Lavender makes everything better

There is something about the scent of lavender that brings my senses to life and it’s beautiful purple color catches my eye every time. It is the one flower that smells, tastes and looks fabulous. I have planted lavender in my yard on several occasions and the fragrance that it brings is just so uplifting. I have read that there are 47 different species of Lavender (Lavandula) in the world and it actually comes from the mint family. No wonder I love it so much...I also love Mint. Lavender is used all over the world for ornamental purposes, culinary herbs and essential oils.

Oh..., those essential oils. They are my favorite.

Lavender makes everything better. I always purchase hand soaps and creams that have lavender oil in them. I’m also a stickler for the essential oil diffusers. I like keeping my home smelling pretty. The lavender essential oil in the diffuser keeps it fragrant without smelling like a perfume store. I just love the way it radiates through the house.

If you love lavender like I do and if you love tea like I do then I’m guessing you would love a tea infused with lavender. A couple of months ago, I was asked to try some tea samples by a company called Chat Noir Apothicaire. They are a small business who create handmade health and beauty products along with teas, sugars and honey in the mountains of Virginia. Of course I wasn’t going to say no to the gentleman, who would say no to Tea? I told him I would love to try his teas and then give them a review here on my Blog. That’s the great thing about having a blog, you get to try things you normally wouldn’t know about. When the teas arrived, I was so excited because this company infuses Lavender into most of their products. I was in heaven.

Their Marseilles Breakfast Tea is made from organic black tea and lavender buds and their Countess Grey is made from organic black tea, bergamot and lavender buds. They were simply delicious. I love teas with bergamot so having lavender in it brings it to an elevated level. I have bought teas with lavender and I have to say that the Chat Noir Apothicaire tea is one of the best lavender infused teas that I have ever had. The tea is fragrant and leaves no bitter after taste. The tea leaves float in the teapot and don't fall to the bottom so quickly like other teas do, which in my opinion, give a more balanced steep to the pot of tea. I have been thoroughly enjoying them. They also included a sample of their coffee infused with Lavender. It was fantastic and my husband, the coffee drinker, enjoyed it very much. The taste with lavender was subtle, not over bearing.

The other three teas they sent were their Moulin Rouge Teas. There is the Moulin Rouge, the Moulin Rouge Black and the Moulin Rouge Rooibos. They consist of hibiscus, lavender, citrus peel, rose petals and calendula, with black tea added to one and Rooibos added to the other. I have to say, I was not a fan. It wasn’t that their tea wasn’t good, it’s my palate. I just don’t like hibiscus and rose petals in tea. I tried drinking them a few times to get my taste buds used to it but I just couldn’t wrap my tongue around the flavor.....that is, until I iced it. What a world of difference. I made sun tea out of the Moulin Rouge Black. I put the tea in a large glass container, added water and brewed it out on my patio in the hot sun. Later in the day, I took the bag of steeped tea out and put the sun brewed tea in the fridge. When it was good and cold, I had some on ice and it tasted fabulous. In my opinion, it’s a tea that tastes great as a cold beverage rather than a hot one. You can also brew it hot the traditional way and let it sit and then add ice. It's perfect on a hot summer's day. It is so refreshing and it brews into a pretty shade of red.

Along with their teas, I also tried their lavender sugar, lavender honey and violet sugar. Chat Noir Apothicaire’s lavender honey goes a long way. You don’t need to add much to get the wonderful lavender flavor. Their lavender sugar is also excellent. It has the perfect balance of sugar and lavender. I don’t usually use anything in my tea, I love drinking it straight but as a treat, I added some lavender sugar, it gave the tea a beautiful fragrant taste. I also added this sugar to my cappuccino and it tasted fantastic. There are buds in the sugar so it needs to be sifted over the cup with a tea strainer or put right into the tea infuser with the loose tea. I used the sugar in my cappuccino so I sifted the lavender sugar over the cappuccino with my tea strainer and stirred it in.

Oh my goodness, it tasted so good. I don’t think I will ever use plain old sugar again. I can’t wait to use it on my homemade scones, just sprinkle some on top and bake them in the oven. That should give the scones a fabulous fragrant sweet topping plus look pretty with the lavender buds baked on top. Now, let’s talk about the violet sugar. Ooo là là, that sugar was made for ROYALTY, it is simply Devine. The violet pieces are tiny and candied so they can just be eaten the way they are. This sugar is wonderful, fit for a Queen. I actually can’t decide if I like it better than the lavender.... it’s a tough decision. I feel weird to cheat on my lavender with violet but, I think violet is winning. I can't stop sticking my finger in the jar and eating it straight...it's so good.

I enjoy drinking tea and it’s funny how adding some lavender or changing the temperature can make the experience such a joyful one. I am so excited that a company as small as Chat Noir Apothieaire is making such high quality teas and sugars. I absolutely love how they use lavender AND that they have a black cat as their logo. Cats and Tea go together like Milk and Cookies...

Please check them out on Etsy. Maybe try some of their teas and sugars or other items. It’s nice to support a small business in the hopes that they can grow and share their wonderful products with the rest of the world.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChatNoirApothicaire

Thanks for stopping by and stay thirsty my friends, try adding some lavender into your life. You will be amazed at how wonderful that little purple flower is.

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#lavendertea #lavender #ChatNoirApothicaire #violetsugar #lavenderhoney