Cold-brewed sparkling tea is the perfect way to steep tea this summer. We have selected four of our favourite teas with floral or fruity base notes which are beautifully accentuated when steeped in cold, sparkling water.

Sparking tea is the perfect alternative to champagne and is lovely to serve at the beginning of an event or to kick off Christmas morning!

The teas in our Sparkling tea box are:

Giddapahar First Flush, black tea, India
Flavour: floral, muscatel, dried apricot, raisin
Giddapahar Tea Estate was founded in 1881 and been under the ownership and management of the Shaw family ever since its inception. Located on the gentle slopes of the Kurseong Valley at an elevation of 1500m, Giddapahar produces exquisite and distinctive Darjeeling teas from tea plants more than 100 years old. Its first flush teas (the very first leaves to appear in spring after the winter dormancy) are much sought-after. Steeping cold in sparkling water accentuates the tea’s floral and fruity notes, creating a vibrant and playful, celebratory tea.  

Himalayan Moon Drops, organic oolong tea, Nepal
Flavour: floral, malty, creamy & sweet
Harvested in June 2023, Himalayan Moon Drops is a sensory feast. It is crafted using hand-harvested leaves from Japanese and Taiwanese tea plant cultivars that are grown at an elevation of 1850m. The steeped infusion is smooth and creamy with notes of flowers, sweet malt, raw sugar and sweetened whipped cream. Jun Chiyabari, meaning ‘Moonlit tea garden’, is a family run, high mountain tea estate led by brothers Bachan and Lochan Gyawali. The tea plants are set in small plots scattered between forests, bamboo groves, boulders and streams, at an altitude of 1650m to 2100m in Dhankuta, east Nepal. The terroir, the brothers’ commitment to organic production and careful processing creates rare, high quality, light and aromatic full-leaf teas. Organic certification by IMO.

Cape Jasmine, Taiwan
Flavour: jasmine, hint of cream ~ floral & fragrant
Organic Cape Jasmine flowers have been blended with organic Jade oolong to create this sweet, heady and fragrant tea. The leaves infuse into a honey-yellow liquor that when sipped, coats the mouth with its thick floral character and rewards you with a subtle hint of cream at the end. Spring 2021 harvest. Certified Organic by MOA International and Hong Kong Organic Certification Centre.

Satemwa OP1, black tea, Malawi
Flavour: smoke, spice, wood, dried fruit ~ medium-bodied
A classic, brisk, full-leaf black tea from the Shire Highlands in Thyolo, southern Malawi. Satemwa OP1 is a small batch tea, grown and hand-plucked by a local farmer, then purchased and processed by Satemwa Tea Estates. This is their April 2021 harvest.  Founded in 1923, Satemwa is a small, family-run tea estate in Malawi, Africa. Satemwa is certified by Fair Trade & Rainforest Alliance and has a strong focus on sustainability and ethical tea production.

Each tea is 20 grams (the same leaves can be cold brewed multiple times) and the teas are packaged in our small gift box.

The gift box includes a card to introduce the box to the gift recipient, instructions on how to cold-brew the teas in sparkling water (sparkling water is not included in the box), and our tea steeping and tasting guide. And of course, the teas can all be hot-steeped too!

Instructions:

1. Using a funnel, add 1 gram of tea per 100 mls* into a bottle of sparkling water. Screw the lid on tightly.

2. Place in the fridge and steep for 2 hours, then open the lid very slowly (it can bubble over) and gently pour through a strainer into a serving pitcher. When ready, pour into glasses (champagne glasses work well). Garnish with edible flowers or fruit if you wish, serve and enjoy!

If your bottle is 300mls, add 3 grams; if it is 750 mls add 7.5 grams; if it is 1 litre add 10 grams and so on.

Tips: - you can quickly soak the leaves in hot water first as this can make them easier to get into the bottle.
- use the same leaves for a second infusion.
- fully sparking water, not lightly sparking, works best. If you have a Soda Stream, you can use this - just add another pump of gas to make it extra sparkling

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