Mate and pu’erh are the two types of teas that I usually try to avoid. Mate tastes like the rainforst and pu’erh tastes like mud (well what I would expect those thing to taste like since I have never actually tried those). Either way both taste like dirt to me and life is too short and there are too many teas out there to drink something you don’t enjoy. So, this Pride and Prejudice tea, a citrus and roasted mate herbal tea was not one I was jumping at the chance to try.
My anxiety was relieved a little when I opened the package to see more fruit pieces and petals than actual mate so I got to brewing up a hot cup of pride and prejudice.
It brews up the deep reddish-pink of a tea filled with hibiscus and rosehips. The hibiscus and rosehips also comes through in taste in light of the tartness. Hibiscus and orange. A juicy orange which gives way to the mate earthiness. Not as pungent as other teas I have tried in the past, but still too present for my personal tastes.
This is a fruity tea, more earthy/ natural than sweet like many others. Though this is not likely to become a favorite of mine, it was better than I expected since the mate is balanced by the other flavors in the tea. I will be passing the rest on to my sisters. We’ll see if this is more to their tastes than it was mine.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: First Edition Tea Co.
Description
The herbal blend looks beautiful, but it’s got a thrilling bite to it. A sweet and fruity blend with a kick of tangy citrus and energizing roasted mate. A tea that will bewitch you, body and soul. Perfect for making iced tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Great Gatsby from First Edition Tea Co. #greatgatsby #tea
So this may be an unpopular opinion but I actually hated The Great Gatsby. I read it. I analyzed it. I studied it. I get it. Doesn’t mean I need to like it. I found it boring and after reading it a few times and not enjoying it anymore than I had previously, I think it is safe to say that I am not a fan. Even the movie didn’t appeal to me, except for the soundtrack which was pretty amazing but I digress.
Now that I have that out of the way, I can focus on this tea, which smells amazing by the way. Lemon and lavender, such a crisp and fresh smell that is also incredibly soothing. It’s so calming, I could just doze off to sleep (so it has that in common with the book :P). Seriously, I could sniff this all day. I would scent my house with this. Okay, I will stop with my raving about this awesome smell and move on to the taste.
I was worried this would get burnt because it is a green tea base but the recommended steeping is 100C for 4 minutes. I couldn’t bring myself to do that so I steeped it for 3 min at about 96C. This is a robust green base though because it stood up to the heat. Just like the smell, this is an incredibly clean tasting tea. The lemon is crisp but not bitter and it manages to border on the line of lemon pledge without tipping over to the dark (chemical) side. Normally not a fan of lavender, I will say it really works here. It provides more depth to this tea and helps to round everything out. It actually creates a nice bridge between the more robust green base and the softer lemon notes. This tea is like spring in a cup and like the Gatsby lifestyle, it is decadent and elegant while boasting a more humble flavor profile.
I did not expect to like this in the least but it is proving to be quite the delight. I will be passing this on for my other sisters to try but I would actually considering keeping this one stocked for a bit. Just need to get my hands on some more
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: First Edition Tea Co.
Description
Lemon & Lavender Green Tea
The perfect gift for any book lover, especially one who love a cocktail!
Perfect for a party, old sport. Starts out green as cash, brews up rich as gold. Tastes like lemon cakes and luxury. Chill and add a splash of gin for a really swell cocktail; a little party never killed nobody.
Ingredients: Green tea, lemongrass, organic lemon pieces, lime pieces, organic lavender, calendula petals, sunflower petals, natural flavours.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sherlock Holmes Inspired Tea from First Edition Tea Co.
Sherlock Holmes is certainly a classic literary character. There are various renditions of him on the market and everyone has their own favorite. My personal favorite is the Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock. Though, regardless of which Sherlock you know and like, we can all agree that he is a bit of a jerk. Brilliant and has his soft spots, but “rough around the edges” is a bit of an understatement when it comes to this classic character.
With that in mind, I would say Mr. Holmes and a Smokey English Breakfast seem like a fitting pairing. Rough around the edges with a hint of sweet, and it doesn’t hurt that the base is traditionally English. Plus, among other things, the lapsang can invoke memories of the character’s well-known smoking habit.
Just like Mr. Holmes and his personality, smokiness in tea is a harsh and polarizing flavor component. It can be off-putting for some but when done right, as it is here, it creates an interesting scent and flavor, like a campfire. It is a bit like tobacco in taste but not bitter in the slightest. There is also a sweetness here though, like a hint of honey that compliments the smoke quite nicely. It’s subtle but it’s there and it keeps this tea from being one-note, and though I don’t personally sweeten my teas, I could see this taking sweetener quite nicely.
As far as smokey teas go, this is a nice take on a classic and in my mind, it is quite well suited to the literary masterpiece that inspired it.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: First Edition Tea Co.
Description
A mysterious blend of traditional English Breakfast tea packed with plenty of pipe smoke, a hint of bergamot, nettle, and a surprising touch of honey sweetness. Perfect for sipping while lost in your mind palace. It’s elementary.
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!