A work in progress, a list of the teas, blends, artisan teas, tisanes, and herbal brews available a tEA Lite
Blue Mountain
A China and Ceylon tea blend with a subtle fruity flavour and sprinkled with blue cornflowers.
Apple and Cinnamon
A spicy blend of China and Ceylon tea with the natural flavours of juicy apple and warm cinnamon.
Oolong
Oolongs need only 1.5-2 minutes. Pour hot water 85-88degC, over the leaves and time the brew. Oolongs take no milk or sugar. Do not use boiling water, or you will scald the delicate leaf qualities which give oolong tea its flavour
Ceylon Orange Pekoe OP
Long, wirey, beautiful leaves giving an exquisite taste, almost oaky, with body and strength
Billy Tea
A blend reminiscent of the Australian bush with its smokey flavour combined with Australian - grown Daintree tea and eucalyptus leaves. An authentic bush beverage!
Daintree Chamomile & Lavender
Daintree tea blended with calming lavender & relaxing chamomile blossoms.
Melbourne Cuppa
A full bodied black tea blend with a pedigree line from the tea fields of ASSAM, CEYLON and the Yunnan Province in CHINA.
Prince of Wales
A light tea with a superb flavour and delicate aroma, making this a great blend for afternoon tea
Chai Yoga
Zero tea in this one. Just a rich blend of warm spices only; cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and ginger. Like to create your own
CHAI blend? Try mixing CHAI YOGA with your own favourite black or green tea base.
Sandman
Herbal sedative with a mint flavour, indicated for insomnia, restless and unrefreshing sleep
Ingredients include passion flower, chamomile, spearmint, hops, lemongrass, blue cornflowers and rose petals.
Snooze
Herbal sedative with the floral flavour of lavender & chamomile. Indicated for insomnia, restless & unrefreshing sleep!
Ingredients include chamomile, lavender, passion flower, rose petals and hibiscus flower.
Stress-Less
Nervous system tonic that assists stress management. Perfect for daytime use that doesn't make you drowsy. Indicated for the symptoms of stress; nervous tension; tension headaches; anxiety; irritable bowel syndrome; depression.
Ingredients include, Oats, Vervain, St. John's Wort, Lime Blossom, Chamomile, Lavender, Blue Corn Flowers and Rose petals
Licorice Spice
Enhances circulation Adrenal stimulant promoting energy production
Ingredients: licorice root, cinnamon quills, sarsparilla root, orange pieces and aniseed
Licorice, Peppermint and Fennel
An excellent digestive tonic with a delicious, licorice taste.
Ingredients: licorice root, peppermint, fennel seeds
Sencha Strawberry & Cream
ingredients: green tea sencha, strawberries, and flavour
After Dinner Blend
Aids digestion
For upset stomachs, abdominal cramps, colic, indigestion and nausea
Ingredients: Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Licquorice root, peppermint, yarrow
Arthritis Blend
Indicated for arthritic conditions and muscular aches and pains
anti-inflammatory action
promotes circulation
diuretic properties to enhance the elimination of wastes, toxins and the products of inflammation.
Ingredients: celery seed, devil's claw, ginger, nettle & silver birch leaf.
Cleanse
Promotes detoxification and stimulates circulation, increasing elimination of accumulated toxins
A gentle cleansing tonic, improving the function of all eliminative systems: liver, blood, lymphatic and urinary systems
Ingredients: calendula flower, red clover, dandelion root, nettle, cleavers, elder flower, hibiscus flower, spearmint and ginger.
Woman's Wellness
Promotes and maintains balance of female hormones. Indicated for menopausal symptoms eg. hot flushes, night sweats, etc. PMS symptoms and period pain
Ingredients include red clover, wild yam, sage, chaste tree berry and black cohosh.
Lemongrass & Ginger
Cold & Allergy Aid
Reduces sinus complaints related to colds and allergies
Ingredients: yarrow, elder flower, peppermint, echinacea and ginger.
Japanese Evening Mist
Sencha green tea flavoured with corn flower blossom, rose petals and calendula. Similar to the black flavoured tea French Earl Grey
Energy
Enhances energy production, indicated
for fatigue, exhaustion, Monday-itis.
Improves mental function.
for fatigue, exhaustion, Monday-itis.
Improves mental function.
ingredients: siberian ginseng, gotu kola, liquorice root, hibiscus flower.
Passionflower Blend
The ancient Aztecs reportedly used passionflower as a sedative and pain reliever. Today herbalists also recommend it as a sedative and antispasmodic agent.
Passionflower can be such a potent herbal remedy because it calms muscle tension and twitching without affecting respiratory rate or mental function the way many pharmaceutical sedatives do.
Ginger kiss
(Ginger, Balm flowers, peppermint, wild strawberry, lemongrass, lavender, rose, orange & heather.) A healthy beverage. Caffeine free.
Honey Liquorice
(An intriguing flavoured blend of honey and liquorice containing apple, hibiscus, fennel, corinth, camomile and cornflowers.)
China Flowers
Artisans in ancient China crafted these teas and we have the pleasure of bringing them to you. Ideally brewed in a glass teapot these teas open up when infused to reveal a flower contained inside. The teas can be infused two or three times, each brew giving a different flavour while enjoying the visual experience of floral tea.
Decaffeinated Ceylon Leaf (OP)
A quality Ceylon long leaf tea decaffeinated through the CO2 high pressure process. No solvent is used and much of the original flavour is retained., full & aromatic
Jasmine and Pink Chrysanthemum Flower Ball "Xain Tao"
"Xian Tao" Handwoven white tea, opens like a flower while brewing, to display a pink chrysanthemum blossom and a jasmine blossom.
Jasmine and White Chrysanthemum Flower Ball "Triple Haibei Tuzhu"
"Triple Haibei Tuzhu" Handwoven white tea, opens like a flower while infusing, to display a pretty, white chrysanthemum blossom floating on a thread.
Jasmine Ball (No Flower)
“Xiu Qiu” Beautifully hand rolled dragon ball, with a delicate jasmine flavour.
This artistic ball does not have a flower inside.
Jasmine Flower Ball "Haibei Tushu"
"Haibei Tuzhu". Handwoven white tea, opens like a flower while brewing to display an arc of beautiful 5 jasmine blossoms.
Lily Globe Amaranth Flower Ball
Pink Chrysanthemum Flower Ball "Chusui Furong"
"Chusui Furong" Handwoven white tea, opens while infusing to display a beautiful pink chrystanthemum blossom floating on a thread.
Snow Lotus Flower Balls
Place one flower ball into a tea glass or glass teapot. Fill with hot water 80-90degC. After a few minutes brewing, the ball leaves open one by one, like petals slowly unfolding, or suddenly like a ray of light, then the dried natural flowers slowly unfold into a full coloured blossom. Precious and expensive, these teas create magic moments in a tea-lovers life
Lung Zhu Jasmine
Dragons Pearls
A rare tea from the Fujian province in China, handrolled
Arctic Fire
Black China tea, mint, cornflower petals
Barbados
from the islands in the sun
Hibiscus flowers, apple, papaya, corinth, elderberries & blackberries
Chai Masala
Indian black tea, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg & spices
Bitter Lemon
Caffeine Free
Hibiscus, rosehip, orange, Corinths, pineapple, lemon & papaya
Camomile Soother
Caffeine Free
Camomile flowers
So, what exactly is TEA?
The following information is from TeaLeaves
All teas are produced from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis. They are loaded with chemicals which give tea its colour and flavour during its production process. A wide range of processes cause the amino-acids, caffeine, carbohydrates, minerals and polypenolic compounds in the leaves to generate varying tea characteristics-white-oolong-green-black.
Antioxidants
Both green and black teas contain similar amounts of polyphenols and flavanoids which act as antioxidants in the body and help reduce the effects of 'free radicals' that exist in the air, sunlight, polution and which are believed to contribute to many serious age related diseases.
The polyphenols and flavanoids also create tea's unique flavour, colour and aroma when they react with oxygen and caffeine during the production process.
Caffeine
All teas have caffeine. White and green teas have the least, oolong has a little more and black teas have the most.
The caffeine content of tea acts as a mild stimulant, aids the digestive system, raises alertnes, improves performance and combats tiredness.
Caffeine is an important component of tea. It acts as a mild stimulant and increases the activity of your digestive juices. All teas come from the leaves of the camellia sinensis and contain caffeine in different quantities due to the different production methods. Green tea has less than oolong an oolong less than black.
It is generally estimated that a cup of White tea contains minimal caffeine, the lowest of all teas
- Green tea contains 8.36mg caffeine
- Oolong tea contains 12.5mg caffeine
- Black tea contains an average of 50mg caffeine. (Varies 25-75mg)
Therefore, if you are trying to reduce your caffeine intake, we recommend you should drink the paler, lighter brews from green and oolong teas. By comparison, filtered coffee contains 190mg per cup (6.5 fl.oz.)
Herbal and fruit infusions contain no caffeine.
Vitamins and Minerals
Tea also contains traces of calcium, zinc, potassium, manganese, vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, folate, niacin and panothenate.
So, that's the tea you drink, but what of the different types of tea?
Black Tea
Black tea is the most popular and "known" tea, and what probably most of us were brought up on in Australia. Black tea is still the leaves of Camellia Sinensis, just oxidised or fermented longer. It is the strongest in flavour of all the tea varities and has the most caffeine. Black tea can be catorgorised into whole leaves (premium grade, leaf tips), broken leaves (medium grade loose tea), or fannings (used for commercial teabags).
Black tea can be either blended or unblended. Generally, unblended black teas are named after the region in which they are produced. Often, different regions are known for producing teas with characteristic flavors. Black tea is often blended and mixed with other plants (other varieties of Camellia Sinensis), or flavours to create a distinctive beverage.
Earl Grey is black tea scented with bergamot, and when blended with cornflowers as well, is known as Lady Grey.
Lapsang Souchong is a black tea from China which is dried over burning pine logs crating a distinctive smokey flavour.
There are many blends available at Tea Lite, including Afternoon Tea, Irish Breakfast, Melbourne Cuppa, Darjeeling Premium, Lapsang Souchong, Blue Mountain, just to name a few!
Brewing guidelines for Black tea!
Generally, 2.25 grams of tea per 180 ml of water, or about a teaspoon of black tea per 6 oz. cup (your average teacup!), should be used. Unlike green teas, which turn bitter when brewed at higher temperatures, black tea should be steeped in freshly boiled water. The more delicate black teas, such as Darjeeling, should be steeped for 3 to 4 minutes. The same holds for broken leaf teas, which have more surface area and need less brewing time than whole leaves. Whole leaf black teas, and black teas that will be served with milk or lemon, should be steeped 4 to 5 minutes.
Chai Tea
Chai tea (Masala Chai) literally translates as spiced tea, and traditionally is a black tea mixed with aromatic herbs and spices. The base tea is usually a strong black tea such as Assam, so that the spices and sweeteners do not overpower it. Spices & herbs are usually cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, fennel seeds, peppercorn & cloves. Nutmeg is also used, and occasionally licorice root.
The simplest traditional method of preparing masala chai is to actively simmer or boil a mixture of milk and water with loose leaf tea, sweeteners, and whole spices.
for both retail sale and for in-house tasting.
From Elmstock, we have Chai Masala, a traditional blend of Indian black tea, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg & spices.
Our house blend is from Tease tea. Chai Rocks is a blend of black tea, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon pods, ginger & star anise.
We also sell chai blends from Real Chai, including their Original, Caffeine Free, and Chocolate chai!
And new to our chai range at tEA Lite, is Chai Yoga from TeaLeaves, which is a chai base complete with all the essential spices and herbs to build your chai, just add your favourite black or green tea or even Rooibos from South Africa, for a caffeine free chai tea (We have Rooibos Vanilla here, what a great combination!). Chai Yoga is just a rich blend of warm spices only; cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and ginger.
So when you order a chai tea, two heaped teaspoons of Tease Chai Rocks will be placed in a plunger, steamed milk with minimal foam (heated to 70c) will be poured over the loose leaf mix and a dollop of yellow-box honey added and then stirred. After being left to infuse for a few minutes, the plunger in returned to the pot, and your chai is served in a latte glass! Of course, we can also serve your chai tea in a pot for you to enjoy, with or without milk.
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