3 SerendipiTea Blends Won Awards

Manhasset, New York-based SerendipiTea won three awards in the Global Tea Championship, which was held Sept. 29 in Boulder, Colorado. SerendipiTea’s founder, Linda Villano, talked about the inspiration for the three winning blends: Remember Rosemary, Mandela Masala and White Ginger Apricot.

The Remember Rosemary blend won a silver medal in the Blended Green category. “I love the mildly savory scent and flavor of rosemary and personally use rosemary oil to help my memory,” said Villano. “So Remember Rosemary started with a desire to make a rosemary forward blend to help with memory but one that would taste good of course.” She had been using Rosemary in SerendipiTea’s Winter Solstice blend for several years and wanted to have more than one use for this ingredient. Then, Villano added other ingredients she says are known to help one’s memory and combined well for good taste; which are: lemon myrtle, orange peel and steamed China green tea.

SerendipiTea’s Mandela Masala won a bronze medal in the Blended Rooibos category. Villano said she invented the caffeine-free Masala Chai recipe in 1999 in honor of Nelson Mandela’s retirement from politics. It is made with a base of honey bush and rooibos—both indigenous to South Africa—and masala spices. 20 percent of proceeds from sales of this blend are donated to WaterAid, an international non-profit devoted to helping impoverished people in 37 countries gain access to clean water, toilets and sanitation.

White Ginger Apricot won a silver medal in the Flavored White category. Long time SerendipiTea employee Sonam Curreri created the blend. It contains natural sweetness from its apple and apricot content; while ginger, hibiscus, orange peel, Pai Mu Dan, rose hips and white tea balance out the mixture. Villano wants to increase SerendipiTea’s retail presence and feels the company’s blends are perfect for specialty food and tea shops. All of its products are available for wholesale, retail, bulk and private labeling. “We love hearing from retail customers, tell us what you’re looking for—we’ll try our best to fulfill,” said Villano. SerendipiTea’s focus is to continue to source organic teas and herbs as often as possible while remaining environmentally and socially responsible.