Tea Embassy is a family-owned business operating out of an 1872 Texas Victorian house in downtown Austin. Local or online customers can select from a menu of 200 premium, loose leaf teas.
Product description: The tea artisans that make Tea Embassy’s prized black teas in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia have taken the processing for black tea and applied it to the bilberry plant, making a completely new kind of tea. This is unique, since most herbs are just picked and dried. It has a richness that most herbal teas lack, with a sweet note. After a few sips, a slight tart taste appears, giving it a fruit note, which blends well with the sweet smoothness of this herbal tea. Steeps nicely for at least two infusions, at boiling temperature, 212 degrees Fahrenheit, for 4-6 minutes.
My experience: The approach of applying traditional tea processes to an herbal product is very interesting. The dry leaves resemble high quality long black tea leaves. The brew looks like a relatively dark black tea. However, the taste is definitely herbal, slightly medicinal, with the refreshing tang of what I believe to be high Vitamin C content. I take bilberry in capsule form as a supplement to enhance night vision and was hoping this tea could provide an opportunity to receive eye health benefits with a liquid taste treat. However, the disconnect between the tea’s appearance as a black tea and its clearly herbal taste is a bit disappointing. I wonder if this tea would be enhanced by blending it with a suitable black tea. I continue to be fascinated with this approach to processing bilberry leaf. Less flavor with second infusion.
