Persian Rose from Tay Tea. . . . .

Persian Rose from Tay Tea is Nini’s Signature Tea according to the company website. It was her first and her favorite to date! Persian Rose from Tay Tea has a black tea base and has an immense amount of rose petals in with the loose leaf ingredients. If you try to thumb thru those ingredients you may also noticed tiny blueish-purple petals that are thinner than the rose petals. Those are Borage Petals. Borage – also known as Starflower – was something I was giddy over trying in a tea! I can’t recall another tea that I have had with Borage Petals in it and I always look for those teas that provide a little extra something! Persian Rose from Tay Tea was one of those teas.

Okay…so…there is black tea, rose petals, rose buds, Borage, bergamot, and even green cardamom in this blend of flavors! So if you are a fan of Earl Grey, Rose flavored teas, flavored EGs, or straight-up floral teas you will want to try Persian Rose from Tay Tea. Yes…I could taste a variety of floral flavors and they were accomplished and of high quality. This tea was NOT bitter. I could taste the bergamot and it was a lovely juicy citrus that fit well. The green cardamom was gentle but I couldn’t imagine this flavored tea without it!

I have to say that Persian Rose from Tay Tea is probably one of my favorite rose flavored teas I have tried to date!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  Tay Tea
Description

This is Nini’s signature tea, her first blend and personal favorite. An absolute must for anyone in love with black tea…and roses. A nostalgic blend of ceylon bergamot scented tea blended with rose petals, organic rose buds, green cardamom and borage. This “little black dress” classic transitions effortlessly from morning to afternoon.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Rose Oolong from Tea Ave.

I’ve been sort of meh about rose teas lately, but this one has some oomph. It’s an iron fist in a velvet glove.

This tea tastes like going to an imperial palace and walking through a rose garden. The rose and the bright oolong have a spring evening feel. You’re walking through the well-tended garden, your feet on the warm yet cooling stones, discussing diplomacy in really awesome brocade silk dresses.

This tea just has just the right amount of caffeine for a productive but not jittery afternoon. Sometimes, when I drink afternoon tea, I feel like I am having a heart attack. Not so with this tea. I’m alert, but not about to fly off the handle. Awesome. Recommended!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Ave
Description

Our Rose Oolong is a flower tea prepared using the ancient method, in which the tea absorbs the flower fragrance during the baking progress, producing a scented tea that’s aromatic and flavorful without using any additives or chemicals.

We blend our Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong with fresh Taiwanese roses to create an elegant flower tea that is both full-bodied and mellow, with rose petals lending delicate floral notes to a robust oolong body. Rose Oolong has a floral fragrance and a rich, sweet taste. Smooth and exhilarating. Dare we say a little bit like falling in love.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Lewis Carroll’s Black Tea from Simpson & Vail

Is there anything in the world better than snuggling up under a blanket with a good book and a cup of tea?

Right. I didn’t think so.

So when this tea arrived for me to sample on the SAME day as my copy of the new book, Heartless, by Marissa Meyer (a reimagined origin story for the Queen of Hearts from Carroll’s own Alice in Wonderland) I knew they had to be paired together.

Now, I’m going to be honest– I’ve never read Lewis Carroll’s original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (GASP).

But I am familiar with the movie, and any story centered around a tea party is a-okay with me. I do, however, know that no matter what– if there are any ties to Wonderland, there needs to be some whimsy. And both this tea and the book deliver on all accounts!

This delightful blend from my beloved Simpson & Vail elevated your traditional black tea with bright, floral notes and a little ethereal sweetness. The perfect cup to sip while reading all about Lady Catherine’s (that’s our Queen of Hearts, in her pre-royalty days) journey from young and in love to cold, calculating and off-with-their-heads-ing all around Wonderland.

I preferred this tea with milk and a touch of sweet– and if I’d had my way, I’d have had the Hatter outfit me with some fanciful millinery for my own little tea party. Maybe on my next trip down the rabbit hole!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
BannerNewFont670Description:

The man who would become Lewis Carroll was born as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in January 1832. He spent his happy childhood under the tutelage of his Reverend father, and enjoyed creating fantastical stories for his ten siblings. It was not until after he had graduated university and became a lecturer of mathematics that he met Alice Liddell. He would entertain her and her sisters with the absurd stories that he later published as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. His most famous novels conveyed a childlike look at the seemingly arbitrary rules and customs of adult society.

A tea party plays a memorable role in Carroll’s most celebrated novel as the setting for Alice’s nonsensical meeting with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. “A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden” where, as the Mad Hatter told Alice earlier, “it’s always tea time.” To make our Lewis Carroll blend, we added our fragrant violet flavor to an Indian Black tea and Rose Congou tea, a China black that has been scented with rose petals during the drying process, to create a deep amber cup with an incomparable bouquet and a flavor that is absolutely heavenly.

Ingredients: Black Tea, Rose Congou tea, flavoring, malva flowers.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!