Deltangam: The first tea for my shop
Since the start of Tea Thoughts, one of the most frequently asked questions is: do you sell tea? I understand to a point since there is the word tea in my name but it is something I have considered a lot.
I chose the name Tea Thoughts because it was alliteration and because at the time I was going to be writing about tea. I kept the name because I loved it and thought it would still fit well. I never desired to include tea in my shop but after the Nowruz box, everything changed!
BACKGROUND
I have often been asked to share more about my own culture and Persian heritage but have always been hesitant for two reasons. In my life, I have experienced negative reactions to this and also due to sanctions, using certain words that deal with Iran put me at risk of being shut down even though I am not in any violation. I have seen several businesses be cut off from their websites/payment processors for simply having the word Persian (not even Iran) on their site. Even when I paid for my blend, PayPal flagged the payment and it took several days to go through because it had the work Persian in it. Shafa mentioned that this happens anytime they use the word Persian. This is obviously a mistake of software but it is a real threat nonetheless and a deterrent for me.
Earlier this year, I did create a Nowruz box where I shared items and information about our New Year traditions and I was so happy that many people enjoyed it. From that time, I started thinking of ways that I could share more and also collaborate with other Iranian owned shops in the diaspora. At that time, what I came up with was 2 different Iranian owned shops in Canada and the US. They both focus on slightly different things and I thought it would be great to create a tea with them for my shop.
The first of which is Shafa Blends, they are located in Rockville, MD and are owned by an Iranian family! I came across them several years ago when they were at a different location and under a different name. I walked into a local mall on my lunch break to get a bite and saw a store called Rumi. I instantly freaked out! I went in to see a beautiful tea and spice shop and the Iranian family that owned it. I would often come during lunch breaks to buy tea or spices. They’re now Shafa Blends but are still creating incredible spice blends and have expanded their tea offerings as well! I was very excited that they were able to help me with the blend.
THE TEA
A blend may be an odd thing to add to my shop since it’s not something I drink a lot of but it’s actually something that is very much part of my tea drinking history. I grew up drinking black teas with bergamot oil which is a blend. I enjoy all the oolongs, white and pu’er teas that I’ve had that are mixed with different flowers. The thing I tend to stray away from are teas with flavorings as they don’t always do well on my palette, I’m very sensitive to those so I mostly stay away. I do enjoy teas that are blended with different ingredients like masala chai type blends!
My idea for Deltangam was at first something I went back and forth on. I wanted it to be a daily drinker type tea that is something like I drink everyday. This was a difficult task because the tea I drink everyday is pretty plain, just a ceylon with bergamot oil but I wanted to make it more interesting without overloading it. I started to brainstorm things that are very common in our culture and cuisine. The base is of course a black tea with bergamot. Not a ceylon which I was originally looking for but a tea that Shafa has and uses in some of my favorite teas. It has a similar aroma to my favorite tea and leaves that are a good size.
The first thing I knew I needed to add was rose. Rose is a very common ingredient, not only in tea but in food! Rose and rose water are included in many of our desserts and we even have our own rose! You will also notice if you search for persian tea blends that rose is almost always involved.
Rose can be controversial though since it has such a fragrant smell. Growing up, you learn tea preferences of family members as you learn to make and pour tea. I remember my uncle has a blend that he always serves and it is very floral and fragrant but my dad on the other hand can’t stand the teas he says smell like “perfume.” To not overpower the tea, rose petal pieces are used to give a hint of rose.
The second ingredient in this tea is ceylon cinnamon. Cinnamon is a commonly used in food but not tea so that’s the twist to this blend! Cinnamon is mostly used in sweet dishes like shole zard (a rice pudding) and to sautee meat in certain dishes. It’s this one ingredient that gives big flavor especially to beef (jn my opinion) and you can tell when it’s used. So why use this in the tea?
I wanted to make this tea blend unique, something you may not find but still have ingredients that are important to Iranian culture and cuisine. It is difficult to import Iranian ingredients so using what we have available is what we used. I also took into consideration the items that Shafa carries and uses in their own blends and spices which was important since I am collaborating with them. Ceylon cinnamon was my choice because it’s my favorite to use. While the fragrance is not always as strong as other cinnamon, the flavor is really nice with a bit of sweetness. In this blend you will find pieces of ceylon cinnamon as it’s more of a bark and easier to break up.
THE NAME
When deciding what to call this tea, I wanted it to first and foremost be something in farsi. I didn’t want it to just be named whatever was in the blend or even Persian blend since that is so common. We have a lot of sayings in Farsi that don’t really make sense in English but have deep meaning and are also used often in everyday speech. I was thinking of some of the most common ones and after consulting with my mom and sister, I decided to use “Deltangam.” This phrase literally translated means “my heart is tight” in English but in Farsi, it’s used to express longing for someone or something.
Growing up in the US with Iranian parents was always an interesting experience because I was taught language, culture and traditions from a different land but grew up in the US which has a very different culture. It was always a struggle to straddle being not quite American enough for Americans and not quite Iranian enough for Iranians.
Many of you are probably aware of the revolution currently happening in Iran, I try to share things about it almost everyday to keep it front of mind for non Iranians. This isn’t a new struggle, in fact Iranians have been fighting against the Islamic Republic since 1979. I’ve never been able to go to Iran for many complicated reasons, but much of it surrounds this current government, the way they rule and having a parent who needed to flee. Deltangam is a phrase I use for Iran. It’s a home that is mine ethnically, it’s a home that is mine in the stories my parents have told me but it’s a home I’ve never physically known. It’s something that not only makes me long for it but also breaks my heart. This tea and my love of tea in general is a love letter to Iran, where I hope all Iranians in the diaspora can go back to together one day.
If you’re wondering how to pronounce the tea, you can break down the word:
del - tang - am
Del: heart
Tang: tight
Am: this indicates the possessive subject like I’m
THE BREW
I’ve included brewing instructions on the tea that I think would be a common way to brew tea but also give you a taste of the way Iranians brew their tea. You can see this in the longer steep time of 5-7 minutes. The way tea was brewed in our house was with a modern samovar set up with a bottom boiling kettle and a top tea kettle. You will boil water in the bottom, then pour that water into the top tea pot with tea leaves. Instead of just leaving the top teapot to brew, you keep it on top of the boiling kettle teapot for a long time. I’m not exactly sure of the time but sometimes 10-15 minutes or more! What you get is a very strong brew that you can dilute somewhat with water if you want a weaker tea. For stronger teas, they are generally enjoyed with a sweet either sugar cube, rock candy, green raisins or other confections.
The 5-7 minute brew will hopefully allow you to experience a stronger flavor that you can have on it’s own or perhaps choose to sweeten. However, I encourage you to play around with it and perhaps you like a shorter brew or perhaps you want to use more tea depending on your teapot. I will mention that this tea isn’t really suited for gongfu brewing.
THE TASTE
The aroma of this tea is very interesting because it is somewhat spicy from the cinnamon at the start but you also get floral and bergamot on the back end. The taste has a nice sweetness from the cinnamon on top of a classic earl grey type flavor but more complex due to the rose. It’s nice on it’s own but I suggest you try it with honey or sugar to taste as well!
I don’t expect everyone to like this tea. I’m not a master blender and this is an experiment of sorts. I’ve blended together ingredients that are meaningful to me and I don’t expect that to be everyone’s cup of tea. Although, I do hope you enjoy it :)
THE PRICE
I will be listing this tea for $16 in the shop and each bag has about 1 oz of tea. The pricing here reflects the fact that this is a collaboration and that I purchased the tea instead of sourcing directly. If the response is good, I will restock in larger amounts and also change the packaging to include a 2 oz package size.
