Friday December 13, 2013

Good afternoon everyone.

Things have been weird. Truly. I know why though, and don’t worry, it isn’t you. It’s the date. Friday the 13^th, the unlucky and odd filled day. So today’s tea is Apricot black tea.

I find Apricots weird.

And that’s really all the reason I need to make it for you today.  Something about them being sort of like peaches, or nectarines. But not. So. So enjoy odd tea today.

And also, if you haven’t paid for December’s tea… holy cow it’s the 13^th already. You –were- going to pay, right?

Also, as odd as it sounds…I can accept credit cards now. Seriously.  Visa or Mastercard. I know, very weird, but totally legit.

Tea is hot and cozy under the kitty!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Good afternoon everyone!

Hopefully you got to try one of my Ginger Kraken cookies – Kraken because when I made them last night, and they started to go sideways, I used my never fail ingredient to bring them back to deliciousness – rum. Black Kraken rum to be precise! Very spicy, and very…gone, these cookies make me want to have something smooth and creamy to counter the clove, ginger and pepper.

So I brewed a pistachio tisane, and added some oxidized rooibos into the mix. Smooth, creamy with a honey like taste, this is your guilt-free compliment to today’s fair. If you didn’t get a cookie, perhaps you could drown your cookie-less sorrow in a hot cup of very delicious pistachio cream and rooibos tea.

It’s currently hot and ready under the tea cozy!

Wednesday December 11, 2013

Good Afternoon everyone,

Today is a blend of oolong and green tea – not something I normally do. But I thought the green, which also has a mix of papaya, mango and pineapple, was a bit too weak in the cup to hold it’s own. It needed a better backing, some strength to come in and show cased the actual tea in this fruit cocktail. With the Oolong, all the flavours are melodious and create a harmonious symphony. Just like the Welsh Men’s Choir I went to last night. They had one amazing lady opera singer there, who sang solos and sang powerfully. It was a bit too much though, and it took the low tenors of the entire men’s voice to match this sharp tart voice. Just a few less men, and the concert would have fallen flatter than a Senior Welsh Singer with a bad Hip.

This melodious tea is currently hot and ready under the cozy – so delicious you might be singing about it for the rest of the day.

Tuesday December 10, 2013

Good Afternoon everyone,

Did you know how many superstitions there are with the act of pouring tea? It is very entertaining to read up on the many different faux pas and bad luck actions one can make when at a tea party (goody, one more way for me to make an arse of myself.) In fact, I break most of these unwritten do not’s of tea, constantly. I give myself bad luck by stirring the leaves in the pot before pouring. I will pour myself a cup of tea even if I am at a guest at someone's home (and risk having red-headed twins (HELLO!)). I use a wooden stir stick rather than a tea spoon to mix my milk in, another bad luck action. And sometimes I am nice enough to offer to stir someone else’s tea with my spoon of they’ve misplaced theirs – bad bad bad!  Actually, most of the bad luck with pouring tea results in twins of some sort. Unless you have a guest of the opposite sex who pours themselves a cup, then you are destined to knock boots. (And my brothers wonder why I never invite them for tea.)

But there is good luck too – like if bubbles form when you pour yourself a cup. This means you will come into money – a great deal of money if they float in the centre of the cup.

And here is a secret, sugar cubes are often responsible for creating these bubbles in your brew. So add sugar to your next cup…like today’s Peppercorn and Cinnamon Black Chai! Spiced teas (Chai’s) benefit from a bit of sugar and milk anyways, so you are really doing yourself two favours here.

(and why people think red headed people are bad luck will always be a mystery to me...)

Monday, December 9, 2013

Good afternoon everyone,

It certainly seems like winter outside – and the cold temperatures seems to have inspired a little holiday cooking around here. There has been ginger cookies passed around, and there is currently a plate of gingerbread men resting on the counter in front of me – and I’m not complaining (shut up muffin top, no one asked you).  Appropriately enough  the ginger spice flavours, along with the snow, reminds me of the Black Forest in Germany. There the fabled gingerbread house stood to be eaten by Hansel and Gretel, or at least this is what the Brothers Grimm have collected and written down in their fables. Also in their collection is the dark story of Blood Red, Snow White – the name of the Princess that Disney has transformed into simply Snow White. Why Blood Red, Snow White? She had skin as white as snow, and lips as red as blood, and reminded her parents of a drop of blood on winter's first snow fall. Brings quite the vivid imagery to mind, doesn’t it?

So, inspired by this, I’ve brewed a Red Velvet Cake tea – a black tea with chocolate bits (white and dark), sprinkles (red and white), and a bit of beetroot powder to give it a bit of sweet and a startling red colour. A perfect drink to have on such a cold snowy day, perhaps with a gingerbread man in hand.

Tea is currently hot under the tea cozy!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Good afternoon everyone,

You know I care about you, right? I have your well being in mind, I truly do. And with the weekend nearly here, I want to make sure you enjoy it. There isn’t too much worse than waking up on a Saturday morning with a cold or flu – it ruins your two precious days off. So with that in mind, I’ve blended a tea that will BEAT potential sickness INTO THE GROUND. Like pummel the snot out of it. Two fists and a knee.

I’ve called it The Chuck Norris brew.

Its core strength is a Pu’erh, and it has cinnamon and ginger as it’s right and left hook. It finishes with a swift and potent peppercorn knock-out that goes down surprisingly smoothly. And, because this –is- called The Chuck Norris, we have two stone fruit flavours in there, pear and plum, just to rub in the point.

Currently hot and bellicose under the tea cozy.