Tea Archives - The Loose Tea BlogThe Loose Tea Blog

October 22, 2020

Franken-Tea for Halloween!

Our new favorite Halloween treat with a few tricks! “When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?“ -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Our NEW Mary Shelley Green Tea has arrived just in time for all of your spooky Halloween shenanigans. The Treat Tea was an essential part of Mary and Percy’s daily lives and it is recorded that they favored black tea that was sweetened. After learning of the plight of slaves on sugar cane plantations they boycotted sugar and, not liking unsweetened black tea, they switched to drinking plain green tea. Since there are no references to tea in Mary’s writings, the inspiration for this […]

July 24, 2020

Enjoy a TEA-quila Sunrise for National Tequila Day!

TEA-quila Sunrise Cocktail Whether you’re enjoying a nice dinner or relaxing poolside, a Tequila Sunrise is perfect for any occasion. The first version of the Tequila Sunrise originated in Arizona and is a perfect representation of the vibrant Southwestern skies. In honor of National Tequila Day, we’ve made a TEA-quila blend based on this classic tequila cocktail complemented by S&V herbal “tea.” This beverage not only turned out aesthetically pleasing, but also a delicious tropical treat! A classic tequila sunrise includes: Grenadine, Orange Juice, and Tequila Our “tea” twist was to substitute the grenadine for our Simpson & Vail Orange Cranberry Herbal Tisane and a bit of hibiscus to create a Simple Syrup. Simple Syrup Ingredients: 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup sugar 2 tbsp (t-sacs) of […]

July 14, 2020

Delicious & Refreshing Tea Sangria Recipes

Sangria is a wonderful treat to cool off with on a hot summer day so we wanted to share some of our favorite tea sangria recipes. We hope you enjoy these while relaxing this summer. Fruity White Tea Sangria Serves 6 1 bottle white wine (Sauvignon Blanc works well) 4 cups sweet tea (using S&V White Ambrosia tea, sweetened to taste) 1/4 cup triple sec 2 cups each frozen or fresh raspberries and frozen sliced peaches A bit of fresh mint for garnish Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and refrigerate 1 hour or until properly chilled. Very Berry Tea Sangria 2 quarts Sweetened iced tea chilled (using our S&V Iced Tea Blend) 1 (750 mL) bottle sweet red wine chilled we like a red moscato or sparkling […]

April 15, 2020

Introducing our National Parks Tea Collection

Honoring our beautiful National Parks There are over 419 national parks across the US and this number grows every year. The massive protection project covers over 84 million acres and is kept by the National Park Service, multiple non-profits, volunteers, etc. One could say we all have an influence on our nation’s National Parks. My journey with the National Parks began in Sept. 2017 during a spontaneous trip to Colorado. With a pair of hiking boots I bought two days prior, I decided to take on the Rockies. Beyond this, I travelled to the Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, the Grand Canyon, Acadia, and many other National Parks not (yet) featured in this tea line. Over the years I found a lot of comparisons between the National Parks and […]

October 19, 2015

Breaking News – our new Literary Tea Line

Simpson & Vail is unveiling a new line of tea tins that we’ve been working on for months. The Literary Tea Line is a collection of blends that were created with a specific author in mind. The teas vary from a black tea blend to a flavored herbal blend and each is inspired by the authors’ works and lives. The Literary Tea Line is inspired by William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Emily Dickinson, James Joyce, Beatrix Potter, Lewis Carroll, and Charles Dickens. A warm mug of tea and a good book go together like, well, a warm cup of tea and a good book. Keep warm in any armchair with occasional sips of tea while letting the words of brilliant writers wash over […]

August 20, 2014

Blueberry Gingerbread Tea Muffins

Blueberry season is slowly dwindling to a close unfortunately but hopefully you were able to get out and pick some of these delicious berries to eat and to freeze. I recently went blueberry picking on a lovely summer morning and picked 6 quarts. Yum! The farm handed out a recipe booklet when we left and, among the tasty treats they wrote about, I found this muffin recipe. It’s incredibly delicious and I hope you enjoy them! Ingredients: 1 1/2 tsp gingerbread tea 1 cup water 2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup molasses 1/2 cup oil (canola, sunflower…) 2 1/2 cups flour 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ginger 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen) Preheat oven to […]

August 6, 2014

Water in America

We all know that the best cup of tea starts with good water. If your water contains chlorine or heavy minerals, it’ll be impossible to achieve the tastiest tea brew. I am fortunate that I have access to clean, delicious water at home and at work. Most of the time I take it for granted. When I turn on the tap, I expect that I’ll receive decent, healthy water. Every once and awhile though we need to step back and look at these things we take for granted. Imagine if when I turned on the water I did not enjoy good water. Imagine that when I turned on the taps brown water came out, or water with harmful chemicals, or bad tasting water . Imagine if I turned […]

July 10, 2014

Mrs. Carr’s Shaker Cold Rhubarb Tea

Are you like me? Do you still have rhubarb in your fridge that is waiting for you to decide what sweet it will end up in … crisp, pie, jam? Our friend Kat, the lovely kindhearted Ms. Katness, has brought us lots of goodies this Spring – asparagus, rhubarb, wonderful baked treats! I’ve already made 2 pies with the rhubarb but I was looking for something new. I voiced my desire one night in a restaurant and a man named Johnny Carr said he had just the thing. Off he went to his truck and came in with his mother’s hand written recipe for Rhubarb “Tea”! Johnny said the tea was so good that he made photo copies of her recipe to hand out to people he’d meet. […]

August 6, 2013

Earl Grey Tea – History, tea types and recipes

What is the History of Earl Grey tea? Earl Grey teas, traditionally, were blends comprised of varying black teas with Bergamot oil added to them. Today, any tea (green, white, herbal) that is sprayed with Bergamot oil is known as Earl Grey (such as our Emerald Green Earl Grey, Rooibos Earl Grey, etc). Every tea merchant carries an Earl Grey black tea blend, but they are all very different due to the variations in black teas used for the blend and the quality of the bergamot oil. Here at Simpson & Vail we use high quality bergamot oil. What is bergamot oil? Bergamot oil comes from the rind of the bergamot orange, which grows on the citrus tree Citrus bergamia. These trees are mainly grown for commercial use […]

January 24, 2013

S&V Chai Tea Oatmeal

In one of the tea chat groups I belong to (Teamail), a woman mentioned that she had recently been served Chai tea oatmeal at a restaurant on the West Coast. She said it was delicious and I could well imagine that it would be pretty tasty. So since it’s winter and I do love a warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning, I brewed up some chai this morning and gave this a whirl. Oh my gosh – Yum! I will never make oatmeal without chai again! I brewed up 1 1/2 tsp of Chai Black Tea in 8oz water and steeped for 5 minutes. Then I poured the brewed tea in a saucepan, added 1/2 cup of oats, returned to a boil, then simmered. I added a little maple syrup […]