At the Tea Table with Mary Ann Rollano of Life is Better with Tea

There is no denying that life is better with tea and my guest this month is also a firm believer of that statement. So much so, that her blog is named just that. Before even beginning her blog Life is Better with Tea, Mary Ann worked as a registered nurse and also started a line of iced teas. She saw the need for better tasting bottled teas and took it as an opportunity to create her own with a secret ingredient many commercially made ones were missing — real tea. At the tea table Mary Ann shared her inspiration behind her company, how her career as a nurse shaped her tea experience and the first time she tasted oolong tea.

The kettle is on and I can hear it about to sing. What tea are you going to steep for us today?

My daily morning favorite is Black Dragon Pearl. I loved it from the very first time I tasted it in a Teavana shop years ago. After Teavana closed, I sought out Black Dragon Pearl from other tea vendors and it still does not disappoint. Once I discovered specialty teas, I absolutely fell in love with them.

For any readers that may not know, Black Dragon Pearl is a black tea from the Yunnan province of China. It’s considered a rare handmade tea. After the tea leaves are processed and withered, they are tightly rolled into pearls and placed in a cloth bag to hold their shape until they are completely dry. It’s naturally sweet, with a hint of cocoa and a touch of earthiness, this tea is simply delicious.

Thanks for sharing that special tea! How did your relationship with tea begin?

I’ve been a tea drinker my entire life, having been raised by a mother of Irish descent, we always had tea in our home, hot and iced. My mother was always brewing iced tea based on an old Mississippi iced tea recipe from a friend.

It was my mothers’ love of all things tea that got me hooked on tea from a young age. In fact, it was my mother’s original iced tea recipe that was the basis for my first commercially bottled iced tea.

On that note, what led you to start Life is Better with Tea and your tea company MaryAnna’s Tea?

MaryAnna’s Tea came first. I came upon the idea of making a bottled tea that would taste better than any bottled tea in the commercial marketplace. Having tasted most of the bottled teas available, I knew I could make a better iced tea. Mainly because most of the commercially made bottled teas were not really tea.

They’re made in food labs to replicate the flavor of real tea, but that’s the extent of any resemblance to tea they may have. You’re just not getting the benefits of real brewed tea or real brewed tea flavor from premium tea leaves as you are with MaryAnna’s Tea.

I reached my goal of making a better-tasting bottled tea after my original flavor, Summer Sweet Tea, came in first place in 2012 in the North American Tea Championships, placing ahead of many nationally known bottled tea brands. I was elated!

Then, my Tea & Lemonade came in third place two years in a row in 2013 and 2014.

I started my blog, Life Is Better With Tea after I realized how little most people know about tea. Many American tea drinkers, myself included, were raised on supermarket tea bags that taste nothing like all the amazing specialty loose leaf teas I’ve since discovered.

I wanted to educate conventional tea drinkers about specialty tea and expose them to all the wonderful teas available. I include recipes so people learn the many ways you can incorporate tea into a healthy lifestyle. Asian countries already know this, they’ve been growing and drinking tea for thousands of years. But America is primarily a nation of coffee drinkers, so we still have a lot to learn about tea.

During my tasting events of MaryAnna’s Tea, the most common reaction to my bottled tea was how much it tasted like home-brewed tea. Still, others had no idea what real brewed tea even tasted like. I shouldn’t have been that surprised.

When my husband and I first started dating many, many years ago, he claimed he was an iced tea drinker. I say “claimed” because I soon discovered his version of iced tea came from a powdered mix! I soon changed that and he’s been hooked on my iced tea ever since.

Can you tell us about time when you experimented with a flavour for your bottled tea that you just didn’t like in the end?

When I first started my bottled tea business, I had to source large amounts of tea leaves. I experimented with many different black teas and black tea blends from a variety of tea importers until I finally had an ideal blend perfect for bottling my iced tea. I found the lower grown black teas, like Assam teas, clouded way too much when cooled and tended toward bitterness if not precisely brewed.

Congrats on all of your successes thus far! You’re also a registered nurse. First of all, a big thank you for all your hard work in health care! How do you think being a nurse has shaped your experience in the tea industry?

Thank you. I really appreciate that. After I retired from clinical work, I started getting more interested in tea simply from a passion perspective.

The more I researched tea, the more I discovered what a healthy beverage it really is. When you think about it, tea is a plant and every nutritionist and medical professional will tell you there’s nothing better for the body than a plant-based diet.

Although I didn’t get involved in tea simply for the health benefits, it certainly doesn’t hurt. And there’s nothing wrong with recognizing the legitimate health benefits of tea.

Coming from a science-based education, I read a lot of scientific studies published about tea and it always amazes me how much this the tea plant has to offer.

There are a plethora of favorable biochemicals in the tea plant including alkaloids, flavonoids, and tannins. I think the most interesting chemical in tea is the amino acid L-theanine with its beneficial relaxing effects on the brain.

What I never realized until I started my research was that tea also contains many vitamins and minerals.

I try to share all that I’ve learned about tea with my tea blog readers in lay terms without sensationalizing it so anyone can understand and appreciate all that real tea has to offer. It really does provide a very healthy lifestyle.

Tell me about one of the most interesting teas you have ever tasted.

The most interesting tea I’ve ever tasted was the first time I tried oolong tea, in particular, it was a Ti Kuan Yin. I couldn’t get over the flavor! I never realized an unflavored tea could have so much flavor just based on the cultivar and the way it’s processed. That to me was a true revelation in the world of specialty teas.

Ti Kuan Yin tasted like no other tea I ever had. The sweet aroma was incredible and the subtle orchid fragrance was present throughout. And even though it had floral notes, it didn’t taste perfumed at all. It’s no wonder oolongs are a favorite among tea drinkers.

Oolongs are my favourite and that one is certainly at the top of my life. What makes that tea stand out for you?

Tasting my first oolong tea, having come from drinking black tea from tea bags my whole life opened up a whole new world of tea for me that I never even knew existed!

What really struck me was this fragrance came from the naturally processed tea leaf. After researching more, I learned about the incredibly complex process of making oolong tea. It’s not artificially flavored and needs nothing added to it, no sugar and no milk. It is superb just as it is.

And maybe that’s the way it goes – that’s what gets conventional tea drinkers interested in specialty teas. That first discovery of all the amazing flavors and teas available without the adulteration. All it takes is one peak experience.

Speed Round:

Black, Green, Yellow, White, Oolong or Puerh?
Black

Hot, Iced or Cold?
Hot – you thought I was going to say iced right?

Teapot, Infuser or Gaiwan?
Teapot

Straight, Sweetened or Latte?
Lightly sweet

Cheese or Chocolate pairing?
Chocolate of course!

Who has been your greatest teacher in tea?

My earliest teacher was my mother, but I would say she was more of my greatest influencer than a teacher.

Over the past 10 years, loose leaf teas have become more widely available to the American tea drinker. Ever since I discovered specialty teas I’ve learned through tastings and leaders in the tea industry. And now that I’ve started my tea blog, I receive so many tea samples it allows me to continue to expand my tea palate.

I read somewhere that it takes a lifetime to master tea. My first reaction was to disbelieve, but now I know it’s true.

Find Mary Ann Rollano / Life is Better with Tea:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Instagram

ABOUT THIS SERIES: Tea tells stories and when connected with humans, more are created. That’s where the idea for this blog series, At the Tea Table, originated. With this series, The Cup of Life asks tea lovers around the world to take us inside their tea lives to share their favourite steeps, spaces, routines and more. Meet some of your fellow tea drinkers here.