Books + Tea

 

     So it's the weekend! Well not technically, it is a Thursday, but for all the students at my school it basically is. We have a day off tomorrow for "Professional Development/Activity", which means kids get to stay home and sleep while the teachers have to stay at school and do boring stuff.
     And for this long weekend, alongside basketball and homework I plan to get a lot of reading done which will lead to a lot of tea. Everyone knows tea and books go hand in hand. I have been reading this really exciting book all week but haven't had enough time to finish it, only stealing a couple dozen pages a night before collapsing into sleep. But with three whole days of "me time" I'll finally get to the end of this intense 500 page novel.

     But I want to know, is it just me who feels this way about reading and tea? Does anyone else feel the extreme comfort of curling up with a book in one hand and a mug of warm tea in the other? To me it's something to look forward to, a few hours of blankets, pillows, words and a steaming beverage. I just love glancing over the mug's rim at the printed words, closing my eyes and swallowing my sip at the really good parts. It makes me smile just imagining it. It is the the simple pleasures that truly get you.

    For those that are wondering, the book I'm reading is the first of the popular teen trilogy "Divergent", it's so good and I definitely recommend it!

-Sarah

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." - C.S. Lewis.



Infusion

     This is an appreciation post for one of the greatest inventions of man kind. The over the mug tea infuser. This magnificent device is yet another method for steeping loose leaf tea. And definitely my favourite way.What it is, is essentially a cup where you put leaves and water into it to steep, then when the time is up you place the infuser on top of your mug. The bottom of the cup is a push activated strainer, and all of the water falls into your mug, leaving the used up tea leaves behind. The first time I saw an infuser I was so excited, I thought it was so cool. Right now my family has three Teaopia "Tea Masters", with the idea being one for my sister, one for my mother and one for me. But you can all guess who uses all three for herself.

     The only inconvenience with this way of steeping is cleaning it out. With reusable tea bags or items like the "tea-rex" you can more or less just dump the leaves right out into the garbage. But with the shape of most infusers you need a long spoon and the sink to get all the leaves out. My mother always yells at me because I put off the cleaning until later. I leave the leafs in the strainer until I have used up all three infusers than clean them out only when I'm about to make a new cup of tea. And in my defence, I do make a lotof tea so it's not like the leaves sit there for weeks.

      The infuser is definitely a must have for any loose leaf tea drinker. Its the most efficient way to strain the leaves, not leaving behind specs like most other methods. They're not too expensive, usually around 20$. And you can purchase them in most quality tea shops. Teavana calls them "The Perfect TeaMaker". Here is a link to all of Teavana's methods of steeping http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-makers-infusers     So what are you waiting for, go get yourself an infuser!

-Sarah

Happy Birthday!

     Friday was my seventeenth birthday and a few of my friends came over to celebrate. All week I've been getting the same question: "What do you want for your birthday?" Simple; books and tea. And that's exactly what I got.

     In total I got around 400grams of loose leaf tea from Teavana. Plus a travel mug made out of recycled material and a loose leaf steeper. But this was no ordinary steeper, no my friends are far more creative than that. For my birthday I received a Tea-rex, a silicon green dinosaur with an opening for tea leaves.

     The night of my get-together, I tried once more to convert my friends into tea drinkers. There is one other girl in my group who appreciates tea but the others are complete rookies. I made them smell all the tea and took orders. Then I got busy making six cups of tea.

     The results were predictable and I failed as a sales person. A few managed to get through the mug but when they left I had to (painfully) dump half full cups of cold tea down the sink. The verdict was that tea didn't have enough flavour which I suppose could be my fault. If I had added more leaves the taste would've been brought out. I guess I was just getting greedy with my leaves.

     But in summary I had a good weekend and tasted a bunch of new tea.

-Sarah

World's Healthiest Tea

     Ever went to a smoothie shop and stared up at the menu only to find these bizarre words that have absolutely no meaning to you? Most likely one of those strange words is the word Matcha. Matcha is a form of Japanese green tea that has been grounded down into a bright green powder. Although it can be prepared as a traditional tea, it is most commonly found as an added ingredient, to things like smoothies, yogurt and even desserts.

      Matcha is definitely not a tea for everyone. Of course I'm a big fan but it has what you would call an acquired taste. Much like regular green tea, Matcha has a pure almost bitter taste to it that needs some time to get use to. But once you get past it's unique taste the benefits are out of this world.

     One cup of traditionally prepared Matcha tea has an anti-oxidant value equivalent to that of 10 cups of regular green tea (Simply because you are consuming the whole leaf). It has over twice as much antioxidants than the amazing 'superfood' Gogiberries. This amazing beverage also boosts your energy naturally, barely relative to its caffeine content. Matcha also speeds up metabolism and burns calories, without raising blood pressure or heart-rate. The chlorophyll in the powder also serves as a powerful detoxer.

     Matcha is generally prepared in a stone bowl with a bamboo whisk, mixing it into a cup of hot water. I tend to drink this when I'm feeling sick or tired and need a good picker-upper. It just makes you feel good. But like I mentioned earlier because of its powdery substance Matcha is an easy ingredient to add to anything. Personally I like putting it in blueberry smoothies, vanilla yogurt,apple sauce, or even other types of tea. Also Matcha can be found in a variety of baked goods. I do enjoy the occasional Matcha cupcake now and again.

     Now that you learned about this amazing super tea, who knows, maybe on your next trip to that crazy healthy smoothie bar you'll give it a try, you just have to get past the colour first.

-Sarah

Myth Busters

     I was frolicking around the internet last night as we tend to do, and I came across a surprisingly relevant article in Yahoo news. What drew me to the article was a delicious looking picture of a nice cup of green tea, it was titled: 5 Myths About Tea. Right up my alley.
     I was pleased to learn some new things, things even I didn't have knowledge in. For example I knew that tea has a shelf life, for I have experienced this in my early years (funny tasting bag of pina colada loose leaf). But I wasn't aware that there was a rumour about how adding milk to your tea can destroy its health benefits (It doesn't). In the article, they even touch base on the topic of my last blog entry about herbal tea. In this particular article they say herbal tea is not technically a tea but a 'tisane'. I do agree with this statement, however I won't be the one going around correcting whoever calls it a tea, it's really not a big issue for me; call it what you will.
    There are more busted myths, how peppermint tea is good for stomach aches for example and how tea is best when nothing is added to it. If you wish to learn more it's a really interesting article and I suggest you give it a look.

P.S. Like the new cover photo? I took it and edited it myself.

-Sarah

The Core Four

     There are many different types of tea, all coming from around the world sporting different names and tastes. There is a bit of a debate going on about what is really considered 'Tea'. Most say that there are four main types of real tea and that is it; Green Tea, White Tea, Black Tea and Ooolong tea. Black tea is more traditional, it being very popular in Europe and North America, the most caffeinated of the four. It usually has a stronger flavour to it and is commonly taken with milk and sugar. Green Tea also has now become very common in the West, it being known for its wonderful health benefits. Green tea has a very natural taste that can sometimes come off as being slightly bitter, I take my Green tea with honey and lemon. White tea is slightly less common than the previous two but also has its health benefits. White tea is a light tasting tea known for its soothing and relaxing taste. Oolong tea is the last of the major four and it covers a lot of bases. Unlike the others it doesn't have a set taste. It can be light and fruity or harsh and woody, it all depends on how it is prepared or what brand you buy.
     All of these types of tea actually depend on the levels of oxidation. Black, Green, White and Oolong are all harvested from the flowering plant, Camellia Sinensis, and the type of tea is determined by the different levels of oxidation. Black tea is oxidised the most, then Oolong, then Green, then White with the least.
     In my opinion I think there are more than just the four categories of tea. Other companies (like Teavana) sell branches of different tea like maté, roobios and herbal tea. But according to "the professionals" it will not  be considered true tea unless it comes from the Camellia Sinensis and is prepared in the standard way. To me tea is tea, and it's good. But if you want to be technical, beverages like roobios or maté are considered 'tea-infusions'. Another 'borderline tea' is pu-erh which does come from the Camellia Sinensis  but is prepared using a different method called post fermentation process. What do you think, are there only four categories of tea or can there be more? Let me know in the comments.

-Sarah

Caution: Possible Blandness Up Ahead

     I realise not everybody shares my irrational fascination with tea. That means that majority of my viewers have no clue what I'm talking about or at least to a certain extent.Which can be very boring. I'm not saying I'll up and quit this blog, I'm just warning everyone reading this that there is a risk of being confused, or at least astounded by my odd amounts of knowledge and opinion  I have on this random topic. Luckily for you there is a comment function on this blog and you can absolutely ask questions whenever you're having trouble. Hey maybe you know something I don't, and want to teach me something new!
     Because this blog is a class project, I do have a 'quota' and a deadline. By the end of December I must have around twenty posts. That means an entry a day. And because I chose to do such a specific topic (bad move on my part) all of my post will have to be on tea.Which can make it very boring for those 'coffee people'. But I like to say I'm a fairly optimistic person and think I can get through this. I do have a well oiled imagination and I'm sure I can conjure up over twenty posts relative to this age old beverage, I just hope you guys can stay with me here. Wish me luck!

-Sarah