.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: various
Where to Buy: RTS Quarterly
Description: Each box contains:
– 1 canister of tea [Caffeinated]
– 2 small tea samples (10g each) [1 decaf / 1 caffeinated]
– 1 enamel pin
– 4 additional surprise items!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
The Lucky Snitch from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe and Curiosities. . . .
Riddle’s Tea Shoppe and Curiosities is an awesome Etsy store that sells many fandom-inspired goods. There is a big focus on Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts and Lord of the Rings/the Hobbit inspired teas, post cards, buttons, and other trinkets, though she explores other fandoms as well. Each item displayed beautifully in the images on her site. In fact, that is how I found this company, through the beautiful images strewn throughout Instagram advertising her products.
For weeks I tried to buy her many tea samples but each Wednesday when she restocked, everything sold out so fast that I was unable to make my purchase. That is until one Wednesday when I made sure to be online for exactly when the restock occurred and quickly threw one of each tea in my cart and cashed out.
It was while perusing her site that I realized I had actually tried some of the teas before. How is that possible since I never bought her stuff? Well, before selling directly through Riddle’s Tea Shoppe and Curiosities, the shop owner offered her blends on the fandom section of the Adagio Teas website.
This particular tea, The Lucky Snitch, is not one I had previously tasted so when I got to brewing, I was excited for something new. In light of the chocolate, peppermint, cinnamon, and creme, I thought this would make for a good latte so I measured out what I needed for that and used the rest to make a hot cup of this tea plain. I steeped both for 4 minutes in 200 degree water.
The plain tea really emphasizes the peppermint. Its the top note that sits atop the chocolate, another flavor highlighted in the cup. The two components, though complimentary, at times seems a bit disconnected. I don’t get much in the way of cinnamon or ginger and though creme is also not a flavor I notice, I believe it helps give the chocolate a silkiness that is more akin to milk chocolate as opposed to more of a cocoa or dark chocolate. So, this tea essentially tastes of a milk chocolate bar that someone put peppermint on.
The latte does something a little different to the tea as it seems to have brought out some more of the cinnamon/spice notes. That makes this heavier. I genuinely thought the milk would make this more creamy but instead it gives a cinnamon weightiness to the whole blend. The peppermint still lingers on top though somehow more harmoniously blends with the other components. Meanwhile, the chocolate disappeared a bit in the mix. Given that lack of chocolate flavor, this makes me think of when you make hot chocolate packets with water instead of milk and everything just feels watered down, which is especially strange in light of this being made with milk. A faint shadow of hot chocolate, except in this case, a shadow of a peppermint mexican hot chocolate given the focus on peppermint and cinnamon. It is not bad, but surprisingly this does better as a plain cup of peppermint chocolate tea.
Does it stand out among all the other peppermint chocolate teas out there? No, so I probably will stick to the ones I can more easily attain in Canada. However, it is a nice take on the flavors and if this blend is one that you can obtain easily and without paying much shipping, it is worth a try.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Riddle’s Tea Shoppe and Curiosities
Description
The tea shop is taking a break. Click below for more information.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
