Just a quick question really - I LOVE tea. Like love it. But then I'm English and its the law here. Although mine's obviously not the milk and sugar type.
I liked tea before I was raw and now I'm loving a ginger brew first thing in the morning (with cinnamon and lemon) as I find it really helps pep me up in the same way I used to rely on coffee before.
So, my question is this - what are your favourite combinations and how do you go about making your raw tea.
Birch leaves mixed with mints, spiced with cinnamon. also the other green teas - pure japanese sencha tea..
Really . the brown/black tea, loved it before.. but now these fresh green ones . mmmmmm
I must say my fantasy plays with this group as a tea party... like the most exclusive tea lovers on earth.. ten lucky females and just four very lucky dudes...perfect setting for tea. Or should we actively invite some male friends...
So sweet that sweeteners will be banned .. though a raw biscuit or date could pass - what you think Valine?
Count me IN on that!! I've loads to learn about this whole raw-ness so by combining my new enthusiasm for this and my old comforts of tea AND meeting some new friends? Sweet.
I also read on a grapevine somewhere (Suki's blog) that you may well be in London soon too! Tea at New Horizons is a must!! (I'm going there tonight for my first visit and have the excitement of someone well, very excited. ha. Couldn't think of an eloquent example but think you get my drift?)
So much exciting stuff happening over here. Sometimes the big old smoke gets to me - but when I realise how exciting and full of great people it is I remember why I've not yet moved....
Valine--You read my mind. If I don't have a cup of an incredible oolong in my hand, there is almost nothing better than escaping life with freshly brewed ginger w/ cinnamon. I have this after yoga, before bed, and all the time in my "spa culture" mindset (when I have time to get away).
Seriously, give my a secluded beach, fresh fruit, a big towel(for yoga on rocky surfaces) and fresh ginger tea, and I'm sooo set.
Btw--dropping in a couple of pine nuts into the brew take it over the edge....
Ahhhhhh see NOW we're talking. Beaches and fresh fruit. My dad's Armenian, so some of my first (and best) memories are summers being shipped off to my yaya's in Turkey. The first year I went I must've been about nine years old. My God. The FRUIT. I remember sitting on the warm sand eating peaches the size of my own fist, juice running down my arm, the watermelon, fresh sweet-smelling deep red tomatoes, the sun on your skin, the smell of suncream.......Ahhhhh. yeah I'm there now.
Imagine my disappointment on returning to London after realising that fresh fruit was supposed to picked off a tree and ate on a beach rather than bought in a plastic punnet with celophane wrapped round it. I was traumatised....
V--Hope the pine nuts worked out for you...Yes, visions of sandy beach between your toes and fruit juice flowing everywhere is a far reach from London, but I hope the city offers you more in other areas of personal growth; I certainly feel this with Manhattan.
My favorite tea has and probably always will be Chai tea (not sure this is actually raw but still love it) with or without milk but it has got to have raw honey. I always get my tea for the most part loose in the bulk food section.
Rebecca--You right about Chai tea not being raw (not that there's anything wrong with that).
If this concerns you, try a lightly fermented Oolong, and always keep the water below boiling to protect the taste. You might also want to try a Japanese variety (Sencha/Gyokuro, Genmaicha, or Bancha).
learned that Chai is the russian word for tea, that links it very strong to the eastern traditions.. Wanna go to russia and further in to study the great oriental tea world.. sitting on the transsibirian line sipping chai from an old samovar.. hehe.. tried again ginger brew...it is perfect - and with honey it is a true WARMER in the cold... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm thanks bros&sis! :)
I've been getting into Oolong teas recently after previously not touching them for ages due to some past bad experiences with low quality ones. For home made brews little can beat 100% ginger, or some lemongrass (a lemongrass stalk shredded into 2 (or around about) inches. My fav brew of all time though has to be a delicate white tea with rose buds/petals, the two flavours go so well together and its a great drink anytime of the day!!
That sounds like fun.. There is a thing called double dutch where two girls hold two ropes and you have to jump them both at the same time.. maybe you could find a couple of girls to try this with you. It's pretty impressive when you see it..