Tea parties a are a little creepy, don’t you think? Halloween is a great occasion to host one, Mad Hatter style. Even without the tea party, this is the perfect cocktail to creep your guests out in a big way. We started with the basic recipe for a hibiscus tea cocktail called The Procession and upped the goulish factor a little with some hibiscus syrup and dry ice.

Ingredients (for the drink)
½ oz silver tequila
¾ oz crème de cacao (white)
½ oz ruby port
¾ oz hibiscus tea, chilled (make 1 cup more for the syrup, if using, below)
2 dashes of orange bitters

For the hibiscus syrup:
Bring 1 cup of brewed and strained hibiscus tea to a boil (2 teaspoons brewed for 5 minutes made a nice strong cup). While the tea is boiling, add a cup of sugar and stir constantly for about two minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Shake the cocktail ingredients together with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a small chunk of dry ice (check out these instructions on handling dry ice) to the glass, and drizzle a little hibiscus “blood” along the rim. Serve immediately. The bubbling lasts for about five minutes.

Created by Daniel Hyatt, The Alembic, San Francisco. Original recipe here.

For a company that has always grown via word of mouth, we get very excited about media attention. We were especially thrilled when Woman’s Day Magazine reached out to us. They wanted to interview Anthony, our resident tea expert for an article titled “Tea & Company.” The goal of the article was to bring back the lost art of the tea party and they needed Anthony’s help to do it.

You probably haven’t met Anthony, but if you have, you know he can talk about tea for hours. This made him a perfect resource for Woman’s Day Senior Editor Taryn Mohrman. They started with the basics – how to steep the perfect cup of tea. After that was a lesson on how one plant can turn into so many different types of tea. What Woman’s Day was really interested in, however, was how to blend teas. Anthony and Taryn started with more than 10 basic teas and Anthony demonstrated all the many combinations that could be created. Earl Grey with rose petals? How about Dragonwell green tea with lemongrass? The best part is that Woman’s Day is giving away all the teas to five lucky winners!

We’re featured in the May issue of Woman’s Day which is on sale now. Check out the article it’s full of DIY instructions for hosting a perfect tea party as well as tasty sounding recipes for sandwiches, cookies and frozen tea drinks.

Here’s the link to the tea giveaway in case you’re feeling lucky:

http://www.womansday.com/sweepstakes/29548