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!
Perfectly Pink #LadyMendl blend from #SunshineCottage
Another lovely tea from the crafty world of Etsy, this time it’s Lady Mendl blend from Sunshine Cottage. The Lady Mendl tea blend is based on a cocktail of the same name. The alcoholic beverage was all pink pizzazz, served in a martini with grapefruit juice, cointreau, and gin.
With so much pink citrus in the mix, this tea is surprisingly creamy, with delicious, juicy grapefruit at the forefront, and sweet, candied orange in the undertone. There are even passion fruit pieces in the dry leaf, adding to the popping, tropical flair of these flavors.
The black tea base is nutty and rich, nicely balancing the strong citrus tones. There’s even a hint of black pepper in the smell of the leaf, and it comes through in the brew the longer it is steeped. I find the hint of something savory and spicy to be an appealing counterpoint to the luscious fruit.
This would be a great blend for fans of earl grey who want to get outside their usual bergamot flavor but still want a citrus-inspired drink, fit for a lady. Look no further than Lady Mendl from Sunshine Cottage and start brewing up something perfectly pink.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Sunshine Cottage (Etsy Shop)
Description:
This blend is based on my mother’s favorite cocktail – the Lady Mendl. A delightful blend of orange and grapefruit, this black tea is perfect for an afternoon tea while listening to the legendary Cole Porter – who sang the praises of Lady Mendl in ‘Anything Goes’.
Just as an aside, Lady Mendl (or Elsie DeWolfe) was a fascinating woman and well worth reading about – perhaps while sipping a cuppa of this blend. I enjoy mine with milk (it smooths out the citrus) and a dash of maple syrup (another of my mother’s favorites).
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jane Eyre. . A Fandom Tea from First Edition Tea Co. . .
Trying the literary collection has been fun because it gives me a chance to not only try the tea but see how they compare to their namesake. However, Jane Eyre is the one novel of the five ( the others in the collection being Sherlock Holmes, Pride & Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, and Alice in Wonderland) I have not read. Obviously I have heard of it and know the basic premise, but I have never looked into it in much detail or cared to give it a read. So to me, this is a tea that I have no preconceived expectations going into the tasting brought on by the inspiring literary classic. This is also a tea that fell victim to my cleaning distractions and cooled before I got a chance to give it a try.
I like that the first thing that you taste with this tea is the cranberry. It is sweet and fruity and distinct. That melts away to the warming and dessert-like cinnamon. It is a little astringent and slightly drying, which could be because of the cooling or could be because of the flower petals and spice blend. The fennel peaks through at the end of the sip as if to say hello and the rose, slightly perfumey, comes with it. I worried that the licorice root and blackberry leaves would make this cloying but they seem to be kept in check.
It is a nice tea. Not one I feel compelled to keep around just because this flavor combination is not one I often reach for, but I probably would not turn away another cup. Plus, I could see this being lovely as a hot tea on a cool day. I’m interested to see how my sister’s feel about this one. Hopefully one of them have read Jane Eyre and can tell us how it draws inspiration from the book.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: First Edition Tea Co.
Description
This tea is anything but poor, obscure, and plain. A solid black tea with a wild and free heart, an independent will, and all the warmth of a hearth in a home long searched for. Reader, it’s delicious.
Ingredients: Black tea, cranberry pieces, cinnamon, fennel, licorice root, blackberry leaves, rose petals, safflower petals, natural flavours.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
VariaTea’s Thoughts on Alice in Wonderland from First Edition Tea Co. . . .
I love teas inspired by pop culture and media. Fandom teas are a thing of beauty because they can take flavors that may not be otherwise appealing and make them all the more interesting by naming them for a beloved book or tv show. This tea, for instance, is not one I would ever buy myself since I don’t usually love marzipan and I am indifferent to rose, but name it after a classic book like Alice and Wonderland and you got me signed up for a taste. Perhaps I am easily sold by a gimmick but somehow connecting teas to pop culture just makes the experience more exciting.
As far as the tea goes, the smell of marzipan in the dry leaf was incredibly powerful and had me worried that it would take over but in the brewed tea, it is quite balanced. Present and flavorful but not in-your-face. The rooibos imparts a bit of a medicinal taste while the black is almost smokey in flavor. It is a bit astringent but not terribly so, though I will say it gets more bitter as it cools so best to have this hot. The rose is a little more perfumey than I would like (probably since this cup has cooled quite a bit) but also candy-like in its sweetness which compliments the marzipan nicely.
All in all, this was an alright tea. Not my favorite though I did enjoy it more than I expected I would. Like I said, this is not the flavor profile I would normally pick for myself so at the end of the day I am probably not the target audience here. I will be passing this on for the other sisters to try though so hopefully this will be more to their tastes.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black/Rooibos
Where to Buy: First Edition Tea Co.
Description
It’s always tea time. Indulge with this sweet and floral blend of rooibos and black tea, filled with rose petals. A candy sweet blend that just says “Drink me!”
Ingredients: Rooibos, black tea, papaya, almond pieces, rosehip pieces, rose petals, blackberry leaves, natural flavours. CONTAINS NUTS!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Power Up! from Because UR Priceless. . . .
I put off trying this tea. Most of the time I don’t NEED to power up. When I wake up in the mornings I am ready to roll, no caffeine required. Sometimes I could use a lift during the day, though. But this has maté! This has hibiscus! Two things that I have occasionally had bad experiences with. Hibiscus is usually Iced and sweet around here.
I decided to give it a go today because it was either take a nap or do something to get the wheels spinning again. I went for it as a hot unsweetened cuppa instead of resorting to iced tea with it because I need to wake up NOW.
The nice surprise is that when the tea is really hot, it is smooth and minty! The green base is good, the maté isn’t a deeply roasted flavor like what I had before, and the hibiscus isn’t very strong…YET. I prefer spearmint to peppermint in most teas and the spearmint dominates the hibiscus until it cools. It is a super refreshing tea.
As the tea cooled, hibiscus came out more and more. That’s okay! I can reheat! And next time I will make it by the cup instead of by the pot so that I can enjoy its minty goodness.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Mate
Where to Buy: Because UR Priceless
Description
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
