This is a tea I picked up from the co-op in San Francisco. It’s blended by a restaurant called Azalina’s at the edge of both of my old neighborhoods. I had never heard of Azalina’s probably because it’s located in the Twitter headquarters.
Really, this is an incredible blend if you like strong flavors. Crushed/chopped black tea leaf, tons of lavender, huge chunks of orange peel, clove, star anise and vanilla beans. They all meld together seamlessly, creating a smooth, vanilla sweet yet spicy and lavender-cooling bold black tea. The orange peel is sweet and floral compared to a more pungent tangerine peel. A little mineral and oily, doesn’t get bitter or astringent. Leaves a slight tingly spice in the mouth.
I imagine the flavors are strong enough to create a killer latte or milk tea. In my usual fashion, I drank it straight. 2tsp, 8oz, boiling, 2 steeps at 2-3 and 5 minutes. With the second steep, the black tea is pretty much depleted but the other ingredients still make a tasty brew. Very much recommended if you ever come across it!
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Wow, this sounds like a winner!
I am always a bit hesitant with several strong flavours going on at once. The result depends on the balance. Sounds like they got it right. Another reason to get to SF one day.
It sounds interesting – black tea with lavender (come on, never spell correctly) with spices and orange peel.
If I could easily get more of this I would send it around for the sampling.
I think I found a website for it here: https://www.azalinas.com/products It is listed as an herbal tea which is interesting since it has black tea in it? I wonder if they ship out across the country?
Oh cool, thanks for looking! It’s definitely not an herbal tea — you can see the black tea in the pictures and it is caffeinating. If they didn’t ship across the continental US I’d be surprised.
I’ll be going back to the city within the next month for other purposes. If anybody wants to try this let me know and I’ll stop by the co-op or Azalina’s restaurant, whichever is cheaper.
I would love to try it. Just let me know when you are able to get it and how much it is. When you get it and ship it, I can send you payment through Paypal or Venmo if you do either of those. Looking forward to it.
I will do my best to deliver! I’ll be in contact with you via pm as my excursion draws nearer.
I’d like to try it as well. However, I am in Canada and shipping costs btwn us troubling now. (And I am way behind in swaps currently, so there’s that too.)
You sent me this one! I have it sitting out to try today,
That does sound like a winning flavor combo. But I’ve always been biased towards teas with lavender.
Evol Ving Ness, I’d be happy to send you a modest sample free of charge and nothing in return since I have a huge swap from Togo to work through. Since the tea is mostly crushed would you be ok with a letter-sized envelope so that postage is cheaper to Canada? I will also pm you first week of May.
Wow, this sounds like a winner!
I am always a bit hesitant with several strong flavours going on at once. The result depends on the balance. Sounds like they got it right. Another reason to get to SF one day.
It sounds interesting – black tea with lavender (come on, never spell correctly) with spices and orange peel.
If I could easily get more of this I would send it around for the sampling.
I think I found a website for it here: https://www.azalinas.com/products It is listed as an herbal tea which is interesting since it has black tea in it? I wonder if they ship out across the country?
Oh cool, thanks for looking! It’s definitely not an herbal tea — you can see the black tea in the pictures and it is caffeinating. If they didn’t ship across the continental US I’d be surprised.
I’ll be going back to the city within the next month for other purposes. If anybody wants to try this let me know and I’ll stop by the co-op or Azalina’s restaurant, whichever is cheaper.
I would love to try it. Just let me know when you are able to get it and how much it is. When you get it and ship it, I can send you payment through Paypal or Venmo if you do either of those. Looking forward to it.
I will do my best to deliver! I’ll be in contact with you via pm as my excursion draws nearer.
I’d like to try it as well. However, I am in Canada and shipping costs btwn us troubling now. (And I am way behind in swaps currently, so there’s that too.)
You sent me this one! I have it sitting out to try today,
That does sound like a winning flavor combo. But I’ve always been biased towards teas with lavender.
Evol Ving Ness, I’d be happy to send you a modest sample free of charge and nothing in return since I have a huge swap from Togo to work through. Since the tea is mostly crushed would you be ok with a letter-sized envelope so that postage is cheaper to Canada? I will also pm you first week of May.