Magic Hour Iced Tea Review: This Collection is the Hot New Drop of The Summer

THE MOST MAGICAL HOUR

I’ve always been a bit of a #TeaGirlie. As someone who was born and bred in Los Angeles, it felt like a social imperative to know the names of herbs, botanicals, and adaptogens by my later adolescence. However, as I’ve gotten older, the sourcing and quality of the teas I drink has become a more prevalent priority in my health regimen. Enter: Magic Hour.

Zhena has been in the tea game for over two decades. In fact, some might even call her a Tea Pioneer, considering she was able to get Fair Trade teas into large grocery store chains like Walmart and Kroger for the first time ever. So it’s no wonder that as she evolved (or as women do, transformed) she wanted to “reconnect with the poetry and purpose of tea, which is a spiritual practice.”

Magic Hour is, in short, the antidote to commoditized tea. Its beauty and process demand a ceremonial “vibe” that is anything but commercial or rushed. Now, before you go stressing about how to properly perform a tea ceremony, Zhena would request that you just chill for a second (or an hour). The act of slowing down and returning to a state of self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-care “is simple and yet has profound spiritual and wellness benefits.”

All the reasons we’re obsessed:

+ Zhena’s Blending Process

Every single ingredient has been chosen for its synergistic effect on one's health and wellbeing. Zhena’s formulas, which she literally dreams up, are made up of flower, tea, herb, spice, adaptogen, and essential oil in combinations she designs to be “endless and thrilling.” Plus she infuses the blends with Reiki and prayer, which is like, so high vibrations, I can’t even.

+ Biodynamic Sourcing

Everything, and we mean everything in Magic Hour’s teas, is organic and biodynamic. Zhena sources the majority of her ingredients from small farmers in Sri Lanka, India, Africa, China and Japan. Bonus fact: The base of most of her blends is from a Sri Lankan tea garden where she was married, so she is deeply committed to its health and maintenance.

+ Spirituality and Wellness‍

Magic Hour was founded to create a community around the mindful practice of tea ceremonies from ancient cultures, aimed to empower women with the wellness benefits of taking time for a mindful cup of tea “at sunrise and sunset, which is when we remember the quiet preciousness and passing of our daily lives.” *Adds Tea at Dawn and Dusk to calendar*

Time to plant some seeds in our Cosmic Garden.

THE COSMIC COLLECTION

When I received my Cosmic Tea Garden, I was so bewitched by my sampling jars that I didn’t even want to open them. “But they’re too pretty!!!” I screamed to no one.

What makes Magic Hour’s Cosmic Garden Teas so special is that they: 1) are meant to be enjoyed iced, 2) can even be cold-steeped so you can achieve a tannin-free flavor profile, and 3) leverage cooling herbs and ingredients to keep your holistic constitution in balance as the earth sets on fire (weird times right now!)

Zhena mentioned that she didn’t use tea leaves typical of iced teas, instead  going all in on Jasmine Pearls, Silver Needle White and other full-leaf, super-premium teas that would otherwise be kept for special occasions. She also added in a ton of freeze-dried organic fruit and extra-soothing, enriching flowers for the ultimate cooling effect.

Different from Magic Hour’s hot-brewed teas that typically only take three-to-five minutes to brew, these iced infusions require about an hour of steeping (they provide adorable tea sachets for the process) to get the full flavor and herbal benefits.

SPILLING THE TEA