Each and every year, tea enthusiasts take a look at their tea stashes/cupboards and decide to take an earnest attempt at sipping down the tea that they currently own for a variety of reasons. This year, I’m joining in on this venture for a different reason- I want to dedicate more time to myself. 2020 was a hard year on my family. Between one of our son’s being diagnosed with cancer to losing a beloved member of our family to an extremely hectic and challenging political cycle (my 9-5) to everything in between which includes basically being a “single parent” for a good chunk of the year while my hubby took care of our son, Parker while he was getting treatment at St Judes. For so many, 2020 will always be an exhausting and stressful year. But, it is time to now look at 2021 and make new habits and choices to set the year off right.
One the new habits I am truly striving to establish for myself is literally time for myself. I am very fortunate to have been working from home for a few years now but with the kiddos also being home and remote learning, that tea time that I always really enjoyed fell by the way side. And I have too many delightful tea goodies to have that happen. So I have literally set up time each day on my calendar to take a moment, pop onto Steepster, log my teas, see tea lovelies everyone is enjoying all while enjoying a cuppa myself. If you aren’t familiar with Steepster, I highly encourage you to check it out. Steepster is a great place to log your tea tasting notes while engaging with other like minded tea friends. A lovely environment that I am thrilled to be engaged with once again.
To start 2021 off right, my Black Friday Friday Afternoon tea order finally arrived on 1/3 so I thought these would be a nice treat to ring in the new year. I mainly ordered a variety of black flavored teas but my mystery sampler was also included in this order so there were various tea samples to dig into as well.
#1 Sipdown:
I’m No Prize was the first sample I grabbed. This blend is black tea, ginger root, star anise, rose, jasmine blend with cinnamon flavoring. I’ve been seeing a lot of rose flavored chai blends lately and the idea of mingling floral and spiced flavors was incredibly intriguing. Brewed up with water at 212F and steeped for 3 minutes, this tea was a joy. You could literally pick out each flavor on its own and they all worked together nicely. Pops of ginger, star anise, and cinnamon worked wonderfully well with the rose and jasmine.
I was able to get a few infusions out of the sample serving and enjoyed every sip. Really lovely blend and one I could see re-ordering more of in a heart beat.
#2 Sipdown:
Butterfly Blend was the second sample that grabbed my attention. A black tea blend with honey, strawberry, orange peel and lemongrass. When I first opened the sample- the first thought that came to mind was how much this tea smelled like a strawberry candy. I was eager to enjoy this one so I prepped up my water at 212F and again allowed the tea to steep for 3 minutes. Sadly, I think my taste buds are changing and this blend was too sweet for me. The first sip – my taste buds were super happy. Super sweet honeyed strawberries was what I was getting. However, after a few more sips, it was like I needed a bit of something else to round out that sweetness, possibly even a bit more black tea. The blend itself is beautiful to look at but just doesn’t seem to be the right tea for me.
#3 Sipdown:
Courtesan’s Blend was the last of the three samples I enjoyed during my tea time sipdown. I will be honest, I’ve received this blend a few different times in my mystery samplers from Friday Afternoon and I have never really enjoyed the blend. But again, looking at the ingredients I should. Oolong, clove, cinnamon, and vanilla flavoring. All sounds delightful. When you first open the sample pack as well, the blend smells delightful. To my dismay, those aromas (for me) did not translate into any noticeable flavors until the very end of each sip if not the after taste. Then I could pick up the oolong, clove, and cinnamon notes. If the flavors were more pronounced, I have a feeling I would be in love with this blend. But after trying this blend so many times, I think this one just isn’t for me.
All in all, not a bad little tea party (that spanned a few hours might I add). The winner for me is I’m No Prize which is already on my list to re-order the next time I order from Friday Afternoon.
Let us know if you have any tea related goals for 2021. We’d love to hear them!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Where to Buy: Friday Afternoon
Review: Lion’s Blend/Friday Afternoon
This afternoon I felt like getting woke — both energetically and politically — so I chose Lion’s Blend from Friday Afternoon Tea.
This tea is essentially an Earl Grey with added rooibos & orange. The rooibos in Lion’s Blend gives a nice vanilla/sweetness that balances out its citrus/bergamot flavors. (I’m a huge fan of red rooibos, which I think throws in creaminess and joy to any cup.) Despite the rooibos, I still find this blend a little astringent. I like it, but it’s not on my must-have re-buy list.
However, I’m super happy I bought this blend because the proceeds go to an important charity that assists trans people with getting their mental health needs met (https://seattle.eater.com/2020/6/8/21284453/seattle-cafe-friday-afternoon-tea-donates-trans-mental-health-funds-jk-rowling). All of Friday Afternoon’s Harry Potter themed (https://fridaytea.com/collections/j-k-rowling) teas’ proceeds go there.
For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with a children’s book writer from 20 years ago, Jo (J. K.) Rowling has been saying a lot of transphobic things. You can Google it if you want. It’s mean stuff.
Friday Afternoon Tea saw this and decided to use its teas and the fans of her work to show that the fandom is progressive and kind! I love this. It’s a win-win situation.
It’s possible to love someone’s work without loving them. I also feel this way about horror/fantasy author HP Lovecraft. (He was really, REALLY racist. He thought Hitler had some good ideas.) It’s possible for people to be geniuses in one way but very, very behind in others.
That’s where this tea comes in.
Thanks, tea. You always give me balance in a crazy world.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black/Rooibos
Where to Buy: Friday Afternoon
Description
Lions, tigers, and griffins, oh my! This tea is dedicated to our bold, righteous Gryffindor brethren. They can find courage and happiness in the darkest of places, especially when bolstered by the bright citrus notes in this tea!
Ingredients: Rooibos, Assam black tea, orange peel, marigold, natural flavorings
All of our teas available online are gluten-free and sourced from organically certified farms. Most are vegan, but some may include honey (indicated in ingredients).
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Raven’s Blend from Friday Afternoon . . . . . .
Hello dear readers! I have recently come across a quite delightful tea company that was sent to me as a secret Santa gift and I was amazed by the quality and of course with the tea selection. I had a whole lot of tea to chose from in the care package that was sent to me but after some consideration, I picked up Raven’s Blend.
For starters, this tea is very light given its black tea base and I believe that is thanks to the white tea wingman. There is also blue cornflower in this tea which adds a delightfully light floral taste. To those who are familiar with the taste profile of Lady Grey, it is like that but more delicate. I feel like I say this a lot because most teas are relaxing but I find that this one can be paired with just about any relaxing activity. But it also can spark creativity, giving your brain a needed boost. Which makes sense because its namesake is derived from the Ravenclaw house in the Harry Potter series. Which, funny enough is my actually my house.
Now on to the pricing of this beautiful blend. There are a total of four sizes to choose from; 1 oz which is priced at $10, a 2 oz which is priced at $14, 4 oz for $25, and 8 oz for $45. There aren’t any individual samples that you can order outright but I do know for certain that you can email the shop and ask for individual samples at $2 per sample. If you want to be more adventurous there is a mystery sample pack for $13 with four options (high caffeine, no caffeine, moderate caffeine, mixed caffeine) and an educational sampler pack for $35 that comes with steeping notes that has five options to choose from; black teas, green teas, oolong teas, pu-erh teas, and medicinal teas. Lastly, if you are in the Harry Potter fandom, there is a Wizarding Collection that you can purchase for $25 that features .5-.75 ounces for each of the teas from each of the four houses.
For the final thoughts on this tea, I believe it is well worth the money for the taste and the woman behind it is also great from my experience. From what I can tell she is very active with her consumers and is constantly adding new products to her online and physical store. There is also an option to make your own custom tea blend for $35 either by email or at the physical location. Also, as I was writing this review, I made a fresh cup of Raven’s Blend and I will possibly make another one! I fell in love with this tea company and you better be ready to see more reviews of this company in the near future!
See you for the next cuppa, Kara
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Friday Afternoon
Description
In wise old Ravenclaw house, “Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.” This medium-bodied, floral black tea is designed especially for you bibliophiles. High caffeine levels prepare you for those all-night study sessions and sharpen your focus while you devour the written word. Also fabulous while you read (or reread) your favorite novel, curled up in your favorite armchair or reading nook.
Ingredients: Black tea, white tea, and blue cornflower
All of our teas available online are gluten-free and sourced from organically certified farms. Most are vegan, but some may include honey (indicated in ingredients).
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
