Thrill the Family With These Sweet-Style Teas at a Reunion
Vacation dwells at the heart of the summer. But the season’s pleasures extend beyond those long afternoons beside crashing waves, or gurgling mountain streams. Family reunions, too, decorate the patch of warm months.
We get together in parks and back yards and grill chicken wings, veggie burgers and kebabs. We detail new family updates, and laugh over shared family stories. Meanwhile, the kids scatter and play, getting to better know their far-flung cousins and other young relatives.
Tea often figures into family reunions. In addition to hot dogs, coleslaw and barbecue, picnic tables at the get-togethers often hold pitchers of iced tea, spiked with lemon and often sugar. Count us among the reunion tea advocates!
While we enjoy the standard kind of iced tea referenced above, it’s not what we brew for get-togethers. Instead, we draw from our vast inventory of outstanding tea to come up with fresh options.
Reunions Deserve Better Iced Tea!
One thing the following list of recommendations shares is a hint of sweet. While none of the teas suggested here are anywhere near as sugary as American-style iced tea, they do proffer jolts of sweetness that round out and spotlight the rest of the teas’ botanical ingredients. Think of it as sweet tea, only without the unhealthy levels of sugar. In addition to the super-sweet tea detracting from tea’s natural health-giving properties, we also find that it often is just too much of a one-note experience. You barely taste the tea itself. Most of what comes across is sweetener (normally sugar) with background hits of lemon and sometimes mint.
The teas detailed here, instead, lean into the bright flavors of their natural botanicals and depend on their sweet partners to simply improve the overall sipping experience. We have found that everyone from those little urchins running around to the grandparents savors these delicious teas.
We hope everyone enjoys a fun family reunion this year. And this time, you can be the family that brings the tea that gets everybody abuzz with praise and questions about its provenance—and might even forge new iced-tea converts!
Reunion Teas: Watermelon Chiller White Tea
Few fruits shout “family reunion” with as much oomph as watermelon. The melon, native to Africa, spangles summertime with its abundance of juice and rich, sweet flavor. So for us, our Watermelon Chiller White tea is a natural for family reunions and summer parties.
The fruit bounty doesn’t stop at watermelon, however. This tea also contains honeydew melon, apple and elderberry. Other botanicals include hibiscus, peppermint and rosehip, all of which bring bold flavor and health properties—among other things, loads of vitamin C with hibiscus and rosehip—to the blend.
Finally, it rests on a foundation of our spectacular Silver Needle White tea, one of our favorite white teas. Not only does Silver Needle contribute beautiful flavor to the tea, it also contains an abundance of antioxidants and polyphenols that boost health.
Reunion Teas: Rooibos Creamsicle
Just as watermelon stands as a classic summer flavor, so does the Creamsicle. While fresh oranges are not in season domestically in the summer, the Creamsicle is a constant companion. We’ve technically had Creamsicles in the United States since 1905, when an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson encased vanilla ice cream in frozen fruit juice. He called it the “Epsicle,” which later was called the Popsicle and Creamsicle.
We think the Creamsicle is a glorious confection. The bright tang of frozen orange marries perfectly with the ice cream’s deep silkiness. It also complements vanilla—for good reason orange and vanilla are celebrated for their companionship.
This tea also draws bass notes from rooibos, the South African tea packed with electrolytes. Among other things, the minerals help increase hydration, an important factor during summer get-togethers. To capture the essence of Creamsicle, this tea combines orange peel with yogurt (for the creaminess) and sugar (a small amount, to intensify the orange flavor).
It’s an outstanding addition to any summer party.
Reunion Teas: Toasted Almond
Of the teas covered here, our Toasted Almond is the least sweet. It turns to apple pieces for its sweet bits, and then incorporates almonds, cinnamon pieces and beetroot pieces for additional flavor and color.
Like oranges and watermelon, almonds also figure into summer flavors. For example, while traditional Mexican horchata is made from rice, many versions also leverage almonds and almond milk. And horchata is among the best summer beverages on the planet, in our humble opinion.
For this tea, feel free to boost the sweet quotient with a little honey—our favorite sweetener—or whatever you prefer. Another welcome addition: almond milk!
This is a crowd-pleasing tea. Make sure to brew quite a bit! In our experience, people sip and gulp their way through our Toasted Almond with abandon, and keep coming back for more.
The season of family reunions is upon us. Bring all of your family news, and lots of laughter. And tea, too.
