Red Rose Tea and a Canada Day tea party.

June 29, 11:12 PMSan Jose Tea ExaminerElizabeth Urbach

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Elizabeth Urbach.  Box of Red Rose tea.

Any excuse to have a tea party is good enough for me, and another fun “excuse” is coming up on July 1st: Canada Day. Canada shares its English cultural and political foundation with the United States, and since the country is culturally connected to the U.K., daily cups of tea are an important part of life for many Canadians, as they are for many Brits.

Just as Lipton is the traditional American (United States) tea brand (although it has been joined by many good brands in the last 50 years), Red Rose is the traditional Canadian brand of tea. A Canadian friend of mine puts it this way: while Lipton and other tea brands are available in Canada, Red Rose tea is “what a true blue Canadian would have on their shelf.”

Red Rose tea, while sometimes thought to be an English tea blend, is actually a Canadian product. The company founder, Theodore Harding Estabrooks, was born in New Brunswick, and went into business in 1894 in the town of Saint John. He came up with the idea of blending and packing a high-quality tea that would be consistent in flavor and quality from cup to cup, which was not the result that tea customers had been getting from the tea sold by other local tea merchants.

Red Rose tea is a blend of Ceylon, Kenyan, Indonesian and Indian teas, which has a full, bright "tea" taste, very much like Lipton's standard "brisk" tea, but more mellow tasting, I think. The Red Rose Tea business prospered as customers came to depend on the flavor of the tea in every package, and sales spread all over Canada, and into the United States, by 1920. Tea bags were sold beginning in 1929. The Red Rose Tea company began including Wade miniature figurines in every box of tea in 1967, as a promotion in Quebec; they were so popular, that the company extended the promotion to all of Canada and the United States, and the figurines are valuable collectibles today.  As stated on my box of Red Rose Tea, there is a figurine in every box, still!

Since Red Rose tea can be found in many grocery stores in San Jose and Milpitas, why not try some, and remember your favorite Canadians on July 1st, Canada Day, with a Canada Day Tea? Canadian food is similar to British food and food from the United States (remember, Canada is part of “America”, too!), but local ingredients and other cultural influences have given Canada some unique dishes. Here is a possible menu:

Red Rose tea
Cape Breton Scones or Cranberry Scones
Saskatoon Berry Jam
Maple Butter
French Onion Tartlets
Mini French Canadian Tourtiere (meat pies)
Venison Sausage Rolls
Smoked Salmon Sandwiches
Butter Tarts
Maple Leaf Cookies
Frosted Cranberry Drop Cookies
Wild Blueberry Pound Cake with Whipped Cream

NOTE: this article is copyrighted to the San Jose Tea Examiner. If you would like to link to this article or re-post it somewhere else, you need to include a title and correct byline, with a link back to this page, along with my permission. You can contact me at southbayladiesteaguild@yahoo.com. Thanks!

For more info: How to brew a pot of tea, part 1 and part 2
How to make iced tea
Red Rose Tea website
Funny Red Rose Tea commercial from 1989
Famous Red Rose Tea Chimps