Oliver Pluff & Company Teas
The Market at Cold Creek Nurseries is proud to carry Oliver Pluff & Company Teas. Hand-packaged in Charleston, SC, they are committed to preserving the time honored tradition of tea. They asked, “What teas were dumped into the Harbor during the Boston Tea Party?” and recreated those blends using high quality ingredients. Every time you pour a cup of Oliver Pluff & Company tea, you are sharing a piece of American History.
Popularized by Queen Victoria, English Breakfast is a hearty black tea blend which is complemented by milk and sugar. Created by an American tea merchant in 1843, the blend originally used Chinese teas. Later blenders use tea from gardens across the British Empire, including Darjeeling and Assam (India), and British Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The British East India Company reintroduced and imported English Breakfast to America. This blend harkens back to the original blend and is a combination of teas from China, India and Sri Lanka.
English Breakfast
A refreshing black tea blend with lavender blossoms. Lavender is a flowering plant in the mint family that is native to the Mediterranean coast. It is also cultivated for its essential oils and fragrant blossoms, as well as its floral notes in the tea. We take dried lavender buds and blend them with a black tea base to create a wonderful aromatic floral blend with a touch of natural sweetness.
Lavender
Black Tea blend with a distinctive flavor and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit. Earl Grey was introduced in England in the early 1800's, having been presented by an envoy on his return from China. The recipe was discovered and went into production by the 1830's, and was named after 2nd Earl Grey - British Prime Minister in the 1830's.
Earl Grey
Countess Grey
lack Tea blend with a distinctive flavor and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit. Earl Grey was introduced in England in the early 1800's, having been presented by an envoy on his return from China. The recipe was discovered and went into production by the 1830's, and was named after 2nd Earl Grey - British Prime Minister in the 1830's.
Peppermint
“The smell of Mint doth stir up the minde, and the taste to a greedy desire of meat.” (The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes (1597) - J. Gerard). “A good posie for students to oft smell. It quickened the brain.” (Herbs and Herb Lore of Colonial America). Peppermint was carried to the New World by European immigrants, where it escaped and grew in the wild. Colonists steeped peppermint to drink as a tea or sugared the leaves to eat as candy.
Blueberry
Refreshing black tea blend. Can be served hot or iced. Blueberries are perennial flowering plants with indigo colored berries. They are one of the few fruit species native to north America and have a colorful history dating back to pre-colonial times. Native Americans gathered and used blueberries for centuries before colonists arrived from Europe.
Chamomile
The colonists steeped the dried flowers of chamomile as a tea for its gentle, soothing effects, and as a rinse for blond hair. “Camomile flowers, boiled in lye, are a good wash to the head, and comfort both it and the brain.” The English Physitian (1652) - N. Culpeper. Chamomile was consumed during the Revolution as a patriotic alternative to paying the British tea tax. Tasting of fresh apples, chamomile is a fragrant, caffeine-free tea.
Martha Washington enjoyed steeping the shells of roasted cocoa nuts from the cacao tree for the interesting flavor and health benefits. Aroma of toast before brewing. Steeping in hot water unleashes a tonic of chocolate. The brew yields a full-bodied, slightly bitter infusion with strong notes of chocolate, and light flavors of melon.
Cacao Tea
Herbal tea with tart flavors infused from the hibiscus blossom. Serve hot or over ice.
Hibiscus
Cinnamon Orange
Black tea complemented with citrus and cinnamon.
Green tea is infused with fragrant sweet jasmine blossoms, a delectable green tea blend.
Jasmine
Lemon Balm
Steeped as a tea, the colonials sipped lemon balm as for its uplifting effects: “balme makes the heart merry and joyfull, and strengtheneth vitall spirits...it drives away the care of the minde*.” (The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes (1597) - J. Gerard). Lemon balm has an subtle aroma of citrus that makes it useful as a strewing herb to freshen rooms. It is also valuable as a plant that is known to attract bees.
