Types of Tea
All tea is from the leaves of one plant species called camellia sinensis. Three components make up all true tea, including caffeine, essential oils and polyphenols. Teas are processed in one of four ways, yielding one of the four basic types of tea.
- Green tea: light, delicate flavor, high in antioxidants.
- Black tea: strong flavor; English Breakfast and Darjeeling are of this type.
- Oolong tea: a blend of green and black tea; a Chinese favorite.
- White tea: very rare with delicate flavor.
Other Tea Favorites
In recent years herbal teas have become popular. They are not really teas at all and generally are made up of a blend of herbs and dried flowers.
Another favorite is chai tea. Chai is the Hindu word for tea, but in the United States this term tends to refer to a blend of tea, milk, spices and sweetener. This blend can include any tea, but tends to use strong black tea as its base. In India this sweet tea mix is called masala chai or sweet tea.
For your reception, select tea flavors to compliment the sensory experience evoked by your theme, remembering that aroma is the first aspect of a tea wedding favor a guest will experience. Think about the emotions you would like to share with your friends and family, and let your senses guide your selection.
Personalized Packaging When packaging your tea wedding favors be sure to personalize them with complementary theme and color choices. Subtlety is key to making your wedding favors simply elegant.
Using loose tea to make delightful theme inspired containers is easy. For example if you are using the Rose Wedding Theme for your nuptials, consider using rose images such as those found on WeddingClipart.com in conjunction with software for gift box templates. Add a personalized ribbon to your box and tie a bow around a tea strainer, attaching it to the box filled with loose tea. If you have a small guest list, consider purchasing tea infuser mug sets to go along with your loose tea in lieu of the strainer on the box idea.
Tea sachets are a creative DIY option. You can create your own by using cheese cloth to hold the loose tea and personalizing it with a ribbon and tag. The sachets can be on the reception tables with individual tea pots for your guests to enjoy them immediately upon arrival at your reception or several sachets can be placed into cloth bags for your guests to take home.
Commercially produced tea bags are a readily available and slightly less expensive option. Foil-lined envelopes make a simply stylish statement as DIY tea bag wedding favor wrappers and are easy to obtain. Fonts and clipart that reflect your wedding theme can be combined with a word processing program to create a special couples design to be printed directly onto your envelopes or onto decorative labels. Use labels on envelopes or on keepsake tins with tea bags inside.
Alternatively, if you can afford to do so, have custom mugs made using a favorite photo, clipart image and your wedding date or a favorite poem that relates to your wedding theme or tea choice. Place tea bags inside of the mug and wrap the mug in a box with a personalized label.
Inviting, relaxing, sensual and timeless, tea calms our senses and warms our hearts. Let your personalized tea favors express to your guests your gratitude for having them share in your most precious of days.