The SororiTea Sisters has always been a great place for finding different teas and tea companies to check out. But we really only look at the teas and not so much the tea companies behind those delicious brews we drink each and everyday. Today we are starting a new series of posts that will start doing just that. . .taking a deeper look into the creative minds and wonderful owners/blenders/crazy tea scientists who keep our cuppas brimming with our favorite brew.
So without further ado. . . . .Let’s start off the series with a company that can blend a dessert tea like no one else. . . .
Name: The NecessiTeas
Owner: Linsey Manning
Founded: 2007
Thank you Linsey for being our first company to be featured. I know several of The SororiTea Sisters adore your blends and we’ve had a blast reviewing the delicious treats in the past. But I would love to know, what made you decide to go into the tea business to being with?
The story behind it all is a bit funny… I was raised in a very strict LDS (Morman) family and we weren’t allowed to drink tea or coffee, it is just part of the religion so I didn’t grow up having a love for tea, I really didn’t even know what it was. I remember my mom having a few boxes of Celestial Seasonings in the cupboard (decaffeinated of course) and on a rare occasion, if we were sick or something, we would get a cup.
That is really the ONLY memory I have of tea! My first “real” experience with tea was in 2007, we were watching the local news and they were taking about things to do for Valentines day. They were featuring my favorite hotel, the Grand America, and talking about a special Valentines day afternoon tea experience. They were showcasing their sipping chocolate (a real fancy hot chocolate) and it caught my attention, I knew I had to see what this afternoon tea was all about. When we got there I remember how special they made us feel. The tea ware was so pretty, I was nervous to even touch it! The waitress gave us a tea menu and it was like reading gibberish, I finally just told her to pick something for me. She brought out the teapot and strainer and poured my first cup and reminded me to place the strainer over the cup each time I pour. I wasn’t impressed with the flavor of the tea, in fact, I had to keep adding sugar just so I could get it down and I spent half the time fishing tea leaves from my cup because I kept forgetting to use the strainer.
However, the dainty little tea sandwiches, scones, and desserts are what really won me over. I had so much fun that I returned a week later to share the experience with a few other friends. This time our waitress recommended a different tea. I remember lifting the cup to my mouth and the aroma was incredible, I closed my eyes and took my first sip and instantly fell in love. I loved it so much that I ended up drinking 4 pots of it and purchased some to take home. I made some for my husband and he fell in love as well. We both loved the experience of making tea that it became our nightly ritual.
As time went on, I started purchasing more teas online, I started collecting tea cups, and I purchased every tea party book I could find. I started hosting tea parties at my home for friends and family and it warmed my heart watching their faces light up with the whole experience. One night I was showing my husband a new tea book I had just bought and I was going on and on about all the fun ideas and amazing recipes. He stopped me mid sentence and said “if you love tea so much, why don’t you start your own business?” My own business, how was I going to do that? See, I got married and had my first of 4 boys at 19 and all I’ve ever done was be a stay at home mom. My husband started his own business at 18 and new exactly what to do, he told me he would help me step by step if this was something I wanted to pursue.
It was that very night that The NecessiTeas was born!
I think a lot of us started off our tea obsession the exact same way. You fall in love with one blend and all of a sudden you’ve got a tea stash that is full to the brim and you are stuffing tea in every nook and cranny you can find.
Your site offers such a great range of flavored teas . . .what is the inspiration behind those blends?
I have a HUGE sweet tooth so many of my ideas come from my favorite desserts. I will get ideas while walking down the ice cream isle at the grocery store, I also get ideas from some of my favorite hand soaps or candles. I also get ideas from other tea companies. Sometimes I will see a blend and think to myself, how can I make this even better or how can I put my own twist on it. And many times customers will email me and give me ideas that they have.
What is your favorite tea. . .doesn’t have to be one of your own blends either. . . .
That’s a tricky question! All my blends are my favorite, I couldn’t bring myself to sell them if they weren’t. And like the seasons, my taste is always changing! An all time favorite would have to be my Almond Cookie and my new and current favorite might be my Marshmallow Krispy Treat.
Have you ever had a great idea for a tea but the blend just didn’t come together?
That is also a hard one to answer because I have had SO many not turn out! Each time I work on new blends, I might have 20 ideas and only 5 make the cut. I am super picky and if I don’t absolutely LOVE it, I wont sell it. This winter I was really let down by a White Chocolate Chai blend I was attempting. I haven’t given up just yet so who knows, you might see it on my site one of these days!
Are there big plans in 2017 for The NecessiTeas?
I started The NecessiTeas as a hobby but this last year I have wanted more than anything to really make it grow! I want MY blends to be in everyone’s kitchen cupboards! As always, I am working on new flavors and continuing to push the envelope. I am also working on a new look and new packaging and I have also created a new brand that I am hoping to add to The NecessiTeas very soon.
I know my kitchen cupboards are filled with shiny tins full of your delicious blends.
Do you have any special activities you like to pair tea with? I’m partial to sharing a pot of tea with my hubby while we chill and watch Netflix.
I recently got in to planning so each time I sit down to plan I have a cup of tea by my side. I also have a cup keeping me company while answering emails, watching YouTube or a movie at night.
I know I’m quite partial to your hand blended teas and just adore them. What new flavors can we expect to see in 2017?
I have many in store, some that I am hoping to add to the site very shortly. I am also pushing myself out of my comfort zone and will be using tea bases I don’t normally use and also mixing different teas together.
A big Thanks to Linsey@The NecessiTeas for being our first featured Spotlight company. If you are interested in learning more about The NecessiTeas, you can check them out on SnapChat, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter.
For our readers, The NecessiTeas has offered a coupon-SIP10. I highly recommend checking out their site if you are interested in flavored teas that are fresh, quality, and taste amazing. I’m quite partial to My Morning Blend and I’ve been known to drink pots of this tea on Saturday mornings.
Be sure to check back all through the day today as we will be sharing our thoughts on a few of the different blends The NecessiTeas offers including a review from one our newest contributors, Sophia.
(All pictures used in this post are property of The NecessiTeas)
On the 1st Day of Christmas my 52Teas delivered to me. . . .
If you are a fan of 52Teas, you are probably aware of their amazing Christmas promotion. For the last few years, 52Teas has offered a 12 Teas of Christmas set. Included in each set are 12 different teas to enjoy while getting into the holiday spirit. Now what is unique about this is that the flavors are a mystery. Each label has a foil sticker that you scratch off to find out what the tea is. Such a fun, inventive and unique way to enjoy the holidays.
And the presentation couldn’t have been better! The teas were lovingly addressed to me and in a fun gift box, with a note on when to start drinking the teas. So very festive indeed!
So for the next 12 days, I’ll be reviewing the 12 Teas of Christmas. Without further ado. . . .The 1st Day of Christmas tea is. . . {insert drumroll}
Partidgeberry in a Pear Tea
This is a green tea with huge chunks of berries and what I can only assume are huge pear chunks. You really can’t get more festive looking than this tea. Simply gorgeous looking. Brewed up and allowed to steep per the package instructions. (The official description is below)
After drinking this tea and finishing off the package, I can honestly say I can’t imagine a better way to kick off this fun promotion. The green tea was rich and buttery while the pear gave the tea this unique sweetness and the berries complimented the brew with a tang. Very well done and well balanced. This is for sure a tea that can easily go wrong but it really works well.
Like I said, I drank this tea down and am still impressed by how many infusions I was able to get out of each serving. I know typically you are lucky to get 2-3 infusions out of each tea but this tea I was able to infuse 5 times. Sure the flavor wasn’t as strong but those notes were still there being as festive and merry as possible.
If all of the teas are like this one, we are in for an awesome holiday treat!
Tea Description: This was one of my favorite Christmas teas from Frank’s era, and to be honest, I’m not sure if I loved it so much for the tea (although the tea is really delightful!) or the name because – seriously – so clever! Right?
So what is a partridgeberry? Well, my research on Wikipedia tells me a partridgeberry can be a creeping herbaceous shrub native to North America (scientific name: mitchella repens) or it can be a lingonberry (scientific name: vaccinium vitis-idaea). Since I have neither mitchella repens nor vaccinium vitis-idaea at my easy disposal, I decided to choose the easiest/most accessible of these two to include in this blend: the lingonberry.
Prior to blending this tea, my experience with the lingonberry was limited to trips to IKEA and seeing lingonberry jam on the shelves (and at one point, I purchased some of that jam to make a sauce for meatballs. No, I didn’t get the meatballs from IKEA.) I also purchased some lingonberry glogg last year. That was pretty tasty.
Official description of this tea below. Click here for the Mad Tea Musings.
Frank’s description of this tea went like this:
Yes, okay, I am a very silly man. I just couldn’t resist.
Back when I was planning to create all new blends for the 12 teas of Christmas sampler, I was trying to figure out how to go along with the 12 Days of Christmas song. I figured out this one and some sort of Turtle® chocolate treat blend. Three French Hens might have been some kind of French vanilla, but four calling birds completely stumped me.
Well, anyway, here’s our buttery-sweet Chinese sencha blended with wild-harvested Partidgeberry (Mitchella repens), dried pears and natural pear flavors. Silly or not, it is delicious if you like pears.
Yes, I love pears! And I’m much more familiar with pears than I am partridgeberries. And this is technically not supposed to be a partridgeberry tea but a pear tea.
I started with organic Chinese Sencha (just like the original recipe!) and added dried pears and instead of using wild-harvested Partridgeberry, I used internet-purchased lingonberries. And they look pretty in this blend, like little red crystals amidst the long spears of green tea and the chunks of pear. It looks very Christmas-y, this tea.
organic ingredients: green tea, pears and natural flavors
ingredients: lingonberries
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This tea will be available in very limited quantities beginning December 28th at 52Teas!