I’ve always been a cup of tea in the afternoon sort of girl. For many, many years I held strong to my Canadian roots and that afternoon tea was usually a Timmy’s. There will always be a place in my heart for a Tim’s tea with a smile cookie, but, tea time has evolved.
My latest favourite is pu-erh tea. I love it. It is a fermented tea from China. It has a variety of subtypes depending on the length of time it has been aged such that it can brew anywhere from being like a green to black tea. I find it extremely earthy and grounding and I prefer to add nothing to it. I get mine from SilkRoad Tea in Victoria. My preferred is the white, pu-erh tea cake. It comes in a solid cake of tea leaves which you pull tiny bits off of every time you are ready for tea. I really love this tea but I do find it very activating which is amazing for creativity but can be less enjoyable when it comes time to sleep! To prevent sleeplessness remember you only need a teaspoon of leaves per cup, rinse your leaves in cold water before brewing, and pour off the first 30secs of brewing. (Of course, if you want to achieve rockstar flow and could care less about sleep then do none of the above and enjoy the magic!) I also use the smaller and much more portable “tuochas” to take with me to the office etc. You can do lots of reading on the proper way to pour and drink pu-erh. Traditionally there is quite a ceremony to it and the leaves are used multiple times through a series of pours and brews. The descriptions sound quite mystical and perhaps one day I’ll find myself somewhere where I can truly sip this tea how it is supposed to be sipped. However, I’m not there yet, but I definitely do keep leaves and do a few brews over the course of an afternoon as the mood suits.
Enjoy