Shampagnee

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Tea Description:

Skip the “real” bubbly and go with this gorgeous tea instead!

We start with our Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling – the “champagne” of teas – and add a touch of wild strawberries and whipped cream for a cuppa that’s fantastic hot or cold and with or without cream and sugar. You’ll love figuring out which way of prepping it you like best!

A perfect tea to enjoy with (or in spite of) that special someone….

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This is a tea I’ve been wanting to try since I read my SororiTea Sister Azzrian’s review of it, because it sounded so incredibly yummy! And my sister was so lovely to send me a sampling of the tea. Thanks, Azzrian!

This Strawberries & Sham-pag-nee Black Tea Blend from Cuppa Crew Tea Company is different from just about every other strawberry tea that I’ve tasted (and I’ve tasted quite a few). And the most notable difference between this tea and other strawberry flavored offerings out there is that the black tea base used for this blend is a Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush Darjeeling!

The Darjeeling gives this tea a lighter body than the typical Ceylon or other black tea leaf would, and this lighter quality lends a very lively, “bubbly” kind of character to the cup. The Darjeeling is a tad on the astringent side, so I would recommend brewing this tea at a slightly lower temperature (I usually go with 195°F for a black Darjeeling), and brewing it for 2 – 2 1/2 minutes. This will keep it from becoming too astringent. The tea still has a dry quality to it, similar to what you might experience when drinking a dry wine. (Note: I also find that this tea benefits from a minute or two of cooling time so that the flavors can develop)

And the tea does have a wine-like quality to it (hints of muscatel!) and I find that this is very complementary to the strawberry notes. The strawberry is delightfully sweet and offers hints of tartness to it too. There is a creamy undertone to the cup as well, and this adds to the sweetness.

A very lovely and unique strawberry flavored tea. I really enjoyed this one.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea, Darjeeling