Another lovely tea from the crafty world of Etsy, this time it’s Lady Mendl blend from Sunshine Cottage. The Lady Mendl tea blend is based on a cocktail of the same name. The alcoholic beverage was all pink pizzazz, served in a martini with grapefruit juice, cointreau, and gin.
With so much pink citrus in the mix, this tea is surprisingly creamy, with delicious, juicy grapefruit at the forefront, and sweet, candied orange in the undertone. There are even passion fruit pieces in the dry leaf, adding to the popping, tropical flair of these flavors.
The black tea base is nutty and rich, nicely balancing the strong citrus tones. There’s even a hint of black pepper in the smell of the leaf, and it comes through in the brew the longer it is steeped. I find the hint of something savory and spicy to be an appealing counterpoint to the luscious fruit.
This would be a great blend for fans of earl grey who want to get outside their usual bergamot flavor but still want a citrus-inspired drink, fit for a lady. Look no further than Lady Mendl from Sunshine Cottage and start brewing up something perfectly pink.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Sunshine Cottage (Etsy Shop)
Description:
This blend is based on my mother’s favorite cocktail – the Lady Mendl. A delightful blend of orange and grapefruit, this black tea is perfect for an afternoon tea while listening to the legendary Cole Porter – who sang the praises of Lady Mendl in ‘Anything Goes’.
Just as an aside, Lady Mendl (or Elsie DeWolfe) was a fascinating woman and well worth reading about – perhaps while sipping a cuppa of this blend. I enjoy mine with milk (it smooths out the citrus) and a dash of maple syrup (another of my mother’s favorites).
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cocteau from August Uncommon. . . . .
Tea swaps are a thing of beauty. They really and truly are. Switching out your unwanted teas for hard-to-find favorites or samples of new blends…what’s not to love? And sometimes if you are lucky, tea swaps can lead to making tea friends. You know…the people who you meet up with to exchange teas and talk about your lives. Now, if you are REALLY lucky, you might even find a tea twin. For me that person is the wonderful Roswell Strange, a former Sororitea Sister. Her and I started our tea journey at the same time and quickly learned we liked the same flavors. We began to swap teas constantly since we knew the other would love everything we sent (or at least appreciate the opportunity to try it). Swaps grew to gifts and now, even as our tastes have grown apart, we have maintained our tea twin love and continue to share our tea stashes.
More than just tea, we have realized we share other interests as well and as Roswell Strange decided to make her tea drinking an experience by adding song pairings, she graciously gave me the opportunity to partake as well. My awesome tea twin took the time to not only pack up a bunch of tea samples but she provided me a song pairing for each, creating a mix tape of sorts. Now for those wondering what I mean by this, Roswell Strange picks a song that she thinks matches the tea in some way, thus making for a heightened and more focused tea drinking experience as you combine your tea sipping with a complimentary song.
For this particular blend, she picked the song Electric Feel by MGMT. Now, while most other songs she picked were new to me, this is an old favorite of mine (it might even be my ringtone). Knowing the song, I definitely expected some whimsy from this tea and the dry scent with its creamy citrus and light vanilla showed promise. So I got my song ready to go and my tea brewed up and began.
The first thing I noticed was the smoothness of the tea. With strong flavors like grapefruit, mint, and vanilla, it seemed like there should be more of a disconnect but everything blends into one harmonious taste. This to me reflects the song since there is also a lot of different components that come together to make up one awesome whole. Yet, if you focus, you can detect each distinct flavor hiding in the mix or lingering in the aftertaste. The slight tang of the grapefruit starts the sip, and just like the intro of the song amps you up for whats coming. The vanilla slides in and levels everything off, just like the vocals of the music coming in and taking over the music. Well the mint lingers underneath it all, like the base note, adding depth and keeping the beat going under the vocals. And even though this tea should be harsher, it is calming, which is what has always been my thoughts on this particular song. I mean just listen to the lyrics about being “shocked like an electric eel” and yet the melody is almost poetic in how relaxing it can be. In my mind, like the song, this is not something that should work but it does. It definitely does!
Thank you tea twin!! And for those who don’t know the song, check it out here.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Rooibos/Honeybush Blend
Where to Buy: August Uncommon
Description
A dazzling synesthetic experience where sound is like temperature and color has flavor. Warm and cool sensations move in textured rhythms. The myriad of tastes and scents wind and twist like shifting colors of an opal. With each sip there is a distinct, dreamy dominant note. One moment, it’s pale yellow vanilla, then another, electric pink grapefruit. Yet another time it’s bluish green mint, then brick-red earthy rooibos. Beauty is not always linear.
Ingredients: south african green rooibos, south african honeybush, grapefruit peel, peppermint, flavoring
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Juicy Grapefruit from Dave and Solomons Tea
I am a grapefruit nut so whenever I see teas that I have grapefruit flavorings I have to try them out. This one had a lovely mix of oolong and green teas with a citrus twist. It was an instant, I have to try this reaction!
Since this is a green/oolong/mate blend, I went ahead and used normal oolong steeping parameters and was careful to only allow the tea to steep for about 3 minutes. I loved looking at this tea. Gorgeous pops of color on a base of greens and darker leaves. Just lovely.
Once I started drinking this tea I couldn’t stop. I thought this tea would be a soft gentle mix of citrus and lush buttery smooth notes but instead I was greeted with a somewhat smokey base with a citrus tang. Completely different and unique. I can’t say that I’ve had a smoky citrus tea like this before. The grapefruit fit the blend perfectly. I loved that flavor mixed with the base. A nice change of pace to be honest. I haven’t had a smoky tea in a long time!
After spending more time with this tea, every now and again I would get a sweetness from the floral notes. I almost wish those were a bit stronger, but I’m still enjoying what I have. I can’t say this tea is one I would grab for all the time but I love the change of pace this tea has going for it. Definitely one to keep around for a bit and play around with. You have to love a unique base of green/oolong/mate tea with grapefruit loving!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Dave and Solomons Tea
Description
This beautiful blend of green and black tea is infused with delicate hints of grapefruit. A true delight for the eyes as well as the palate. Try iced!
Organic Green, Oolong & Mate Tea, Orange & Lemon Peel, Marigold & Cornflower Petals, Rose Petals & Grapefruit Essence
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tangy Grapefruit from The Jasmine Pearl
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: The Jasmine Pearl
Tea Description:
Tangy Grapefruit White is a blend of organic Chinese Baimudan white tea, grapefruit essential oils, organic calendula petals for color, organic lemongrass, and organic lemon myrtle, brewing a true-to-life grapefruit burst.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been on a mad white tea kick as of late. Even with all of these fall flavors going on, I feel like in the mornings I’m still gravitating towards a floral or white tea to get me thru my last parts of deadline at work each day.
Today, I saw this little guy hanging out by my bag and knew that today was my day to try this one. I was a bit excited. Brewed this up at work with the help of my Sei Sei Tumbler to take care of the brewing part. Added in water around 190 per the packaging instructions and let this tea steep for about 3 minutes or so.
I loved watching this one steep. The dry leaf mix was gorgeous with all the lovely long leafs with pops of a bright orange color.
First infusion in and this tea is delicate and lovely. One that takes you away and allows you to indulge for a moment before the phone starts ringing again and there are emails to read. This tea gives you that much needed blissful moment where you can wrap your hands around the mug and the the tea do its thing.
The white tea flavor is the first to wash over you and it is delicate with subtle notes of a floral kind. The grapefruit flavors are there but they really don’t become prominent until that last part of each sip. That last part of the sip is where all the tangy grapefruit lovin is. Wow.
Another impressive tea from The Jasmine Pearl. I’m really digging this one and heading now to the kitchen to prep up more water for my second infusion. This tea is a keeper!