Can I request recommendations?
If not, feel free to delete this!
I’ve had a hard time finding a good orange and spice tea. (Real tea, not tisane.) You know, like the idea behind “Constant Comment,” but better. I think I prefer a strong orange flavor with medium spice. I’m assuming that level of flavor probably requires a black tea backbone, but I’m open. I’m asking now because the Christmas tea thread reminded me that this kind of tea is a stereotypical Christmas tea and might be easier to find this time of year. (But I’m US, so that thread wasn’t overly helpful to me!) Thanks for any recommendations or advice!
One that comes to my mind that is probably pretty accessible if you live near a Barnes & Noble (I don’t, sadly) is Harney & Son’s Holiday Tea. I don’t recall how strong the citrus notes in it are, but it may be what you are looking for. I know I’ve had a sample of it and it’s what came to mind when I read your post.
And I’m aware this request is far from sophisticated, but it’s a comfort and memory thing for me as much as anything. (My grandma and I used to drink Constant Comment together for years as I was growing up, and she died this past summer. It’s a nice memory for me, I’m just pickier about the tea now!)
Adiago has a Blood Orange tea that has a lot of citrusy notes. JingMai Mountain Puerh in my opinion has citrus notes as well.
Got ya!! Sometimes familiar is better than sophisticated any day!
As you can see, my answer wasn’t sophisticated either. No internet order that will cost you postage and a couple of days in wait- and you choose if you want it in bags or loose leaf. Sometimes those things are worth the wait, but sometimes practical does the job just as well.
Enjoy your grandma memories!
Sorry to hear about your grandma; mine died last year, and that’s a rough thing, even if it seems to be the natural timing for it. This is so obvious it goes without saying, but I’ll contribute it anyway: you could add orange and spice to a plain black tea yourself. I’ve written a blog post on doing that, last year, but some people are touchy about self-promotion here so I’ll add some related details. For black tea anything past tea bag tea would work (there’s often tea-dust in those). A loose Assam or Ceylon would be fine, or better yet a blend of one of those with something slightly softer (less astringent), but still a black tea. I used a Hatvala Vietnamese black tea before, Wild Boar. Orange is easy: peel the outer layer off an orange, using a peeler, not the white part of the rind, and dry it for half an hour in a warm oven (not hot). Spice is trickier, but a small dash of clove would be a start, or adding cinnamon is standard. Fruit would work; again, trickier. Or just buying blends works, but I’ve just described a very basic Christmas blend version someone could make at home, easily and at low cost, and it’s nice playing a role in the process. It’s a bit less conventional but you really could add a touch of jam to a tea for fruit instead, that’s just going off-theme, sort of cheating.
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