More Wineing

I love ice wine.  One of our local vineyards does a lovely one that is even affordable if you buy it at the vineyard.  I got a number of wine infused teas from SBS Tea and today I am having Ice Wine sachets.  This is a black tea blended with some white with added Ontario (Canada) Ice Wine, and freeze dried grapes.  The dry scent is faint.  The leaves are large and I can discern some grapes in the mix.  The sachet is one of those big pyramid ones and it fills right up as the tea brews for 3 minutes with water just off the boil.

The liquor is a very dark brown with a warm sweet aroma that reminds me of good grape candy.  The taste seems to be more grapey than winey and comes with a bit of an earth tone at the end.  I liked it, but it would not be a favorite.  I like more wine and less grape. 

Ice wine is very sweet and generally expensive, as it not only requires extra work, but is a real gamble.  You have to leave the grapes on the vine until they begin to wither, which pushes up the sugar content and then they have to freeze on the vine.  Iffy, at best and not something that occurs every year.  All farming, whether it is wine or tea, is a huge gamble and subject to Mother Nature.

The goldfinches are beginning to turn yellow again,  which makes for a cheerful sight.  They also sing very sweetly.  I think I heard a meadowlark yesterday, so the birds are thinking it is Spring.  I hope we don't get one of those really awful March blizzards.

A closeup of the tower in yesterday's blog.

Wining About Tea

My blogger has been non-functional for several days, but is now working - hooray!!!

I have really got to stop saying I don’t like certain kinds of tea. As soon as I do, up pops a type I do like and then I have to retract and be embarrassed and, well, really, I ought to just not make pronouncements. Sadly, that will probably not happen and I will continue to get in trouble.

I have often said I don’t generally like flavored teas, but then I make exceptions for Earl Grey, Jasmine, Rose-Kissed Jasmine, Lady Londonderry, and oh the sad list goes on and on. And I do like the whole gamut of wine teas. SBS Teas has a list of about 7 and I just got a bunch of them to try. They even have a black one, which is unusual. I am having it today, Assam Cabernet. It smells like the many wineries I have happily whiled away a day in, tasting this wine and that. A very happy association. Being mixed with Assam tea, it is a good bit sturdier than those mixed with the Oolongs, greens and whites. It also has cinnamon and licorice root in it. Hmmm, is that a good thing?

When I smelled these attractive dark leaves, it certainly smelled just fine. I brewed it with “furiously” boiling water for 3.5 minutes. At first I could smell the cinnamon and was put off by it, but by the time I was drinking it, that had disappeared into a very pleasant winey whole that I really like. Personally, I will use larger spoonfuls and a bit longer brew time next time, as this was not quite adequate, but I think the potential is there for a top-notch wine flavored tea. As it cooled, however, the cinnamon came out and I think this would be a better tea without it. Just the wine, please. Now if one could only find no calorie chocolate as good, we’d have a party.

I used a handy little gadget to measure the tea, cunningly called a “Loose Tea Measure” from SBS Teas. It is a sliding measuring spoon and measures out 1-5 cups of tea from weak to strong. It seems to work well and it’s a no-brainer and who among us doesn’t need another tea gadget. It was only $2.50, I believe.  SBS was also kind enough to send some tea candies, some tea samples and some cute little one cup make your own tea bags - thank you!  I really appreciate companies that do that, and sometimes I get the teas I'm sampling this way.  Lupicia Tea send out a short monthly newsletter, with a sample attached.  All very much appreciated.

Ah, mountains.  I've just been reading The Eiger Obsession, about climbing that mountain.  Not for me, I think I will just admire from afar.