National Afternoon Tea Month Begins Today — Celebrate in Style
Many people in the United States associate tea, just like coffee, with mornings. We sip our favorite beverage shortly after opening our eyes, to rev the engines and get energy for the day ahead. And that approach toward tea engagement makes good sense; the beverage does, indeed, invigorate our daily reunions with daylight after hours of dark sleep.
But tea, at least, revolves around more than the hour or two after rising from slumber. People in other parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom, China and Japan, savor tea all day, and especially during the afternoon. In the United Kingdom, afternoon tea is notably elaborate, with tiered serving platters packed with finger sandwiches, scones and a variety of treats, along with floral-patterned China tea pots and cups.
In fact, National Afternoon Tea Month in the United States begins today. It’s a recognition that we embrace, with warm hearts; we are all-day tea consumers, and so are many of our customers.
One of the beautiful things about tea, and why we think it is the most consumed beverage (other than water) on Earth, is its versatility. Some beverages hinge on their caffeine quotient: the more, the better. Others, like juices and flavored seltzers, shrink entirely from stimulation. But tea strikes a valuable balance.
Take a break — with tea
Traditional Camellia sinensis always contains a bit of caffeine, unless the botanical compound has been stripped away through technology. But the caffeine doesn’t arrive as a wallop. Instead, it’s more of a caress. And different kinds of tea offer diverse concentrations of caffeine, a natural substance found in more than 60 plants, including cacao, kola nuts, coffee beans and yerba mate and yaupon holly, a plant native to North America that is becoming increasingly popular as tea.
Tea fans might start their day with a strong English breakfast tea, or Japanese matcha, which has the highest caffeine concentration among teas. But then in the afternoon, they might pivot to a lovely green or oolong tea, something delicious that quenches thirst while it sparks bursts of creativity and energy. In the evening, people who are not sensitive to caffeine can turn to a delicate white tea, a Japanese genmaicha (which incorporates roasted rice into the blend, thus diminishing the amount of tea leaves) or one of thousands of herbal teas that don’t contain caffeine at all.
As tea captures such a wide range of flavors, aromas, experiences and styles, people can experiment with different teas every day, and still find new surprises and favorites to add to the daily routine.
For National Afternoon Tea Week, we suggest a trio of teas — two traditional Camellia sinensis blends, and one caffeine-free herbal — to begin a new tradition of welcoming tea into the pause between breakfast and lunch, during lunch itself, and across the afternoon.
Enjoy!
Afternoon Tea: Organic Earl Grey Superior Black Tea
In the mornings, sometimes what we seek is especially robust tea that contains a healthy bit of caffeine, such as a Chinese black tea like Golden Monkey or an Indian tea, like Darjeeling Autumnal Black Tea. Afternoons sometimes call for tea strength too, though. When we look for a rousing antidote to the afternoon blahs, we often turn to our organic Earl Grey Superior Black Tea.
This high-quality Sri Lankan black tea gets infused with premium oil from the bergamot plant, a type of citrus native to Italy and mostly cultivated in Italy’s Calabria region, which encompasses the entire toe of the country’s boot. The unique fruit offers sharp citrus tastes, and its contributions to Earl Grey are iconic; we often never encounter the flavor of bergamot outside of Earl Grey tea.
The tea’s zesty, fresh aroma enlivens faltering afternoon spirits, and the pleasantly dry finish leaves mouths feeling refreshed, with lingering citrus sweetness. For afternoon breaks, we might add a touch of honey and cream to the tea, and dip biscotti into the liquid ambrosia. It’s utterly enchanting.
Afternoon Tea: Organic Rose Puerh
Up for an afternoon treat? Of course you are! We adore this puerh, the only kind of tea that is fermented (it mostly comes from China’s Yunnan Province). Tea artisans add rose to the tea, giving the puerh’s natural earthy fragrance and flavor healthy doses of floral perfume.
While we often sip it on its own during the afternoon, we also use our rose puerh to make rose lattes. Talk about enchanting! We find that rose puerh combined with milk and foam — we especially like plant milks for this one, including oat — makes for a spectacular and atmospheric treat. Interested in adding a bit more sweet zip to the latte? Add honey or another sweetener to the elixir.
Pro tip: With its balance of vitamins and nutrients, our rose puerh is great for skin and immunity, among other things. The tea’s antioxidants fight cell damage caused by the free radicals roaming through the body. With this afternoon lift, you boost health while lifting spirits.
Afternoon Tea: Organic CHA Relax
For a caffeine-free afternoon tea, we take advantage of this organic tea, which was made in collaboration with CU Boulder’s Center for Humanities and the Arts (CHA). Coincidentally, CHA means tea in Chinese!
With green rooibos, ginkgo leaf, elder flower, chamomile and spearmint, the tea offers a welter of flavor and health benefits, and it also stimulates without the potential jittery side-effects. Rooibos is packed with free-radical-fighting electrolytes, which also quench thirst like few other botanical compounds. This contributes toward afternoon satisfaction. And the ginkgo is famously helpful for mental clarity and strength — something we all need when the afternoons start dragging on.
Happy National Afternoon Tea Week! We are here to load you up with wonderful teas to carry you through the week and beyond.
