The Perfect Green Tea for Fall 🍃

I spent this past summer drinking fruity green tea and green oolong blends. I especially loved Tangerine Dream and Big Easy for their bright, juicy flavors. Now that fall is here, it’s a pleasure to return to my all-time favorite green tea, Combray. Drinking this again, after a long break, reminds me how much I love it. It reminds me why I created it in the first place.

 

Combray is a green tea that stands out in a crowd of green teas. Here’s why.

 

I often think about how Combray touches all of the senses. For me, it has the texture of suede. It has a soft, whispery, comforting sound without being too demure. It’s the Pale Saints, the Slowdive, the Nick Drake, the Billie Eilish of green teas…all soft, fluttery and quietly beautiful. It’s definitely not for everyone or every occasion.

 

When Aaron and I started August, I drank green tea almost exclusively. I was only drinking gentle, slightly sweet Japanese green teas in the morning as a subtle wakeup to my palate and my day. I was searching for a green tea that retained gentle sweetness but had a little more soul, a little more mystery and mood. When I added cardamom and vanilla, I found two very complementary sweet spices that resulted in the most perfectly soft green tea.

 

Combray has a base of Chun Mee or “precious eyebrow” tea, which is a mild green tea with a slight vanilla note. Chun Mee tea with cardamom and vanilla was simply magical. It was love at first sip. This was a tea that broke the mold of fruity green tea blends you find everywhere that counterbalance green tea’s earthiness and astringency. It’s the most uncommon green tea blend I’ve had, thanks to its rich round flavors and softness.

 

Ten years later, I still return to this tea in the fall. I look forward to it like my cozy fall sweaters. I relish its almost buttery Madeleine-like, vanilla finish, just like the soft folds of my favorite cashmere sweater as I pull it over my skin after a long summer of t-shirts and tank tops. It’s a welcome return to cozy warmth and familiar sweetness. It’s the tea version of my favorite pastry, Swedish cardamom buns kardemummabullar.

 

Combray is the only tea I will take with me in teabags when I travel. It’s the tea I always resteep. And although I don’t usually put milk and sugar in my tea, Combray makes an outstanding tea latte with milk and honey.

 

If you haven’t tried it, I hope this fall season you give it a chance. It’s available in loose tea and teabags.