Good morning, tea friends! How was your weekend? If you were close to us, we at least know that it was hot! The good news is that over the next couple days, a few showers will help us to cool down and a beautiful 4th of July weekend is expected! Speaking of, arguably, the most patriotic day of the year, what are your plans? Are you headed to a family get together or picnic? Do you have a pool or lakeside engagement on the books? Are you planning just to enjoy it solo and soak up the sun rays on your back deck whilst enjoying a good book? Whatever you may have in store for this beautiful starred and striped day, in this blog post you will find out how to incorporate Good Life Tea and our most popular red, white, and blue teas! Check it out below!
For those unfamiliar, the colors red, white, and blue present on our flag have significant meaning. The red stands for hardiness and valor. Our forefathers endured the difficult conditions imparted on them by England and overcame them with courage and determination. This boldness can be compared to the flavor profile of our rooibos teas, or our red teas. Rooibos teas are completely caffeine free teas that are native to the Cederburg region of South Africa. They are harvested and fermented just as the leaves for black and green teas are, but present as red as they are from a completely different plant that has come to be known as the "red bush". Rooibos teas are praised for their host of antioxidant properties and are backed heavily by everyone's favorite, Dr. Oz. For more information on rooibos teas specifically, I highly recommend referencing this blog. It will give you all you need to know about this delicious tea!
For the 4th of July in particular, one of our rooibos teas that I recommend is our Bourbon St. Vanilla. For those familiar with Bourbon Street, located in New Orleans, it is a boulevard of liveliness and partying. It is popping at all hours of the day and night, and if you are looking for live music, great company, and a good time, this is where you go. Similarly, our Bourbon St. Vanilla tea brings the party. Vanilla flavors grace the base of rooibos red leaves in this tea, and dance across your tongue with the same smoothness of the southern rumba dancers that aren't hard to spot on Bourbon Street. Due to the impeding July heat, I suggest drinking this one on ice. It will only heighten the sweet vanilla flavors and due to the caffeine free aspect, you can enjoy this one all day long!
On the American flag, the color white signifies purity and innocence. With our white teas, oftentimes we do hear that they present more purely as their flavor profiles are more so, subtle and faint. When individuals with this preference for gentler tones come into the shop, my immediate thought is to direct them toward our white tea collection. We have seven different varieties to offer you that are all incredibly exquisite, all in their own regard. Just as I suggested serving our rooibos tea iced, I always highly recommend serving our white teas over ice as well. They are undeniably refreshing and are a more luxurious (and in my humble opinion, tastier!) way to offer guests flavored water. We proudly offer the following: White Peach, White Blueberry, White Tropics, White Peony, White Tangerine, Chinese Silver Needles, and Rhapsody in Blue. For more in depth descriptions of each of these lovely teas, click on the links to each! This 4th of July, to impress your party guests, might I propose serving our White Blueberry tea over ice, with the addition of frozen raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries to be festive! It is an easy way to add a bit of patriotic pizazz to your table, all the while keeping everyone cool!
In the last of the trio of the prestigious colors present on our flag, the blue symbolizes vigilance, perseverance, and justice. These are extraordinarily admirable qualities that we celebrate on the 4th of July as displayed numerous times in the course of the history of our country. If you would like to honor these traits and this color symbolization, might I suggest you try our Blue Sapphire tea. This is a black tea, hailing from Kenya. It's medium caffeine content is the perfect way to ease your way from Sunday morning to Sunday afternoon on the 4th and its smoothness with glide across your taste buds. While this is, indeed, a black tea, it is highlighted by the beauty of blue petals from the cornflower plant. As you steep this tea and watch the blue petals dance around your cup or pitcher, you can recount the perseverance of those who came before us and ensured our independence.
As always, I do hope that you all have a wonderful remainder of your week, that you are able to stay cool, and that you are getting excited for our upcoming holiday! Stay tuned, as I just returned from a trip to Boston and whilst there, I visited the site where the Boston Tea Party took place! I have so much to share with you all! Happy sipping and God Bless America! - Kaytea :)