One day while trawling through Twitter for inspiration I encountered Hot Elephant Tea. The social media presence and company website struck me as familiar and welcoming. Also, the passion that proprietor, Nisha, has for the teas really shines through. Well the sound of spiced tea intrigued me so I reached out to Hot Elephant – Luxury Spiced, Infused & Classic Tea on Twitter for a sample, and they couldn’t have been more helpful. They popped 2 samples in the post the very same day.

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Who are Hot Elephant Tea?

A relatively new company appearing on the scene in December 2018 from Surrey, England, Hot Elephant have a respectable social media following for such a young company. I urge you to follow the Hot.Ele Instagram page to see some of the wonderful brand photography that they regularly post.

They offer a range of traditional, black, loose leaf teas as well as their more invigorating spiced blends. The Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) program supplies all of the teas and the spice blends are a (secret) traditional family recipe. Not only are you’re getting a wholesome cup of tea, but by purchasing from Hot Elephant you’re also helping those working in the tea industry.

Tea, Please

As I said before, the wonderful people behind Hot Elephant kindly sent me 2 teas to sample. Keep in mind that I am reviewing these teas objectively and will give my honest opinion. So without further ado, here are my thoughts:

Luxury Afternoon Infused Tea

  • The purrfect infusion. Get you black cat infuser here.

Using freshly boiled water, I placed 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea into the infuser and brewed for 3 minutes. I chose to drink it without milk or sugar but as this is a black tea it can be served with milk or sweetened to your taste. The tea infusion takes on an amber colour and smells like a hearty black tea.

The flavour is mild and mellow, and I did indeed find it to be smooth and calming as stated on the packaging. There are also some floral notes with a hint of caramel coming through. The tea is slightly astringent on the tongue (like a dry white wine) as all good black teas should be. This is definitely a great cuppa for afternoons/evenings to relax with in front of Netflix.

A close up photograph of black tea leaves and safflower petals from Hot Elephant
Here is a close up of the Luxury Afternoon loose leaf tea by Hot Elephant. Notice the safflower petals glowing like embers.

Tarajulie Assam Spiced Tea

Preparing the infusion as before, I let it brew for 3 minutes. Straight away I could detect the aroma of cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. This had me reminiscing of winters spent beside a fireplace with fluffy socks and a good book. The spices cloud the infusion and it brews to a bronze colour.

  • Spiced brew. Like the infuser? Get it here.

The initial flavour of black tea mingles with the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, then there is a black pepper hit to the tongue. Soon after, the ginger kicks in and I can feel the temperature rising. This is a complex and dynamic tea: I feel comforted by the musky, earthy scents but enlivened by the spiced hit. I think if you were suffering from a cold, this might be the concoction to get you back in shape. Invigorating, it is indeed!

  • Close up of Hot Elephant spiced tea
    Look at all those spices! Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black pepper and ginger combine to make a spicy infusion.

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Conclusions

I really enjoyed these 2 samples I received from Hot Elephant and plan to purchase more in the future. I sometimes find that teas spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves fall a little short of their flavour potential. But this spiced blend is not one of them. The addition of black pepper was new for me, and I’m not aware of any other commercial teas that include this in their blends. If you’re a spice lover like me, the hot and spicy hit really rounds off the other flavours. Beware if you have a sensitivity to spice though! You can sweeten and add a dash of milk to enjoy a milder spiced experience.

All-in-all it was a pleasure getting to know more about Hot Elephant and trying their wares. If you would like to see what they have to offer on their web store follow this link: foxglovereviews.com/hot-elephant and get 20% off your first order!

Image of sample pouches provided by Hot Elephant.
Samples also available on the website.

Thanks for reading, and remember to drop by Hot Elephant on Insta and show them some love!