Rhubarb cream tea. It is common knowledge that anything made with rhubarb, (Latin: Rheum officinale), will always taste better if one rolls the "r" when the word rhubarb is pronounced. This tea is no exception. The first people to recognize the myriad gastronomic uses of Rhubarb were the British at the time of Queen Victoria. During her rein, Rhubarb surged in popularity since it was easy to grow and thrived in the damp British climate. British cooks developed recipes ranging from baked rhubarb with brown sugar to Rhubarb crumble with cream. Can you say delicious? Not surprisingly, many of these recipes are British favorites to this day. After a trip to England, we decided that the time was right to develop a rhubarb-flavored tea. Next, we determined that the resulting blend should be naturally sweetened with the addition of fresh dairy cream. The result, we're sure you'll agree, is nothing short of wonderful - sweet, creamy, astringent - absolutely delectable. Say it with us again: Rrrrrrrhubarb! Rrrrrhubarb cream tea!

What type of tea do we use, how do we flavor the tea and why do we use natural flavors?

•  We only use high grown teas from the top 3 tea growing regions of Sri Lanka - Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula and Uva. These three high-grown districts produce flavorful teas that have classic ‘Ceylon’ tea character which is noted by floral bouquet and flavor notes, touches of mild astringency, bright coppery color and, most importantly - perfect for use as the base tea of our flavored teas. (We have tested teas from various other origins around the world as base stock for our flavored teas, but none of these teas made the grade.) Dimbula and the western estates of Nuwara Eliya have a major quality peak during Jan/Feb, whereas Uva and the eastern estates of Nuwara Eliya have their peak in July/Aug. This ‘dual peak period’ allow us to buy the best for our flavored tea blends several times during the year, ensuring top quality and freshness.

• We use flavoring oils not crystals to give the tea drinker an olfactory holiday before indulging in a liquid tea treat.

• We specify natural flavors. High quality tea tastes good and natural flavors do not mask the natural taste of the high grown Ceylon tea. (The norm for many making flavored tea is to use overpowering artificial flavors, which can be used to hide lower quality tea). Natural flavors do not leave an aftertaste giving the tea a clean and true character. It should be noted that natural flavors tend to be somewhat ‘soft ‘ and the flavors slightly muted, but for many this is a refreshing change and one of the desired attributes of our naturally flavored teas.