I encountered Viridian Tea Company while at World Tea Expo. The owner is also a Fantasy novel writer, and that excites me as I read all sorts of goth, vampire, time travel, fantasy romance stuff with a side obsession with Star Wars THRAWN. I had planned to read her books, but I am still going through the massive Black Dagger Brotherhood and this poor tea is still sitting here. Today I got Goth Librarian, The House of Byzantium Blend, Kel Nira Herbal Blend, and Harlem Muse Blend.
Goth Librarian from Viridian Tea Company
The ingredients in Goth Librarian is Assam tea, whole cloves, whole allspice. This tea is based on one of the Viridian Tea Company’s books. The leaf is just jammed packed with whole cloves and allspice. I admittedly got scared thinking this tea will be a potent chai from hell due to all the spice and the scent of the tea is flat out cloves.
I used 5 grams of leaf in 8oz/ 235ml of water, 200F/ 93c steeped for 3 minutes.
Surprisingly, the flavor isn’t spicy. I got the Assam to a good level malty level without going brisk. The spices likely cut down the Assam too. There are a generous warmth and sweetness to this tea from the cloves and allspice without being at all firey. The spice flavors linger in the mouth after each sip. I drank Goth Librarian without milk or sugar, it certainly doesn’t need it as I didn’t get any dry or bitterness, but it is a tea that would taste good if you added those extras.
I’d love to pair this tea with all sorts of afternoon tea snacks, or simply a piece of chocolate in the evening to get more mojo.
The House of Byzantium Blend
The House of Byzantium Blend I had to mix well as there were light flowers that settled to the top of the bag. The scent is roses, oranges, and dried herbs. The ingredients are Assam, dried orange peel, roses, damiana.
Similar to Goth Librarian, I used 5 grams of leaf, 200F/ 93c, steeped for 3 minutes in 8oz/ 235ml of water.
Byzantium Blend is a strongly floral rosy tea with a malty background. The main event is the floral perfume, followed by the freshness of the orange. There is a sweet herby, almost chamomile flavor, which my guess is the damiana herb. This is an alluring and relaxing tea blend.
Kel Nira Herbal Blend
This one I couldn’t find on their site but let’s drink it anyway. Kel Nira is a herbal tea blended with peppermint, hibiscus, and dried orange peel. The smell of the leaves is zesty orange and minty!
I used 5 grams of leaf in boiling water for 4 minutes.
This steeps up a glorious deep ruby red from this hibiscus. Long-time readers might know I’m a snooty puer oolong white tea drinker, but my guilty tea pleasure is hibiscus. I make pitchers of this stuff laced with sweetener and chug it regularly.
Kel Nira is tart hibiscus floral, with an orange bite, with a refreshing peppermint aftertaste that lingers, leaving a minty fresh mouth. If you love the tart, it is fine as is. I add to the guilty pleasure with a shot of light agave syrup, making the hibiscus sweet and delightful.
Harlem Muse Blend
Harlem Muse Blend is made up of Baimudan (white peony) white tea, jasmine, and lemon balm.
I went with 3 grams of leaf, 195F/ 90c, steeped for 3 minutes. I used less here as white tea is voluminous.
The baimudan is delicately juicy, tasting of flat honeydew and cucumbers, with the blend adding a sweet jasmine zesty note. I did steep this a little heavy-handed, likely a gram less and cooler would be more subtle. This is a wonderful tea for someone who loves delicate floral teas. I’d likely drink the rest of the cold steeped.
Looking more into Viridian Tea Company and I am impressed as there are teas blended with herbs. There are no flavoring oils or alcohols, so the tea is natural tasting – simple and effective. This is a great change of pace as I’m finding more and more tea blends are going over the top with the artificial/natural oils which loses the tea base and taste more like fruit juice than tea.
(tea provided for review / artwork is my SO’ collection of Magic the Gathering playmats)
