Sabriel Fandom Blend from Adagio Teas

by MrsPremise

Full disclosure, this is one of the blends I made on Adagio Teas.  Their create-a-blend tools are just too much fun, and their fandom tea community is active and engaging.  I wanted to review my Sabriel blend because I had been stewing over the idea for a long time, and it was so satisfying to have it finally come together.

Sabriel is one of the main characters from the Old Kingdom book series by Garth Nix.  I won’t go into too much detail about the books, except to say that the series essentially follows the lives of “good” necromancers who help fight dead creatures or put the dead to rest.  The stories are beautiful, imaginative, and just a little spooky.

For my Sabriel tea blend I wanted something impactful but nuanced; her work managing the magic of the dead takes steadiness and subtlety.  The body of the tea is made up of two types of green tea. The gunpowder tea is robust without being astringent, and adds a whiff of smokiness that compliments the crackling, toasted notes of the hojicha tea.

The rest of the ingredients are all fragrant and sensory-inspiring.  Peppermint brings a cooling creepiness, like fog in a graveyard, or a settling peacefulness like still water.  Rose and lavender can have the morbid interpretation of flowers at a funeral, but can also being nostalgic, like remembering a favorite bouquet or garden memory.  Cardamom adds some spirit and peppery spice, and feels a bit unexpected without its usual partners of cinnamon and ginger. The scent of cardamom always makes me think of opening the kitchen spice cabinet, and all the cooking possibilities within.

I have not come across a blend quite like this in my tea drinking experience, so I was more than happy to have the opportunity to make it myself.  It was also great fun to honor one of my favorite characters and book series in tea form.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

MrsPremise

Growing up, I drank herbal teas like fresh ginger tea during New England's harsh winters and iced blueberry tea during its humid summers. Over time, I was tempted into trying a wider variety of loose leaf teas by the fandom-themed blends available online. I have since gone on to design my own blends, and I greatly enjoy drafting up flavor ideas and drawing tea labels. When I'm not thinking about tea I can be found reading novels and comic books, playing video games, or watching movies; my favorite genres being history, humor, sci-fi, and fantasy. Generally, I prefer bold teas: spicy chais, rich black teas, even smoky lapsang souchong on occasion. But I have also dabbled in herbal rooibos, flavored oolongs, and traditional matcha. I'm glad to be expanding my palette by tasting and reviewing new teas and blends. Find me on Steepster: http://steepster.com/A2shedsjackson Fandom blends: http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/list.html?userId=292149

This post was posted in Adagio Teas, Green Tea

Great Gatsby from First Edition Tea Co. #greatgatsby #tea

by VariaTEA

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!

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in First Edition Tea Co., Green Tea