Veritaserum/Adagio -ashmanra-

This tea blend designed by Robert Pirlot came in a sampler. There are six different teas in the box, housed in slide-top tins with each tin holding 1/2 ounce of tea. There are more than six Harry Potter fandom blends available, though, and you can choose your own sampler set. I love that!

Veritaserum is a black tea with raspberry, chocolate, and hazelnut flavors. The black tea base is fairly strong with a light briskness, but it is not astringent or unpleasant at all.

Raspberry is the prominent flavor to me, and the chocolate aspect is of the unsweetened variety, not milky and sweet. It lends an additional bottom note to the tea, emphasizing the briskness, making it great for breakfast – I had it today with an Everything Bagel – or to pair with sweets and “cut through the sugar.”

I don’t add milk or sugar to this, but it could definitely handle it and would be delicious that way. Then it would be very dessert-like on its own!


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Adagio Teas

Description

Veritaserum is clear, colourless, and odourless and is almost indistinguishable from water. The potion must mature for a full lunar phase, and is quite difficult to produce. It can be mixed with any drink, and three drops are a sufficient dose to make the drinker ‘spill out his innermost secrets’. Thus, the potion forces the drinker to tell the complete truth to any question asked to him/her.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Severe Consequences from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe

In case you haven’t already noticed, I’m a fan of all things tea and Harry Potter, and lucky for me there are a multitude of amazing small tea shops that specialize in fantasy-inspired tea blends. I tried several teas from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe, and loved the tins and labeling for every single one.  I ordered Severe Consequences blend to complete a set, not sure if the flavors of the tea would suit my palate. Much to my surprise, the blend turned out to be my favorite flavor of the bunch.

This blend is named after one of the favorite things of strict and unscrupulous Professor Dolores Umbridge.  Like her outwardly pink and kitten-loving appearance, this tea is sweet and fragrant. Red fruit flavors of cherry, strawberry, and raspberry are as lush as breakfast jam against the black tea base.  Vanilla flavoring adds a buttercream dessert finish after all the fruit. The careful addition of rose petals make this tea feel extra fancy, suitable for afternoon tea, without taking over the blend with their floral scent.

You can order this tea with or without rose gold sugar pearls.  When brewed the pearls melt and add sweetness to the brew like a sugar cube.  I recommend including the sugar pearls– they make the dry leaf look even more precious.  Besides, you know Umbridge herself would not limit her indulgences. Brew this strong and sweet and serve it in your favorite dainty tea set.  Just don’t let your teatime cosplaying get out of hand, or there will be Severe Consequences.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Riddle’s Tea Shoppe
Description:

Severe Consequences is the preferred tea of Dolores Umbridge, and is a cherry, cream, and rose tea with strawberry and raspberry pieces. Floral, sweet, and perfectly lovely to look at, the optional light pink sugar pearls will keep you in line while you avoid telling lies…

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Cauldron Cake Genmaicha from 52Teas

52Teas recently did a whimsical and tasty set of Harry Potter inspired tea flavors.  One of these blends is Cauldron Cake Genmaicha. I love the toasty puffed rice and warming green tea of genmaicha and 52Teas is the master of fun genmaicha flavors.  Throw in a Wizarding World twist and I couldn’t wait to try this tea.

Cauldron Cake Genmaicha is inspired by a chocolatey, frosted cupcake.  Alongside the familiar starchy rice flavors there are smooth cacao nibs, nutty cacao shells, and creamy white chocolate chips.  A dash of sprinkles makes the loose leaf look even cuter. This tea looks very festive prior to brewing, with a wide variety of shapes and colors, and smelling like a sweet cake dessert.

This blend reminds me a bit of the honeybush-based blend Rocky Road.  Both blends have cacao nibs, cacao shells, and white chocolate chips. However, 52Teas has been able to fit even more vanilla frosting flavors into the Cauldron Cake Genmaicha blend.  The extra creaminess comes off as marshmallowy when paired with the puffed rice and roasty green tea.

I tend to drink my genmaicha teas without any milk or sugar, but this might be a fun latte to try in the future.  Just be sure to top it off with a little whipped cream and sprinkles for the full effect.

 


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: green genmaicha
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:

Our fifth and final new tea for Harry Potter Month 2018! When I was going through my ideas for Harry Potter inspired teas, this one was at the top of the list because CAKE! Originally, I had considered doing this one as a black tea, however, I already had two black teas planned for the month so I decided to rethink the blend and create this as a Genmaicha blend instead.

Now, I haven’t ever had a Cauldron Cake, but the Harry Potter Wiki describes them as a mass-produced cake from Qizilbash Quality Confectionery in Pakistan. I confess that I’m not at all familiar with confections from Pakistan either. So when I went about creating this tea, I decided that a cauldron cake is probably a lot like a cupcake – only probably a bit more rounded at the bottom like a cauldron.

So I did my best to go with that kind of inspiration: a chocolate cupcake … err … cauldron cake with a cream filling and perhaps a light coating of chocolate ganache over it and then garnished with colorful sprinkles. And here we have our organic, Matcha infused Genmaicha blended with cake essence, cacao nibs, cacao shells, vanilla bean, white chocolate chips (vegan, of course) and sprinkles (also vegan, nut-free & gluten-free!)

It’s quite yummy and I believe that Honeyduke’s would be happy to serve this tea to their patrons!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Death Eaters Tea Club Specialty Box from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe

Bring out your inner good or bad wizard with a box of wizarding-world-themed tea goodies. Riddle’s Tea Shoppe offers quarterly boxes alternating between the Death Eaters Tea Club (canonically, the bad guys) and the Auror Tea Society (the good guys). The 2018 spring Death Eaters box was my first hands-on experience with Riddle’s Tea Shoppe, though I’ve long admired photos from afar.

This box was jam-packed with well-designed surprises. My box featured a canister of Basilisk Egg tea bags (spicy, earthy chai with lemongrass and peppercorns), a bag of loose Devil’s Snare tea (rich black tea with dark berry and cocoa flavors), and a bag of loose Venomous Tentacula tea (a decaf blend of black tea and rooibos with strawberry marzipan flavors). To pair with my tea was a vial of shimmery Unicorn Blood (simple syrup). Each treat featured original artwork or uniquely designed labels to make them feel extra magical and make them suitable to display in your tea shelf.

Beyond tea, the box included a laser cut wood bookmark and enamel pin, featuring stylish typography of favorite evil wizard spell words. There was also a print of an original watercolor painting of the Chamber of Secrets from Riddle’s Tea Shoppe’s creator. Of course, the Death Eaters Tea Club cute-and-creepy skull logo is on the box itself and various stickers and labels.

This box gave a lot of experience and beauty for a modest price. The one challenge is ordering before the pre-orders sell out, and waiting while the materials are assembled and shipped. To keep up-to-date on the next box, check out Death Eaters Tea Club (@deatheatersteaclub), Auror Tea Society (@aurorteasociety), and Riddle’s Tea Shoppe (@riddlesteashoppe) on Instagram. Also check on Riddle’s Tea Shoppe on Etsy for non-box goods related to tea and fantasy fandoms. The shop updates randomly, so check back often.

 


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: various
Where to Buy: RTS Quarterly
Description: Each box contains:
– 1 canister of tea [Caffeinated]
– 2 small tea samples (10g each) [1 decaf / 1 caffeinated]
– 1 enamel pin
– 4 additional surprise items!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Tea on Screen

When I’m not brewing tea, I’m watching movies.  Usually, I’m doing both at the same time.  So when a cup of tea ends up on the screen, my interests come full circle.  Here are my top five favorite tea scenes in the movies.

#5 Dolores Umbridge’s Office- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Don’t let the pink sweater fool you, Professor Umbridge is one of the most insufferable and cruel villains in the Harry Potter series.  However, her office is stunning: talk about teaware-envy!  Her pink-painted tower room is lined with dozens of adorable plates and saucers, and the porcelain kittens that adorn each piece actually prance around and meow (this is the wizarding world after all).  All the cuteness belies her nasty nature.

If you feel inspired by Umbridge’s tea-style, try brewing up Chocolate Covered Strawberries blend from Shuswap Infusions: it’s pink, bold, decadent, and certainly won’t take no for an answer.

 

#4 Liver Disaster- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

“There’s more than one kind of tea?”  Scott Pilgrim might be in over his head when it comes to spending time with Ramona Flowers, a fact that is only emphasized when confronted with Ramona’s extensive tea collection.  She rattles off the flavors in her cabinet with cool confidence, and– as far as I can tell– only makes up one of the tea names.  While I haven’t tried her fabled “liver disaster” tea, I’d be happy to sit down for a cup of tea with Ramona anytime.

The characters in this scene opt to brew sleepytime tea.  I recommend a cup of my one of my favorite herbal blends, Unity from Tealuxe.

#3 The Plan- Shaun of the Dead

Shaun’s plan for surviving a zombie apocalypse ultimately ends with having a pint at the Winchester pub and waiting for it all to blow over.  But early drafts of the plan ended in having cup of tea at the apartment instead.  Take a page out of Shaun’s book: brew up a cuppa and wink your way through your worst days.

Maybe try a cup of Happy Zom ‘bie-tea’ from Design A Tea while you wait for it all to blow over.

#2 Meringue Mask- Mrs. Doubtfire

HEL-LOOO!  Caught in a pickle without his Mrs. Doubtfire mask on, Daniel Hillard hides his identity from a visiting social worker by covering his face in frosting and calling it a meringue mask.  The disguise slowly melts in his haste to brew two cups of tea, dollops of beauty-frosting falling into the mugs. I recommend brewing up a cup with plenty of milk and sugar, maybe even some vanilla frosting for good measure.

Give it a try with the classy, vanilla-based blend, Everest Earl Grey from Nepali Tea Traders.

 

#1 Mrs. Nesbitt- Toy Story

Buzz Lightyear has been through the wringer on this mission, and by the time Woody finds him, the spaceman is having an identity crisis.  Decked out in a floral hat and pink, ruffled apron, Buzz is deep in his cups, answering only to Mrs. Nesbitt.  “One minute you’re defending the whole galaxy, and, suddenly, you find yourself sucking down Darjeeling with Marie Antoinette and her little sister!”  Some days the world is so maddening you just need to put on a pretty hat and lose it for a while.

Or maybe you just need a strong enough tea to kick you into gear when you’re down-and-out.  I recommend Miss Figgy from Tea & Tins.  It’s no Mrs. Nesbitt, but it’ll do the trick.

Honorable Mention: I have to give an honorable mention to The Simpsons for this scene with Homer, his stolen sugar, and a mischievous Englishman.

Until next time, happy brewing and happy watching!