Artisan’s Cup Tea
Been a little while since I last wrote, so I am hoping I am not too rusty, try and keep with me as I work out the kinks of my writing, I promise in the coming days to try and find some time to write a bit more. Also keep an eye out for a some long overdue product reviews, starting with this one.
Tea companies come in many sizes. On one side you’ve got your Lipton, Bigelow and Celestial Seasonings pumping out teas for the masses, creating almost every conceivable flavor in the spectrum, as long as it appeals to a bunch of people.
Then you’ve got Artisan’s Cup.
While the big tea companies are churning out flavors, smaller tea companies have to compete on quality and intensity. Artisan’s Cup, in an unusual business mode, attempts to do both.
Rather then overextending resources to produce a different flavor for everyone, Artisan’s Cup offers a DIY step into tea making. At Artisan’s Cup, while you can choose from some of their pre-mixed blends, but the really great thing is that you are able to create your own blend of tea.
First you choose your base (Black, Green or Half & Half). If you’re a purest, and that is enough for you, well Artisan’s Cup is not going to be the brand for you. With over 70 different flavors to choose from, Artisan’s Cup is all about mixing and matching and playing with flavors.
Artisan’s Cup allows you to create custom blends, flavors of tea you have only dreamed about or hoped that Celestial Seasonings would one day produce. Want some Apricot Creme Brule Green Tea? You got it. Caramel Blueberry Irish Cream Black Tea? All yours. I had the pleasure of trying both a green and black variety.
My black tea could have been an anti-oxidant blend, made up of Blueberry, Pomegranate and Lavender and straight out of the bag had a wonderful smell. Slightly overwhelming was the scent of blueberries with a hint of lavender (I actually am not sure if I could identify the smell of a pomegranate).
My first concern was that the tea was going to be overwhelming on the fruity flavor side and a bit weak on the tea flavor side. Fortunately, this was not the case. As I drink more teas from different companies, I am always pleasantly surprised to discover that the most pungent teas tend to have the best balance of flavors, and that was certainly the case here.
If I had to find fault with Artisan’s Cup, it would be that there are almost too many flavors. When looking at the website and during my initial talks with them about getting some tea, I found myself lost in trying to create a blend.
Does Ginger Lemon complement Vanilla Apricot? I ended up leaving the decision making to the tea professionals (which, admittedly to some extent misses the point of the Artisan’s Cup, but that’s my own failing).
This is a great way to create some custom blends, great as a gift to a tea drinker who knows what they like or as a very personalized gift that you construct.
The other downside is the price, which can be a bit restrictive. A 4oz bag of loose tea is going to run you $12.95, which translates to $51.75 a pound.
While the whole leaf green and black teas are very nice, are they $50-a-pound teas? You need to consider that every bag is custom made. Unlike Celestial Seasonings, which sells their love of the customer via cutesy packaging and good marketing and branding, most of their bags of teas have probably never been touched by a human hand until you crack open the box. With the Artisan’s Cup, every bag of tea that goes out has that personalized touch.
So, if you’re looking for a good cup of customized tea (or want to give one as a gift or as a party favor), I’d recommend checking out the Artisan’s Cup.
