Welcome October

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autumn, Fall, food, nature, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea photography, tea quotes, tea time, teacup

Pale amber sunlight falls across
The reddening October trees,
That hardly sway before a breeze
As soft as summer: summer’s loss
Seems little, dear! on days like these.

Autumnal by Ernest Dowson

The Tea Song

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food, music, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea time

Last week was a busy week! I’d been sewing my brains out in preparation for a craft sale and now I have to find homes for all my unsold creations…or outfits to coordinate with all my Japanese knot bags. Either way, I’m tired!

So this morning I’m sharing a music video, and every tea granny will agree it’s spot on!

Happy Monday!

Cheers

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monarchy, photography, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea photography, tea time

Cheers to a great Lady on her final journey, Queen Elizabeth II.

Coronation Tea Cup

God save the King!

What’s In My Cup: Alpine Punch

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family, food, games, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea time

Some sounds from my childhood are burned into my brain (and still make me laugh)!

Alpine Punch is in no way related to Disney’s Goofy, but it immediately made me think of that vintage “The Art of Skiing” cartoon, that demonstrated all the ways NOT to ski!

But just because we’re in the summer months and enjoying summer activities, it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy something commonly found in David’s 24 Days of Christmas advent sets, especially since it’s availble online, year round.

One of our summer activities when gathered as a larger family group includes playing games. So one afternoon last week, the boys and I settled in for a game of Here to Slay by Unstable Games! It’s a strategy card game…that also relies on a little luck!

Something I’ve never had!

But I was in luck when it came to tea because Eldest Son brought tea to share.

Alpine Punch is a rooibos base, which makes it a naturally caffeine-free tea. It also includes coconut rasps, apple, cinnamon, ginger pieces, natural and artificial vanilla flavouring, cardamom, black pepper, rose blossoms, and almond flakes. It is a light reddish colour and smells nutty! I agree that the list of ingredients seems incredibly odd. Rooibos is naturally sweet, so the addition of cinnamon and cardamom with apple was a logical pairing. The black pepper with the other spices also gave it some warmth at the end of every sip, like chai. But I found the predominant flavour of almond, vanilla and coconut an odd pairing that really worked! It was creamy and light, sweet and slightly spicy. It really caught my attention (I’m blaming it for losing that round because I focused on it, not the cards).

I could totally envision sipping this in a chalet around a roaring fire in the evening…but it was also a delight at my Mom’s kitchen table, while the sun “blazed” through the window. This tea is a winner….even if I am not!

Disclaimer: No family members were harmed in the making of this blog post. (And I hold the record for fastest win…I slayed 3 monsters in 4 turns!)

I’m just a simple guy. I like being at my house with my family. I love playing dominos and card games…That’s just what I like to do.

Jase Robertson

Tea With a Twist

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family, food, holiday, humour, iced tea, summer, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea time

Last Summer, Eldest Son and I sampled a couple types of hard iced teas during our week-long vacay at my folks, for research purposes. Hey – I can’t write about it if I haven’t tried it! Obviously a “hardened” tea isn’t for everyone, and lots of people have their reasons for abstaining. It’s certainly not something I imbibe on a regular basis, but it warranted a taste nonetheless.

We started with the most popular: Twisted Tea.

Twisted tea is a non-carbonated hard iced malt tea beverage made with black tea. It also contains sugar cane or honey, real lemon, ice and alcohol: beer and vodka. After it’s Original debut, the company came out with a number of other flavours: peach, blackberry, blueberry and mango. They also make a light version which has lower alcohol content, and half and half, which is half twisted tea and half lemonade.

In addition to the addition of alcohol, there’s another twist. Hard iced tea was first manufactured by mega-brand The Boston Beer Company in 2001…in Cinncinati, Ohio. It’s imported to Canada. It is 5% alcohol and 30mg of caffeine, so it provides a bit of a kick. I also found it quite sweet.

Don’t worry – I shared the can with Eldest Son and no Upwords tiles were harmed in the making of this blog post (but apparently I spelled “I Dig Tea” wrong)!

Hey Y’All is a “southern style” hard iced tea, brewed with selected black tea and lightly sweetened with pure cane sugar. It’s manufactured by the Hey Y’All Southern Tea Company in Vancouver, British Columbia, so it’s only available in Canada…and Bermuda! Vodka is the alcohol of choice! Other flavours include: raspberry, mango, Kentucky blueberry, Florida citrus, Georgia Peach, Mai Tai, Half and Half, and Southern Style.

They claim it has an “authentic old-fashioned ice tea flavour without the heavy sweetness. Well balanced and flavourful with a smooth finish”. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Between the two, I actually preferred Hey Y’All because it had a stronger tea flavour and wasn’t as sweet.

Both companies recommend not keeping it in the fridge because temperature can affect the taste of tea over time. Rather, store it in a cool, dark place and serve it in a glass with fresh, crisp ice cubes.

They didn’t say anything about serving it this way! Stay cool and have a Happy Monday!!

Mama said there’ll be days like this,
There’ll be days like this mama said.

The Shirelles, Mama Said

CMMC: White

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#whatsinmycup, food, Photo Challenge, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea photography, tea time, teacup

You may have noticed that I use a white tea cup in a lot of my tea photographs. It’s because my “good china” is all white. We thought it was the best way to never get sick of our good dishes or see them become dated. They work in every season. We’ve been married 26 years and I’m still in love with them.

This is my post for Cee Neuner’s Mid-Week Madness Photo Challenge: White

What’s In My Cup: Ginger Peach

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#whatsinmycup, food, food photography, photography, summer, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea photography, tea time, teacup, what's in my cup

Peaches are coming into season soon, and I love the sweetness, tartness…and juiciness of a fresh, sun-ripened peach. Peach pairs well with ginger, so this morning as I prepared to put the finishing touches on my Dad’s wood-working project for my kitchen, I poured myself a cup of President’s Choice Ginger Peach tea.

Don’t let the brand fool you. Not all less expensive teas are “ less than”. This little sachet was flavourful – sweet and a little spicy (like yours truly)! The colour is an inviting rosy shade and the fragrance made my mouth water. The ginger was tempered so it provided heat without overwhelming the palate. True, it has a slight acidic and artificial flavour to it, but most peach teas do, and this was not obnoxiously so.

Peach is one of those fruits that don’t dehydrate well and the leaves aren’t peach flavoured. This tea is an herbal infusion, so no caffeine. It’s comprised of apple, blackberry leaves, citric acid, ginger root, hibiscus petals, rose hips, roasted chicory root, and natural flavours. It is definitely higher on the list of other peach teas I’ve tried, and like many others, I think it would make a fantastic iced tea for hot summer afternoons.

Especially with a good book or after a nap!

Summer afternoon- Summer afternoon. To me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

Henry James

What’s In My Cup: Pistachio Ice Cream

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#whatsinmycup, food, humour, ice-cream, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea photography, tea review, tea time, what's in my cup

So, the heat advisors continue, which means a lot of people have been hanging out indoors to beat the heat, and they’re starting to get squirrely. I’m not quite one of those people…I prefer to stay in to avoid people, but I’m quite a nut, so this morning’s tea was David’s Pistachio Ice Cream.

I actually bought this awhile ago, tried it…and discovered: I’m don’t really like pistachios. I remember eating it as a kid…this bright green creamy dome on top of my cone…and I don’t remember ever saying “no”.

But there you have it!

This tea supports their Ethical Tea Partnership program, and contains a moderate amount of caffeine. It’s comprised of apple, black tea, almonds, pistachios, sweet blackberry leaves, natural cream flavouring and artificial pistachio flavouring. Aside from not being a fan of it’s nuttiness, it is both delicate in colour and flavour. As with any tea or infusions that include nuts, you will notice a slight oiliness on the surface of your beverage, but the texture is not oily. It is…kind of creamy.

David’s retired this tea recently, but has brought it back for another summer round, so if you like pistachios, better get it quick and squirrel it away.

I’m not sure ice-cream is the best way to beat the heat…but it’s worth a shot!

When I see your perfect body, I literally see all is the ice cream you’re not eating.

Unknown

What’s In My Cup: Vanilla Bean Black

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#whatsinmycup, food, garden, humour, nature, tea, tea addict, tea photography, tea time, teacup, what's in my cup

It’s one of my favourite smells in the world: vanilla.

It is one of the most widely used (and most easily recognizable) spice in the world, but it is only grown in 5 countries: Mexico, Madagascar, Tahiti, Indonesia and Uganda. Flowers on the vines of vanilla orchids, which originated in Mexico, are pollinated by hummingbirds or melipona bees. These flowers become pods, which when harvested and cured, become “vanilla beans”. It takes 3 years for the vine to grow, and flowers are only open for 1 day and must be pollinated within this time frame. Flowers can be hand-pollinated. Pods take up to 9 months to mature. They are about 10 cm long, and can contain thousands of black vanilla seeds.

The curing process may vary from region to region, but typically there are 3 steps:

1. Blanching in hot water to stop the maturing process and activate fragrant compounds.

2. Sweating, a months long process of wrapping and storing them in a warm, dark place and drying them in the sun.

3. Conditioning them by packaging them in wax paper and dark boxes for up to 4 weeks.

Just like tea leaves, the different climates, soils, curing methods and species of vanilla affects its flavor profile and characteristics.

Vanilla first made a recorded appearance in cookbooks in the early 1800’s. And thank goodness it did. It’s richly aromatic spice adds so much to desserts…and this morning in my cup in David’s Tea Vanilla Bean Black!

This tea combines the warmth and comfort of vanilla with the robustness of black tea. Other ingredients include coconut rasps, apple, bean peel, white hibiscus blossoms, and stevia extract. It reminds me a lot of Tetley’s Red Vanilla Rooibos, which is caffeine-free and also a very satifying vanilla treat! But unlike Rooibos, it is a rich, dark colour.

Like spending time in a garden, vanilla tea can help reduce stress and anxiety. In fact, Stanford researchers have said the chemical compounds in vanilla tea boost the brain’s production of a relaxant. Just inhaling the scent can relieve stress and anxiety in 90% of people…in less than 3 minutes.

It’s Monday! I’m inhaling…and tasting…and savouring my vanilla tea this morning…with caffeine…in the garden.

What’s in your cup today?

If you look the right way, you can see the whole world is a garden.

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Thanks to The Brilliant Kitchen for info. on vanilla!

Sorry, Hoover…

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#whatsinmycup, chipmunks, food, humour, nature, photography, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea photography, tea time, what's in my cup, whatsinmycup

Sorry Hoover…unlike last time, the tea cup is empty!

Keep calm and go nuts!