Thursday is Teahouse/Tea Room, Accessory and Brand Review Day!

When I received some Armenian honey for review from Aiva Naturals… I wasn’t really sure what to do. Honey is a natural product to pair with tea, but it’s not one I’ve used on a regular basis. Here’s what I’ve figured out.

Addiing things to my tea hasn’t been a commonality for me. For years I’ve been quite the purist, preferring tea without milk, sugar, honey or other sweeteners. I even prefer my ices teas unsweetened.

When I was approached by Aiva Naturals to do this review I immediately accepted. How difficult could it be? It’s just honey. Right? Wrong. Very wrong.

Aiva imports their honey from Armenia. A tiny place sandwiched between Turkey and Syria. The terain here is rough but lively.

The bees begin their Spring season around 1000 feet above sea level. Gathering pollen from a variety of plants such as thyme, clover sage and currant flowers, amongst others. The bees are later transferred to somewhere around 5300 feet above sea level.

It’s just honey. Right? Wrong. Very wrong.

While I am not a ‘honey person.’ I have to say, this is a lot better than the honey you buy in the store in the little plastic bear bottles.

I needed to cultivate a honey palate similar to my tea palate. Obviously I couldn’t afford to try all of them, so I selected only two for comparison.

I spent some time at Jungle Jims, an international foods market taking up about 6 acres of space near my office. They have close to a hundred, maybe more different brands/types of honey. Many of them very good. None from Armenia. None with the unique production environment Aiva has.

The first selected honey was Alberta Premium Honey. The second was Hot Mama’s Orange Blossom Honey. Both in the twenty dollar range. The Aiva Naturals honey is $12.95. More expensive than your average, but apparently less than some other honeys.

The Orange Blossom Honey is made with pollen coming only from orange groves and has a sweet and delicate fruity taste and an aroma reminiscent of citrus blossoms. The distinctive orange blossom flavor would be good if you like citrus flavored tea blends.

I spent several months trying different teas with each of the different honeys.

The Alberta Premium Honey is made with pollen from Alberta clover and alfalfa. More similar ingredients obviously to the Aiva Naturals Armenian Honey.

Aiva Naturals Armenian Honey

I spent several months trying different teas with each of the different honeys. Several Assams, malty, orthodox and a more stern CTC. Several Chinese black teas including Keemuns, Lapsang Souchong and a couple Pu’erhs were tested.

Chinese green teas such as Lung Ching and a series of Japanese greens including grassier Senchas and more shade grown Gyokuro and more modern Hojicha, Genmaicha and Kukicha were all tested.

The Aiva matched well with the most stern or astringent teas. Primarily I’d say the Assams and darker blacks. Oddly it made the Lapsang Souchong taste a little funny. The Hot Mama’s Orange Blossom Honey faired much better there.

I tried each of the honeys with a number of herbal mint teas including a Morroccan mint, Armenian mint and standard peppermint tea. All tasted very nice with the different mints. The Hot Mama’s offered more of a changeup though.

A few of the green teas, all Japanese, all shade grown matched well with the Aiva. Best with a fresher Gyokuro, but not bad with a stronger brewed Sencha or Bancha. None of the honeys faired well with the Hojicha, Genmaicha or Kukicha in my opinion.

Hot Mama’s did well with a standard Sencha and despite the similarity between the Aiva and the Alberta Premium honeys, the Alberta matched best with the Senchas than the Aiva did.

The Aiva matched well with the most stern or astringent teas.

In conclusion I’d have to say the Aiva Naturals honey matches best with a nice strong Assam. Look for an English or Irish Breakfast to best fit this Armenian honey.

The other two honeys did match well with stronger teas as well, but the sweeter Orange Blossom Honeyseemed to match alright with lighter greens such as the Lung Ching much better than the other two.

I still cannot claim to have a honeyed palate. I wouldn’t say my preference is to add any honey to my teas. However, I can now tell some subtle differences between at least these three honeys and some you’d find at your local Kroger.

Pros

• Sweetens your tea.
• Naturally produced.
• A natural match with a stern Assam.
• A good match with other Indian, Chinese, Sri Lankan and African black teas.
• A decent match with peppermint herbal teas.
• An okay match with shade grown Japanese greens such as Gyokuro.

Cons

• Too sweet for a Chinese green.
• Too sweet for lighter Japanese greens.
• More expensive than standard honeys.

• Two of Japan’s largest bev-co’s, Kirin & Suntory, are apparently looking to merge. Both include tea on their best seller lists and export their products to North America. The merger would create the single largest beverage company in the world… ahead of Atlanta based Coca-Cola.
• According to World Tea News, moving to a new location seemed to help one small town teahouse. Congratulations to Joseph Doyle on a great and shrewd business move.
• Erin Cauble, the owner of “The Tea Room,” a business periodical has apparently decided to close up shop. The current economic climate as well as decreased advertising revenue were cited as primary reasons for the publication’s closure.Erin also notes that she is unsure what she will do with PositiviTea.com, another site and news resource she currently maintains. Find out more at World Tea News.
• STL Ocarina, a St. Louis, Missouri based company, has developed a whistling tea cup! More from their website!
• The “Harmony” line of tea kettles from Copco are being recalled due burn risks. The kettles have been available sine early 2006 and have been sold for around $30 at retailers throughout the United States and Canada.If you have one of these kettles, Copco recommends you cease using it for your safety.Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Wilton Industries, Inc. at (800) 794- 5866 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. CT Monday through Thursday, and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. CT Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.copco.com.
• According to The London Telegraph, that thought you had a few days ago… you know… the one where you could swear that your tea tasted better in that other cup… you were probably right! Apparently tea really does taste better in your favorite cup.
• A new tea shop has opened its doors in Grand Central Terminal in NYC. Called the “Tea and Honey Store,” it’s apparently owned by the purveyors of the Pylones gift shop chain.
• Jason Witt, has been running a newsletter for those of the Christian faith. He provides an interesting commonly faith based article every week with his “Teaternity” newsletter.

Help a good cause: CharityWater.org

Tuesday is Iced Tea Review day!

I’ve been very very excited about trying different iced teas for these reviews. Peach teas are pretty popular and typical here ni the States and I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer something up. This time though, it’s got an Oolong base.

When I think of iced teas, as most americans may, I think of Souther sweet teas. Perhaps with some Georgia peach thrown in for good measure. This wonderfully balanced iced Oolong from Honest Tea is a good example.

The Peach Oo-La-Long from Honest Tea comes bottled. The liquid murky, the color of dark amber needs to be shaken before consumed to get the “good stuff” off the bottom and mixed in with the liquid.

Honest Tea does well on the colorie count. Much better than I’d anticipated from a larger sized and growing company. This particular tea is USDA Certified Organic, Fair Trade Certified, Carbon Offset and contains no Genetically Modified Organic materials (GMOs).

Pop open the bottle and you’ll find just what you’d expect. The fragrance of ripe peaches with the lightest of hints of Oolong and honey.

Upon tasting, this tea isn’t as bold as I’d anticipated. Right around the middle of the scale really. With an ever so slightly bitter finish the Peach Oo-La-Long isn’t as sweet as the aroma but has a tail which sticks around a bit, almost pleading for you to drink more.

I would recommend this this iced brew for lovers of peaches, peach teas, sweet/sun teas and tasty beverages.