Let it Snow

Limited Supply Christmas Tea

Blender’s Notes Let It Snow:

Some blends begin with a single tea and build from there. This one decided one tea wasn’t enough. We brought together three distinctly different tea traditions: Ceylon black tea from Sri Lanka, delicate Pai Mu Dan white tea, and Chinese Sencha green tea, and then added almond, coconut, chocolate, cinnamon, and amaretto for good measure. The result is almost a little journey through the tea world, with history, character, and a bit of indulgence tucked into every cup. Our journey begins in the rolling tea country surrounding Kandy, Sri Lanka, one of the historic birthplaces of the Ceylon tea industry. The story of commercial Ceylon tea took a pivotal turn here in 1867, when Scottish planter James Taylor planted 19 acres of tea at Loolecondera Estate in the Kandy district. After disease devastated the island’s once-important coffee crop, tea expanded dramatically and ultimately became one of the agricultural products for which Sri Lanka became known around the world. For this blend, we chose Nayapane Estate FBOP, a Ceylon black tea grown near Pussellawa in Sri Lanka’s Kandy tea-growing region. Nayapane sits at roughly 3,000 feet elevation, in an area classified as mid-grown tea country. Its FBOP produces a bright reddish liquor with a mellow character, medium body, slight maltiness, and some astringency. And those four little letters, FBOP, have a story of their own. They stand for Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe, a grading term for the finished black tea leaf. Don’t let the word broken fool you into thinking we’re talking about leftovers. The smaller leaf style brews readily and gives us that colorful, flavorful Ceylon character we want in the cup. But we weren’t about to stop in Sri Lanka. From there, our teacup travels to China and the wonderfully delicate world of Pai Mu Dan, or White Peony tea. White tea is one of the gentlest expressions of the tea leaf. Pai Mu Dan is traditionally made from tender young leaves and silvery buds, carefully withered and dried with relatively little manipulation. Rather than creating a bold, dominant cup, beautiful Pai Mu Dan is known for being soft and mellow, with floral aroma, gentle fruity sweetness, and a pale golden color. Its name, White Peony, comes from the lovely appearance of the leaves and silvery buds as they open in the water, reminiscent of a peony unfurling its petals. If our Ceylon black tea brings the backbone, Pai Mu Dan brings the whisper. Then comes our Chinese Sencha green tea, adding yet another personality to the blend. Green tea remains green and fresh in character because heat is used relatively early in processing to stop the enzymatic oxidation that would otherwise continue changing the leaf. China has centuries of history surrounding tea processing. Earlier Chinese traditions included steaming, while pan-firing became increasingly prominent alongside the development of loose-leaf tea during the Ming era. This is also where Chinese and Japanese green-tea traditions can taste remarkably different. Steaming is strongly associated with Japanese Sencha and tends to emphasize vivid green, grassy, vegetal, and savory characteristics. Pan-fired Chinese green teas more often reveal gentler toasted, nutty, floral, chestnut-like, and subtly sweet qualities.

And when Christmas rolls around, this already-indulgent blend gets dressed for the season.

For the holidays, we transform this customer favorite into Let It Snow, adding festive candy snowflakes throughout the blend. They bring a playful touch of sweetness and a little Christmas whimsy among the tea leaves, almonds, coconut, chocolate, and cinnamon. As they mingle with the hot tea, those tiny snowflakes make an already cozy dessert tea feel even more like a holiday treat. With slivered almonds, coconut bits, chocolate bits, cinnamon chips, Amaretto Essential Oil, and festive candy snowflakes, Let It Snow is nutty, creamy, chocolatey, gently spiced, and wonderfully aromatic. Underneath all that holiday deliciousness, you can still discover the three distinct teas that make this blend so unusual: the rich body of Nayapane Estate Ceylon black tea, the soft floral elegance of Pai Mu Dan and the fresh lift of Chinese Sencha green tea. Three teas. Three traditions. One very merry little cup. Think toasted almond and sweet amaretto, creamy coconut, chocolate and warming cinnamon, finished with a sprinkle of candy-snowflake sweetness. It’s the kind of tea that begs for fuzzy socks, Christmas lights, and absolutely no reason whatsoever to count how many cookies disappeared. Because around here, when the forecast calls for tea…we say Let It Snow! ❄️

• Leaves can be infused twice (Double the tea for the same price!)
• Robust blend, making a nice color and strong flavor
• Rich and full-bodied ~ Can be long-steeped for Astringency
• Dark, Dark Colour Cup of Tea
• Full of natural antioxidants and Flavor ~ Energy Producer
• Sample Size ~ 1 oz will make 8-10 16 oz teas
• Sealed Bag ~ 4 oz will make 32-40 16 oz teas
• Iced Tea ~ Always double the amount of Tea for the same-size cup!
• Per Serving ~ 1 tsp per 6 oz of H2O
• Caffeine: Medium

Ingredients: Steep Me Proprietary Organic and Wildcrafted Blend of Sri Lankan Ceylon Black Teas, Chinese Pai Mu Tan White Tea from Fujian Province called White Peony, and well-structured larger-leaf Chinese Sencha Green Tea, Slivered Almonds, Coconut Bits, Chocolate Bits, Cinnamon Chips with the Highest Quality Amaretto Essential Oil with the fun addition of Sparkly Snowflakes!

 CONTAINS: MILK ~NUTS(Almonds)

Alternatively, try our Rudolf’s Treat Black Tea OR Away In the Manger Black Tea.

Here are great reasons black tea is healthy and a great beverage option.  https://www.thespruceeats.com/black-tea-benefits-765048