Everyone where I work sniffed this bag and declared the scent heavenly. It smells like a tray of cookies. Nutty and sweet and a little zesty.
And it TASTES LIKE THAT, TOO. You guys. This was the Find Of The Week.
This is Mrs-Claus-in-a-tea. Imagine the prototypical grandma, with an army of tiny elf children assisting and getting the sprinkles and sugar everywhere. She is baking and listening to Jackson 5 and shimmying that caboose all around. Outside, the reindeer are watching through frosted windows. Rudolph is in the forefront, glowing like the attention-grabber he is. He knows that ol’ Mrs Claus can’t resist that round red nose. (She loves round red things! The nose reminds her of Santa!) She’ll be out with freshly-baked cookies for him as soon as they’re out of the oven and cooled.
Is there more tea like this in Fava’s workshop? I promised myself I’d stop buying tea until I wrap up the samples I have now… but I’m tempted to try a few more of Fava’s blends.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Fava Tea Company
Description
Hand blended to perfection this blend is the perfect compliment of earthy pu-erh, nutty pistachio and sweet citrus! You are my sunshine….! You’ll be singing as you enjoy this blend iced during the spring and summer months and hot during the cooler fall and winter months of the year. This blend has been described as a Pistachio Orange Cake with Buttercream…
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Merricat from Malfoy Tea Emporium. . .
I found this tea via a Shirley Jackson gift list on Book Riot. Ms Jackson was an early female horror writer whose work still holds up REALLY WELL today. If you want to be pleasantly surprised by some creepy older stories, give Shirley Jackson a try.
Anyway, this tea is based on a Jackson book I’d just read (We Have Always Lived In The Castle), so of COURSE I had to buy it, and maybe, like, some others fell in the cart, too. The Malfoy Tea Emporium focuses on literary references and guys, I’m mostly made of stuffed animal components, not willpower.
This tea is a mix of “black tea, raspberry leaves, natural creme flavor, natural blackberry flavor, natural cranberry flavor, and cranberries.” It is, true to its name, a creamy berry delight. The primary thing is the cranberry flavor, with the cream and raspberry skipping along behind it. These are fresh out the garden. A Victorian after-dinner treat.
This blend tastes like the berries in the novel that were covered in sugar and arsenic — except I don’t see poison in the ingredients, so I think I’m good here. If you don’t see any more posts from me, call the cops and tell them how I died.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Malfoy Tea Emporium
Description
Inspired by Merricat Blackwood from Shirley Jackson’s story “We Have Always Lived In The Castle”, this tea is blended with black tea, raspberry leaves, natural creme flavor, natural blackberry flavor, natural cranberry flavor, and cranberries.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Winter Pine from Tea & Tins. . . . .
My favorite thing about this tea is how beautiful it is!! It could make a beautiful decorative centerpiece with the vibrant red peppercorns and orange pieces. It says Christmas season all over it.
The flavor is predominantly green tea, followed by orange, with a very subtle hint of almond in it. I was unable to pick up any of the peppercorn or safflower flavors. This would be a delightful cup of tea next to a fireplace on a winters eve, or a holiday break morning tea with scones.
I would suggest using an open tea basket to see the beautiful collage of mixture. I’d hazard a guess that this could also make a refreshing iced-tea on a steaming hot summer day, when you long for winter days!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea & Tins
Description
Loose leaf green tea: a festive combination of sweet almond and refreshing orange invokes the warm times of holiday season.
Ingredients: green tea, orange slices, planed almonds, flavoring, pink peppercorns, safflower.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Green Lemonade from Love Tea Co. . . .
I pulled out this sample in optimistic anticipation of warmer weather.
Steeped up hot, it tastes like green tea with lemon, but not lemonade. It’s lacking the sweetness of lemonade; the mild smokiness of the gunpowder green further undermines the promise of the name. But it is delicious! This blend is equal parts juicy lemon and gently smoky green tea. As it cools, the lemon flavor becomes more dominant and some sweetness does come out, which made me want to try a cold brew.
On the second steep, the lemon flavor takes on more of a candy note. That doesn’t necessarily sound like it would work but it does.
I also tried this as a cold brew. My first impression is that this turned out tart! Lemon juice tart! I can’t make out much sweetness except for a smidgen that lingers on the tongue. The lemon flavor overwhelms the tea but that’s ok. This tastes like lemon water. I’m actually fine with that. There is a place in my tea heart for refreshing caffeinated lemon water. I can see this being a great cold steep for summer. If I had more, I would experiment with doing a half-and-half cold steep of these leaves with some moderately roasted oolong. Basically a loose-leaf cold-steeped unsweetened Arnold Palmer.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Love Tea Co.
Description
This Brilliant Blend is a fan favorite. It combines the best of green tea with the best of a lemon, with lemon bits and wedges you’ll get the full “lemon-y” affect. Low in caffeine and easy on the pallet, it goes down like a smooth summer day (without the humidity). Brew a pot of this fine blend and serve hot or cold year ’round. It never hurts to add a fresh lemon slice to anything! Be sure to #sharethelove on this one.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Omija Berry Blush from Story of My Tea. . .
I will be 100% honest, I love Story of My Tea. I love their passion for tea, their customers, their business, just the whole concept and thought behind Story of My Tea. I love the fact that you can subscribe to their monthly tea box and basically each month you have a tea journey delivered to your door. Tea journeys and experiences you may not have necessarily tried on your own or even thought about trying. I am typically a green or white tea kinda gal. I do love my black tea, herbals, and every once in a while, I’ll dab my toe into puerhs. But that is where the beauty of Story of My Tea really comes into play. Each month you are delivered a variety of teas, from all over the world, all different varieties that you can take your time, really experience and really enjoy. At least that is what I did.
Story of My Tea was gracious enough to send The SororiTea Sisters the September box. As soon as I opened up the box, I instantly knew which tea I wanted to try- The Omija Berry Blush. Omija means five flavor berry- which alludes to the unique complex flavor profile with sweet, sour, salty, bitter and pungent aspects that are found within the berry or so I’m told from the back of the tea package. This tea is a gorgeous blend of omija berries, lavender, strawberry pieces and rosehips. There are pops of blue from what I believe are cornflower petals. I am not the biggest fan of lavender so I was hoping the tartness from the berries would overcome the lavender flavor.
Brewed up by the package parameters-1 tsp-212F-5 mins steeping time- this tea lays the ground work for one relaxing chill evening. The berry notes are not overly tart nor overly sweet. They fall right in this medium ground where the lavender can bring in this needed floral pop that gives this tea a nice gentle kick. I almost wish there was some mint thrown in to give this tea a refreshing finish but overall, this tea is quite lovely. Soft, gentle, soothing, and caring.
This is one of those teas you can see being shared at a tea party or even with loved ones who possibly aren’t big into tea. The laid back flavors really make this a uniquely universal tea that I could see so many tea enthusiasts and non tea enthusiasts enjoying. I can’t say this is a tea for me, I like my tea to be a bit bolder in flavor, but I think with a tweak here or like I said, the addition of mint, this tea could really sing.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Story of My Tea
Description
A tea subscription for the explorer in your heart!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
