A Nice Cup of Tea

A friend of mine posted this essay by George Orwell on facebook the other day. As it talks about tea, I thought I should post it here :)

If you look up 'tea' in the first cookery book that comes to hand you will probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions which give no ruling on several of the most important points.

This is curious, not only because tea is one of the main stays of civilization in this country, as well as in Eire, Australia and New Zealand, but because the best manner of making it is the subject of violent disputes.

When I look through my own recipe for the perfect cup of tea, I find no fewer than eleven outstanding points. On perhaps two of them there would be pretty general agreement, but at least four others are acutely controversial. Here are my own eleven rules, every one of which I regard as golden:

* First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase 'a nice cup of tea' invariably means Indian tea.

* Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities — that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made in a cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be made of china or earthenware. Silver or Britanniaware teapots produce inferior tea and enamel pots are worse; though curiously enough a pewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is not so bad.

* Thirdly, the pot should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the usual method of swilling it out with hot water.

* Fourthly, the tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right. In a time of rationing, this is not an idea that can be realized on every day of the week, but I maintain that one strong cup of tea is better than twenty weak ones. All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes — a fact which is recognized in the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners.

* Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly.

* Sixthly, one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that it makes any difference.

* Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle.

* Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup — that is, the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind one's tea is always half cold before one has well started on it.

* Ninthly, one should pour the cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a sickly taste.

* Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round.

* Lastly, tea — unless one is drinking it in the Russian style — should be drunk without sugar. I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tealover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.

Some people would answer that they don't like tea in itself, that they only drink it in order to be warmed and stimulated, and they need sugar to take the taste away. To those misguided people I would say: Try drinking tea without sugar for, say, a fortnight and it is very unlikely that you will ever want to ruin your tea by sweetening it again.

These are not the only controversial points to arise in connexion with tea drinking, but they are sufficient to show how subtilized the whole business has become. There is also the mysterious social etiquette surrounding the teapot (why is it considered vulgar to drink out of your saucer, for instance?) and much might be written about the subsidiary uses of tealeaves, such as telling fortunes, predicting the arrival of visitors, feeding rabbits, healing burns and sweeping the carpet. It is worth paying attention to such details as warming the pot and using water that is really boiling, so as to make quite sure of wringing out of one's ration the twenty good, strong cups of that two ounces, properly handled, ought to represent.

(taken from The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 3, 1943-45, Penguin ISBN, 0-14-00-3153-7)

Kusmi Tea

Kusmi Tea opened its first store in North America about a month and a half ago. Montreal happens to be the lucky city :)
The shop is on St Denis in between Roy and Duluth.

In terms of decor, the place is very Ikea - white walls, white tables, white shelves, white floors. Pretty much like David's tea, though the layout is different.
The lady was very nice and helpful. You are allowed to help yourself to the canteens to smell the teas and pick whichever ones you want. So you can both sit & drink tea and buy tea. They also have some little snacks if you want.

I had the Christmas tea and Paw had a different one (the name of which, unfortunately I forgot. We went two tuesday's ago). I just remember hers was a green tea.

Now, I haven't really had much Kusmi Tea in the past (I don't buy it, though it is available in some stores like La Vielle Europe and Exofruits).
I tried both my tea and Pamela's tea. I would say they were generally okay. They definitely have a very strong tea taste with only a hint of additional flavoring. But, in a way, because it's so expensive, I guess I was expecting it to be better.

The shop is a great place for gifts, being that the tea is so pricy. The canisters are very decorative, as are the teacups and tea sets. There are also coffrets available with an assortment of various teas, including their exclusive blends (of which the Christmas Tea was a part of). In addition, they have some other tea accessories, like fillable fabric tea bags (unfortunately, one use only - well multiple infusions, but you can't use it again). What's cool is that the price for their bags is cheaper than at David's tea, which is suprising considering that everything else is so expensive.

Anyways, I'm glad I tried out Kusmi Tea. I'm not sure I'll go and buy tea there for myself, as it's not my favorite thus far, but I'd definitely go back when gift shopping :)

David's Tea

Helloes!
Last Saturday (July 4) I went to David's Tea with Paw following the Carifiesta Parade. We went to the Mont-Royal location (it's about a 10 minute walk east of Mont-Royal metro).

It's a nice, smallish place with contemporary decor (the whole white walls/art deco thing going on). They have a wide selection of tea and tea accessories (pots, spoons, books, strainers, etc). You have the option of buying tea, taking tea to go, or sitting around and sipping your tea held in nifty little nylon leaf strainers (on the cup). Be warned though, there is not much seating space - there are only about 4 tables, each with 2-3 chairs. Luckily, we got a table and we able to sip our respective teas.

Pamela got the "White Tiger" tea (if I remember correctly). The description follows:

Look out for white fur, black stripes and ice-blue eyes. White tigers tend to be bigger and stronger than their orange cousins. This blend is just as powerful. It’s got the smooth, immune-building strength of organic white peony tea. Plus the additional antioxidants of pomegranate essence and whole blueberries. A real fighter! It’ll scare off every free radical in the area.

It smelled great, but unfortunately didn't taste like like blueberries or pomergrante, eventhough white tea is pretty mild. So a bit of a disappointment there.
I tried the Spicy Chocolate Rooibos, though I don't recall it being spicy. Anyways, here's their description:

What could be better than chocolate and pink peppercorn? How about chocolate, pink peppercorn and banana! With sweet bits of apple. This organic tea is absolutely incredible. It’s complex, comforting and rich. Satisfying, smooth and mysterious. With a light pique of peppers to keep your guests guessing. Try it hot or iced. And don’t worry, we can’t stop drinking it either.

Before getting it, I had no idea there were bananas in it. So when I was drinking it, I hardly tasted any chocolate and had a big dose of banana flavor. It was a banana tisane parading at chocolate! dun dun dun. It still tasted good, but I think the chocolate flavor should've been more pronounced or perhaps the name should be reconsidered ;)

After that, we perused around the store looking at all their products and trinkets. We stumbled upon a teastick, which is pretty cool. I've never seen anything like it before. However, 25$ is pretty steep.

We then decided to purchase some loose tea of our own.
Much to my surprise, I purchased two types of Rooibos (this coming from a previous Rooibos hater - but I guess my first experience with it just really sucked).
I got Creme Caramel Rooibos - which is one of their top sellers. It smells amazing and actually does taste caramelly. So definite props there.

There are few dessert teas more satisfying than Crème Caramel Rooibos. Smooth, sweet and creamy, it’s a taste sensation. And the best part is that it’s actually good for you. South African rooibos is caffeine-free and soothing, and it’s filled with antioxidants and essential minerals. So indulge in a caramel dream. It might be the healthiest thing you do all day.

Their blurbs are so descriptive. I imagine the writers must have a fun time with them. Especially with the one I got next (mostly for the name, but also it has guava in it and guava = win).
Swamp Water!!!!

For kids only

We called this tea Swampwater to keep adults away, but it doesn’t seem to work. Every time they taste it, they drink the whole thing down. Because the natural, tangy sweetness of green rooibos, guava, passionfruit and little candy sprinkles is just too irresistible. Even the murky green colour doesn’t scare them off. Maybe we should explain that it’s full of antioxidants. And caffeine-free. Reverse psychology…

When I first infused it, the color wasn't *that* disturbing. It smells a bit citrusy and generally pleasant. When I finished the first infusion though and prepared to pour more water in, there was a bit of concentrated liquid at the bottom that really did look like swampwater. Imagine the ooze in ninja turtles, but darker. Like jungle leaf green. I actually said "aaahhhh...." (not a scream, just a general exclamation of surprise and awe). So the name actually fits the tea. I also love the idea of asking people if they want Swampwater.

Paw got Sencha Pear and Coffee Pu-erh. I have not tried them myself, but from what she tells me the Sencha Pear is very good, it actually tastes like pear. The Coffee Puerh is supposedly a mix of Puerh, coffee and chocolate and smells great, but again, just tastes like Puerh. So sadness there.

All in all, a pretty good tea experience at David's Tea. To recap, here are the ratings for what I tried:

White Tiger (a sip):

Because it smells nice, but only tastes like white tea. Where's the blueberry goodness?!

Spicy Chocolate Rooibos:

Tastes good, but is banana tisane parading as chocolate with not much chocolate flavor. False advertising *shakes fist*

Creme Caramel Rooibos:

Tastes amazing, goes down smooth and great for falling asleep as it has no caffeine.
Swamp Water:

Tastes good. Props for Guava and the fact that I can go around asking people if they want Swampwater :)

I passed by their other location via automobile the other day, but haven't had the chance to pop in. They also offer tea samples of the day :)

Short tidbits:
I went back to Dervish that same day and tried the East African Chai and Paw had the Irish Creme Chai. Both very good. Mine had lotsa cinnamony flavor and hers very coffeeish. I would like to note that Dervish makes awesome chai, but a mug costs you about 5.50$. So I wouldn't go there all the time, as I consider that pretty expensive for a cup of tea.

The Salon has moved and their teas will be sold in a store across the street from their previous location.

Byblos Le Petit Cafe serves great Iranian tea, but also great Iranian food. If you go, pass by on Sunday night for their traditional meal, "Le Dizzy". Included in the price is a tea :) It's lots of fun to eat the dish and one of the waiters gives you a crash course in how to eat it.

Next I hope to try Cha Noir in Verdun :)

What's your Dosha? + Boosting your "Immunitea"

Greetings Tea drinkers :)

I went on a trip to Toronto last weekend with a friend. Naturally, I had to head to the Tea Emporium (a friend here requested the "Garden of Eden" tea, which is a green tea with lots of berries in it. Really tasty and fragrant).

Anyways, my friend, her cousin and I perused the tea catalog for other interesting looking teas/tisanes after picking up "The Garden of Eden". We were all curious about the Ayurvedic Teas - first because we weren't sure what ayurvedic medicine consisted of and second, well, how does the tea help? :)

Trusty Wiki says:

Ayurveda (Devanāgarī: आयुर्वेद, the 'science of life') is a system of traditional medicine native to India,[1] and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine.[2] In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda[3] comprises the words āyus, meaning 'life' and veda, meaning 'science'

Ayurveda stresses a balance of three substances: wind/spirit/air, phlegm, and bile, each representing divine forces.[7] According to Ayurveda, these three regulatory principles--Doshas (Devanāgarī: त्रिदॊश्)—vata (wind/spirit/air), pitta (bile) and kapha (phlegm)—are important. It is believed that building a healthy metabolic system, attaining good digestion, and proper excretion leads to vitality.[9] Ayurveda also focuses on exercise, yoga, meditation, and massage.[10]Thus, body, mind, and spirit/consciousness need to be addressed both individually and in unison for health to ensue.

So, we were all given a quiz to determine what our Dosha was and the Dosha with the least "points" was the tea that we had to drink to balance everything out.
If you want, you can take a quiz here:

I ended up being Pitta deficient, so bought that herbal infusion which is a mixture of: fennel, licorice, cardamom, cloves, orange zest, ginger, cinnamon, cocoa, linden, raspberry leaf, hibiscus, chomomile, pepper, alfalfa and rosehip.
It has a mild taste and is not disagreeable in the least :) As a bonus, it has no caffeine if you want to fall asleep.
I also tried the Kapha infusion (which was what my friend's cousin was deficient in). It had a bit of a stronger cinnamon taste, if I remember correctly. The only one I haven't tried is Vata.

In addition, these Ayurvedic infusions aren't very expensive. It's about 7$/50 g, which will last you a while. Each teaspoon is good for 2 infusions. We'll see how balanced I am after a while, I guess. Regardless, it tastes good, so I'm not complaining.

Ayurvedic tisanes Kapha and Pitta get 4 teacups out of 5 :D

Another interesting tisane I tried was something called Lapacho. It was in the same section as the Mate - and happens to also be grown in South America.

Here's what wiki has to say (i'm wiking tonight it seems):

Lapacho or Taheebo is a herbal tea made from the inner bark of Pink Ipê, Tabebuia impetiginosa.

Lapacho is used in the herbal medicine of several South and Central American indigenous peoples. It appears to have antimicrobial, antiviral, and antifungal properties, and is used topically to treat minor skin injuries, such as insect bites, as well as for other conditions such as psoriasis. Lapacho is used by herbalists as a putative treatment for cancer, HIV, candida and numerous other maladies. Studies by the U.S. National Cancer Institute showed that lapacho may prevent, delay, or treat cancer; but the oral doses needed to reach useful levels in the blood may also cause side effects such as anemia, diarrhea, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.[1] The active ingredients such as lapachol have been found to possess significant toxicity.[2][3][4]

Taheebo is the common name for the inner bark of the Red or Purple Lapacho tree. This tree grows high in the Andes of the South American rainforest. The Red Lapacho's purple-colored inner bark was one of the main medicines used by the Incas and has been used for over 1,000 years by the Callawaya tribe, descendants of the Incas

What the lady at the store told us was that it increases your immunity, is high in minerals such as calcium and is generally good for your health. Now, I'm not certain considering what is quoted above. It seems that the verdict is somewhat ambiguous. Though, I guess in small doses it can't be all that bad. She also said it's an acquired taste. I agree there. It tasted like what I imagined brewed twigs to taste like. Not old twigs though...young, fresh twigs? It wasn't gross, just interesting. My friend was quite taken with it and so I think she'll be buying some. I'm not sure I'm sold on the tisane, but I'd probably have some if it's there.

Lapacho gets 2.5 teacups out of 5 because it tastes like twigs and has sketchy benefits :P

Finally, my friend's cousin bought Wintermelon Rooibos tisane from the Tea Emporium. Rooibos generally has a light flavor and is easily mixed with other things to give it an interesting taste. I'll probably do a more extensive Rooibos text some time later. Her cousin is big on non caffeine stuff, so this works.
This dude gets 4/5.

I'm slightly lazy and so did not include the tea cup pics. They'll come later :) (or not).

Anyways, if you happen to be in the Toronto area, The Tea Emporium is a great place to check out. The location near Bernard is in a mall and is really just a boutique with teas and tea accessories. You can also have tea to go.
If you want to sit down, drink tea and maybe have some treats, the location on Eglinton avenue is bigger and lets you do that.

There is also Davids Tea in Toronto, but I didn't check it out over there.

Happy Tea Drinking,
Until next time :)

Thé Santé and Café Dervish

Greetings tea drinkers! Tonight's post deals with two places I've been meaning to check out and happened to randomly go to last Sunday.

I recently discovered that there was a tea place not far from me (oh happy happy joy! :P). On top of that, they offer one of my favorite teas : Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose
Once I run out, I can get The Sante (rather than run to The Salon on St-Denis).

Anyways, following the Filipino Independence Day celebrations at a nearby park, a friend and I decided to check the place out. It's located on Decarie, near the corner of Queen Mary on the western side, in a little basement space. They have quite a selection of tea (as can be seen on their site), as well as quite a bit of tea ware.

If you want to buy tea, you can browse through the catalague (available in both english and french). Each tea is described quite in-depth, making you want to try all of them. The store attendant was a man of eastern european descent (though, he may be the owner, I'm not sure) and he was very helpful letting us smell any of the teas we wanted and also giving suggestions about which tea to try.

My friend settled on 50 g of Young Pu-erh and also 50 g of a Oolong for her grandmother.
I got 50g Blue Mango Green tea, 50 g of Ti Kuan Yin Slimming, as well as one of those metallic tea "bags" so that I don't have to make a whole pot everytime I want to make loose leaf tea.

I would definitely suggest checking the place out and a good chunk of the teas are decently priced and won't set you back much. There were others I wanted to try, but my cupboard is already overpopulated by tea :P

Now, as for the teas I bought:
Blue Mango Green Tea: I had no idea there was such a thing as blue mangoes. But, I am a definite fan of mangoes. In fact, I'd say they are probably my favorite fruit of all time. So, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to 1) sniff it (it smells like awesome) and 2) buy it.
The tea definitely has a fruity flavor (doesn't only smell fruity, like some teas), and the green tea used with it is light enough and doesn't overpower the fruityness. They say it makes good iced tea. I'll have to try it out.
This tea gets:
out of 5
Because while I like it, it's not *the* best tea I've ever had, and not everything can get a 5 ;)

Organic Slimming Ti Kuan Yi: I generally like Oolong tea (though I generally like tea...so, not a big surprise). It has a very fresh scent and expands quite a bit (though, it does not compare to the amount of expansion created by an Oolong a friend brought for me from China). You can infuse it at least twice. It tastes like a standard oolong, but the reason I bought it is because it's supposed to be slimming :P
So, for taste, it's average. But, I can't give my full rating yet. I have yet to see its slimming effects :P
So let's say:

out of 5.
We'll see how this experiment turns out.

Now onto Café Dervish!
I've passed by this place a few times. It's located on St-Denis in between Sherbrooke and Ontario. They specialize in homemade Masala Chai (And apparently persian aphrodisiac tea? I just read that on the site, hah!). Anyways, I had been meaning to try it out for a while. After Tam Tams on this same Sunday, my friend and I were hungry and also had no actually had any tea to drink that day. This had to be remedied and so we headed to Dervish.

It's a cute, little place. It serves both tea and food, both of which were premium. We were greeted by a canadian lady who lived in Britain all her life, but studied french and german, too. So it was quite cool because first she says in french "would you like to try the tea of the day - it's a ginger chai, a bit spicy?" and then she heard us talking in english and she switched to english and there you hear the accent. We're like, oh :o Anyways, she was very nice and spoke to us about the advantages of couch surfing.

We both ordered their "famous" Jamaican sandwich. Now, let me say, I understand why it's famous. Imagine 2 pieces of Naan bread, with jerk spices spread on each side, plantains, fake turkey (the place is entirely vegetarian, by the way), lettuce and melted cheese (optional, for those who are vegan). Dude man, I've never had plantains in a sandwich before. After that, I started :D

In addition, the ginger chai was superb. It's just about the only tea I allow to have milk and some form of sweetener in (apart from Orange Pekoe - but that's because otherwise, it has a rather uninspiring taste). I look forward to going back there again and trying another one of their homemade creations :)

So, Cafe Dervish gets

out of 5
for their great sandwich and amazing tea!

In other news, Hour.ca did a review of a place called David's Tea located on Mont-Royal (about a 10 minute walk from the metro). There is another location on Pare. In addition, there are Toronto locations and one will soon be opening in Vancouver (huzzah - expanding in the 3 big Canadian cities)
It was given a good review and so I'll have to pay a visit sometime in the (hopefully) proximal future. Their site also provides health information about different types of teas.

What, mint?

Alright, here comes the Mint post :)

I'm going to cover 3 mint teas/tisane's that I enjoy.

1) White Peony Mint Tea
2) Morrocan Mint Tea
3) Peppermint tisane

1) I bought this tea from "The Salon" on St-Denis near Mont-Royal metro. It's an excellent place because they let you taste the tea before you buy it.
Often, mint tea is usually green tea mixed with mint, so this is definitely a different taste. If you're familiar with white tea in general, the taste is milder. So, this tea has the mildness of white tea with mint, which produces an subtle and clean taste in your mouth, as opposed to just being attacked with a mint bomb. It also smells quite nice.
It's definitely good for when you don't want intense mint.

So I give it

out of 5

Here's the address of The Salon: 4586 St.-Denis

2) Moroccan Mint Tea

Like I mentioned before, as far as I know, this tea is green tea mixed with mint. However, methods of preparation do differ.
You can purchase this tea from many places. Many companies have it in tea bag form, such as Mighty Leaf (they are expensive, but it's because of the packaging, they use real tea leaves in the nylon bags and there's honestly quite a bit of tea in each bag). You can also buy it from La Vielle Europe on St Laurent near des Pins under the name "Folie Marocaine" for about 2.50$ for 50 g - which I have. Folie Marocaine is incredibly intense. I made the mistake of putting too many tea leaves in my cup the first time and was attacked with mint from all angles, which made it a little hard to drink towards the end. So make sure you just put a bit, because a little goes a long way.

However, my favorite preparation by far is I guess what you would call the "traditional" way in the awesome metal tea pot with the glass cups. They typically put sugar in it, though I think it is optional.

The tea is quite strong and has a bit of a bitter after taste, especially without sugar. I've had this method of preparation at many places, including teh Faubourg (there is a moroccan resto in there), Cafe Gitana, one of the shisha places on Guy near Ste Catherine...basically restaurants and shisha places have it. So it's not hard to find :)

I give it


out of 5 too

3) Peppermint Tisane

I consider this tisane to be part of my stomach problem power pack.

Aside - in case you wanna know: Stomach problem power pack = 3 tisanes I consider to help stomach problems and I carry them around with me.

Mint = digestion
Ginger = queasiness
Fennel = gas/cramps

Now you know, you can try them out if you ever have those problems :P

Back to the tisane. You can get it at an grocery store. I don't stick to one particular brand, because truth be told, most of them taste similar and produce the same outcome for me :) While the other two mint teas do help with digestion too, if I intend to sleep or don't feel like having anything with caffeine or don't want the tea taste, I'll have this. It's a nice and smooth taste and not really intense at all.

So, this is predictable, but I give this



out of 5 if only because it helps with digestion.

That ends mint, at least for now (unless I find more mint later).

On side note, there are some places I'd like to try sometime:
Cha Noir
Espirt The
Cafe Dervish

Cha Guan

Ok, I lied ? This post will not be about mint tea, but perhaps the next one!

Anyways, on Sunday I went to a free tea tasting at Cha Guan with Paw and OfIceandAshes. It is located at 5756 Monkland on the corner of Wilson.
We were greeted with cute brown gift bags filled with goodies from them and their sponsors (rasberry flowers to put in tea, a free sachet of a dill/garlicy sauce from epicure selections, moroccan oil, coupons and pretty postcards).

We also had the option of signing up for the tea appreciation club (Paw and I noted that while we are clearly tea appreciators, this just made it official) and to enter a draw to win a tea set. So we did both.

Among one of the first things we tried was their iced tea. They have 5 flavors now available for 'take out': Magnolia red iced tea, jasmine green, mint and lemongrass, fresh strawberries red and fresh lychee red.
Paw and I tried the fresh strawberry and OfIceandAshes tried the Mint and Lemongrass, which I also sipped.
I absolutely loved the strawberry iced tea. Probably one of the best iced teas I've ever tried. They had the perfect amount of sweetness and was equally refreshing. The Mint and Lemongrass one - the only way I can describe it: it's like pouring coldness down your esophagus. Good stuff...but I prefer the strawberry.

They had 12 teas out for people to try. Of these I think I tried 10...based on the health benefits we wanted to receive (which I discovered were historically documented). They used 3 of those teas for a tea demonstration - this was also quite cool :D It tempted me to join one of their workshops ( there are 2 - one which teaches you how to serve the top 10 chinese teas with information about their history/origins. The other uses the three teas used in the demonstration, but varies in terms of the grade of tea).

Here are the teas:
Fu Ann Bai Yu Ya (White tea) for anxiety relief
Bai Mu Dan (White tea) for Detoxification
Tai Ping Hao Hui (Green) High vitamin C content
Jian Tan Qiao She (Green) Prevents cardiovascular illness
Ping Shui Zhu Cha (Green) Eliminates bad cholesterol
Lin Hao Luo Hao (Green) Prevents cardiovascular illness
Anxi Ti Guan Yi (Green Wulong) Heals colds and eliminates bad cholestorol
Yu Shan Wulong Cha (Wulong) Heals colds and prevents cardiovascular illness
Osmanthus (Wulong) Helps to prevent cancer
Jin Hao Din Hong (Red) Helps to regulate the digestive system
Bada Shan Sheng Cha (Puerh) Increases energy, burns body fat
Ker Yi Xing Shou Cha (Puerh) Helps to regulate the digestive system

Most of them were really good. :)
It was particularly interesting to try the Bada Shan which I think was the "Green puerh" tea (I might be wrong and I switched the two up). Anyways, it has a REALLY different flavor from cooked puerh. A bit more sour and grassy tasting. He did say that there are only certain types of green puerh you can have because you have to thoroughly wash it and only after a certain number of infusions can you drink it.

I stumbled upon the green tea that tastes like corn on the cob again! Except it wasn't japanese. I guess they're somehow related (the two teas, since they taste similarly).

In anycase, I would definitely like to go back. The place is small and cute. They also have a glass wall that has water flowing down :) Not the type of place you'd bring 10 people to (not enough space). But definitely a quiet afternoon with 4...some nice tea and they do have some dessert which I have yet to try.

As for their prices - they are quiet pricy...of course depending on the tea. But some of their extremely premium teas are 40$/100 grams. So, I'm gonna wait till I'm rich to buy that :P maybe they'll just let me sample.

Camelia Sinensis!

As mentioned, I will include places where one can drink and/or buy tea.
One place which fits both profiles is Camelia Sinensis. The Tea Place (where one can sit down and enjoy tea) is located on 351 Emery, on the corner of St Denis (well not exactly on the corner, but close enough). It faces the cinema.
Next to it is a little boutique where you can buy their tea. In addition, there's another boutique located at Jean Talon Market - 7010 Casgrain. I haven't really ventured into the Market one, just because I tend to go to Camelia Sinensis to sit down and drink tea.

What's great is that it's small/quaint (back room newly renovated by the way) and they have an enourmous selection of tea to choose from. I often have difficulty picking one (though I accidently chose the same one on 3 different occasions because I had forgotten the name of the tea. Then I tasted it and was like oh...I've had this before). In addition, you have to choice of have the tea served in its "traditional" manner rather than just in a teapot. So it's a generally fun experience all around.

The teas I've tasted:
Kabusecha Kawase (a green tea from Japan): This is the one I had 3 times. My first impression was that it smelled like corn on the cob and was bright yellow-green. It definitely had a very grassy taste...but not overwhelmingly so. I definitely like it.

The other ones I don't remember exactly how they tasted, but here they are:
Pu-erh Yong Ming 2006, Shan Lin Shi (Wulong tea), Ali Shan M Chen (Wulong) and I've also tried one of their teas of the day, which also happened to be a Wulong.

In addition, they have a few desserts. The ones I tasted are really good - particularly the Sencha Green Tea glazed cheesecake. This is one of the best cheesecake's I've had actually - kind of melts in your mouth :P The pain du moment and their fruty cake are nice too.

If you just get tea, it'll set you back 5-9$. W/ dessert about 10-14$ :) But you can spend hours there and forget the time (until, of course, it closes).

Another great thing: they typically provide free masala chai for Nuit Blanche and you can stand around their outdoor heaters. Their masala chai is awesome!! (I usually take as many of their mini cups as I can).

That's it for now.
I think my next tea post will be concerning different types of mint tea/tisanes I have tasted...

Tea Quiz and Lapsang Souchong

So I have this book at home that has a Tea Quiz in it for you to determine what type of tea "suits" you best :P I figured it might be fun to share:

1. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
a) Vanilla
b) Mint Chocolate Chip
c) Banana split with chocolate syrup, nuts, and cherries

2. What is your favorite dining experience?
a) Four-star restaurant
b) Fast-food
c) Backyard bbq

3. What is your favorite type of food?
a) Light salad and broiled salmon
b) Burgers and dogs
c) Spicy ethnic dishes

4. You have an unexpected day off from work. Would you be more likely to:
a) Visit a museum
b) Spend a day at the beach
c) Ride the roller coaster at an amusement park

5. Which beverage do you prefer to drink?
a) Wine
b) Beer
c) Coffee

Here's what the results say:

If most of your answers fell into the A category, you will probably enjoy a more sophisticated, refined tea, such as: jasmine pearl green tea, white tea, pu-erh tea

B, a heartier tea such as: Earl grey, black teas in general, roasted oolong tea

C, spicier, fun, more full bodied tea such as: Lapsang Souchong, Spicy Chai Black Teas, Fruit Flavored Teas
But of course, that doesn't mean that you don't like a mixture of all those teas :P

Now this leads me to my first tea review - Lapsang Souchong

It is a black tea, which means that its leaves have been oxidized longer than green, oolong or white teas (white being the least oxidized). It is from the Wuyi region, in the Fujian province of China. I had been curious about this tea for a while after reading about it in the aforementioned book. The problem is that I had only seen it in large containers and didn't want to buy one until I had tasted it. I didn't know much else about the tea other than that it existed and was "full bodied".

Last year, I went to visit Linda in Toronto and at Au Bon Pain, they happened to have it on their menu. So I tried it.
This was probably the WORST tea i've ever tried. It smells like smoked fish and tastes like you're drinking pureed smoked fish. I like smoked fish, but in its actual solid form. Wiki says Lapsang is distinctive from all other types of tea because lapsang leaves are traditionally smoke-dried over pinewood fires, taking on a distinctive smoky flavour

So there you have it. If you like drinking smoked fish, you will probably enjoy this tea. For me, it was a rather nasty experience and I drank it as quickly as possible so as to be done with it and never drink it again.

I give Lapsang Souchong
out of 5

Tasty Hot Water

Apart from water, Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. For a hot beverage to be a Tea it has to come from the Camellia Sinesis plant - everything else is some other form of herbal hot beverage, which we typically call a Tisane.

For those that know me, they know I enjoy tea quite a bit. It is definitely the beverage I consume most after water. I have not always been a tea freak though. Up until I was 17, I mostly drank Earl Grey with sugar and milk, like my parents. I had tried a few other bagged teas (Lady grey and green), but had never really explored all the different types of tea. One of my friends at the time was quite a fan of tea and drank it all the time. Whilst hanging out with them more often, I ended up drinking more tea as well, and that's probably how my tea fascination began.

I had toyed with the idea of making reviews about teas I've tried for a while, thanks to a suggestion from Paw. Since my classes are over, I figured this would be the opportune time to start my blog about Tea. For the purposes of this blog, I'm going to include Tisanes as well, because I do like them.

Generally, I'd like to review teas I've tasted, include some of their uses/benefits if applicable, where you can get them, ones I want to try and particular steeping methods if any. I'll also include posts about some good places to get tea or just to drink tea. If there's anything else I can think of that's tea related, I'll probably post that too.

If you're here, it's probably because you like tea, and so I hope you enjoy it. :)