Oh Canada!

This is Hilgenroth, Germany which I mentioned on Tuesday.

I have given up trying to match my tea to the weather. One day it is hot, the next, cold and mornings are definitely toe tinglers. Our trees are fast approaching peak coloration in some spots, with others kind of la-de-dahing around. It is my favorite time of the year. But so is spring and winter. Summer is tolerated as a necessity.

I put in a large order of one ounce samples to Culinary Teas and they came today, along with some nice samples of other things. So, of course, I have to dive right in. I chose Canadian Breakfast, as I had not heard of that blend before. We'll get to it soon, but first I wanted to tell you a bit about Culinary Teas. They have an amazing selection of what I might call British teas, some of which I think are the best of their type, like Lady Londonderry or today's trial. They sell one ounce sample of all their teas, so for not a huge outlay, you can try scads of teas. I love companies that sell in small lots, because if you get 4oz of something you hate, that is very expensive mulch.

On to Canada. I have done some traveling around in Canada and I highly recommend it. It is beautiful and the people are very nice. Which can also be said about this tea. The small dry leaves are chopped and give off an intriguing scent of wheat, asparagus and a touch of woodsiness. This aroma continues as it brews for about 3.5 minutes with 212 degrees water. It brews up to a really dark reddish mahogany, which is quite beautiful. In the cup, more of the woodsy smell comes out, which spills over into the taste. This is a smooth tea, with a good hit of malt, that woodsiness with some floral overtones and maybe a hint of roasted corn. It is delicious., a tea I'd really reach for in the morning or anytime on a cold raw day. It would definitely hold its own with a hearty breakfast or with some scones or desserts. I wouldn't brew it for more than 3.5-4 minutes, as I think it would get tannic.

I just finished a fun, small book - Steeped in the World of Tea. There is no editor listed nor any one author, as it was written by many people. It includes poetry, short reminiscences about tea, a few more factual essays and some bits about brewing tea. It is short and quite interesting, as the authors come from all over the world. It is the sort of book you can read an essay at a time, put it down and take it up again, without losing track of the flow of things.