Happy October to all of our readers! It’s time for all things pumpkin, fall like, and spooky! We at SororiTea Sisters have teamed up with three amazing Etsy stores to give you a chance to win a Halloween Tea Party gift pack!
Included in this prize pack is a delicious flavored tea from Sunshine Cottage, a gorgeous stamped teaspoon from Blue Crabb and to top off the Halloween theme, a mug cozy from Nandy’s Nook. There is’t a better way to welcome in the holiday so enter today!
Happy Witch Tea Blend: Make your inner witch happy with this wonderful flavored black tea. Hand blended it’s full of sweet apples, cinnamon and spices, with a touch of vanilla for smoothness – It’s magical!
Halloween Mug Cozy from Nandy’s Nook– Crocheted with 100% cotton yarn, this cozy is sized to fit most standard size coffee mugs with a circumference of 10 to 10.5 inches.
Beautiful Vintage Hand Stamped Silverplate Spoon from BlueCrabb
What a wonderful way to enjoy the season! Good luck to all our readers! This is one great prize pack!
It’s a Halloween Tea Party Time Giveaway! #SunshineCottage #Nandy’sNook #BlueCrabb
SF International Tea Festival Ticket Giveaway!
Good morning to all of our tea friends! We have recently been given a wonderful opportunity to giveaway two tickets to the SF International Tea Festival! How exciting is that!
Transportation and lodging (if needed) are on you, but we can help you get into the awesome event!
So here are the details (from the site:)
Discover teas straight from local and global producers
Free swag bag includes your very own teacup to savor tea
Access to hundreds of different types of tea in our tea market
Connect with the biggest names in tea
Learn how each cup of tea can be a different experience
Every cup of tea is a story.
Sure to be a wonderful and fascinationg event for sure!
If you are in the SF area (or are interested in going) enter below!
Peanut Butter & Raspberry Jelly Black Tea & a 52Teas Giveaway!
Today I counted up all of the 52Teas that I could readily find in my stash. It came to over 40 pouches and 6 canisters. That doesn’t count the three mystery packs I have coming or the next month’s tea I’ll be getting in my subscription box. In other words, I will admit, I have a 52Teas addiction. But who wouldn’t? Yes, I do have a personal connection with 52Teas but even if I didn’t know the mad tea creator behind all the teas, I would still adore the blends. Every week you can count on a different unique blend that you can’t get anywhere else. So yes, I have a problem, but I think its a good one to have!
Peanut Butter & Raspberry Jelly Black Tea is one that I was crazy excited to try out but was lost in my tea stash. When I realized my error, I was quick to rectify it. I tried this brew hot first but I will say I wasn’t crazy about the results. I didn’t get that rich creamy peanut butter flavor I was hoping for. The jammy raspberry notes came across beautifully and mingled well with the black tea base. Being a peanut butter freak, I wanted to get those flavors to come through. So I experimented. . .I cold brewed the blend.
Scooped a few spoon fulls into my pitcher and allowed the tea to steep overnight. Poured myself a tall glass with fresh ice, hoping this was the answer to pulling those peanut butter notes thus ending my quest for a peanut butter tea. First sip and VIOLA! Creamy peanut butter notes swirling around raspberry jammy fun. The black tea base is slight and subtle allowing those nutty and berry flavors to really shine.
A really fabulous cold brew and a perfect example of how sometimes certain blends just need a bit of experimenting with. And now I’m happy to announce our first giveaway since we have revamped and rebranded SororiTea Sisters! Anne at 52Teas has graciously given us two amazing prizes! A three month subscription to 52Teas (valued at $52-US residents only) and a $25 gift certificate (open to anyone). Enter below! Just a small token of gratitude to all of our faithful and new readers who love tea and much as we do. Thank you for sticking with us over the years and we hope you all are just as excited with the new changes as we are. Good luck everyone!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
I’ll disclose a little secret – this tea made me very nervous.
You see, I’m one of those unusual people that don’t like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I felt very much the oddball growing up – everyone else liked peanut butter and jelly. I like peanut butter. I like jelly. I just don’t like these two together. I like peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I like peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwiches. I like peanut butter and butter toast. I even like peanut butter sandwiches. Just not jelly. And I like jelly toast and I probably would like a jelly sandwich if I were so inclined to make one although it doesn’t sound like a very satisfying sort of lunch.
So what I’m trying to say is that peanut butter and jelly just isn’t my thing. So when one of my Kickstarter backers who purchased the “Be a 52Teas tea of the week creator” incentive and selected a peanut butter and jelly tea as his tea of the week flavor – I got just a wee bit nervous and I hoped that since it’s a tea maybe, just maybe, I’ll like these flavors together.
And I do! This has a really pleasing raspberry flavor. The peanut butter is a softer note – and really, if I were to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I think that’s how I’d make it for myself – light on the peanut butter with a big smear of raspberry jelly! Sweet tart raspberry, a smooth, nutty peanut butter note atop a blend of Nilgiri and Assam teas. Way better than I could imagine peanut butter and jelly tasting!
Taster size is approximately 1/2 ounce.
organic ingredients: black teas, roasted & salted sunflower seeds, freeze-dried raspberries and natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jasmine Oolong Tea from Tea Ave.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Tea Avenue (to be opening soon!)
Tea Description:
Jasmine Oolong is a flower tea with an inviting floral scent and a clean, strong taste. The flavor of jasmine blossoms overlaying earthy Oolong undertones.
Taster’s Review:
So, this review is a little bit unusual because the company – Tea Avenue – hasn’t yet opened it’s online store. (They should be opening soon!)
A few months ago, I was approached by Tea Ave. about reviewing some of their Oolong teas on our blog. When the package arrived a couple of days ago, I was astonished by it! Tucked inside the large box that DHL delivered was this cool tote bag – this is the size that you’d use to tote your groceries home so this bag will be reassigned to grocery duty!
Inside the bag were three sample size pouches of tea: Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong (a favorite of mine!), Magnolia Oolong (yay!) and this Jasmine Oolong!
Also inside the bag was an introductory letter and a gift card for $15 off the next purchase of $75 dollars or more … and a beautiful, white pearlescent box that opened to reveal a gorgeous aroma cup set with tray! Wow!
I felt like I won a prize or something!
And because they sent me not one but TWO of these marvelous introductory gifts, I have an extra one to share with one of my lucky readers! Keep reading for details on how to win!
But in the meantime, let me tell you about this tea!
Jasmine Oolong! I’ve tried a few Jasmine Oolong teas in the past, and I’ve enjoyed most of those that I’ve tried. To brew this, I grabbed my gaiwan. Following a quick 15 second rinse, I steeped the first infusion for 1 minute in water heated to 175°F. I added 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
My first cup (the combination of infusions 1 and 2) was absolutely delightful to sip. The flavor is distinctly jasmine, but I love that it isn’t at all perfume-y. Floral – yes, and quite floral at that. There is a perfect balance between creamy notes from the Ali Shan Oolong and the sweet floral notes from the Jasmine.
My second cup (the combination of infusions 3 and 4) is stronger in flavor than the first cup was, but there is still a really pleasing balance between the flavor of jasmine and the creamy notes of the AliShan Oolong. The cup is more floral this time: the jasmine notes are mingling with the natural floral notes of the Oolong tea, and the AliShan is delightfully creamy and smooth. The flavors aren’t bitter or sharp. Just smooth and relaxing and oh-so-delightful.
This seems to be about as perfect as it can get: my favorite Oolong tea combined with my favorite floral for a tea – jasmine! It’s such a remarkable tea!
My third cup (infusions 5 and 6) is a little less balanced versus cups one and two. I still get a pleasant jasmine note and a lovely flavor from the Oolong, but these flavors have become more mellow. It’s a smoother cup – more creamy while the jasmine is a little less focused. Still wonderful though – so I highly recommend going for that third cup!
PLEASE NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS OVER AND A WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED. THANK YOU FOR VISITING OUR BLOG AND PLEASE KEEP CHECKING BACK. WE DO FREQUENT GIVEAWAYS!
Now, as promised, I’m going to offer my second ‘gift set’ from Tea Ave. to one of my readers!
This contest will run from today (February 15th) through Saturday, February 21st. On February 22, I will select a winner by random draw using Random.org.
The gift set includes: three samples of Oolong teas from Tea Avenue, along with a gift card for $15 dollars off your next purchase form Tea Ave., a gift boxed porcelain aroma set with oak tray and a durable tote bag suitable for reuse (as a grocery bag, a book bag, or whatever you want to use it for!)
To enter for your chance to win, you just need to comment below. Be sure to include a way to get in touch with you if you’re the lucky winner! If I’m unable to contact the winner within three days, I will need to conduct another random draw.
Want extra entries? Of course! Who doesn’t? Here are a few easy peasy ways to earn extra entries:
- To earn another entry, follow Tea Avenue and SororiTea Sisters on twitter.
- Like Tea Avenue and SororiTea Sisters on Facebook.
- Tweet this contest – and be sure to link it – on Twitter. After you’ve done this, be sure to send us a link to the tweet so that we can check it out!
- Mention this contest on Facebook – and be sure to link it! After you’ve done this, be sure to send us a link to check it out!
That’s it … four simple ways to earn four extra entries to win this amazing gift set!
It’s a Whole New Giveaway!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! PLEASE VISIT AGAIN SOON TO CATCH OUR NEXT GIVEAWAY!
After a brief break during our Season of Giveaways here on the SororiTEA Sisters blog, we’re back with an all new giveaway! Our sponsor this week is Boutique Teas! I’ve had the opportunity to try a couple of their teas so far: check out my reviews for their Phoenix Oolong and their Big Red Robe Oolong!
This week, we’ll have not just one, not two, but THREE winners of a sample tin size of their amazing Phoenix Oolong Tea! And these are no ordinary “samples!” These tins hold enough tea to make 15 – 20 cups of tea. That’s a lot of Oolong goodness!
So if I’ve whetted your appetite for some delicious Phoenix Oolong and you want to win some of this amazing tea … here’s all you have to do to enter:
1. Post a comment to this blog. Your blog comment should include a way that we can contact you in case you’re the lucky winner! The best way to do this is to either join Steepster or Tea Trade so that we can contact you via Private Message at either one of these, or let me know your user name and which site on which I can contact you.
Want to earn additional entries? Here’s how!
2. Become a fan of Boutique Teas on Facebook. Be sure to come back here and let us know that you’ve done this, we do check, but all fans are not automatically entered into this contest … so please let us know!
3. Follow Boutique Teas on Twitter. Again, be sure to come back here and let us know that you’ve done so!
4. Tweet about this contest! It’s as simple as it sounds! Be sure to include #SororiTeaSister in your tweet so that we see it, and come back here and let us know that you’ve tweeted about the contest.
5. Share about this contest on your Facebook page. Again … easy peasy! Be sure to come back here and provide a link to your post on Facebook so that we can verify the entry when it comes time to tally up the entries and pick a winner.
Now … let’s get down to the nitty gritty … or … the fine print as some would say. You can enter now through February 10, 2013. On February 11, I will tally the entries and select three winners randomly via Random.org. This contest is open to US and Canadian residents. Your prize will be shipped within 10 days of receipt of your shipping information … so be sure to get back to us promptly if you’re notified as a winner! If you have been selected as a winner and I do not hear back from you three days after I’ve attempted to notify you, I will need to consider your entry invalid and select a new winner … so like I said, be sure to contact me right away when I contact you. This ensures a smooth process.
That’s it … GOOD LUCK!