Lavender Earl Grey Tea
Blended Black Tea

Versailles. The very mention of the famous chateau built by the King of France Louis XIV conjures up images of unbelievable opulence. Early in his reign Louis XIV moved his royal court from Paris to the countryside and began construction of the chateau. Work on the structure began in 1664 and continued almost until his death in 1715. And why did it take so long you may ask? Well, Versailles is big - very big! The chateau has more than 2,000 windows, 700 rooms filled with thousands of paintings, tapestries, sculptures, and pieces of furniture, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and is surrounded by more than 1,800 acres of parkland. Did we mention it was big?

Louis XIV's life in the palace was extremely regimented. Nothing was left to chance since as King, he was considered second only to God, and deserved only the best. Subsequently, at Versailles, there were rules for everything. (This is where our inspiration for this tea blend comes in.) Louis XIV was always known for his fondness for fresh lavender from the French countryside. He was so fond of it that he demanded to be bathed in lavender scented water every morning. In 1658, he even issued a royal decree ruling exactly how lavender was to be used to scent soap, the "Edit du Roi Pour le Manufactures du Savon" - the man seriously loved his Lavender. So, when it came time to blend a tea in honor of this ancient royal, it only seemed fitting that we blend it with the King's favorite flower.

Aside from being a lover of lavender, Louis XIV was also revered at the time as quite a statesman. So, since it is no secret that over the years there has been no love lost between the French and the English, we thought we'd do our part for French statesmanship by blending our fresh lavender with a British favorite, Earl Grey. We think that you'll find the results to be as sumptuous as the vast halls of Versailles. When brewed, this tea has a delicate floral bouquet that compliments the citrus character of Earl Grey's bergamot beautifully. Truly an exceptional tea. A votre santé!

Hot tea brewing method:  Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Add desired quantity of loose-leaf tea to your teapot. Infuse with the freshly boiled water, cover and let steep for 3-8 minutes in accordance to desired strength.

Iced tea brewing method:  (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 5 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water]. Please note that this tea may tend to go cloudy or ‘milky’ when poured over ice; a perfectly normal characteristic of some high quality black teas and nothing to worry about!