EXPERIMENTING WITH LUXURY TEA AT HOME

I’m going to be honest with you – cabin fever is hitting me hard. I’ve never been able to stay still for very long, and two months of quarantine is driving me a little bit insane. The importance of staying home, of course, cannot be underestimated, but I think we can all admit that it’s not the most comfortable position to be in. That’s where Blue Tea Box comes in.

This month, I tried my first ever parcel from the father-and-son team over at Blue Tea Box – and very quickly fell in love with the concept. I had never tried a tea subscription box service before – or for that matter, any sort of subscription box – but really liked the idea of trying delicious and exciting teas without having to leave the house. The idea is that every month (or two weeks, or two months – it’s really up to you), you receive a glorious parcel full of beautiful teas, where the tea is delicately wrapped and fits through the slot of your letterbox. It’s pretty convenient.

The business is run by Harvey and Jon, a father-son power team. They’re best known for being the founders of the Blue Coffee Box company – often referred to as the ‘UK’s best gourmet coffee subscription club’ – but moved over to tea after noticing an increase in demand for quality tea. Jon realised on his travels across the world just how much people love this magical beverage  – and so the idea grew.

All of their teas are rare and single-origin, with large, flavoursome leaves that you wouldn’t find in any old supermarket. One of my favourite things about the company is that the tea merchants work directly with the growers, supporting tea farmers worldwide and ensuring that they are able to invest in a sustainable crop and provide an improved quality life for their children and community. Their tea concierges have visited the very plantation on which the tea has been grown on, working to produce ethically-sourced, gorgeous, raw teas. It’s a pretty good operative, if you ask me.

Everything about this box is up for being personalised – from the size of the box (either featuring one 75g bag or three 45g bags), to the removal of allergens or flavours you dislike (such as dairy, gluten, liquorice, and caffeine), to whether or not you want a box of green tea, black tea, herbal and fruit tea, or a surprise box. I really like the idea of tailoring an experience in this way, as it all feels a little bit more special.

I strongly believe in supporting smaller businesses, and this is such a creative, unique experience created by the most driven and genuine people, that I really can’t help raving about them. When ordering a box, I was able to work closely with Jon and Harvey, and they were always happy to offer suggestions and answer questions. Their teas are very high quality and have been produced with so much skill and care – from the farmers to the tea merchants to the expert blenders, to this father and son.

I decided that the best way to try out these teas for the first time would be with a small tea ceremony with the three people I am quarantined with. Nothing about it was traditional, as I brewed them all separately with a loose gong fu brewing method, and jotted down rough, amateur notes in a little notebook – but it was a lot of fun! It was a great way to see how different people picked up different notes, and interesting to see just how much our favourite teas varied. I’m going to begin by talking about my second-favourite tea of the afternoon, the Eden Bliss.

EDEN BLISS HERBAL TEA

Origin – Blended in London

Tea merchant – The Tea Makers of London

Ingredients – green honeybush, green rooibos, apple bits, mistletoe, orange blossoms, rose blossom leaves, elderflowers, pieces of strawberry, pieces of kiwi.

Preparation method – 1tsp of leaves per cup, water brewed at 100°C, steeped for 5 minutes.

Appearance – small leaves and bright pink flowers, handfuls of a red and green herb-like profile, long cream petals. When brewed, developed into a gorgeous reddish-gold liquid.

Smell – orange yoghurt, jelly powder, floral, apple-y.

Initial taste – very sweet, a bit like candy. Delicate notes of elderflower and rose interspersed with the soft, sweet fruit.

Mouthfeel – very soft and light, the thinnest feel of all three teas.

After taste – no bitterness, no astringency. Very pleasant.

Overall opinion – Eden Bliss really reminds me of my childhood, with light and playful notes that make my cheek pop with the sweetness, reminiscent of birthday candies. I have never been a big fan of teas with a rooibos base, merely because I find that I need to add a lot of honey to make it sweet enough to handle. However, this tea is moorish and delicate and absolutely beautiful, and is the sort of pick-me-up which is desperately needed during this quarantine.

The tea is named after the ‘stunning, celestial aroma pertained to be reminiscent of the Fragrance of the Garden of Eden’ – and if that isn’t enough to take your mind off of the current state of the world, then I really didn’t know what is. I was able to re-steep this tea twice before the flavour completely disintegrated and I would have to switch out the mixture for new leaves.

LITTLE BUDDHA GREEN TEA

Origin – China

Tea merchant – Tea House Emporium

Ingredients – Chinese Sencha green tea, liquorice, sandalwood, red pepper, camomile,  pieces of papaya, pieces of pineapple.

Preparation method – 1tsp of leaves per cup, water brewed at 100°C, steeped for 4 minutes

Appearance – long dark leaves, small red berries, camomile flowers. When brewed, it turned into a transparent, bright yellow colour.

Smell – fruity, sweet, a very Christmassy scent

Initial taste – sweet, dark, slight spice. The taste of the dried fruit really came out on the second brewing.

Mouthfeel – thick and smooth.

After taste – very pleasant, with a sweet aftertaste. Fresh.

Overall opinion – I’m going to be honest here – I’m a pretty basic gal. My favourite tea category has got to be green tea, and I indulge in it for most of the day. I usually have my green tea plain, with very little added other than the odd cup of jasmine, and was a little dubious of this tea before I tried it. But after that first cup – boy, did I fall in love. I was able to make another two brews out of the same tea, with the second brewing being my favourite. The sweet and spice really came out on the second cup, and the aftertaste was very pleasant.

When I opened the bag of tea to have a little peek, I was met with the most divine scent and the colours of the tea were so vibrant and enticing. It smelt how Christmas feels, and I loved it. I’m not sure that you’re meant to eat the candied papaya and pineapple, but the longer I look at them, the closer I get to snacking on them.

CHINA PAI MU TAN WHITE TEA

Origin – Fujian Province, China

Tea merchant – Jenier Teas

Ingredients – luxury white tea, grown at 2000 – 4000ft above sea level.

Preparation method – 1tsp of leaves per cup, water brewed at 100°C, steeped for 3 minutes.

Appearance – whole leaves, rolled and loose, darker shades of green interspersed with a handful of almost-silver leaves. When brewed, the liquid was a very pale yellow-green.

Smell – delicate, floral, fresh.

Initial taste – soft, floral, jammy, earthy. Absolutely divine.

Mouthfeel – silky, smooth.

After taste – pleasant, slight astringency on the first brewing that disappeared on the second.

Overall opinion – I think this one was my favourite of the three. White tea has never been my go-to tea, because I had only ever tried weaker white teas with very little substance to them. So you can imagine my surprise when I tried this one and loved it immediately! It is so soft and delicate, and yet full of flavour. It’s no wonder that this pack was branded as ‘luxury’ – it has been made with so much skill and art that it truly is one of the best teas I have ever tasted.

Some of the leaves had a little peach fuzz on them, which is the sort of thing that you would never really see with lower-quality teas. This tea is suitable for all hours – a bright, refreshing way to start a morning, a nice aperitif to go with afternoon snacks, or a calming brew for just before bed. I have completely gorged myself on this tea, and am so glad to have discovered it – something which never would have happened had I not tried out the Blue Tea Box! I’m sure that the saying ‘everything should be in moderation’ doesn’t apply to this tea, right?

It’s almost like the founders at Blue Tea Box knew exactly what I would like even before I did, and I’m so glad that I found them. I can’t imagine a better company to kick off my first ever tea-dedicated post on the blog, and can’t wait to see what else they have in store.

And so, have you guys ever tried a tea subscription box, or plan on doing so now that you’ve discovered Blue Tea Box? Let me know in the comments below!

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