Maya Luxurious Tea is a tea company that focuses on the quality of tea and the experience around drinking it. It was created out of a passion for tea and then bloomed into a business that they can share with others. Consuming tea is calming and they want to create an event out of having your daily cup of tea. They sent me their Blooming Purity Tea and a logo themed tea set. Here were my thoughts:
The Origin Story:
While talking to the owner, Maya, she told me about how Maya Luxurious Tea was founded and why, which I could not even find on their website. The husband and wife duo could not find a tea which they liked, and actually tested different teas and discovered bits of hay and other fillers in tea bags. When traveling to the Anhui Province while on a business trip, they asked around for some of the best tea that was not bagged. While there, they bought some tea and were gifted with a blooming tea which they loved so much that they made it the focal of their new business, Maya Luxurious Teas. However, there was another hurdle to scale since Maya loved the tea but hated the packaging that it came. So, she got to work on designing packaging and labeling to make a beautiful experience around tea. They put each tea in individual boxes so starting the tea process was like unboxing candy or a gift, and to add to the experience of drinking and brewing tea. After the design process was complete, people around them started to get interested in the tea, and Maya started playing around with different natural flavor combinations and had the tea farm actually plant the different varieties of needed supplies for the company. Now Maya Luxurious Teas is available on Amazon and in both the US and Europe.
Blooming Purity: With most of my experience in blooming teas being jasmine green, I expected this one to be extremely similar to others I had tried before. However, the lily and jasmine combined in a way that was very soothing on my tastebuds. I already find that jasmine is one the most relaxing teas to me, so the addition of the lily added to the calming nature of this tea. While utilizing the teapot they gifted me, the tea brewed nicely and did not seem to overbrew at all for the sevenish minutes that I brewed the tea (which is my main concern when drinking blooming teas). The tea was quite smooth and did not have any astringency when drinking. I also kept track of the tea leaves when brewing and was extremely happy that almost all of the leaves and flowers kept intact and did not stray from the flower format. One of my favorite things about tea flowers is that the leaves are by nature intact and whole leaf, and this one was consistent, not even having any little bits come off when pouring the water (probably due to the individual packaging).
Ingredients: Green Tea Leaves, Lily Flowers, Jasmine Flowers
Accessories Box: This company also gifted me the tea set shown in the pictures above, a teapot, four teacup and saucer sets, and a glass infuser to go in the teapot. This tea set was absolutely beautiful and came in such a beautiful box. There are a few positives and negatives to this tea set, so I thought I would list out a few. My mom and I were both extremely nervous to wash this tea set because the glass was so fragile (and we both are rather clumsy). I also noticed that the tea infuser was a bit slow to drain so the first time using the tea set, I almost overflowed the pot and spilled tea when taking out the infuser. When taking out the infuser, the top no longer fit as snugly and it would move around a bit when pouring. It never fell off though, which I was extremely thankful for. The teapot itself poured quite smoothly, not having to overly move my hand to pour out the tea and did not overly drip after pouring, which is preferable to me when looking at how a teapot functions.
Pricing: The price for 12 blooming teas is $18.95. Honestly, I have seen some blooming teas sell for much more, so I think this tea is quite reasonable. The accessories box set sells for $44.47 on Amazon for the entire set. I have seen tea sets sell for more and I have seen them sell for less, so I think this one is right at the midway point.
Packaging: The packaging for this tea was so beautiful. Firstly, a large box came to my door and I was so confused about why the package was so big. After tearing into the packaging, I saw the teas first. They were in a lovely gold and white package with 12 individual tea boxes with the blooming teas wrapped inside the boxes. The individual packaging was quite airtight and I could not smell any tea aroma outside of the packaging. The tea set came in a large black box. Each piece was individually separated and opening that box literally took my breath away.
Sourcing: On each individual package and their website, it states that this tea is produced in Huangshan, China. They state to have exclusivity for their brand.
What are your thoughts around blooming teas? Before recently, I was under the impression that I did not like them since they almost always came out overbrewed. I must have mastered my brewing technique because now it is a fun treat for me to do. Happy Brewing!
-Danielle