Rhapsodies

I’ve been a tea drinker for the last year or so. When I say that I mean real tea… herbal tea has been one of my main choices for relaxing non-caffeinated herbal beverages for some time. What normal tea I’ve had in the past was your classic Lipton tea bags which frankly I could take or leave.

There have been a few things that have changed this for me the first was a handful of cooking shows which would go on about the benefits of tea and how it’s caffeine content had a much softer kick than coffee did. Thus making it a good choice for an afternoon pickup. The other thing came from coming across more than one stock British character, in a lot of the comics I read, going on and on about finding a proper cup of tea. While I was fully aware this was lazy short hand from various writers used to show an ethnic stereotype the other result that it had was leaving me wonder just what the deal with loose leaf tea.

A little while later I came across a good deal on a small tea pot with a built in strainer and quickly discovered what the deal was. The difference between loose leaf and teabags was so great they might as well be two different drinks.

After a little bit of trial and error, my brand of choice has been Caykur’s Yesil Çay Green Tea. One of my favorite stores in Seattle, Big John’s PFI, sells it for three dollars a tin so I go through it pretty fast. Fast enough that the empty tins add up pretty fast. I’ve been recycling them by using them as the perfect containers for a lot of the bulk spices I like to keep in stock. It beats keeping them in little shakers. The one problem with this strategy is that its absolutely mandatory to keep the tins properly labeled and kept in the correct cupboards. Otherwise… well… let me put it this way.

Basil tea is not to be recommended.