Hello fans and friends!
It’s not a secret that our character tea blends are some of our best selling merch. It’s the best of both worlds—stanning your fave while cuddling up around a warm cup. Designed by our business partner and friends at Friday Afternoon Tea, each blend promises to represent one of the characters in Forage Friends.
Pie Trap is entirely remote so I haven’t had a chance to share a cup with the team yet, and I have massive FOMO so I knew I needed to try these teas ASAP. As the year wrapped up I wanted to give my honest opinions on them, and share my off-the-cuff impressions on our Discord (join our Discord!!!). Andy, our social media expert, said she wished she could share my thoughts on our blog, though, so… here I am!
As for who I am, I’m Krissy, a member of the narrative team and Desmond and Brooke’s writer. Nice to meet you! Over the course of a week or so I tried all the teas and wrote down my thoughts, and tried to be entertaining about it. I tried my best not to be biased towards my own characters.
So without further ado, here’s a more coherent version of my stream-of-consciousness impressions on each of the teas. Hopefully this will help you also decide which one you'd like to try, if you’ve been curious!
Brooke
First off was Brooke! Yes, recency bias was at play here, as I wrote her story after I was done with Desmond. So I immediately wanted to hop to hers. The description and ingredients piqued my interest as well: Black teas, cacao nib, persimmon, cinnamon, white tea, hibiscus, black currants, rose petal, safflower petal, pomegranate oil, and edible gold glitter. Evidently the hibiscus flowers were added to help stain the tea a darker red color, to make it look a bit more like a wine.
I have to admit I was a little nervous going in because persimmons are not my favorite flavor. I was afraid even the small amount in my tin would overpower me. (I really don’t like persimmons! I’m sorry!)
After taking a big sniff, what I mostly got from Brooke’s tea was roses. Sweet, sweet roses… and of course the whole blend shimmers with edible glitter, which was such a nice touch and SO in-character for Brooke. I took a sip and was pleased by how sweet and floral it was. Rose can be a difficult flavor to work with. If you go too hard it tastes like soap, but if you aren’t bold enough you’re just drinking hot leaf water.
Roses were definitely the star of the show here and I could easily drink a whole jar of this. I feel it’s important to note it was not cloyingly sweet. The fruit and spices added natural sugars and made it so lovely. Even if you like milk and sugar with your tea I think you should at least try this one black!
I know I sound biased as hell, but I really did love Brooke’s tea!
Desmond
Next up was Desmond’s tea, which has the unique honor of being the only tea that’s ever truly surprised me. I can’t claim Flavor Superpowers like Friday does (the whole shop is synesthesia-based tea blends, how cool is that?! Google synesthesia or go visit the shop if you want a more detailed explainer) but I do drink tea every day. I am not a spring chicken anymore, been around the block et cetera… look, what I’m trying to say is Desmond’s tea is bonkers and I’ve never had anything like it before. A whole new world of tea opened before my eyes. The ingredients seemed interesting: smoked black tea, roasted green tea, black peppercorn, peach, lemon peel, orange peel, natural brandy and peach flavorings.
When I opened the tin I immediately felt like I’d opened a BBQ smoker. This tea is SMOKEY like a bonfire. My eyes had honed in on the peach part of the description, and the citrus rinds, but the primary sensation of Desmond’s tea is like drinking smooth, liquid smoke. One friend asked if it was bitter, because the description made her think it would taste bitter, like burned toast. And I want to stress NO! This is not a bitter tea— I can only assume this is the work of those citrus and peach flavorings, balancing out the smoke.
Drinking this tea was more like sipping brandy, or a well-aged whiskey. This may or may not appeal to you, but I swear to god this tea tasted the way nice, fresh, sweet black leather smells. (This is a compliment. I own several bottles of Tom Ford leather perfume.)
I can imagine this tea being very polarizing for how strong the flavors are. Either you love it or hate it, but I do think it’s at least worth trying the sample tin if you want to join me in wonderland. Super fun, super different, and if you’re a whiskey enjoyer this tea is FOR YOU, one hundred percent.
Dora
After that, the next tea I tried was Dora’s tea! That afternoon I was flagging hard and looked through the teas to see which one I’d like. The ingredients in Dora’s immediately jumped out at me: green tea, lemon verbena, rose petal, sunflower petal, blue cornflower, hibiscus, jasmine flowers, and sweet violets.
YES. Green tea would be the perfect pick-me-up. And it was! Just the right amount of floral, too. I don’t know what this says about me but I always drink my green tea with milk and sugar. Dora’s tea was sweet and simple, and it worked like a charm.
The next day I finished off my sample and drank it plain, and it still tasted good without any additions. Due to my own personal preference I recommend a little bit of sugar to help wake you up if you’re nodding off, but it’s fine either way. It smelled awesome, and didn’t leave me feeling over caffeinated or with the jitters.
Miles
Next was Miles. Sniffing the tin I got STRONG chocolate and cinnamon vibes. After checking the ingredients it was easy to see why: black teas, shaved dark chocolate (vegan), cinnamon, rooibos (red tea), strawberry, and ancho chili.
My partner said it smelled like tart raisins, and before I could stop him he snooped his fingers in there, took out a pinch of the tea and ATE IT???
Anyway… so my tin had less strawberries and chocolate than it COULD have had, but I made sure they were in my scoop when I used my new tea infuser.
I was once again Afraid™️ because I’ve never had chilis in my tea before, but once again I should have learned to trust the process. You might be tempted to think this will just taste like a hot chocolate, but when brewed it smells and tastes just like a really nice, high quality black tea (which it is). It’s smooth and rich and just the right amount of sweet, almost like a subtle chai.
If you want to highlight the fruit, rooibos, and spices, then this is a tea you might want to try with milk and sugar. It’s good both ways, but when sweetened up, makes an excellent dessert. Just don’t eat it right out of the jar.
That’s it for now— I’ll be back next time with the rest of my impressions on all the teas!
Stay tuned for Part 2 where I'll get into Braylon, Malia, Yuna, and Quinn. Follow us on social and join our Discord so you don't miss an update! Bye!!