Happy Friday, tea people! I hope you all had a wonderful week and got the chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we were fortunate enough to have! As a person, I am definitely partial to the warmer temperatures. I personally prefer summer to winter, and so, I am definitely savoring these last few days that we have been blessed with. Before we know it, the cooler temperatures will move in, we'll be snuggled in sweaters, and be dreaming of boat days on the lake.
During this season of uncertain weather patterns, often times we may wake up and put on a sweater to start, but end up sweating and missing our sandals before lunch rolls around. Because of this, I thought a good topic for today would be some of our specific teas that are great both hot and cold alike!
A personal favorite of mine for this time of year always proves to be our Ice Wine tea. This black tea, blessed with the tisanal elements of the being infused with harvested grape wine, is the perfect tea to be enjoyed either fiery or frozen. Ice wine, itself, is made from grapes that are harvested while still frozen on the vine. These grapes are known to be super concentrated with flavor and are highly coveted! I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the Naples Grape Festival here that celebrates the delicious and abundance of concord grapes that are grown in our own Naples valley. It's an awesome outdoor festival, right in downtown Naples, each year that features local artists, bakers, etc. You can feast on grapes, grape pies, tarts, and grape anything for that matter all weekend! Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 virus, this festival had to be cancelled this year and I was heartbroken. The sting of this has been lessened when I sip my Ice Wine tea each day!
Another one of our most popular teas that we often hear is delectable both hot and cold is our White Peach. Being a white tea, it is definitely on the lighter side, and the peach notes add the perfect touch of flavor! Just last night, my boyfriend and I made a kettle of the White Peach, enjoyed a hot cup each then put the remainder in the refrigerator for the morning. This morning, we woke up and our cold peach tea was exactly what we were both craving! We took it out of the fridge, poured it over ice, and had a beautiful start to our Friday! Personally, in my White Peach tea, I am also a huge fan of adding our amber sugar crystals! If you have a sweet tooth like me, these sugar crystals really put this tea right over the edge and make it more of a peach sweet tea! If you do choose to try this, please comment and let me know your thoughts!
The last tea that I will mention here that we regularly are reminded of it's versatility with temperature is our Citron Green. Being one of our most popular green teas as it is, this tea certainly does not disappoint. Similar to the White Peach, we time and time again hear that our customers have originally made it hot and saved the leftover for a cool and refreshing drink later. This green tea is highlighted with a zest of lemon which I find again, especially delightful in the morning. It also has what we consider to be a moderate level of caffeine which is just the little jumpstart I need in the AM!
If you have any of your own favorites that you recommend both hot or cold, please let us know! We love to hear your feedback and pass it on to other customers! I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend, stay both warm when you are cool, but cool when you are warm (haha!), and are able to savor these beautiful fall days! Best, Kaytea :)