Enjoyment

Lion and Lamb Teas For All Your Spring Moods

Wuyi Ensemble, known as Da Hong Pao or Wuyi rock tea, is a roasted oolong tea from the Wuyi mountains in Fujian province, China. The high fire treatment gives Wuyi oolong its specific smoky and minerally character. This is a beautifully balanced and complex tea with a deep, yet faint, ripe fruitiness in the background. The flavor is slightly honey-floral and nutty, with hints of white sesame, cinnamon, and sweetened burdock root. There is a lingering sweet caramel aftertaste due to the high fire roasting technique. Wuyi Ensemble oolong is warming and satisfying. Being a good digestive tea it goes well with food or sweets. It is perfect for multiple infusions so you can tease out many layers of intriguing flavor.
Wuyi Ensemble, known as Da Hong Pao or Wuyi rock tea, is a roasted oolong tea from the Wuyi mountains in Fujian province, China. The high fire treatment gives Wuyi oolong its specific smoky and minerally character. This is a beautifully balanced and complex tea with a deep, yet faint, ripe fruitiness in the background. The flavor is slightly honey-floral and nutty, with hints of white sesame, cinnamon, and sweetened burdock root. There is a lingering sweet caramel aftertaste due to the high fire roasting technique. Wuyi Ensemble oolong is warming and satisfying. Being a good digestive tea it goes well with food or sweets. It is perfect for multiple infusions so you can tease out many layers of intriguing flavor.
Adagio's Chamomile tea is made of the finest chamomile flowers from the Nile River Valley in Egypt. Considered a remedy for all ills by the ancient Egyptians, this golden herb remains a modern favorite to promote calm and relieve anxiety. When steeped, these fragrant chamomile blossoms smell of freshly cut apples and produce a rich, golden cup with calming flavor and sweet, floral finish. Our Chamomile tea is made with whole flower pieces and produces a delicious, caffeine-free infusion. It may also be served with a dash of honey.
Adagio's Chamomile tea is made of the finest chamomile flowers from the Nile River Valley in Egypt. Considered a remedy for all ills by the ancient Egyptians, this golden herb remains a modern favorite to promote calm and relieve anxiety. When steeped, these fragrant chamomile blossoms smell of freshly cut apples and produce a rich, golden cup with calming flavor and sweet, floral finish. Our Chamomile tea is made with whole flower pieces and produces a delicious, caffeine-free infusion. It may also be served with a dash of honey.

March Comes In Like A…

How often have you heard the expression: “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb?”

Maybe your grandma made that remark when you were a wee little thing, and you spent the rest of your childhood imagining big, roaring lions pouncing into the streets on March 1st, followed by small, baa-ing lambs bleating behind your house by March 31st.

Or maybe you didn’t imagine this, because it wasn’t until years later that you would read the Chronicles of Narnia with full appreciation for lions, lambs, and all their friends in between. That’s ok, too.

But what Grandma really meant was the feeling of a lion coming in the opening act of the month, and the feeling of a lamb in its closure.

Lions are loud, strong, and full of pride in every sense. They’re a great animal to have in mind when changing jobs or starting a new habit. (Leos, I see you! Happy full moon last month, you’re amazing.) The lion metaphor for spring makes you think of the raging winds of winter, biting at your skin and giving you wicked chapped lips for which there is not enough balm in the world to hydrate! Alas!

Meanwhile, lambs are at the other end of the spectrum, and represent the gentle new beginnings of spring. They are quiet, soft, and embody that sense of waveringly stepping out into the world on less-than-graceful feet! (Which might be a lot of us, after how awful and cold it’s been this winter. There’s nothing like the weird hypermobile sensation after spending four-five months wearing all the layers!)

So in honor of the dual-natured month, I’d like to put three Lion teas and three Lamb teas on your radar. That way, if the Lion keeps you indoors, you’ll have a friend to sip on, and if the Lamb takes you outside to play, then you can take a cup to go!

Lion Tea: Pu-Erh Dante

Open the bag, and immediately you’re graced with the smell of pure, primal flow. I love this tea as a winter warmer, especially since due to its positive effects on the gut microbiome, it’s also great for digestion if you’re experiencing weird stomach problems with the constant change in air pressure and humidity in the atmosphere.

Lion Tea: Wuyi Ensemble

Do you have that one friend who will never, for the life of them, stop identifying and nostalgiasobbing because of one movie that gives them all the feels? That’s me and WuYi Oolong. (It’s also me and Moulin Rouge, me and any of the original Shonen Jump anime, me and the entire 90s’-era Disney Renaissance… ) But in all seriousness, this lion of a cup will have you purring with contentment at the number of mineral-rich notes and subtle fruity accents as you sip through the storm of .

Lion Tea: Yunnan Jig

To round out this pride of earthy, warm-noted lion, I give you a veritable gem from southwestern China. May you also grow to crave and adore its sharp, toothy edges that can easily be solved with some milk and sugar, to taste. Since it’s a black tea, it’s one of the few that I can recommend dressing up because it’ll be able to shine through any ornamental trappings— much like the resilient king of the beasts!

Now, for our little baby sheeps:

Lamb Tea: White Peony

Who could start off a lamb list without putting a white tea at the top? This fuzzy creature is subtle in body and flavor if you remember to— please, for the love of all things woolly— steep it at no more than 180 degrees Fahrenheit! (It shines even more at lower temps: try 165 if you’re daring and willing to wait an extra minute while the flavor seeps gently into the cup.) To troubleshoot any concerns about time and temperature, I’d suggest equipping yourself with the ever-capable utiliTEA kettle. This will take the guesswork out of the process!

Lamb Tea: Chamomile

Do I even need to justify this one? A mild sedative and potent anti-inflammatory, chamomile is the be-all and end-all of herbs known for counting sheep. It’s a delightful way to soothe yourself to sleep after a long day of gamboling around— not gambling, gamboling is the actual word for the odd way that lambs dance-skip around the fields when they’re at play— enjoying the gorgeous spring weather before April hits us with some not-so-lamblike showers.

Lamb Tea: Lemongrass

Can’t you just imagine a sweet little lamb out on the field, munching some tender and lemony-scented grass? This is another soothing experience when you steep it before bed, or if you need a good restorative nap in the middle of the day. Lemongrass is also a great addition to Southern Asian-inspired cooking, so keep it in your toolbox— hopefully alongside the selection of other excellent Adagio spices now found at Selefina— for culinary adventures, especially if your palate is craving lighter flavors in the spring!

Do you have any other lion or lamb teas in mind? Let me know in the comments!

Cheers!

Natasha Nesic

NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, Founder of Work Life Fitness

*See? I didn’t make a Game of Thrones reference there, even though I could have. And I nobly refrained from citing equally leonine Gryffindors. This is progress: we got lions all over the place without having to pay a Lannister any debts.