Tea Room

29/03/2022

27/03/2022

Apricot Lemonade Iced Tea
Every special occasion deserves a refreshing beverage (and a lovely punch bowl). Our tea has a tangy flavor from lemonade, apricot nectar and mint. —Kay Chon, Sherwood, Arkansas

24/03/2022

Cranberry Tea
This colorful tea with its sweet spicy flavor is a great winter warmer-upper. The aroma is sure to bring guests to the table! —Kathy Traetow, Waverly, Iowa

20/03/2022

What is black tea?
Black tea is tea leaves that have been quickly and heavily oxidized. This gives the leaf a dark appearance and significantly changes the aroma and flavor. Oxidation is the natural chemical reaction carried out by enzymes within the leaf that begin once they are exposed to air (like an apple does after being cut open). Though all teas (other than green tea) go through some degree of oxidation, black tea is the only one that is defined by its high level of oxidation.
Black tea originated in China, but its popularity in the west has made most of it destined for export. Countries that were once British colonies – mainly India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya – make almost exclusively black tea and in a style geared towards western tastes and purposes. Because of this the flavor profile tends to emphasize a strong, brisk, full-bodied cup (often with milk and sugar in mind) with varying degrees of fruitiness or maltiness. However, regional styles create such large distinctions that there is no universal black tea flavor. It’s also the most commonly used tea for blending with other ingredients into classic styles such as earl grey or masala chai.
Black teas are frequently mentioned as having the most caffeine, but that is because of the common instruction to steep with water brought to a full boil and for an extended time of up to five or six minutes. Any tea made like this will deliver a lot of caffeine in the cup.

18/03/2022

What is tea?
All varieties of tea are made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. To simplify and categorize, we often refer to the 6 types of tea which includes black tea, green tea, wulong (oolong) tea, white tea, puer (pu-erh) tea, and dark tea. The Camellia sinensis plant is native to Southeast Asia, but it’s now being cultivated in tea-friendly climates world-wide.
Beverages we call “herbal tea” - peppermint, rooibos, chamomile, etc. – are not from the Camellia sinensis plant. Therefore, they are not tea in the technical sense (though we accept the phrase and don’t correct people for using it).

16/03/2022

FAN FAVOURITES
All the cool kids are drinking it so here’s the 4-1-1 on some popular faves.
Breakfast Blends
Most people don’t realize that blends from large commercial companies (think Tetley, Lipton, Red Rose) are closely guarded secret recipes, created to produce the unique flavour profile of their brand.
Because tea is a crop that changes every year based on its environment, the recipes may contain up to 40 different teas in order to produce the consistent flavour you’ve come to expect. This is how they ensure your favourite brand tastes the exact same year after year, every time you purchase.
There are so many versions of the classing morning blend but the most popular is English Breakfast. It was traditionally made using black tea from China, but now includes a strong Ceylon (Sri Lanka) & Kenyan (Africa) component.
Irish breakfast is far more robust than English Breakfast. It typically has a strong Assam (India) base, giving it a rich, malty flavour.
Earl Grey is one of the most popular and recognized teas in the world. It’s flavoured with the oil of bergamot orange, a citrus fruit with the appearance and flavour somewhere between an orange and a lemon, with a little grapefruit and lime thrown in for good measure.
Fun Fact: There’s no such thing as Orange Pekoe tea. That’s just a clever marketing name created back in the day by Sir Thomas Lipton to make his breakfast blend sound more elegant to the nobility.

16/03/2022

CHECK YOUR INGREDIENTS
Just like food, always read the ingredients in your tea. Less is more.
Choose tea with clean, natural ingredients. Great quality = great taste.
You may be horrified to find that your favourite tea contains loads of artificial flavours, colours and chemicals you can’t even pronounce.
These are what we call “gateway” teas. They lure you in with fancy names and flavours, but you end up drinking artificial tasting tea with a bad aftertaste.
I LIKE MY TEA HOW I LIKE MY PEOPLE…NON-TOXIC
Just remember that your tea should never smell better than it tastes. That’s usually a red flag that you should pay closer attention to the ingredients.