A Reserve Blend for Happy Melon

From the Field — Partner Blends

Impala & Peacock × Happy Melon

Listen to the week

Before It Begins podcast cover artwork, a bowl silhouette split into black and cream halves

Five mornings on the Happy Melon blend · Before It Begins

MondayThe Last Thing to Arrive

Four plants and not one of them the tea bush: the week opens on peppermint and lemongrass, and a sweetness that stays after the cup is empty.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts

TuesdayThe Nerve Doesn't Know the Difference

One serrated, dark green leaf, and the question of why a hot cup of it reads as cool on the tongue.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts

WednesdayA Grass That Smelled of Violets

The pale, hollow pieces in the jar are lemongrass, with a scent that is lemon-bright but greener than any fruit.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts

ThursdayWhat Stayed When the Petals Fell

The small violet-grey grains floating on the surface turn out to be the calyx, the sleeve that once held the lavender flower.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts

FridayThe Root Heard It Wrong

A heavy root that sinks while everything else rises, and a name that has been inaccurate for centuries but kept because it works.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts

A glass teapot with a steel strainer, a small glass jar of the Happy Melon loose leaf blend and white Impala & Peacock canisters on a white shelf

Happy Melon was there from our early days. When it came time to choose the first Reserve tea, the blend we made for them was the obvious place to begin.

Before It Begins is a five-minute podcast that goes out every weekday morning, made to be heard over the first cup of the day. Each week is given to a single tea: where it comes from, what's in it, and why it tastes the way it does.

That is what the Tea Ritual is built around. Each month's box arrives with four small amber jars of organic loose leaf tea, blended by hand in Melbourne, and each jar is the tea for that week's episodes. Four jars, four weeks, one blend at a time. The Reserve is the limited-edition tea held for subscribers only, and the Happy Melon blend was the first.

What went into the cup

The Reserve

The Happy Melon Blend

Four botanicals, and no tea leaf among them

LemongrassPale, hollow pieces with a bright, lemon-like scent, greener than fruit
PeppermintA serrated dark leaf. The cup is hot, but the finish reads cool
LavenderSmall violet-grey grains that float on the surface, the calyx that once held the flower
Liquorice rootHeavy as kindling. It sinks while everything else rises, and leaves a long sweetness

The blend opens cool and bright, with peppermint and lemongrass first in the cup. Lavender sits underneath. Liquorice root comes last, and it is the part that stays after the cup is empty. Each of the four has its own morning in the week of episodes, and Friday is given to the root.

At Happy Melon

The blend is now in their studio. Members can pick up a canister at reception, then listen to the week of episodes over their own first cup.

The Tea Ritual