Six Teas to Pamper Mom on Mother’s Day
Last Mother’s Day was a sad affair. So many moms were alone, thanks to COVID. Gatherings were awfully muted if they happened at all. Restaurants were shuttered.
This year? Better! Colorado has not fully opened up yet. But according to health data, on Wednesday of this week 42.5% of all Coloradans had at least the first vaccine dose, and 26.2% were fully vaccinated. Buy the time Mother’s Day rolls around, both of those numbers will be higher.
It may not yet be time for widespread hugging, packed yoga studios and the abandonment of masks in public. But we’re close. For many of us, this Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 9 will be one to celebrate together.
The big day often involves brunch, flowers and cards. We can’t help with any of the above, but we of course are here to help with another Mother’s Day tradition — tea. Whether you want to gift Mom with teas for her holiday, or serve them during the celebration (or both), we have good ideas.
Happy Mother’s Day, moms! We hope your loved ones pamper you. We trust you will eat delicious food, and savor every minute with your family and friends. And we hope, too, that you sip some spectacular teas across your holiday. If you order now online, there’s plenty of time to get these teas in time for the big day. Meanwhile, our stores are open every day in Boulder, Denver and Fort Collins.
Mother’s Day Tea: Spring in Paris
Think Mother’s Day is just an American phenomenon? Think again. Other countries do celebrate moms. In German the day is called Muttertag. In Spanish, Dia de las Madres. And in France they call it Fete Des Meres, and this year it falls on Sunday, May 30.
Here’s an idea. Champion mom twice in May, once for the American holiday and the other for the French celebration. And both times sip Spring in Paris, one of our favorite blends.
This elegant, beautiful tea combines black tea with freeze-dried strawberries and pink peppercorns. Simple — and exquisite.
We incorporate fruit into a number of our teas, and appreciate when some fruit, like strawberries, are freeze-dried. The preservation technique does a marvelous job showcasing fruit’s complex flavors.
We also treasure pink peppercorns, which in fact are not actual peppercorns. True peppercorns are the fruits of a flowering shrub in the sumac family. (Side note: sumac grows wild all over the Boulder foothills, and its fruits were widely used by Native Americans to provide sour flavors. Our sumac, however, does not yield peppercorns.)
Pink peppercorns (called “baie rose” in French), on the other hand, come from the Peruvian pepper tree, which is part of the cashew family. While true peppercorns and pink peppercorns are not related, they offer similar “peppery” flavors. We find pink peppercorns slightly more complex and less assertive than true peppercorns, and adore them in certain tea blends.
Mother’s Day Tea: Blueberry Lavender Bliss
While mom is nibbling away at scones and English tea sandwiches, chances are she will thrill to sip Blueberry Lavender Bliss. Mom has great taste — of course she will love this combination of blueberry, lavender, cocoa, ginger, calendula and cornflower.
The flavors are disparate. Have you (has anybody, other than Ku Cha?) ever combined ginger and calendula? It’s fabulous. The blend incorporates Asia (ginger), South America (cocoa), North America (blueberry) and Europe (the rest of the ingredients). It’s all over the map, literally. And absolutely wonderful.
With its floral components, its ginger spice and cocoa depth, Blueberry Lavender Bliss is a marvel. In addition, the herbs help alleviate stress and the cocoa lifts moods. Perfect.
Mother’s Day Tea: Organic Rooibos Provence
Back in France already? Yes. But not the chilly city of Paris, the wet, windswept landscapes of Brittany or the mountains (and choucroute-freighted) reaches of Alsace.
We skip all of that for the warm, beach-dotted, perfumed, wildly colorful region of Provence, in southeastern France.
Mom approves.
With its fields of lavender, short glasses of afternoon pastis, and bouillabaisse, Provence seems like a dream, one into which we want to sink and stay put. The ingredients in our Organic Rooibos Provence capture the aromas, if not the beaches, of Organic Rooibos Provence, a gorgeous swatch of France.
Rosehips and lavender supply the Provence-conjuring perfumes. Blueberries provide the perfect hint of sweetness. And elderberries offer something altogether different for mom — health. The berries are widely prescribed across Europe to help with respiratory issues and congestion, the common cold and even symptoms of the flu.
We know mom will be radiating supreme health on Mother’s Day. But a little extra jolt of health — especially coming from something as delicious as elderberries — is always welcome.
Mother’s Day Tea: Organic Allergy Blend
Does mom suffer from seasonal allergies? If she does, this tea will make a superb gift, as well as a tasty accompaniment to the celebration. If not, we still would serve this treat for Mother’s Day. It’s a lovely tea, a combination of savory, spicy and floral.
Humans have used herbs to manage allergies for centuries. We combined some of the best allergy-fighting herbs in our Organic Allergy Blend, as well as ingredients that help alleviate symptoms like congestion.
Herbal medicine practitioners frequently turn to nettles for their antihistamine qualities. The spice turmeric, a root, can prevent the release of histamine in the body, and can even inhibit anaphylactic reactions. Tulsi, also called Holy Basil, is both anti-inflammatory and antihistamine. The leaves are tasty, too, and similar to basil. Ginger serves as a histamine blocker, which is powerful. The root is also is one of the best natural immune system boosters. Even rosemary, the herb found in so many outstanding Italian dishes? That herb, too, offers antihistamine properties? Indeed. Finally, this blend incorporates elderflower, a plant rich in the natural antihistamine quercetin. In addition, elderflower aids with symptoms of seasonal allergies, such as nasal and lung congestion.
It’s a natural gift, if mom indeed wrestles with the long allergy season. Once she starts sipping this, she may never return to over-the-counter medicines that leave her sleep and dizzy. And even if she doesn’t, it’s so tasty she is sure to routinely brew this tea for its flavor and many health properties. While so many of the ingredients help with allergies, they also are just good for overall well-being.
Mother’s Day Tea: Jasmine Pearl
For Mother’s Day we can think of few teas offering more elegance, refinement and beauty than our Jasmine Pearl tea, one of our top sellers every month.
After farmers in China that specialize in jasmine tea harvest prized green tea in spring, they arrange the leaves in loose piles to aid curing. Every night for at least seven consecutive nights, they head into fields surrounding the tea farm and harvest jasmine blossoms, which only bloom in evenings.
As fresh blossoms and tea leaves meld night after night, the tea begins to absorb the flowers’ gorgeous aromas and flavors. Finally, tea artisans roll jasmine-infused tea leaves, along with more jasmine flowers, into tidy pearls.
When you brew Jasmine Oolong, the fragrant pearls unfurl in the cup, as if blossoming. Atmospheric, transporting jasmine perfume gets released. The drinking experience is utterly charming, pleasing and memorable.
This is a tea made for Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day Tea: Tie Guan Yin Superior
Is mom a goddess? Lots of us would answer, “Absolutely.” Does she offer boundless mercy? Some might quibble with “boundless,” but either way we might agree that mercy dwells at the center of her being. Is she strong, like iron? She bore children, raised them. Maybe she also ran a household while pursuing a career. Strong? You bet.
We’ve got just the tea for Mighty Mom — Tie Guan Yin Superior, also known as “Iron Goddess of Mercy.”
This acclaimed and famous tea is grown and cured in China’s Fujian Province, a mountainous region in the southwestern reaches of the country. Fujian sports a coastline bounding the Formosa Strait, which separates China from Taiwan.
The tea projects floral notes, with a lengthy, sweet finish and a velvety texture. People who love this tea — they are many — champion its intense floral components, reminding them of peony flowers and spring fields dotted with honeysuckle and clover.
