Red Rose Creme Caramel Tea

Another great product that I received free from Influenster in my J'Adore VoxBox is Red Rose Creme Caramel Naturally Flavored Premium Black Tea Blend. The name caught my attention right off the bat. Just about anything with caramel is super good. I usually drink my hot tea with milk and we didn't have any milk in the house so I was hesitant to make it. The aroma is so good I couldn't wait to taste it. It filled the kitchen with a smell that I would use for my whole house. Well let me say this, you don't need milk that's for sure. I added a little bit of sugar and took a sip, OMG it was sooo good! Definitely would drink this everyday. And if I'm not mistaken, black tea is good for you. So if that is true, you have a drink that is way better than coffee, smells scrumptious, and is good for you! Well Red Rose, you won me over! For all the coffee and tea drinkers out there, this is one tea I'd suggest you try. Thank you so much #Influenster and #JAdoreVoxBox, you made my day!

www.redrosetea.com

Red Rose Tea History

The story of Red Rose Tea began way back in 1890 in Canada. Theodore Harding Estabrooks was born in Wicklow, Carleton County, New Brunswick in 1861. He attended Kerrís Business College in Saint John, New Brunswick, and went into business himself in 1894 on Dock Street in downtown Saint John. He was a local business leader that came up with a great idea... produce and pack a quality blended tea that was consistent from cup to cup. Before that, tea was sold loose from tea chests by local merchants and quality varied a great deal. Mr. Estabrooks' innovation meant that tea lovers could count on the quality of tea in every Red Rose package — a tradition that continues to this day.

Initially, Red Rose was sold mainly in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, but soon distribution expanded into other parts of Canada and into the United States beginning in the 1920s. Distribution initially was in cities near the Canadian border such as Portland, Buffalo and Detroit. In 1929, Red Rose introduced tea bags for the first time.

The business continued to expand and in 1932 a new chapter in the history of Red Rose began. Mr. Estabrooks sold Red Rose to Brooke Bond & Company of England. Arthur Brooke had founded Brooke Bond and Company in 1869, starting with a single tea shop. There was no Mr. Bond, but Arthur Brooke thought it sounded better. What was to become one of the world's leading tea companies was born. During the 1890's, Arthur Brooke expanded beyond tea shops and into the wholesale tea market using vans to deliver his tea all over England. The Brooke Bond name became synonymous with tea throughout the United Kingdom and his company introduced a second brand — PG Tips in 1930. Brooke Bond also became a major brand in the large tea market of India. With the sale to Brooke Bond, Red Rose was part of a global tea company and flourished under the guidance of the parent company and Arthur Brooke's son Gerald, who became chairman in 1910.

Following the Second World War, Brooke Bond established their Canadian business in Montreal, Quebec and continued to grow the Red Rose Tea brand. By the 1970s, Red Rose was sold in much of the United States and Canada.

In 1985, Unilever NV acquired Brooke Bond Foods, Inc. Shortly thereafter, Unilever sold the rights to the Red Rose brand in the United States to Redco Foods, Inc. retaining the rights in Canada and other parts of the world. Production of Red Rose Tea for the United States market moved to Little Falls, N.Y., in 1988.

Today, Red Rose is blended with the same care that Theodore Harding Estabrooks established more than a century ago. Red Rose contains high-grown black teas from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Kenya, India and Indonesia. The result is a blend that produces a full-flavored cup of tea for the tea lover. We think Mr. Estabrooks would be proud.

The Story Of Tea

According to Chinese legend, the story of tea began in 2737 BC. Emperor Shen Nung, who was known as the "Divine Healer," always boiled his water before drinking it. He had observed that those who boiled their water had better health. One afternoon, as he knelt before his boiling water, some leaves from a nearby tree blew into the water. The Emperor noted a delightful aroma and, upon sipping the beverage, proclaimed it heaven sent.

Since this first cup of tea almost five thousand years ago, the popularity of tea has grown to the point that it is now the second most consumed beverage in the world. Only water is more popular. Shortly after Emperor Shen Nung's discovery, tea's popularity spread to Japan and the rest of the Far East. The Dutch first brought tea from China to Europe and America by 1650. In 1669, the East India Company began bringing tea leaves to England, and in 1721, the company was granted a monopoly on all tea imported into the British Empire. Initially, tea was very expensive and available only for royalty and the upper class. At the time, tea prices were $30 to $50 per pound. One pound of tea makes about two hundred tea bags. During the 1800's, tea clippers raced from China to London and other ports. The first clipper to arrive with its cargo fetched the highest prices. Largely because of this new method of speedy transportation, the supply of tea became more plentiful and thus less expensive.

Tea played a dramatic role in the establishment of the United States of America. In 1767, the British Government put a tax on the tea used by American colonists. Protesting "taxation without representation," the colonists did not allow tea to be unloaded. In December 1773, colonists, dressed as American Indians, boarded ships from the East India Company and threw 300 chests of tea into Boston harbor. The Boston Tea Party, of course, led to American independence.

America was also the birthplace of iced tea. At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis in the summer of 1904, the weather was very hot. A young Englishman named Richard Blechynden was serving hot tea for days with no takers. In desperation, he tried pouring tea into glasses with pieces of ice. The beverage was a hit and iced tea was born.