Bourbon Black Blend ~ Elmwood Inn

One of the crazy fun things I unearthed this last weekend at TranquiliTea is the one of a kind Elmwood Inn Fine Tea’s Bourbon Black Blend tea. Combining Kentucky’s charred-oak bourbon barrel aroma with hand-picked black tea is one of the wildest things I’ve seen done with tea yet. The aroma itself is possibly the most enticing American produced tea ever: imagine a lightly smoked lapsang souchong combined with the smoothest Kentucky bourbon with a kiss of vanilla. It’s really kind of brilliant.

The fun doesn’t stop there though. Elmwood Inn’s Bourbon Black Blend flavor is equally out of this world. It’s actually somewhat difficult to tell what variety of Black is being used because on the one hand it might be a well-cared for lapsang, and on the other… it could simply be any random orange pekoe aged in a bourbon barrel.  The taste is a harmonious combination of full-leaf Black with a dash of chrysanthemum and goodly amount of intoxicating small-vat bourbon. Elmwood Inn’s Bourbon Black texture is somewhat difficult to describe. It has all the mallowy grit of a Yunnan Gold, but the aftertaste is totally reminiscent of neat bourbon.

In actuality Elmwood Inn’s Bourbon Black Blend is made from: “Black tea from India, China and Sri Lanka (so it definitely could have lapsang souchong content), Sunflower petals (definitely a knew one on me), Calendula petals (i don’t know what that even is) and natural flavors. Contains no alcohol.” Well, bummer. But seriously, you could have fooled me.  Additionally, Elmwood Inn is totally biodegradable and the packaging is made from 100% recycled paper. Here’s what Elmwood Inn has to say about itself:

It was a marriage made in the rolling Bluegrass of Kentucky, where the commonwealth’s oldest tea company just happens to be surrounded by the world’s greatest collection of Bourbon distilleries. Combine these two historic traditions and you have Bourbon Blend Black tea – a rich mixture of hand-picked teas enhanced with the aromas of fine Bourbon aged in charred-oak barrels.  Enjoy hot or over ice.

So yeah, swoondeath with all the feels. I totally love it to tears. 95% satisfaction.