I have lived a life with Tea. From when I was 6 years old, I was taught to drink it. From 8, taught to make it. My mother is an English woman, who when she yearned for comfort, yearned for tea. However, growing up we mainly drank black tea with milk, and perhaps a half teaspoon with sugar, if you were good. Herbal teas were a mysterious treat, until my teens.
Over the years I have tried many, from pavlova to jasmine green to dragon flower and oolong. In more recent years, I am a coffee drinker, mostly long blacks. Libertine Blends, made right here in Berhampore, Wellington, recently agreed to let me try their organic blends. After one cup, I was a fan. From the name, to the simple packaging these teas shake off the old guard and are rich blends for the rebel heart. A return to tea gave me vitality and calm I didn’t know I had been missing.
Libertine blends began with Jacqui Wales - a resident of Wellington. As also a massive fan of coffee, Jacqui noticed little attention was put on tea. “It was cool and sexy to have a coffee” she mentions during our phone call during a warm Wellington December evening, “but not tea like I had seen in Europe”. Jacqui created 3 blends to invigorate the mind and soul, and the tea market, and blended them to create certain states of being, but with a luxurious twist.
Kapow is a tea for the girl or guy who knows what he or she wants and is ready to blast through the morning at high energy, hot or cold. Made up of a delicious blend of native kawakawa (a personal favourite) chilli, cardamom and lemongrass, I was won over by the “zingness” of the tea. It provided a pep-up without having to reach for the plunger.
My next favourite is the comforting Runaway Rose - a rose blend of elderflower, lavender and vanilla. Great as a drink for when the wearisome afternoon’s, Runaway Rose gave me the feeling of being wrapped in a warm, comforting blanket. (Quick personal detour: Once, a boy who I had a budding romance with cancelled on the morning of our date. That evening, I made a bath of rose scented salts, rose flavoured chocolate, and watched TED talks on my ipad. On evaluation, the rose made me feel better than he could have.)
Also brilliant, is Rock Ohm - manuka, mint, lemon balm and rosemary. I also enjoyed this refreshing minty drink, which is a great blend first thing. It was sexy feeling, yummy blend, with plenty of healthy herbs to make it balancing and calming.
These are teas that nourish, hydrate and soothe. You can read about their great properties here. Libertine Blends are a tasty indulgence, which should be shared equally over heartbreak and celebratory times (if champagne isn’t an option). Pick up a pack in Wellington from one of their many Wellington stockists, including Moore Wilson’s, Queen Sally’s Diamond Deli, Seize Cafe and The Wellington Apothecary. Check their website, here.
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