The Silk Tea Co is a woman-owned, US tea company based in New York. Their blends are focused on desire and complex flavors influenced by ancient cultures, created by company founder MJ. Their tea empowers woman and specifically the narrative around woman and desire. The company heavily seeks to foster peace, safety, and an end to domestic violence and abuse. They have three blends that they sent to me: The Secret Garden, Morning Sex, and Desert Rose. Here are my thoughts on all three:
Desert Rose: This tea is actually the first decaffeinated one in my collection, and there is just something fun (almost like a dirty little secret) and satisfying about drinking Green Tea at night. The aroma of the dried leaves and brewed tea are extremely similar, and quite potent. The rose really shines through as well as some specific sweetness, almost tropical fruit like, which I imagine is the lychee. As the tea brewed, I noticed that the color of the tea is more golden yellow. I find that rose is one of the unique ingredients that you can sense the aroma and taste of it almost like a fragrance. So as I was drinking the tea, it really felt as if the rose note was coming through my nose and my mouth at the same time.
I found this to be extremely satisfying before bed, and I did not realize how potent the aroma of the brewed tea was until I was lying in bed taking small sips here and there. More than a couple feet away, I could still smell it and identity the sweet rose notes. The tea was very smooth and did not have any traces of astringency. I will definitely enjoy drinking this tea until I am ready to go to bed.
Ingredients: CO2 decaffeinated Sencha green tea, roses, lychee, peony petals, cardamom, and flavors
Morning Sex: A strong cup of morning sex. I am going to have to restrain myself from making cheeky jokes this entire article, but a few might sneak in. Like most oolongs, I made this tea in my gaiwan just for the fun of it. However, I made the first cup so very strong. Rolled oolongs are always so deceiving on quantity and I always over-compensate with leaves in my gaiwan. So the first round was super strong and honestly hard to drink. This is 100% error on my end, and the abundance of leaves made the brew extremely potent. The aroma had creamy citrus notes almost reminiscent of an orange creamsicle. As I drank the tea, I noticed the taste had some creamy coconut notes. Since I was getting a bit of a concentrated variation of this tea, I decided to go back and make just a normal cup of it.
One thing I noticed was some small pieces of the flowers *I am assuming this ingredient* that went through my infuser, but they did not bug me. The aroma was very similar to what I noted before, creamy orange with some almost vanilla-like notes. Slight floral hints as well. The color of this tea is a lovely bright delicate yellow. The taste is much better this time and less intense. It is quite subtle with some lovely floral and sweet notes calling itself out to me. Sweet silky and creamy feeling on the roof of my mouth. Overall slight buttery mouthful though. I really enjoyed this one, but it would be more of an afternoon tea for me since I enjoy robust malty teas in the morning.
Ingredients: Milky oolong tea, orange peels, dates, roses, lavender, orange flowers, blue cornflowers, safflowers, and flavors.
The Secret Garden: Wow, this was a wonderful green tea blend. I could get absolutely intoxicated on the aroma of the dry leaves themselves. I made this in a large teapot for my family and myself to enjoy. The tea was overall quite delicate tasting with small punches of flavor. I could not really taste too much of the green tea element, besides just the feeling of the green tea (I hope that makes sense). There was a very sweet element that I could tell immediately from the aroma and my first sip. The dry leaves…were mind-blowingly aromatic with heavy fruit notes which I think is the honeydew. As I drank the tea (or chugged more like it), I noticed some sweet notes with a slight floral feel to the tea. The honeydew paired well with the strawberry notes with each one slightly settling at the roof of my mouth.
My family and I ended up draining the pot, prompting me to make a second steeping with the tea. The second steeping was also quite lovely with a few stronger green tea notes steeping in, but a sweeter character overall. It was quite enjoyable to drink and went down as smoothly as the first.
Ingredients: Sencha green tea, strawberry, honeydew melon, stinging nettles, peppermint, orange peels, rose hips, rose petals, and flavors
Price: There are a couple options to buying this tea, a triple sampler pack for $25, or buying each tea individually. Morning Sex is $9.75 for 25 grams. Desert Rose is $9.50 for 25 grams of loose leaf tea. The Secret Garden is $9.25 for 25 grams of tea. Honestly, buying the sampler pack is the best value since each tea is 25 grams. Some wonderful notes are that each order, Silk Tea Co donates 5% to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women.
Packaging: I think everyone could agree that the packaging of this tea is simply stunning. I did notice that since the leaves were quite aromatic, the aroma did not quite stay all the way in the bags. Something to note, but not get super hung up over.
Sourcing: These teas are exclusively blended in Europe with premium ingredients from around the world. Founded and packed in the USA.
I think I blushed 10x more when writing this review than any other one that I have done before. Mostly was due to the cheeky jokes my brain kept pointing out when writing sentences. On a side note, how often do you drink decaffeinated teas? I think I want to get more varieties of them so I am able to drink a malty cup of tea before bed without the hours of restless sleep. Happy Brewing!
-Danielle
