This lovely tea has been sitting on my tea shelf for a while, just waiting for the right day. Well today was the day. This darjeeling blend was created in honor of author Edith Wharton at the Simpson and Vail tea shop.
I don’t know what it is, but darjeeling and earl grey teas always make me think of ladylike tea parties with finger sandwiches and sugar cubes. This darjeeling blend is crisp and and could fit into the high tea setting, but it also has a lot more to bring to your cup.
In both scent and taste this blend is pleasantly bright and playful with plenty of grapefruit citrus. This tartness feels satisfying like having the perfect biting witty comment ready to go on your tongue. Beyond the grapefruit there is a bit of ginger heat, quickly followed by the smooth, vanilla tones of the mallow blossoms at the end.
Bold but ladylike, sharp but playful. This is a great tea for that favorite smart and sassy friend in your life, or for any literary tea aficionado.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description:
For our Edith Wharton blend we pay homage to her descriptions of the undercurrents rippling through fashionable society. We have combined a refined, high-grown Darjeeling black tea with a little passionfruit and citrus flavor, a dash of spice and lovely flower petals to create a taste that is smooth and elegant. Perfect for an afternoon tête-à-tête.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hot Cross Bun from Bluebird Tea Co. . . .
I was too chicken to order a full supply of this springtime blend, but I did get a free sample so I got to get a taste risk-free. Hot Cross Bun is one of the Easter flavors released by Bluebird Tea Company. This is a black tea and rooibos tea blend, though rooibos makes up the majority, so you won’t be overloaded with caffeine.
The scent of this blend was vibrant and noticeable right out of the bag. Some of the black tea was clearly a smoky lapsang souchong, but the smoked flavor was closely followed by a powerful, sweet vanilla scent. Quite the flavor duo.
Brewed, this tea continued to open up and show off its delicious ingredients. The smokiness cooled off, and became more like the suggestion of a fire in the fireplace. The creamy vanilla was heightened to the decadence of buttercream icing. Both flavors were nicely balanced by sweet and tart orange zest to bring it all together.
This is a great tea for those days that you want a sweet dessert blend, but don’t want to feel too much like a pastry chef. The whiff of rugged lapsang souchong brings a unique boldness to this brew and makes you appreciate favorite flavors like cream and citrus in a new light. Don’t be a chicken like me and the next time you can-order a full bag of this springtime tea before it’s gone!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black and Rooibos
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Description:
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Orange Dreamsicle from Wise Ape Tea Co. . . . .
Wise Ape Company might be best known for its Chocolate Hustle tea blend, a high-caffeine yerba mate blend, but recently, the Wise Ape has branched out to feature an assam black tea blend and an herbal blend as well. Orange Dreamsicle is the new herbal tea offering from Wise Ape.
I love the names and designs from Wise Ape, not to mention their videos featuring a big ape hand brewing tea. Orange Dreamsicle is a great name for a bedtime tea, evoking the flavors of a favorite ice cream bar.
The blend itself is very chamomile-driven, with the gentle lemony tones from that herb taking the lead. Behind the chamomile, I taste vanilla and orange as well, contributing to the creamy ice-cream-inspired flavors in the blend’s name. The vanilla and orange add sweetness without being too artificial or sugary; they are gentle yet flavorful and let you add more sweetness to suit your own tastes. For my personal preferences, I will say that I wish there was a bit more citrus and a bit less chamomile, but it makes sense that there is lots of chamomile for a sleepytime brew.
Smooth and easy-drinking, a great cup of tea to ease you into sweet dreams.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Wise Ape Tea Co.
Description: A dreamy blend of chamomile flowers with subtle hints of orange and cream, combined with adaptogenic super-herbs to support your nightly zen. This relaxing elixir is designed to calm the mind, ease the body, and help you sink into a restorative night’s sleep.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lady Grey from IndiasTea. . . .
It’s hard to pin down exactly what makes a tea a Lady Grey blend. I believe Twinings tea company first coined the term, making a citrusy earl grey tea without powerful bergamot oil. Either way, Lady Grey blends tend to be earl-grey-inspired teas blended to be a bit more gentle or ladylike. Lady Grey from India Teas certainly fits into that category.
While this blend has bergamot oil in it, it is at much lower levels than your average earl grey. Instead of the intense bergamot, this tea is accented with lemon peel and orange peel, making for milder and gentler citrus tones.
The leaves and the brewed tea had a fragrance of lemon-vanilla, reminding me of lemon poppyseed muffins. The tea is bright and pleasant, but not overly sweet, still preserving some of the citrus pop of traditional earl grey.
Brewed, the leaves appear much greener than when they are dry. I’m not sure exactly what type of tea leaves are used as a base, but the flavor and color lead me to believe it is a darjeeling, or less oxidized tea. The more delicate leaves suit the airy lemon peel flavors and ladylike theme.
Lemon is the star player in this blend since there is no black tea tannin richness to overpower it. This Lady Grey is light and drinkable, a sunny lemon brew with just a little grounding to distinguish it from an herbal tea.
This is a delectable alternative to powerful earl greys, and might just be your new favorite citrus tea for cold brewing as the weather gets warmer.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: black
Where to Buy: Indias Tea
Description:
Not to go by its name, Ladygrey Tea is a modern creation so as to appeal to every age groups with its distinctly citrus fragrance.
Ladygrey Tea is a Tea blend which has been flavored with the addition of oil of bergamot to provide a relaxing and calming effect by taking you on a only-me journey.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Peeps from the Necessiteas
Two of our Sisters recently reviewed My Peeps from The NecessiTeas. . .here is the first one!
Springtime is historically the season for Peeps: those iconic, yellow sugar-coated marshmallow chicks. The company behind Peeps has done quite a bit of branching out since those original Easter Sundays. Now Peeps come in every seasonal shape and color, pumpkins and frankenstein heads for fall, snowmen and gingerbread men for winter, and more flavors and kooky combinations than you can imagine.
I’m partial to marshmallows, whether big soft marshmallows in my hot cocoa, mini marshmallows in my Lucky Charms, or marshmallow-coated snowball cakes– you name it. And yes, I like Peeps too. The Necessiteas captured the sweet whimsy of marshmallow peeps in this delicious tea blend.
This decaf honeybush blend is super jam-packed with strong vanilla, almost caramel flavors. In both smell and taste, the foremost flavor in the blend is the beyond-vanilla buttercream frosting, meant to be ultra-reminiscent of marshmallows and marshmallow cream. It’s hard to imagine exactly what flavors make marshmallows so distinctive, but the sugary sweetness with clean vanilla are a close match. The honeybush is a great tea to use as a base, the leaves being gentle enough not to overpower the marshmallow flavoring.
Just in case the flavor alone wasn’t enough to entice you to try a cup of this brew, the loose leaf have mini marshmallows and pink sugar crystals to add sweetness and cuteness in equal measure.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: The Necessiteas
Easter just would’t be the same without peeps. In fact, you could say that peeps are to food what ugly Christmas sweaters are to clothing. You know whether you prefer chicks to bunnies, fresh to stale, or plain to chocolate-covered. I personally prefer slightly stale pink bunnies! When it comes to peeps, you either love them or you hate them. Their sugary, marshmallowy sweetness is enough to make your teeth ache, and I’m ok with that! I decided to make a healthier version of my favorite Easter treat by blending naturally sweet honeybush with mini marshmallows, pink sugar crystals and organic flavors. The outcome? Same sweet, marshmallowy goodness, minus the toothache!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!