Adventures in tea!

You may or may not know that I am a tea lover, there are few times in the day that I would say no to a good cup of tea. I'm not talking about Tetley with milk (sorry Grandma!), but more interesting varieties from China, Japan, Korea, South Africa and South America. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind a cup of black tea with cream if I'm having scones and jam on a Sunday afternoon, but on a day to day basis I like to experiment with different varieties. To me it's a little like traveling the world in my kitchen, a daily adventure!

This past weekend my Mom and I went to visit friends and family in Ontario. We spent most of the weekend visiting, and made a few outings to some really great tea shops where I racked up my credit cards and came home with (some would say) ridiculous amounts of roiboos, oolong and mate. Luckily for me security didn't tear open my bags, it may have looked a bit suspicious, all those little clear bags with green and brown dried up herbs inside!

J and I had lots of fun smelling, tasting and choosing our teas. 

Among my favourites from this trip are: Milk Oolong Guanzhou which brews up pale yellow in the cup and tastes of evaporated milk with an aftertaste of orchid and mangoes; Morrocan Mint made with gunpowder and refreshing peppermint; Chocolate Mint Roiboos made with real chocolate and mint leaves, this tea could replace dessert for me some nights; Honeybush Orange with real orange zest and natural flavour but no acidity.

D got back from Beijing this week and brought me back some amazing Jasmine Pearls from his usual tea shop. This time he also brought a few different qualities of Jasmine tea, so I could do a tasting. There are the pearls, then two lesser quality teas that are not rolled into pearls, but still smell amazing. Can't wait to try them side by side. Just wish J was here to share.