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It’s been way too long since I’ve been involved in a giveaway, so when the perfect opportunity came along to collaborate I was super excited. The giveaway collection of items hit a few really important points – first, some good tea blends to either start or finish your day, second, eco-friendly options to share with fellow tea lovers, and third, something fun and sweet to add to your tea time experience. Let’s start with setting the stage. There are many ways to enjoy teas, whether you prefer tea bags or loose leaf tea. While I use both, I would say the good majority of my tea stash is loose leaf tea, for a variety of reasons. Generally you get better value for your purchase with loose leaf tea and you can control the intensity of your brew. Having said that, there are also many ways to infuse tea as we know. I’ve used various tea pots, infusers, and disposable tea bags. Today I’m presenting yet another option to you with these adorable handmade, eco-friendly, reusable 100% muslin cotton tea bags made by Beth Ann Erickson Designs. They come packaged with an optional carrying case or as part of a gift set, and are super easy to use. I’ve already easily washed and reused mine several times. My recommendation with using these is that you use a teaspoon or smaller scoop to put in your loose tea into the bag to avoid spillage, and to make sure you leave room for your tea to expand. I used mine for both an herbal blend and a chai, and the tea bags steeped them perfectly, with minimal leaf spillage. The button detail on these tag bags is also super cute and very homey and cozy. Give these a shot, or consider them as a gift for the tea lover in your life! The designer, Beth Ann Erickson, lives a life with a passion for creativity. Her most recent passion is to create eco-friendly, zero waste products (such as these tea bags) that improve the lives of her customers and help care for the earth.

Beth Ann Erickson Designs: http://www.bethericksondesigns.com/shop

Next, the honey! I’ve used honey sticks before and enjoyed them, but the assortment of flavors offered by Sweet Summer Farms is amazing! Flavors such as mango, root beer and caramel were really unique, and the boys and I had so much fun trying them. I’d recommend using the flavors to complement the tea you are using, so the chocolate with a black tea would be amazing, or the lemon with an herbal blend to enhance those flavors. It’s such a fun mix of flavors, I’d gladly get these again for the fun and variety. The honey sticks are 100% natural, gluten-free, and kosher. Each stick is 1 oz and approximately 15 calories of amazing nutrition and fun flavor! What’s even cooler about this purchase is 10% of proceeds go to first responders for PTSD through horse therapy. 

Sweet Summer Farms: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetSummerFarms

Now that the stage is set, onwards to tea. I started my day with a very flavorful chai by Infinitea Herbal Blends. The blend is a black tea base with cardamom, clove, black peppercorn, ginger, and cinnamon. I could taste each of those ingredients in this robust blend – and I loved it! The clove is strong in this blend, and I think it would hold up to milk really nicely if that’s how you enjoy your tea. For me, a drop of honey set this right where I needed to be – fragrant, hot, and a bold way to start the day! I love that you can see all of the whole spices in this tea, and that there are no artificial flavors. 

To close the day, I sipped on Infinitea Herbal Blends – Deep Sleep Herbal tea. The tea contains chamomile flowers, lavender buds, passionflower, valerian, skullcap, and peppermint. Once again, I think this blend was lovely, and I really enjoyed the lavender in this tea. I added a bit of lemon honey and it really elevated all of the herbal flavors as well as added a sweet touch to the cup. Infinitea Herbal Blends is a black, female-owned company based in California, run by a young, ambitious mother in hopes to spread love, presence, and good health. Well done on these blends mama, I’d say mission successful!

Infinitea Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/InfiniteaBlends

I hope each of you enters this fun, fall tea gift set giveaway! I enjoyed each of the products included, and I am sure you will too. Cheers!

Moroccan Sparrow sent me some of their lovely blends to try, and I had to try the most unique blend first – their Berber Whiskey! The gorgeous ingredients in this blend include cinnamon bark, cardamom, cloves, galanga, madder root, anise, spearmint and ginger. Not recognizing some of these ingredients, they are used to help with an upset stomach or alleviate a cold. I had neither, but when I read this tea also helped calm and relax one’s mind, I was fully on board! The blend has great depth, earthy but smooth, with the cinnamon and minty spice being the most prominent. Next, the lovely Rose Buds and Petal tea was lightly fragrant and not overwhelming, so a great blend for evening sipping given how soothing it is. The last tea, a delightful Moroccan Mint, was light and refreshing. I really love spearmint teas, and I feel like they cleanse the body and the mind. This blend contains Moroccan mint leaves, cardamom, spearmint, and a hint of cinnamon. With a drop of honey, this set the backdrop for a peaceful frame of mind. Picking a favorite out of this trio was tough. The Berber Whiskey blend was incredibly unique and I adored the gorgeous floral Rose buds and Petal tea. However, as I mentioned, spearmint tea is just what I need some days. I found that combining the Moroccan Mint with the Rose Buds and Petal tea was my perfect blend! I got the floral notes I adore, plus the pick-me-up mint refresher.

@tiestatea has lots of fun, fresh-flavored teas, with plenty of fruity options. I had to try the Fruity Pebbles tea – one, because the ingredients of green and black tea, pineapple, papaya, raspberry, strawberry, and rose were too tempting to resist, and two, the name was so cute. If it tastes anything like a yummy cereal, how could it disappoint? The tea itself is really pretty, with big pieces of fruit and rose petals sprinkled throughout. I can’t say no to a tea with rose in it! The smell is deliciously fruity as expected, but once brewed the tea is decidedly more balanced. Fruity sweetness is definitely present, but it is lighter than expected and refreshing. Brewed hot, it was delicious. I also did a gorgeous iced tea with a little shimmer from @jardininfusions rose mixer and a drizzle of butterfly pea flower tea!

Afternoon sipping on the deck with @tealyratea Savory Pomelo Basil Tea. This black tea blend contains pomelo cubes, huge pomelo slices, orange peel, moringa leaves and of course basil. Pomelo has a grapefruit kind of flavor, which was enhanced by the orange peel and basil. I think this would make a great cocktail!! The slightly bitter flavor would probably go great with gin or a flavored vodka, but I mixed a pitcher of this with lemon and mint as an iced tea.

Mango and bergamot sound like an odd tea combination to me but it tasted amazing, especially iced! The @whittarduk flavored sencha tea, also known as No. 7, was a delightful purchase I made a while ago. While I previously enjoyed the blend brewed hot many times, when iced – this tea was elevated to new levels! The citrusy bergamot balanced the sweet mango flavor so beautifully. This tea was very much enjoyable and I’d call it one of my favorite Whittard blends to date! The tin is pretty gorgeous as well.

I patiently saved my @kolkatachaico DIY Masala Chai kit for a special occasion, and my wedding anniversary. This isn’t just ANY Chai kit, this is a limited edition ROSE Masala Chai kit. All the goodness of the original kit, but with rose added (and you all KNOW I love rose and floral teas). Fresh ginger, mint, and rose petals made this a romantic morning chai to celebrate. I also used my rani and raja mugs for a little extra fun. This blend was everything a chai should be – flavorful, warming, and an invigorating way to start our special day. Thanks for making these DIY kits so that we can enjoy your chai until we head back into NYC!

Since starting these reviews, I’ve noticed the tea companies in neighboring Canada doing some AMAZING blends with tea. (I also uncovered a Toronto Tea Festival, which I have every intention of attending once life becomes a little more ‘normal’ and safe to travel). One lovely tea company I had the pleasure to order from is Tealish! @tealishtea Strawberry Shortcake green tea is really delightful. It brought back a certain nostalgia from the days I loved Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures. But back to tea! Sencha is blended with strawberry, rose petals, and white chocolate pieces for an infusion that tastes like strawberry shortcake. While I didn’t add milk, the chocolate pieces added sweetness and a creamy element to the cup, which I really enjoyed. And while I paired the tea with desserts, it could really sit on it’s own as a sweet treat. I loved that I could really get the taste of the floral rose coming through, and while you might not expect that in a tea called ‘Strawberry Shortcake’, it was really good. I see more orders of this tea ahead of me!

If you love whisky and never tried a good Japanese blend, you are missing out! As a tea lover and someone who enjoys Japanese whisky, when @harneyteas first came out with their Japanese Whisky tea, I was super excited!. The tea is made with the yabukita cultivar (most commonly used for sencha), and is finished with an eight hour smoking over wood chips made from Japanese whisky barrels. The tea is smoky for sure but also rich and smooth, with an exquisite sweetness. If you’re wondering how it compares to a Lapsang Souchong – it’s a bit milder, with the uniqueness of flavor that Japanese whiskies tend to offer. This is more of a fall/winter tea, but I did read somewhere that someone turned it into a gorgeous ice cream treat, with spiced caramelized pecans and cherries. That sounds luxurious for sure! I’d recommend offering this tea to friends or family who still think of tea as tame. They’d surely be surprised at the ingenuity being brewed these days!

I’m gearing up for birthday month (mine and my two little boys, literally a day apart in one case), and with that I have self care and wellness on my mind. Enter @republicoftea Beautifying Botanicals Daily Beauty Blueberry Lavender herbal tea. Containing green rooibos, hibiscus, lemongrass, rosehips, blue butterfly pea flower (for that gorgeous blue-purple color), lavender, blackberry leaves, lemon balm, bamboo, blueberry, schizandra extract (whew) this tea notes it helps to refresh and nourish your skin from the inside out. All that aside, it truly sounded delicious, and like something I’d want to try even without the beauty bonus. Having this hot, the taste is an interesting blend of floral fruitiness, but the blueberry does stand out slightly more. The package description noted a squeeze of lemon adds a bright flavor and a pink hue, which I cannot wait to show you all iced. I think the options on this are pretty good, because I can see this as a frothy latte, iced, and hot with nothing else. And while I originally had this with my blueberry tart for dessert, with some sweetener or creamer you could make this tea taste like a blueberry pastry if you really wanted to.

Today I broke open my box of @numiorganictea White Rose tea, which I paired with @confitures_favols Violet Flower Preserves for a real treat. The White Rose tea has a gorgeous perfume that I could breathe in all day, but don’t worry – the smell doesn’t overwhelm the tea, which happens to be quite light, but soothing. If you really want to amp up the flavor, you can either brew the tea longer so it creates a medium-bodied infusion or you can add another tea bag to your cup, but I was content to sip it as it was. One other lovely way to enjoy this tea would be with a little mint leaf or tea, which I think would be amazing! Moving on to Favols (based in the heart of Aquitaine’s orchards in France since 1966), creators of unique and delicious jars of jam. Their premium range of flower preserves made from whole flowers or petals, is the perfect pick-me-up for tea time or brunches with its original touch. The jam is lightly floral, which I put on a simple cracker so that I could really get the flavor. If you have an opportunity to try the preserve I certainly recommend it, especially if you love floral-inspired teas and treats the way I do!