Have you ever brewed a cup of hot tea, thrown out your tea bag or loose leaf, and wondered if there was anything else you could do with the leftovers? At Piper and Leaf, we search for new ways to use our tea and the leftovers after brewing. You can make many amazing things with tea outside the standard cup, though a cup of hot tea is hard to beat!
Easter is coming up, as most of you know, from grocery store shelves brimming with festive candy and custom baskets to Grandparents houses adorned with bunny-shaped chocolates wrapped in gold foil and an over-abundance of pastel decor placed with precision on each table and countertop fit for displaying the vast collection of antique novelties.
Upon expecting the upcoming holiday, what could be more festive than tea-dyed Easter eggs? Nowadays, most people would rather hunt for vibrant-colored eggs stuffed with festive candy and toys! While it is fun to do such, at Piper and Leaf, we enjoy traditions that have been long forgotten or overlooked.
There is something to say about dyeing your own Easter eggs. You eagerly wait for your boiled eggs to cool for a chance to channel your inner Picasso, designing each egg with the utmost care. Excitedly, you prepare your mini cauldrons of rich dye for each egg, watching the clock tick by and longing till you can marvel at each tiny work of art.
So, brew a cup (or a few) of hot tea, boil as many eggs as your heart desires, and let’s get to it!
Tea-Dye Easter Eggs
Materials:
1 dozen Boiled Eggs
Left over leaves from your favorite Piper and Leaf Tea(s)! We used fruity tisanes and herbal infusions because of their vibrant colors!
Vinegar
Alum
Instructions:
1. First, boil 8 ounces of water for each egg you plan to dye.
- Loose Tea: Use about 11.25g of tea and 8 ounces of freshly boiled water
- Tea Bags: Use 2 tea bags and 8 ounces of freshly boiled water.
2. Steep your tea in freshly boiled water for the tea’s specific steep time or if you want to have an extra bold dye for your eggs, keep your tea leaves in the cup with your eggs overnight till they are ready to remove!
3. To your cup add 1 Tbs of vinegar or 1 tsp of alum.
(We recommend making one vinegar base and one alum base for each blend! Have an extra spoon on hand to mix it together. Wipe the spoon between each use!)
4. Before placing the eggs in your tea-dye, take a white or clear crayon, and draw whatever design your heart desires on your eggs or if you prefer a more traditional look, leave them as is!
5. Carefully place 1 egg in each of your dye baths!
6. Once your eggs are placed in the tea-dye bath, let cool, then set each cup of in your refrigerator overnight and let the tea magic happen!
7. The next morning, take them out of the refrigerator.
8. Use a wire egg dipper or whatever grabbing device you have available to retrieve your eggs from your tea-dye bath.
9. Set each egg on a paper towel or cloth to dry
10. Once dry, they are ready to hunt! Scatter about to let little ones find or use them as decor (but not for too long, they will go bad!) and admire them in all their humble beauty!
For our tea-dye, we used Briar Patch Brew, Blueberry Jubilee, Golden Hour Tonic, Piper Mint Blues, a mix of Piper Mint Blues and Golden Hour Tonic, and Strawberry Shindig.
From these blends, we had expectations of your standard Easter egg colors, just more on the natural colored side of things. However, these eggs turned out much different than expected, though we were not disappointed in the slightest. We were amazed at each eggs unique beauty. Instead of pastel pinks, purples, and yellows, we were surprised with a beautiful palette of earth toned Easter eggs. While alum resulted in stone like alabaster eggs, vinegar yielded boldly colored, speckled eggs.
Why Tea-Dye?
At Piper and Leaf, we pride ourselves on being tea innovators, though using tea as dye is not a new technique! China was the first to use tea as dye because its naturally delicate color was in high demand among Chinese culture. The crafts popularity grew during the age of the Tang Dynasty and began being practiced at cultural festivals alongside other forms of art.
Read here for more about the history of tea dye and its origins.
Dyeing with tea not only results in stunning colors but is also sustainable! Putting old tea leaves to use is a way to make the most with what you have, the best of both worlds!
Bonus: Once you have steeped the tea for your tea-dye, you can toss the tea leaves in your compost! Don’t have a compost bin? Stay tuned to learn all about tea, compost, and all things Piper and Leaf!
Ways to Brew
One of our go to mottos at Piper and Leaf is to work harder, not smarter. You read it right! Read more about the inspiration behind our harder, not smarter. In working harder, we tried many a method to brew tea and in doing such, we found a method that is close to our heart. So close to our heart, that this method was one of the leading inspirations for us to start Piper and Leaf! Crazy how things work.
Our time-honored brewing method is known as the Samovar method. Here is why we found the Samovar method to be the best, along with how to brew your own iced tea! While the Samovar method is a standard recipe for brewing tea into concentrate, we have found a couple of modernized ways to brew a batch of concentrate so you don’t have to venture to find a Russian Samovar. While Samovars are uniquely beautiful, they aren’t exactly space savers.
Our Deluxe Piper Brew Kit is an easy to use, modernized concentrate brewing method. In the glass globe tea dripper, you can brew up to one quart of concentrate, which is enough to make 128 cups of a standard 16 ounce iced tea or 128 cups of a standard 8 ounce hot tea! Talk about getting your money’s worth! If you aren’t a fan of brewing concentrate and would prefer to brew your tea one cup at a time, don’t worry. The Tea Dripper (with the stand) can brew up to 4 cups of tea at one time! Tea for one and tea for all!
You can brew your tea the same way with our Piper Press Brew Kit! The only difference is in the appearance and mobility! With the Press being a tad smaller than the dripper, you can brew up to 28 ounces of tea concentrate! The Press is also a tad bit more portable than the dripper, so if you are brewing on the go, this one is for you!
Both of these kits are perfect for steeping your tea for all your Easter egg shenanigans and beyond! Share a cup of tea with a loved one during Easter lunch or even throw a tea party to celebrate the reason for the season with one another! Read here to spark inspiration for food, decor, and all things Easter for your afternoon Easter tea party!
So go ahead! Take part in the time old tradition of tea dye, and journey forth in your teatime adventures! Brew a pot of tea for you and the whole family and use the leftovers to create something truly egg-citing!
