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!
Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong by A Quarter to Tea
The high-quality oolong leaves swell and uncurl while steeping–something I always find fascinating (in addition to comforting because I know it means I’m about to drink some excellent tea!)
Once the steeping gets going it smells strongly of chocolate and cherry, which I take as a good sign! Actually it smells almost overwhelmingly of cherry while steeping, but after steeping that abates somewhat. The cherry flavor still hits your nose first but as you keep inhaling you can dig down and find the grounding, comforting chocolate smell too. It’s rounder and creamier. and the oolong lends butteriness and a floral note to the scent.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: A Quarter To Tea
Description
Roasty enough to appease the coffee lover in you! The blend of hojicha and oolong makes a robust, coffee like base without the jitters. Mellowed out with chicory, chocolate, and cherries.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Energy Pu-Erh from Komo Tea
The dry leaves are colorful with a strong berry fragrance. The look and smell make me feel very confident in the health value of this tea. A lot of the Chinese ingredients, I hadn’t tried before.
Naturally Pu-Erh has caffeine, then there’s an herbal boost from being hand blended with adaptagen herbs (which I totally googled, I’m not THAT granola. They’re good for stress).
This cold brewed up to be a deep maroon but the mouthfeel was very smooth. At first sniff I thought I couldn’t handle the flavor, but the cinnamon balances the fruit really well, like Dean from Supernatural eating a cherry pie. Very doable.
Overall, I believe this is a great tea, at the same time, one of the ingredients is more of an acquired taste… that I just haven’t acquired yet.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Pu-Erh
Where to Buy: Komo Tea
Organic pu-erh tea from Yunnan Province, China is hand blended with adaptogen herbs – nature’s miracle anti-stress and fatigue fighters – producing fruity and spicy flavors that invigorate body and mind. Whether you’re looking for a mid-morning pick me up or a power boost before a workout, Energy gives you the endurance to power through when it counts.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tree House of Tea from Adagio Teas. . . . #TeaRex #MonsterBrew #RocketFuel
Beyond the wonderful madness of custom fandom blends on Adagio Teas’ website, they do have a few blends and custom sets of their own. I tried one of their more whimsical sets, the Tree House series. The vibrant, attractive designs of dinosaurs and monsters on the tins was enough to sway me into giving these teas a try. The Tree House series are all herbal decaf teas, and meant to be kid-friendly in style, contents, and taste. Fair warning: these teas brew up strong, fast, so feel free to keep the steep times shorter than you expect. It’s easy to stop the steep time as these teas are all already in silk, pyramid teabags.
This tea smells like Adagio’s Valentine’s blend, though this is a decaf version. The smell and taste are full of rich cocoa and dark berries. Even though cherries are a strong element of this blend, it does not taste like medicine. This tea is dark and full-bodied, almost makes you think it’s a black tea or a mate, but it’s all herbal. If you’re not into chocolate dessert teas, this might not be your favorite. But if you’re looking for a decaf version of the Valentine’s blend, this will be a winner.
Monster Brew
In the tin, this tea smells the most distinct from the three teas in Adagio’s Tree House series. This green rooibos blend focuses on orange and berry. It’s sweet with raspberry and blueberry flavors, but it never gets too syrupy, thanks to the bright citrus notes. Smooth, playful, and easy to drink. This blend has the perfect balance between sweet and sour fruits, and the right balance of a nutty rooibos base with more saturated berry flavors.
The strongest flavors in Rocket Fuel are apple and hibiscus. The hibiscus is subtle, but present, so don’t worry about it overwhelming the blend, but be cautious if you hate the flavor. The hibiscus adds pink to the brewed color, and gives a little pucker to this decaf berry blend. Luckily, there’s enough apple to keep the tea sweet and fresh without getting too tart. Apple is so often paired with cinnamon and spice, it was nice to just taste the crisp fruit and its natural sweetness.
This set is a great gift for a young tea-drinker, or a lover of fruity-decaf teas. Or just a nice gift to yourself– the colorful, illustrated tins will brighten anyone’s tea shelf!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal and Rooibos/Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description:
Every cup of tea represents an imaginative journey. Our Tree House gift set helps build creative minds one cup at a time. Become an astronaut, scare away monsters hiding in your closet, and roam dinosaur inhabited lands without leaving your home.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Nature’s Candy – Coconut Chamomile from Petali Teas
Fruit is nature’s candy– a phrase I heard said by many health-nut, earth-loving parents. But it might just be true in the case of Coconut Chamomile from Petali Teas. I got a taste of this blend from my Amoda Tea subscription. With rainbow colors and fun shapes, this tea almost feels like a handful of candies. It includes green kiwi pieces, pink hibiscus, red rose hips, yellow apple pieces, almost-purple cherry slices, and bright white coconut.
The fragrance of this tea blew me away as soon as I opened the bag, giving me a strong whiff of the fruity, sugary, pop of cherries and berries. There are huge slices of dried cherries, bright curls of coconut, and the little round blossoms of chamomile. This blend smells like sour cherry straw candy, or even a bit like traditional, pink bubblegum. The fruit flavors are very forward, but the chamomile base and some creamy coconut help smooth out the tartness into something super sweet and relaxing. The only downside is that this tea is best when brewed with lots of leaves, so I only got two cups out of my sample.
Part of me wants to make sure I always have this blend on hand, like the omnipresent dish of hard candies at grandma’s house. Something simple and sweet to offer the occasional passerby that gets stuck for a while in my living room.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Amoda Teas
Description:
A beautiful herbal tea with large pieces of fruit you almost want to eat! Floral flavours of chamomile, delightful fruit, hints of coconut and a perfectly sweet finish. Sip this in the evening and let the chamomile relax you.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!