Archive for category: News

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we are offering 10% off all breakfast teas and green teas! Starting today, when you have breakfast teas or green teas in your shopping cart, enter the following coupon code:

ST-PATRICK-2019

Plus, you’ll get free shipping on US orders $50+. And logged in customers will receive rewards points on their orders! Offer expires this Sunday!

SHOP NOW

What’s an Irish Breakfast?

Ever wonder what an Irish breakfast is exactly? There is the tea and the breakfast itself. A traditional Irish Breakfast (not the tea) is a very hearty meal that will clog your arteries just to look at. It is more of a weekend or special occasion meal, and certainly not for the vegetarian or vegan palate! Expect some or all of the following on your overflowing plate:

• Irish pork sausages (Bangers): The inclusion of rosemary, thyme, basil, and breadcrumbs make Irish sausages a little different than your average sausage.
• Irish bacon (Rashers): Similar to Canadian bacon (more like ham) except with a little fattier, cut into a round shape.
• Fried Eggs: With runny yolk.
• Mushrooms: Sauteed in butter, because those mushrooms don’t have enough cholesterol on their own!
• Baked Beans: Just your standard baked bean recipe.
• Tomato: Cut in half and grilled until slightly caramelized.
• Bread: Can be soda bread, potato bread, or your standard bread, just fry it up in bacon fat.
• Black & or White Pudding: Not your standard pudding recipe. Black pudding is made from pork blood and white pudding is made from pork fat. Looks more like a patty.

Try at your own risk!

An Irish Breakfast tea, on the other hand is simply a blend of teas from different growing regions. It tends to weight heavily in malty Assam teas balanced with either clean crisp Ceylon teas or Chinese teas. An Irish Breakfast tea tends to stand up well to more savory meals, but can be enjoyed equally with something as simple as a piece of toast.

Want to brew your tea like the Irish? Add one teaspoon loose leaf tea per cup of water, plus one for the pot. Steep 3-4 minutes. When serving, fill the tea cup about 1/3 with milk, then add brewed tea. You might want to warm the milk a little if it’s cooling your tea down too much. Sweeten if desired. Need a little more help brewing tea? visit this link.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Divinitea

​We’ve been fielding a lot of requests for turmeric as of late. We’ve especially had a lot of interest in Golden Milk. So much so that we’ve decided to offer our own certified organic Golden Milk blend.

Golden milk has a satisfyingly complex flavor of chai spices and turmeric. Simmer with milk for a rich creamy texture and a vibrant golden infusion. Naturally caffeine free, Golden Milk can be served at any time of day. This sweet, spicy, robust beverage will become your new revered tradition.

Traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties, it is also promoted for liver health, as a digestive aid, for improved immunity, and for healthier skin.

And great news for summer – you can have Golden Milk hot or iced! Golden milk makes a very refreshing latte!

With Teavana shuttering all of its stores, including it’s location at Crossgates Mall in Albany, many tea drinkers are looking for a local alternative Albany NY tea store. Fortunately, there is a nearby location that serves as an ideal Teavana alternative tea shop.

“I’ve done a lot of research on their teas,” Linda Smith, owner of Divinitea, remarked. “We’ve been able to find a good replacement for Teavana customer’s favorite teas, whether it’s something we already blend, or it’s something we make just for them. It’s a personalized service.

“We’ve had a lot of customers come over from Teavana; our Clifton Park location is just 15 minutes away from the closed Teavana shop at Crossgates Mall. They will come in with a tea or describe it to us, and we’ve been able to help them out.”

When asked how closely she was able to come to a substitute: “While Teavana had many varieties, we have over 300 blends in house. We’ve come up with similar or even better tea blends customers enjoy.

“However, we don’t copy Teavana teas. We can’t, nor would we want to.” Linda added. “First of all, Teavana teas are not certified organic, meaning their ingredients can be treated with pesticides or chemical fertilizers. We source only certified organic ingredients, to ensure they are safe and healthy.”

“Certain ingredients are very expensive to source organically. We don’t recommend including these ingredients in a Teavana substitute tea if they don’t affect flavor. A lot of the blends are overly complicated anyway, with something like 14 ingredients. Some of these ingredients are in there just for the names, to make the tea sound exotic. They are there in such small quantities that you can’t taste it and you aren’t really getting the health benefits.

“When we add an ingredient, it is there for a reason. It’s there for a flavor profile or a health benefit. There are no added sugars or sweeteners in our blends. I’ve actually eaten pieces of fruit out of Teavana tea. They’re sugared fruits,” Linda observed as she sifted through a Teavana blend, picking out fruit pieces.

“Another important note,” Linda continued, “we are a nut-free facility. None of our blends contain any nut products, so we’re safe for people with nut allergies. ”

When asked what customers should do if they want to replace their Teavana teas. Linda replied: “If you’re local, you can stop by our Clifton Park tea shop. It helps if you can bring the tea you want to replace, especially if you have a list of ingredients. But even if you don’t have that, we can make a recommendation.

“The best time to stop in is on Saturdays from 9:30-12. We have a free tea tasting. You can try any tea we have. It’s a great opportunity to discover something new.”

“If you’re not local, or can’t make the trip, you can always call or email us. We can help you find what you’re looking for. Our website, Divinitea.com, has a wide selection of our teas, and we offer free shipping, so you can have your tea delivered to your door at no extra charge.”

 

Need A Teavana Tea Alternative? We’re On The Case!

Feel free to shop on our website for a replacement for your Teavana tea. If you would like help, call us at 518.347.0689 to consult a tea blending specialist.