Snow Fairy Ski Butter Rum Tea – Magical North Pole Black Tea

High above Santa's Village, beyond the last workshops and the uppermost line of snow-covered pines, lie the slopes the Elves call the Fairy Runs.

They are not marked on ordinary maps.

And there is a very good reason for that.

According to an old North Pole tradition, these mountains belong to the Snow Fairies — tiny winter spirits said to appear on clear nights when moonlight turns the snow silver.

Rather unusually for fairies...

they are also extremely fond of skiing.

Huatua of The North Pole Tea Shop insists this is perfectly true.

Snow Fairy Ski Butter Rum Tea was inspired by a recipe recorded in one of the Tea Shop's oldest herbal books, where a warming winter infusion is described as being left beside the mountain paths as an offering to the fair folk.

Huatua has transformed that ancient recipe into something altogether more delicious.

A rich black tea forms its foundation, blended with apple, hawthorn fruit, grapefruit peel, blackberry leaves, maple syrup, calendula, marigold and sunflower petals, creating a wonderfully indulgent tea with the warm, comforting character of buttered rum.

Yet almost every plant in the blend has its own place in old folklore.

Hawthorn has perhaps the strongest connection of all. For centuries it has been associated with fairies and enchanted places, while also carrying traditions of protection. Apple appears throughout European folklore as a fruit of enchantment, abundance and mysterious otherworldly realms. Blackberry has its own long history in folk tradition, while the brilliant golden flowers bring something rather important to a tea intended for the darkest part of the year:

a little captured sunlight.

At the North Pole, however, there is another story.

The Elves say that on certain moonlit winter nights, tiny tracks can be discovered zigzagging down untouched mountainsides.

Nobody sees who made them.

But occasionally, beside the tracks, someone will discover something even stranger:

two impossibly small ski poles planted neatly in the snow.

This is why, before the first great snowfall each year, Huatua prepares a pot of Snow Fairy Ski Butter Rum Tea and carries it to a little wooden shelter at the foot of the Fairy Runs.

One cup is poured for himself.

And one very tiny cup is left outside.

By morning, it is always empty.

Huatua has never offered an explanation.

He merely smiles and says that anyone travelling through an enchanted landscape should remember their manners.

From The North Pole Tea Shop

Ingredients: Black Tea, Apple, Hawthorn Fruit, Grapefruit Peel, Blackberry Leaves, Maple Syrup, Calendula, Marigold & Sunflower Petals, Natural Flavours

Flavour: Rich, warming and indulgent with the delicious character of buttered rum

North Pole Tradition: The Fairy Run Tea — traditionally enjoyed after winter adventures and left as a small offering to the Snow Fairies of the northern mountains.

Perfect for: Winter evenings, fireside reading, snowy days, Christmas gatherings and anyone who suspects the world still contains places not shown on ordinary maps.

Prepared according to the traditions of Huatua, Tea Master of The North Pole Tea Shop, Santa's Village.