The Art of the Summer Tea Break
The summer solstice on June 21 serves as the season’s official kick-off. But few people wait until the middle of June to acknowledge spring’s evacuation. For most of us, it begins with Memorial Day Weekend — in just eight days!
By then, the weather tends to broadcast flip-flops and t-shirt vibes, kids spend their days away from classrooms, and pools beckon. Summer suggests languor and snail’s pace days—swinging in hammocks, sitting in beach chairs, hanging out on picnic blankets. But in reality, summer tends to lean into freneticism.
Vacations. Piloting kids to and from camps. Packed social calendars, ambitious outdoor pursuits (let’s do that 16-mile alpine hike!) and FOMO pressures.
Pro tip: Take a little break before the madness begins—with tea, the OG caesura catalyst. Let tea help you grant permission to pause, to submit to quiet contemplation. After all, that represents one of tea’s first uses, millennia ago, when philosophers leveraged tea to anchor their minds in deep thought.
Summer is almost here. Across the season we’ll offer loads of ideas for iced tea, warm-weather entertaining and much more. But let’s begin with a tea break!
Teas for Taking a Break: SereniTea Blend
We developed this blend specifically for tea lovers seeking calm in the midst of busy days. This gem leads with rooibos, the South African shrub packed with electrolytes and fantastic for hydration and inflammation-relief. To that we add fruit—pomegranate, pomelo and orange—that bring strong flavor and zest to the sipping experience. We added carrot, sage, lavender and safflower to round the blend out with savory and floral notes. Pour a cup or pot of our SereniTea Blend in the afternoon, and savor the peaceful break.
Teas for Taking a Break: Empress Garden
We love blends anchored with Camellia sinensis—we think tea’s natural complexities always bring winning flavor notes to whatever we’re sipping. Our Empress Garden is no exception—it’s stunning. Oolong and black teas serve as the blend’s stout foundation, delivering malty, honeyed touches to the brew. The blend also includes osmanthus flowers, which are positively heavy with beautiful floral perfume. Cornflower delivers texture as well as subtle floral notes. This spectacular blend also contains lychee and vanilla. The final product? A taste sensation, and one sure to deliver sippers into states of serenity. It’s grand sipped hot and chilled, too—a perfect summer tea.
Teas for Taking a Break: An Ji White Green
All Camellia sinensis contains l-theanine, an amino acid well-studied for its ability to nurture a sense of calm in people. But An Ji White comes especially flooded with the botanical compound, making it ideal for bringing about inner calm. Tea artisans harvest this green tea only in early spring, when the leaves are tender and silver-white in appearance, hence the name. Grown on Mt. Tian Mu in ZheJiang, China, An Ji White brews lightly sweet, with no bitterness. It’s an ideal traditional tea to sip for a break any time of the day.
Teas for Taking a Break: Silver Needle White
Oh, to sip Silver Needle White, close your eyes, and let the flavor and aromatics carry you away. The buds of Silver Needle, also called Bai Hao Yin Zhen, get hand-harvested in early spring. Tea farmers then fan out the buds to dry in the sun, before lightly roasting them over charcoal maintained at a low heat—the process arrests oxidation while preserving the enchanting silver color. The sweetest of white teas, Silver Needle coats the mouths of sippers with a clean, smooth sweetness. We adore it on hot days, even served hot—tea at a higher temperature actually lowers body heat. Production of Silver Needle White is limited—it’s not to be missed!
Teas for Taking a Break: Cloud Chaser
Dreaming of more tea-stoked breaks? Then our Cloud Chaser is a must. This caffeine-free treasure comes packed with flavor and calming botanical compounds. Lemon balm, lavender, marjoram, peppermint and rose petals come together in a brew that relaxes minds and bodies with every inhale and sip. But Cloud Chaser also contains St. John’s Wort, which comes from Hypericum perforatum, a wild herb found all over Europe, Asia, North Africa and parts of North America. If there ever were a tea sure to dampen anxiety and ripen tranquility, this is it. It’s ideal for a tea break!
