Pretty Fly for a White Chai

Since I have moved to Nova Scotia a funny thing has happened. I have traded beer drinking for tea sipping. Don’t get me wrong here, I still enjoy a cold pint of beer. Its just that I like the beer but it does not like me. I feel awful whether I drink one beer or half a dozen. However I have learned while raising a baby/toddler being hungover does not work. AT ALL.

Back to tea. Before September of 2012 I hand t really ever drank tea. Sure I had a cup of red rose or a sip of chamomile, but I had never been interested in tea. That changed early in September when an Xray student I was instructing brought in some tea. It was not in a tea bag which seemed very strange to me and it honestly kind of looked like a bag of pot(someone told me…..I wouldn’t know). The student explained to me that it was oolong tea from Taiwan. He put a couple leaves in a glass for me then poured some hot water on it and said to let it steep for a couple minutes. After waiting a couple of minutes I looked in the glass and saw the little balls of green had fully opened up and were full tea leaves. The taste was amazing and from that point I was hooked. Every day at work I would drink some and Mike(the student) would tell me more and more about tea and how much there was to learn.

Fast forward to today and I drink at least a cup of tea a day. I have slowly acquired a small collection of different teas and I am learning what I like and what I don’t. Until yesterday my favorite tea was Teavana’s White Ayurvedic Chai. Lots of cinnamon and spice mixed with white tea. It is uuper tasty before bed or just relaxing. It also smells amazing.

A white Ayurvedic Chai from Teavana

I said ‘WAS’ my favorite because yesterday I checked the mail and in it was a package from Mike of  high mountain Oolong!!!! Or gao shan cha(spring season) from MeiShan area to be more specific. I couldn’t believe how excited I was to receive this. It was like getting a free six pack in the mail when I was 19!!! I cant explain how good this stuff is. Its sweet and flavorful but also subtle. If you are a tea fan I highly recommend trying some good quality High Mountain Oolong.

Oolong from Taiwan.  Pictures don't do this tea justice

I have also been drinking some Organic Japanese Sencha. This is apparently Japan’s most popular drink. Its green tea and it is pretty good. This is similar to the tea you may get at a sushi place or a Japanese restaurant. However usually the stuff at Sushi places is Genmaicha which has toasted rice in it….which I have tried doing myself with pretty good results.

Davids Teas Organic Japanese Sencha

Well, I am going to stop going on about tea as I am in NO WAY an expert and anyone who is probably laughing at what I’ve said. I simply enjoy Tea and everything about it. Plus the added health benefits from drinking tea are hard to ignore. Surely I will post more on this topic, but I am sure most of you are saying ‘Oh, the humani-Tea’ by now. So I will stop.    

Lastly I just want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog. I like any feedback positive or negative. I would love some suggestions on what to write about as well.

CHEERS