Holiday Winter Tea

'The sweeping blast, the sky o'ercast, the joyless winter day. Let others fear, to me more dear, than all the pride of May.' Robert Burns (1781). Sweeping blasts...o'ercast skys...winter, you love it or you hate it. By the sounds of it, Robert Burns loved every frozen minute of it. We can't say we feel the same way, but we do love all winter warm up beverages. On a freezing afternoon or evening, there's nothing like curling up in front of a roaring fire with your hands wrapped around a hot mug of spicy winter goodness. While these beverages have traditionally wine based, we favor our black tea based Winter Spice blend. This fabulous blend of cinnamon, cloves, dried fruit, herbs and spices is sure to get your taste buds fired up and your mind dreaming of warmer climes. on the nose, delightful notes of thick spice delight while the cup offers cinnamon, pepper and hints of mild citrus. Joyless winter day? Bring it on!

We only tea from the top 3 tea growing regions of Sri Lanka - Nuwara Eilya, Dimbula and Uva. Dimbula and the western estates of Nuwara Eilya have a major quality peak during Jan/Feb, whereas the eastern estates of Nulwara Eilya have their peak in July/Aug. This dual peak period allows us to buy the best of our flavored tea several times a year. These high-grown districts produce teas that have a classic 'Ceylon' tea character; noted by floral bouquet and flavor notes, touches of astringency and bright coppery color. Perfect as the base of our flavored teas.

Hot tea brewing method: Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the teapot. Cover and let steep for 3-7 minutes according to taste (the longer the steeping time the stronger the tea). Even though milk and a dash of sugar help enhance the flavor character on this tea, it is perfectly acceptable to consume this tea ‘straight-up’

Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water]. Please note that this tea may tend to go cloudy or ‘milky’ when poured over ice; a perfectly normal characteristic of some high quality black teas and nothing to worry about!