With an opening guitar lick that instantly relaxes your shoulders and transports you to a glorious California drive, the song Ventura Highway has a mood so many know and love. It's a fantasy about leaving a snowy place for the siren song of the California coast. As children of the 70s, America is a band about which we are deeply sentimental.
The first sip of our organic green oolong from Thailand gave us a feeling that Ventura Highway embodies perfectly:
The summer breeze whips your hair in tune with rolling hills and marvelous ocean views. The sunlight glints playfully along the waves in California where "the free wind is blowin' through your hair / And the days surround your daylight there."
Ventura Highway tea is mellow and slightly sweet with bright citrus notes and an undercurrent of sweet freshly cut grass. The tea, like the song, summons the freedom of the open road and the spirit of easy breezy summer days.
America chose their name to make it clear that they were Americans, not Brits emulating the American 70s folk rock sound. The distinction was important to them. These three young Air Force brats met in London and enchanted listeners on both sides of the Atlantic with their dreamy three-part harmonies and breezy lyrics. They were inspired by British bands like the Yardbirds and the Beatles, yet America's sound was very much American. Their jaunty, acoustic sound nestled easily alongside contemporary folk artists like Crosby, Stills and Nash, Don McLean, and James Taylor.
