Tea is always on my mind but with the build up to mother’s day it was taking up a different space for me. My mom is one of the reason I’m such a tea lover. Both of my parents and most of my family drank tea of course but in Middle School and High School I spent most of my time at my Mom’s house. In this time, she taught me the ways of tea. We bonded over tea.

I always used to joke that a mother’s greatest love is dooning an anar - seeding a pomegranate- for her child. Well, on the flip side, a daughter making her mom tea is the greatest act of love. I’ve shared before that my mom has a fun name for me - kolfateh chaye- which is essentially tea butler. This name and all that it came with it is all love. I would make tea and we would sit together to talk, laugh, watch tv, whatever. This was our time. It was a special bond that only existed between her and I, not with any of my siblings. I didn’t realize how special this was until I moved out. Sure, I still have tea with my mom but it’s not really the same. Every step - turning on the kettle, pouring in the leaves, then the water was a recipe for love and our bond as mother and daughter. The tea always tasted good.

My mom enjoying a matcha cake I made for her, she loves matcha everything

When I started Tea Thoughts and started exploring other types of tea besides the black tea we would drink, my mom took interest too. I often share teas I buy with my mom and she loves when I prepare tea gongfu style. For several birthdays we have gone to a traditional Chinese tea house in DC and she always has so much fun. So for mother’s day I ordered the tea and honey pairing kit from Mansa tea. While we all have been social distancing because we live in different households, we gathered for a short time at my sister’s house (who is also a mother) and I made everyone tea!

The Pairings included aged teas and single origin honey.

1) 2014 Fuding Silver Needle paired with Lavender Honey

2) 2018 Bulang White tea paired with chestnut honey

3) 2014 Ancient tree raw pu’er paired with fir honey

This was perfect because each person had their favorite tea and honey. First up is the silver needle. I will admit I wasn’t as focused on the tea as I was serving. Here are my mom and younger sister who live in the same house and sat together.

For the silver needle, this was my mom’s fav! She raved about it. My sisters didn’t like it as much. Both of my sisters loved the lavender honey though! My mom made the “OMG” face when she sipped the silver needle. I think this is interesting because she likes strong teas and I used a large amount of leaf in my brew so this was definitely a factor.

Next up was the Bulang white tea. This is one of my favs and it was my older sister’s fav too! She is pictured below with her daughter who sat together. Sara, my older sister loved the white tea but didn’t like the honey as much. My mom loved the honey and so did my little sister! So interesting to listen to them all talk about their tastes. My mom was not a fan of the white tea, she said it was too “light”. I encouraged them to take a sip and make sure to use their tongue to taste all the different notes. After doing this my younger sister Sami decided she really loved the white tea as well!

Finally, the raw pu’er. I was so nervous about this tea. I think it’s mostly because it took time for me to enjoy raw pu’er BUT some of the first raw pu’er I enjoyed was from Mansa so I did have a little hope.

HANDS DOWN THE FAVORITE. Every single one of them raved about this tea. I was so excited. My mom gave another “OMG” for this tea. My younger sister said that it reminded her of whitton pond. This is a lake that we visit in the summer time in the white mountains in New Hampshire. I think she meant it reminds her of the place itself but if we’re talking about the water in the lake which I’ve definitely swallowed before….it’s a very pure and light taste but also packs a punch which I think is a great way to describe the raw pu’er. As for the fir honey, this was all my mom she loved it!

I think the best part about this tea tasting is that I did it with several different people who have different tastes and I got to listen to what they thought about each tea. I highly suggest trying this kit with a group of people!