The elderflower flowers look like micro chamomile blossoms, yellow and spherical. Though the elderflowers are so tiny, it almost like a bag of pollen. The small blossoms are a golden color and very fine in texture. When brewing this tea, be sure to use your infuser with the finest mesh or smallest holes.
Brewed, this tea is surprisingly earthy and savory, and not very floral. The tea has a woodsy fragrance like crushed dried flowers or cut hay. Some of the flavor notes remind me of the brighter pu erh teas I’ve tried, so if you aren’t a floral tea fan, this blend might just be your favorite exception.
The taste of the brew continues to support the earthy, dried grass tones, but coupled with a new, buttery flavor. The taste is a bit more vegetal than the scent, with a crisp, celery note. As the brew cools, and the more I drink, the more I detect a sweeter, brown sugar undertone. Plum Deluxe recommends the brew with a bit of sweetener, which helps bring forward the toasted sugar or brown butter flavors even further.
Just Elderflower is a unique blend in appearance and taste, making for a thoughtful and flavorful one-ingredient brewing experience.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description:
Just Elderflower is part of our “just” line of thoughtfully-source, single ingredient herbal teas. Elderflower is a curious, floral, and fragrant tea ingredient. Despite its delicate nature, it steeps up for a wonderful, calming, curing beverage.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lavender with Love from High Garden Tea. . . .
I recently went to visit a friend of mine in Nashville– and of course, as with any trip, stops to local tea havens was #1 on my list. (Okay, maybe #2 after friend-reunion-bonding time. But second only to that.) High Garden is an incredible herbal apothecary tea shop, brimming with blends and jars full of single herbs, tinctures and tons of other goodies. You’ll find a ferments bar in the back (teas and treats to sample, and tons of fermented beverages– kombuchas, jin, kefir– and other refrigerated ferments filled the shop stock), and the walls are covered in vines and nature in order to evoke the perfect scene of Hufflepuff-common-room-meets-Mr.-Tumnus’-cottage. I was, understandably, in tea heaven.
In an effort to try as much as I could, I filled up a bag from their wall of samples, including this intriguing lavender-herb blend in the mix for a little bedtime relaxation cuppa. A unique blend of lavender, elderflower, chamomile, and jasmine, it’s truly delightful. It’s floral without being grandma’s-perfume-y, and herbal without being vegetal. It calls for quite a long steep, which only intensifies the harmony of the flavors. And this one made it far past a single steep for me, keeping the flavor strong even after the third, fourth infusion!
A delightful herbal, when all is said and done. Will I automatically restock this one? Maybe not, but that has more to do with the plethora of other single samples I have waiting in my half-unpacked luggage* now that I’m home!
*I mean, I pretty much had to leave all of my personal effects in Nashville in order to transport all my new teas home. That’s how travel is supposed to work, right?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: High Garden
Description
Lavender flower, Chamomile, Jasmine, Elderflower, Rosemary
Not only an aromatic bliss of lavender and jasmine, but immune boosting components to give your body the love it deserves.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Evening in the Garden from Plum Deluxe. . . . .
As is true to many of us tea-lovers, I’m a big fan of taking tea time as more of a ritual than just a beverage (although don’t get me wrong– many a cups are sipping while I’m racing out the door or mindlessly doing work at my desk) whenever I can. So anytime a cup encourages me to a sense of relaxation and place during my sipping, I’m all about it. Is my garden currently covered in snow and darkness post-5 PM still practically every day? Yes. Will I pretend I’m relaxing in the late warm summer breeze after dinner while sipping this tea regardless? Also yes.
This tea boasts a honeybush base (already off to a great start for my tastes) with elderflower, rose, lemon and vanilla. While I can’t say I know what elderflower tastes like (certainly not elderberry, which I think I’d assumed upon ordering), the rest of the flavors shine through for me here with some light floral undertones. I like this one with a touch of honey, which brings those citrus notes right to the top of my sip. Smooth and creamy vanilla lingers at the end, which is just delightful. Honestly, this one has been sitting in my cabinet for too long, and I just kind of… forget about it. But every time I brew up a cup, I’m pleasantly surprised by how lovely it is.
And in late winter, I’ll take any chance I can get to evoke those warm spring evenings that I know are on their way!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description
Find yourself in a delightfully calming, quiet moment inside your teacup. This tea is a blend we are very excited about! We start with fresh elderflowers — a unique herb not as often used in teas. Then we pair it with lemon peel and rose petals to add a floral zing that is both refreshing and relaxing. Honeybush tea and a touch of vanilla essence add body. The combination is simply delicious — we literally almost called this tea Elderflower Awesomeness, but this organic elderflower tea can be for whenever and whatever you want.
“Enjoy a cup of smooth fragrant Evening in the Garden tea to ready yourself for sleep and dreams of floral meadows.” – Experience Life Magazine
All Plum Deluxe teas are hand-blended and infused with love in Portland, Oregon. Each 1 oz tea packet makes 15-20 cups. All organic ingredients — no sulfites, no artificial chemicals, non-GMO.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!