This is not my first time trying Monarch Tea Co and I am quite surprised I have never mentioned them before. Their holiday blend on local and indie week seems to be the perfect time to do so! Monarch Tea Co is local to me, based out of Hamilton, Ontario so sold in local stores and easy for me to pick up whenever I want to try new blends mmmm Toffee Bean! Katie also does the local market circuit so I notice her seasonal teas more than most other indie tea companies.
Katie goes the extra mile with her teas and packaging. The teas are always delicious and her packaging comes stamped with their logo and sealed with a ribbon and a monarch butterfly seal.
Monarch Tea Co.’s Holiday Blend is a black tea with notes of orange, cardamom and spice to invigorate. I personally find many holiday teas to cinnamony for my taste but this Holiday Blend was great, enough to make it Christmassy and warming but not so much you feel like you are doing the Cinnamon challenge (not that I ever have, but you know).
The tea has pieces of orange along with clove, cinnamon and cardamom mixed with black tea. No dust in my bag, which is a big plus after trying a holiday blend from a bigger company who seem to be clearing out old tea mixed with a pile of cinnamon under a holiday blend label. Steeping time if 4-5 minutes and it was perfect at 4 minutes. Enough orange flavour to balance the spices and long enough to fully steep the black tea leaves. While great with a little sweetener, he really liked it with milk.
Monarch Tea is available online in 50g sealed bags. If you want to try a few, I recommend Queen’s Oolong, Blueberry Bliss (organic), Toffee Bean and Tea Time! They sell for about $10 per bag depending on the type of tea. Holiday Blend doesn’t seem to be showing on the site, but you could try sending her a message to see if she has any she can list as a custom order.
Follow Katie and Monarch Tea Co on twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram or shop online here. If you are in the Hamilton area, check out her list of local stores carrying Monarch teas and save on shipping, but they generally will not have the full collection, so call ahead and check first.