Speaking of strawberries, William Butler Yeats put it best when he wrote, “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.” We wonder, what would Yeats have written if he’d ever had a Strawberry Daiquiri? Well, although the name sounds exotic, the Strawberry Daiquiri was actually developed by an American. Ok, he was living in Cuba at the time but he was American nonetheless. The man’s name was Jennings Cox, a mining engineer stationed in the East of that country back in 1896. Jennings developed the concoction of strawberries, coconut, and rum as a special drink to offer his guests, and named it after a small village near his house. He could never known the extent to which his drink would take off in popularity and certainly never have guessed that it would become a fantastic tea blend! Well, we’re pleased to say it did. We’ve blended a high grown Ceylon with all natural flavorings and created a tea with notes of full-bodied strawberry, undertones of sweet rum, and hints of fresh coconut. Brew it up hot with a dash of sugar and splash of milk to open up the subtleties of the flavoring. Like your tea cold? Pour the hot brew over a tall glass of ice for a real summer treat. Either way this one is superb. ¡Que rico!

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.