More Tea Vicar? NOVELTEA Launch

Everyone loves tea, British or not we seem to love it. So when I heard about an alcoholic tea launch I knew I had to investigate.

I headed along to Mason & Rye in Fenwick where we greeted by the creators & handed a glass of the tale of tangier. I was flying solo on this event so it was lovely to see some usual faces to chat & catch up with! Of course anytime theres a bunch of bloggers, cameras start coming out to get photos before anything is moved, so the frenzy snapping began!

As always Mason & Rye proceeded their reputation with an incredible spread of foods for us to nibble at throughout the night.

Those scones were to die for. Myself & Pixie especially enjoyed the passion fruit tarts, they were too good to resist, even though we laughed about thinking it was foil on the top.

Then came the part of the night where we found about what NOVELTEA was.

Lukas Passai & Vincent Efferoth both originate from Germany, but came over to complete their masters in 2015 and started their journey in the UK. They tried afternoon tea & seen that alcoholic drinks were a big part of it. Lukas & Vincent began thinking about combining tea with alcohol & with that their market research involved trying over 100 different teas. What they learnt was that every country has a different relationship & different processes for tea. They then created two signature flavours :

The tale of tangier - an infusion of morrocan green mint tea with Caribbean rum.

The tale of earl grey - an infusion of earl grey tea with gin and botanicals.

The tale of Tangier, Vincent explained has a flavour profile which takes him back to Morocco. The cool green mint tea but the hum of spice from the rum definitely gives it more of an exotic taste. I found it very easy to drink & is slightly sweet which I enjoyed.

The tale of Earl Grey, Lukas explained is dedicated to Charles Grey (who earl grey tea was named after). Obviously being in Newcastle this is super relatable as you pass Grey's Monument most days. This definitely has a milder taste, the gin gives it a nice alcoholic kick but it's not overpowering. I think I preferred this one out of the two.

Vincent - "to enhance the taste of tea we cold-brew the tale of earl grey & the tale of tangier for up to 12 hours to produce a smooth taste, drawing out distinctive flavours without causing some of the bitter notes that can be associated with tea. Cold-brewing produces lower levels of caffeine and extracts more antioxidants than hot-brewed processes."

The idea is to be another option alongside prosecco for afternoon tea. They are also a very social drink, I personally think these would go down a treat at a BBQ. 

They both have a 11% abv, with the best part being they're vegan & gluten free.

You can now find this retailing at Fenwick Newcastle (which is NOVELTEA's first retailer!) and you can grab a bottle to check out yourself.

For a 25cl it's £9.95 && 70cl it's £24.95.