Northwest Tea Time Black Tea Blend

The Northwest Tea Time Black Tea Blend has the deep malt of Assam with touches of smoke from Keemun and Lapsang Souchong.

The blend was composed as an original, for long, damp winter afternoons.

Taste creates a Zen state through slow, intentional ingestion that activates the gustatory pathways (Small, 2012) and signals safety, nourishment, and seasonal identity (Mintz, 1985). Warm or gently flavored items, such as honey, tea, coffee, herbal drops, and low-dose CBD preparations, support calm because they prepare the digestive system (Berthoud, 2008), reduce vigilance through predictable sensory input (McEwen, 2007), and engage reward circuits associated with emotional comfort (Panksepp, 1998). When paired with aroma, pacing, and quiet ritual, these flavors reinforce social and personal grounding (Rozin, 1982), making taste a stable, parasympathetic sensory anchor in Zen environments.

Details

• Product: Loose leaf black tea blend
• Tea: Assam, Keemun, Lapsang Souchong
• Flavor notes: Malt, smoke
• Brewing: 1 to 2 teaspoons per cup at 205 to 212 °F (96 to 100 °C) for 3 to 5 minutes

Pairing Note

Visual: Pairing flavor with visual cues blends what you see with what you taste. Color, clarity, and presentation help people understand what something is (Lakoff, 1987) and connect it to season, tradition, or place (Mintz, 1985). Taking your time when tasting gives your attention room to settle, allowing the visual field to open up. You see more clearly, your mind stops multitasking, and the moment becomes visually stable, supporting a more enjoyable tasting experience and a clearer understanding of the flavors.