End of Summer Tea!

Lavender Tea Time!

So glad you stopped by for Tea Time Tuesday.

Today we are celebrating the end of summer with Earl Grey Lavender Tea.

The calendar may say autumn but it's still summer here in California. Last weekend I trimmed down my lavender shrubs and it inspired me to celebrate the end of summer with lavender tea.

So let's have a cup!

Revolution Earl Grey Lavender Tea
Today's sampling is Earl Grey Lavender Tea by Revolution Tea. They are a US premium tea company founded in 1998 in Phoenix, Arizona. They offer a wide assortment of teas yet I am only familiar with their Earl Grey Lavender tea. It used to be difficult to find but now their teas are widely available in most major grocery store chains.

Let's open up the box of tea. The first thing you notice is how fragrant the tea is. You can really smell the Earl Grey blend! This Earl Grey blend features full-leaf black teas flavored with oil of Bergamot and blue lavender. I really like their resealable foil bag that helps keep your tea fresh!

Let's Have some Earl Grey Lavender Tea!
When given the choice, I prefer to drink loose tea. A tea bag though is often a convenient way to drink tea. This is one tea company that I don't mind drinking tea from a bag.

Revolution Tea has designed their nylon tea bag to be a flow through infuser. They fill it with twice as much tea as an ordinary tea bag. Their flow through infuser allows the tea leaves to expand and infuse the tea much like loose tea does.

This is a lovely tea to drink in the late afternoon. I enjoy this tea sweetened with wildflower honey. Lavender and honey are such a wonderful combination.

Lavender Iced Tea
Revolution's Earl Grey Lavender Tea is perfect for making iced tea, too.

While trimming my lavender shrubs this past weekend, I was inspired to add lavender buds from my garden to enhance this tea with even more lavender flavor...I loved it! Here's my recipe:

Lisette's Lavender Iced Tea

10 Cups Water
5 Earl Grey Lavender Tea Infusers
* 1T. Organic English Lavender Buds
Wildflower Honey to taste
Lavender Sprigs

Make hot tea in a pot just as you normally would.

Add Lavender Buds and Wildflower Honey to taste. Steep for 4 minutes.

Remove Tea Infusers. Strain Lavender Buds. Stir Well.

Serve in a tall ice-filled glass and garnish with a sprig of lavender.

* or 1 t. for a lighter lavender flavor

Relax and enjoy the end of summer!


(In the photos: Vintage Wedgwood Sandon Tea Pot, Tea Cup & Saucer. Vintage Wedgwood Bee Hive Honey Pot. LaRochere Napoleonic Bee Footed Goblet, Vintage hand embroidered linen.)

Lavender Hand Creme by L'Occitane

Creme Mains

Lavender Hand Creme by L'Occitane en Provence

My favorite summer hand creme comes in a shiny silver tube and is from L'Occitane en Provence. It is simply the best! It is fragranced with aromatic A.O.C. lavender essential oil from Haute-Provence, which has purifying and relaxing properties. It feels so wonderful on your hands and the best part is, it doesn't leave a greasy film like other fancy French hand cremes do.

I first discovered L'Occitane years ago while shopping on the Champs Elysees in Paris. I have been hooked on their products ever since! I can now buy their products at my local mall but I still love shopping their boutiques in Paris the best! My favorite one is their tiny boutique on the Ile St-Louis in Paris.

L'Occitane always wraps your purchase like a cadeau (a present) in pretty orange tissue paper and ribbon. Oui, a French tradition! They even include complimentary samples for you to try their other products. Their staff is always friendly and offers first class customer service, too.

L'Occitane boutique at the Galleria Mall, Roseville, CA

The company's roots are in Provence. They use natural ingredients. They never test on animals. Read more about the company's story and it's philosophy on their web site. You can proably even locate a boutique in a mall near you.

And, if you can't get to a local or Paris boutique...you can always shop online: http://www.loccitane.com/.

Lavender Harvest

A Touch of Provence in Northern California!

I am lucky to have a little hill slope on the front side of our tiny California suburban lot. When I was planning our "cottage style" garden I envisioned a slope of lavender just like you would see in Provence. Northern California's hot sunny climate is perfect for my lavender hill to thrive.

In Provence, the lavender harvest occurs in late June. No, I haven't been to Provence (yet) but I read a lot about it because I want to travel there. I want to see the magnificent purple lavender rows in person one day. I want to visit the Provence markets. I want to take cooking classes there, too.

My lavender harvest is happening right now. I have an abundance of lovely lavender ready to be cut. I just love having cut lavender bundles all around the house for it's marvelous scent. This year I am going to dry the lavender and use the buds for sachets and Provencal style cooking.

The bees love my lavender,too!

During my lavender harvest, I have about seven large bushes to cut. I hand cut them with gardening sheers, one bush a day. I love how the lavender bushes attract the bees to my garden. If I am lucky, I may even get another harvest of lavender towards the end of summer, too.

A bundle of fresh cut lavender!

English and French grandmothers know how wonderful lavender is for your linen closet. A bundle of lavender or a pretty sachet keeps pesky insects away. Lavender is a perfect organic natural way to keep harmful moths away from precious silk scarves, winter woolens and wool yarns in your knitting stash, too!

Enjoy a touch of Provence in your home with some lovely lavender!