Kids’ Big Holiday—Halloween—is Made for Kid-Approved Tea!
In less than a week the little ones drape themselves in capes and gowns, let their moms paint their faces, slip on spooky masks and thrill to the rest of the Halloween activities. Then they grab pillow cases or canvas bags, join their friends and spend a few hours ringing doorbells and shouting, “trick or treat” while their parents stand on sidewalks—and advisedly sipping warm tea from thermoses!—watching and smiling. Note to parents: Savor every minute of the night. Halloweening will pass by before you know it.
The holiday got its start around 2,000 years ago in Celtic regions of Europe. They called it Samhain, tied it to the end of the harvest season in northern Europe and used the occasion to attempt to commune with dead relatives.
The practice got carried to North America by Puritans, who threw harvest parties, dressed in costumes and told scary stories. But it was the Irish who shaped our modern conception of Halloween. They began immigrating to the United States in huge numbers in the middle of the 19th century, and brought with them their custom of costumes, asking neighbors for treats and money and occasionally pulling good-natured pranks on the people in their neighborhoods.
Tea has not figured largely into Halloween—despite the Irish connection (Irish Breakfast!)—in part because tea has largely been associated with adults. And for the most part, Halloween is all about kids.
Add tea to your Halloween festivities and rituals
But there’s no good reason for negative assumptions about kids’ relationships with tea. Sure, third graders might not clamor for cups of puerh. But plenty of delicious teas offer sweet sides, and that includes classic combinations of black tea, sugar and cream—the kinds of tea people across the United Kingdom drink all day long. And now, we see shops selling kid-friendly boba tea across the country, as well as things like smoothies that incorporate emerald-green matcha.
The broad category of herbal tea also delivers tea thrills to kids—trust us, we know this firsthand! Fruit teas, for example, revolve around fruit. Tea blends starring rooibos also can showcase flavors that kids love, from vanilla and chocolate to mint, caramel and cotton candy.
With Halloween upon us, along with the festive, two-month march across November and December, it’s time to introduce some of our favorite child-approved teas into their lives. One serious bonus: Sipping tea warms up kids struggling through winter’s chill, while simultaneously pleasing their taste buds.
Teas for Kids: Shanghai Dreams Fruit Tea
Fruit teas stand as a favorite among the younger set. After all, many of their favorite flavors revolve around fruit: strawberry bubblegum and watermelon gummies, mango frozen yogurt and grape popsicles and the rest of the fruit-flooded kid treats.
Our Shanghai Dreams Fruit Tea grabs a hold of some kids favorites—apple, cherry, vanilla—and adds others that amp the flavor too, while also including health and color attributes. Elderberries, for example, possess beautiful fruit flavor. But any stroll down the immunity section of a natural grocer also reveals the berry is touted for its ability to bolster immunity and help fight sickness. Beetroot, on the other hand, lends this tea elixir bold red flavors. And bright colors attract kids. It also includes rose petals, which just kiss the tea with floral notes, and blackberry leaves. Flavonoids, vitamins and antioxidants crowd the leaves, all of which boost health.
This tea is a treasure on the palate and balm for the body, while also brewing into a visual feast.
Teas for Kids: Rooibos Vanilla
What’s vanilla? Marshmallows. Ice cream. Birthday cake icing. Cupcakes, pudding and sugar cookies. The flavor, which comes from long beans that grow on trees mostly in Madagascar, Mexico and Tahiti, is always a child favorite. Adults, too.
We incorporate this mysterious and wonderful flavor into many blends, and marvel over its versatility. It complements chocolate and orange, strawberries and lavender, cinnamon, honey, almonds and way more. And all of the above find their way into herbal tea blends.
This blend leads with rooibos, the plant from which South Africans make their famous and iconic tea. Rooibos lacks caffeine, which is a big plus on the kid front. It also produces a mildly herbal and earthy base that plays nice with a huge range of flavors. Our custom Rooibos Vanilla includes almond slivers—and almonds represent a classic ideal pairing with vanilla. Calendula figures into the blend as well, for its unusual sweet floral notes. And of course, vanilla. This tea is fabulous anytime of the day. We often sip it as an after-dinner dessert tea.
Teas for Kids: Pumpkin Rooibos
What’s autumn without pumpkin spice? It’s bereft! The profusion of pumpkin spice products is a bit over the top—do we really need pumpkin spice dog donuts (Krispy Kreme), pumpkin spice body wash and pumpkin spice hummus? But the proliferation of the flavor rests on a stout foundation: people love the flavor combination. Us included.
Our Pumpkin Rooibos rejects the kind of industrial pumpkin spice artificial flavors that get added to most commercial products. Instead, it incorporates cinnamon, cardamom, coriander and clove into the formula—the actual spices themselves.
In addition to its tea base of rooibos, this blend also involves real pumpkin, which lends the brew this squash’s natural sweetness and gravitas. It’s perfect! And extremely kid-approved!
Teas for Kids: Pink Pomegranate Fruit Tea
Looking for a boldly colorful tea with great flavor? You’ve found it. This fruit tea brews red, thanks to the delicious pomegranate, hibiscus and dragon fruit that figures into the blend. It also includes pineapple and apple, which pump up the fruit flavors. And finally—yogurt crunch.
This is fruit tea at its finest, especially for the people in your life who wear superhero and princess costumes to school on October 31, and later head out into the night, ring doorbells and ask for candy.
