WINNER - GOLD MEDAL 2023  - Best White Tea Natural Blend

Golden Leaf Awards

VERY LIMITED RELEASE... a fancy pants collaboration with Taronga Almonds

BUD, BLOSSOM, BLOOM

Flow with the seasons of life...

You are... the full moon glimmering over the patient field, whispering the new tea buds open. The sweet almond blossoms awakening at daybreak, glistening with dew. The fragrant rose in glorious bloom.

May you bud, blossom and bloom…over and over… as the seasons of life promise you will.

The moon will wax… and wane. The tides will come in… and out. And you... you will evolve, most perfectly, through all the beautiful versions of you.

May this exquisite elixir of camellia buds, hand-picked almond blossoms and fragrant rose, lift you to a most celestial place.

25 grams, premium loose leaf white tea blend. Pouch.

*Allergen note: Contains flowers from the almond nut tree.

• VEGAN / GLUTEN FREE
• PERFECT FOR HOT + COLD BREWING
• NO ARTIFICIAL COLOURS OR FLAVOURS
• NO SUGAR
• HAND BLENDED IN ADELAIDE
• AUSTRALIAN OWNED & OPERATED

BENEFITS OF THE INGREDIENTS...

ORGANIC CAMELLIA BUD (Camellia sinensis) - Camellia buds are the unopened flower buds of the Camellia sinensis tea plant. White tea is known to be bursting with antioxidants due to its high polyphenol content.

DRIED ALMOND BLOSSOMS - All parts of the almond tree contain taxifolin, a natural compound that is known to have anti-tumor properties.

ORGANIC RED ROSE PETALS - are known to be antioxidant rich and mood boosting, ‘a hug’ that comforts the heart. They may improve skin and hair health, aid in digestion and detoxification, boost immunity, fight inflammation and relieve stress. Red Rose Petals contain polyphenols that work to protect your body from cell damage, these polyphenols have been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cognitive diseases.

ABOUT THE CREATION OF THIS ESPECIALLY SPECIAL TEA...

Dreaming of blossom tea for years...

My gorgeous niece Kelsey and I LOVE blossom.She even has a tattoo on her arm! For me, as a tea blender, you always have a list of dream ingredients you would like to work with one day. I have ALWAYS wanted to create a tea with blossom. And I have been dreaming and researching for years about the types of blossom I'd like to use - orange blossom, sakura blossom, cherry blossom, almond blossom - and how/where I could source it in an organically grown way.

Of course, blossom is very tricky to source for many reasons:

• Organic is hard to come by full stop let alone something as specialised as delicate blossoms
• Blossom is the beginning of fruit on trees so if you take the blossom you lose the fruit.
• It blooms for only a couple of weeks each year!
• It needs to be picked by hand, flower by flower, then dried over many weeks and carefully turned each day... Wowsers.

But we love a good challenge!

Meeting Deb from Taronga Almonds...

In 2021, at a Food SA event I introduced myself to the lovely Deb of Taronga Almonds who had a stall showcasing her incredible products. I told her about my idea for a blossom tea. She told me she loved tea and we decided to stay in touch and see what we could do together when the time was right.

Taronga Almonds is a delightfully delicious family-run business based in the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia. It is run by two-and-a-half generations of foodies who are nuts about producing and selling high-quality almonds and natural food products. We love everything about Taronga Almonds products - they are:

• 100% all natural almonds
• Sustainably grown
• Locally produced & crafted on the farm
• Pesticide free
• Insecticide Free
• No additives
• No preservatives
• 100% compostable packaging
• Made in a peanut free facility

Picking, Drying and Blending

The winter (and blossom) of 2022 came and went but we committed to being ready for 2023 to experiment with using almond blossom for tea.  In mid-winter we connected with Deb again and she arranged for us to meet her in historic Willunga SA - famous for its gorgeous almond blossoms - at the Recreation Park to pick the flowers of a glorious old blossom tree. It was the perfect tree as it is not harvested for almonds any longer and making tea from the blossoms gives the old tree a beautiful new lease on life! We first tasted the fresh blossom by eating the flower and it was incredible! A delicate sweetness and the note of fresh snow peas was what I experienced.

Kelsey, Deb and I spent a morning collecting the delicate flowers, picking them by hand, one by one. Oh my! We took them back to our tea studio in Queenstown SA and laid them carefully on muslin cloth to dry naturally, carefully turning them by hand each day so they could dry evenly and prevent bruising. It was all an experiment!

After 2 weeks, the blossoms were dry (and had shrunk down to way less than we imagined!) and I began experimenting with an idea for a blend I had going around in my head for a year or so... 'Bud, Blossom + Bloom'. Camellia buds, almond blossom and red rose petals (representing a full life cycle...or season). I also played with a few tea blend ideas with more robust ingredients but it meant that the delicate blossom flavour was overpowered and I really wanted to make the blossom the hero as much as possible. So I came back to my initial idea of 'Bud, Blossom and Bloom' and I am SO happy with the final blend! It is sooooo delicate and nutty, sweet and floral... it is absolutely stunning!

A huge and special thanks to Deb from Taronga Almonds for joining us on this journey and her guidance and expert picking and thank you so much to Willunga Recreation Park for generously allowing us to forage their beautiful old blossom tree.