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“GCTTB Last night, I lollygagged on the Dammann Freres site, filling my cart up with all sorts of deliciousness. Two hundred dollars worth of deliciousness to be exact. I have neither the...” Read full tasting note
“This was a pretty good—-I should have wrote about it last week when I drank it! The strawberry was not quite. Atrial tasting, more like a candy strawberry. I still very much enjoyed it and would...” Read full tasting note
“GCTTB I love teas that have a bit of history attached to them and this one is an interesting blend, a mix of strawberries and mint. The mint is fairly retiring more of a mild aftertaste that lends...” Read full tasting note
“This tea was a tea that was blended by a local tea merchant, Cuppa’T Specialty Teas, for 2016, which is the 125th Anniversary of Government House in Regina, SK. Government House was built in 1891,...” Read full tasting note
This tea was developed for the 125th anniversary of Government House in 2016. Government House was built in 1891, and served as the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories. It currently serves as a multi-purpose Heritage Facility and museum.
This tea is reminiscent of George Watt, Government House’s legendary gardener, who started growing strawberries and mint in the beautiful Edwardian Gardens in the early 1900s.
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GCTTB
Last night, I lollygagged on the Dammann Freres site, filling my cart up with all sorts of deliciousness. Two hundred dollars worth of deliciousness to be exact. I have neither the money nor the space for more tea. That rarely deters me.
But this time, I closed the window and patted myself on the shoulder. So yay!
Black Friday fever is a wicked thing.
Yup, this tea is a surprise. With a name like Government House Anniversary Blend, I was expecting something dark, powerful, and stately. That is to say not strawberry and mint.
It’s nice though. Mint is not my favourite thing, but here it is pleasantly subdued by the strawberry. The tea base is slightly astringent. Thankfully, I had steeped briefly.
An enjoyable cup.
Flavors: Mint, Strawberry
This was a pretty good—-I should have wrote about it last week when I drank it!
The strawberry was not quite. Atrial tasting, more like a candy strawberry. I still very much enjoyed it and would probably try it cold brewed next time as mint and strawberry would be very refreshing. The base was a little astringent but not too bad.
GCTTB
I love teas that have a bit of history attached to them and this one is an interesting blend, a mix of strawberries and mint. The mint is fairly retiring more of a mild aftertaste that lends a nice freshness to the tea. I wonder if they used wild/Canada mint (Mentha arvensis) which is a native species that grows wild in wet areas across the country and is quite nice on its own as tea (I usually find it by smell when I step on it accidentally). The strawberry flavour is nice and strong, particularly after the tea has a chance to cool. The black base is a little astringent, so this tea might be a good candidate to have with milk (although that seems a but weird with the mint).
This tea was a tea that was blended by a local tea merchant, Cuppa’T Specialty Teas, for 2016, which is the 125th Anniversary of Government House in Regina, SK.
Government House was built in 1891, and served as the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories. It currently serves as a multi-purpose Heritage Facility and museum. And most importantly, in the spring/summer it serves Victorian High Tea on the weekends.
They did a contest where people could sign up to be a tea taster, there were 3 blends, this fruity blend, a traditional blend, and a maple blend, and I guess this is the one that won.
It is definitely not what I was expecting to be a Government House tea. I would think a bold black with creamy notes, or a black with vanilla, maybe a green with a bit of spice. Something simple but very elegant. I never expected a strawberry mint blend but I guess the description about the gardener makes perfect sense.
The dry tea is small leaves of black tea with very finely chopped mint. There are largish dried strawberries that are all clumped up with tea. It makes me think there was some oil or liquid type flavour that then clumped up all the tea.
The smell is super delicious. It smells like strawberry bubble gum; candied strawvberries with a bit of mint. It is sweet and has quite a bit of “pop” to it.
The tea brewed is ok. There is a black tea base that is slightly astringent at the end of the sip. It is light to moderate boldness. There are definitely cooling mint undertones. I think it is a bit of a spearmint/peppermint mix. It is not very strong but definitely present. The strawberry flavour is unfortunately lacklustre. It is an artificial, but not bad, strawberry flavour. But it loses the pop that the scent had. It definitely needs some sweetness added to it I think.
Overall it is good. The flavours were definitely a surprise from what I was expecting. I think it would be great iced. And maybe iced with lemonade :)
It is available only at Cuppa T and at Government House. All the proceeds go to the Government House Historical Society which supports and preserves this historical site.
https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2015/december/04/anniversary-tea-for-sale
