specialtea – a hot mouth hug

this is a super comforting brew for everyone’s favourite season, flu-season. it’s like a mouth hug without the excitement of kissing… in a nice way. it’s got good-for-you-green tea and stomach-taming-ginger and throat-be-happy-honey.

just trust me on this one.

after you put your kettle on, grab:

your favourite green tea, loose, bagged, whatever
honey to taste
1/2 tsp lemon zest (about a quarter of a lemon run over a microplane)
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice or a quarter of the grated lemon squeezed out. don’t worry about the seeds
1/2 to 1 tsp grated ginger depending on how snappy you like your tea (again, use a microplane)

. get two mugs, one slightly bigger than the other
. in the bigger mug, put the tea, zest, juice and grated ginger
. dump the just boiled water over everything and allow to steep for 7 or 8 minutes
. pour the brew into a strainer over the smaler mug so the tea is clear and debris-free
. add honey to taste… and because it’s good for your wretched throat

I always make this when róny’s under the weather and he likes it so much I sometimes get requests for it when he’s feeling finey fine too.  Give it a whirl!

iced tea – deep caramel colour and gorgeous citrus bursts

once it starts to warm up outside, iced tea becomes a standard in my fridge. being someone who doesn’t like my drinks very sweet, I prefer this to any canned/bottled/store-made brew I’ve tasted. it’s super simple and refreshing… you know, as you lay on the cold kitchen floor after walking home in the blistering heat with bags of groceries and cats tripping you up upon arrival… right?

for about 3L you need:
1 lemon and 1 lime (or two lemons)
3/4 C brown sugar (HAS to be brown, brown or nothing)
2-3 orange pekoe tea bags (2 of the bold stuff, 3 of the regular strength)
3-ish L water

. get your kettle on
. in a big metal or glass bowl, zest the citrus with a microplane so it’s fine, not long and stringy
. then cut the fruit in half and squeeze all the juice into the bowl. don’t worry about the pulp or seeds because you’re going to strain it later
. add the tea bags and sugar
.pour the boiled water  over the mix and stir
. let this steep and hang out until it’s a bit warmer than room temperature
.get a pitcher and a fine strainer or if you’re feeling anal, a coffee filter, and strain the tea into your vessel. refrigerate until cold

feel free to experiment with different citrus blends, like grapefruit or mandarin, or adding peach or pear juice. also, if you like your tea sweet, you may want to use a full cup of sugar. annnnd, if your favourite jug doesn’t fit 3L, you can always fill it and put the remainder in an ice cube tray so you can keep your iced tea extra cold without watering it down.

art matters, and so does tea!

I am someone who enjoys a good cup of tea. being my father’s daughter, which I no doubt am, I’m a devout orange pekoe drinker. I can appreciate herbal teas and their subtle sophistication and freshness, and I wouldn’t dream of eating Chinese or Japanese food without green tea on the table, but good ol’ pekoe is my standby. and so you can imagine how excited I was (remember I get excited about food things easily and often) when Tetley introduced ‘Tetley Bold’ sometime last year. I bid farewell to steeping my tea for forty minutes under a crocheted mug-cozy or in a thermal cup. I also said tally-ho to using two teabags to get the right richness and intensity. Helllllllooooooo bold! I don’t know what they do, but they do it right. All the box says is that they take leaves harvested from high altitudes in Kenya and blend it with North Indian black tea. their website is kind of bollocks and doesn’t say more than that.

Alas, delicous, warm, potent tea fit for warming you up after the cold walk home from the bus depot, or super soothing you during a stressful week of midterms and essay due dates. I currently mix it with bed, the cats, a book on dada, and pony (also reading)… it’s pretty sweet.