One sip of this tea and you’ll know why they named it heavenly cream.
It’s like drinking a cloud; if clouds had flavors.
Boy wouldn’t that make for interesting rain? Ha! Anyway, this tea has a subtle black base which is complemented very well with the bits of bergamot flavors and the incontestable cream and vanilla impressions.
For those of you who like Earl Grey but would prefer a stronger creamy presence this is the one for you.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Sloane Fine Tea Merchants
Description
A divine tea, full of creamy richness and velvety smoothness- heavenly in every way. A beautiful long leaf Ceylon is blended with balanced notes of bergamot and creamy vanilla.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Green Tea Chai by Vahdam Teas
Steeped with a heaping tablespoon of leaves at 175 degrees in about 1 cup of water.
This tea was a new experience for me! I’ve tried lots of flavored green teas, but never one where the green tea was a substitute for black tea in a chai blend. As a result of this tea, I’ve realized how different these spices are outside of a conventional chai context and how much I take the black tea base for granted in chai blends!
As it steeps, I can detect a fragrance of spices; it smells like cinnamon and possibly cloves. The tea liquid isn’t very dark. In fact it’s only achieved a pale honeylike color after it’s finished steeping; it’s a little viscous, with nearly invisible flecks (of cinnamon, perhaps?) swimming in it.
The flavor is very different from any chai I’ve ever tried. The spices, instead of melding with a malty black tea flavor to form a rounded flavor profile, are instead mingling with the bright astringent green tea notes (grassy almost, but not much on the floral side that I can detect). This makes for a very focused flavor overall. It’s highly concentrated in the bright and forward flavor notes and not so much rounded out with the deeper tones that a black tea normally imparts to a chai (in my experience). It’s almost bitter, but then again, I may have oversteeped it a bit–I like my chais strong.
With milk, it’s suddenly not very strong at all. It still has spice flavors, but I’m really missing the black tea base here. And I know you aren’t really “supposed” to put milk in green tea, but that’s what I normally do with chai so I figured why not?
So to sum up, don’t expect this to taste like a more conventional chai! Instead, expect a bright, spicy, focused flavor that’s intended to be enjoyed alone or with a little sweetener; I recommend trying it without milk. In fact, I bet this would make a great iced tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Vahdam Teas
Description
A superior blend of fresh green tea from Darjeeling blended with choicest Indian spices like Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove & Black Peppercorns. Discover a smooth fulfilling aroma of fresh greens with delicious undertones of raw spices in every sip. The liquor is bright green with an energizing aroma. A unique chai tea which can be served with or without milk.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tea News: Nepali Tea Traders Announces Expansion Plans And New Ownership. . .
In a recent email we found out that there’s an exciting new chapter ahead for Nepali Tea Traders! Boston-based entrepreneurs Sunita and Rabin Joshi, who were born and raised in Nepal, have joined the ownership team. They are working alongside original team members, including Founder Maggie Le Beau, to advance the mission of building a sustainable tea industry in Nepal .
The official press release is below…
NEPALI TEA TRADERS ANNOUNCES EXPANSION PLANS AND NEW OWNERSHIP Nepalese Team to Advance Company’s Mission to Build Sustainable Tea Industry Boston, Mass. and Denver, Colo. – September 12, 2017 – Nepali Tea Traders, which has successfully introduced Nepali artisan teas to North America, is welcoming two Boston-based entrepreneurs—both born and raised in Nepal—onto its ownership team. Sunita and Rabin Joshi will help advance the company’s mission: to build a sustainable tea industry in Nepal by expanding Nepali Tea Traders’ geographic markets and customer base. “After the earthquake hit Nepal in 2015, Rabin and I felt the immediate urge to do something meaningful for our country,” said Sunita Joshi. “It became clear that we needed to use our business experience to give back to our homeland. We evaluated different ideas and landed on importing tea. We were fortunate to meet Nepali Tea Traders’ founder Maggie Le Beau and were impressed with her business, brand, extraordinary teas and commitment to Nepal.
We are so excited to help her advance the mission and expand the business.” The five-year old company has just moved its center of operations from Denver, Colorado, to the Boston, Massachusetts area. Le Beau and other current team members will remain actively involved. The Joshis are both from Kathmandu and have lived for 13 years in the U.S., where they completed their university degrees. Rabin served as district manager for Dunkin Donuts, with responsibility for its coffee brand across the Boston metropolitan area. Sunita, an entrepreneur, joined solar company PanelClaw as an early team member and drove its concept to tens of millions of dollars, running the entire North America operation as the company grew. The Joshis will focus on marketing the high quality of teas that are produced in Nepal, expanding the company’s geographical focus both within the U.S. and in Europe and South America. The company will continue to source teas from Sandakphu Tea Processors, Nepali Tea Traders’ primary supplier. The Sandakphu teas recently received the USDA and DAkks (German) organic certificates. The teas have also earned three recent awards in the Global Tea Championships, including first place in 2015 for its Himalayan Golden Black Tea.
“Nepal produces some of the world’s best teas, and we intend to focus on expanding awareness and distribution,” said Rabin Joshi. Immediate plans for growth include expanding sales in Boston and the Northeast corridor, marketing the teas outside of North America and exploring new distribution options, including restaurants, hotels and specialty retail. “We have an excellent supply of both spring and summer flush teas, and look forward to introducing more people to these amazing teas.”
Le Beau looks forward to working with the Joshis. “I am delighted to introduce Sunita and Rabin to our customers and the business,” she said. “They are high-energy, talented entrepreneurs, who share our passion for our artisan teas and our commitment to building a sustainable tea economy in Nepal.”
About Nepali Tea Traders… Nepali Tea Traders is the first company in the United States to offer premium teas exclusively from small farms in the Ilam region of Nepal. The company sells a variety of natural and organic tea grown at ideal altitudes of 4,000 to 8,000 feet to tea shops and specialty grocery stores. Its full line of teas is also available for purchase at www.NepaliTeaTraders.com. Four of the company’s teas have earned North American Tea Championship honors. In 2015, Himalayan Golden was named the world’s best black tea. The company’s mission is to help to build a sustainable tea economy in Nepal, providing Nepal’s tea farmers fair prices and their fair share of the profit.
TEA NEWS: Joe’s Tea Company. . . .
One of the MANY new things here at The SororiTea Sisters we wanted to do is get more Tea Industry News out to our readers. If you are a company that would like to submit a press release to us please do so we would LOVE to hear from you!
Having said that…one of the bits of news-worthy emails I have seen in my inbox the last couple of months was that Joe’s Tea Company has been scooped up by English Tea Shop.
Below is the email I received from Joe and I thought I would post it here to help spread the word…
After lots of careful planning and negotiation, I am excited to share the news that Joe’s Tea Company has been acquired by our good friends at English Tea Shop.
English Tea Shop is an independent, organic, specialty tea company, headquartered in the UK, with a factory in Sri Lanka. English Tea Shop is a pioneer of sustainable practices, putting its employees and suppliers’ livelihoods first using the principles of value sharing and we are really excited to now be a part of this.
I have had a close working and personal relationship of eight years with the team in Sri Lanka and believe there’s no better business to work with. This partnership will allow us to increase the team and work on some exciting new developments for the business which I cannot wait to get started on and share with you
I will remain firmly at the helm along with the team in London. Our products, our processes, our goals, and the way we do business with you will remain exactly the same, and our aim is to only improve. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support this far and I hope you are as excited as I am about the next part of our journey.
I, for one, am excited to see how this progresses! Let us know your thoughts in comments!
Here’s the scoop!
Where to Learn More: Joe’s Tea Co.
TEA NEWS: Tea Masters Cup . . . .
Something VERY exciting is happening THIS WEEK in the World…it’s the Tea Masters Cup. The event is taking place September 25th thru the 30th in China.
Check out the info below. The Tea Masters Cup comprises events in four categories: • Tea Preparation • Tea Pairing • Tea Mixology • Tea Tasting.
TEA PREPARATION
A Master competing in this category must demonstrate the skill of tea preparation by brewing and presenting to each member of the judging panel a total of two beverages:
- The Organizers’ Tea, a beverage prepared from a single tea sample chosen from a fixed set of samples, the same for all competitors, revealed by the competition organizers prior to the start of the competition;
- The Master’s Tea, a beverage prepared from any tea chosen by the Master or possibly from the set of tea samples provided by the competition organizers.
TEA PAIRING
A Master competing in this category must demonstrate the skill of tea pairing (a composition consisting of tea and a light snack) by presenting to each member of the judging panel a total of two compositions:
- “The Organizers’ Composition”, consisting of tea and a light snack and possibly including other mandatory components specified by the competition organizers;
- “The Master’s Composition”, consisting of tea and a light snack, prepared by the Master from any ingredients (may include ingredients brought by the Master him- or herself).
TEA MIXOLOGY
A Master competing in this category must demonstrate the skill of preparing multi-ingredient tea-based beverages by preparing and presenting to each member of the judging panel two beverages:
- Organizers’ Mix, beverage prepared using a tea, in accordance with the conditions established by the organizer and using the required components, provided by the Organizer;
- The Master’s Mix, a beverage prepared according to the Master’s own recipe without any restrictions, provided that the beverage and its preparation do not violate these Rules and Regulations or any other rules imposed by the competition organizers.
TEA TASTING
A Master competing in this category must demonstrate the skill of degustation by identifying tea samples presented for degustation. This competition category includes two subcategories:
- Pure Tea
- Multi-Ingredient Beverage
The Tea Masters website is very comprehensive. I spent a lot of time on it thumbing thru the pages and learning about the different competitions around the world. I’m looking forward to seeing new tea stars being born from this Cup Series and learning more about some of our long time tea buddies!
(information taken from https://teamasterscup.com/en/introduction)
Here’s the scoop!
Where to Learn More: Tea Masters Cup
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!