Rare Tea

This week I have been in Morocco drinking quantities of green tea sweetened with sugar and flavoured with fresh herbs. This man makes the tea for the entire souk in Marrakech. Trays of battered pots and delicately painted glasses are carried through narrow alleys and over the heads of bewildered tourists.

The tea is carried in a constant stream to the stallholders and craftsmen of the souk and absolutely vital to sustain them. Tea is made fresh for each customer and served in a pot. He uses only leaf green tea and fresh herbs, of course. When I asked if he used teabags he was genuinely horrified and I realised even the question was an insult.

I’m not used to all that sugar but I do love green leaf tea with a few leaves of fresh herbs. The topmost leaves of a sprig of mint are the most delicate. If you use a delicate green tea like my Whole Leaf Green Tea it’s not bitter so you don’t need sugar. But of course, its up to you.

A few weeks ago I said I’d send anyone who ordered White Silver Tip Tea a free sample of Green Leaf Tea so that you could experiment with blending at home. This is, afterall, a proud British tradition cruelly usurped by the teabag people who think they know better than we do what we want.

Well, I’ve had such a wonderful response that I’m going to extend the offer. If you order either White Whole Leaf Tea or White Silver Tip Tea and send an email at the time of ordering with the subject header:

Free Green Tea Please

To: cs@rareteacompany.com

I’ll send you a free sample of green tea to experiment with. You may want to blend it with the white tea or you may believe it’s better savoured alone.
I’d be very grateful if you’d let me know how you get on.

This offer is open for two more weeks until the 28th November.

The comment by John to the previous post got me thinking.
He’s right, if you start blending teas you’re going to have to buy more. Was it all just a crafty ruse to make you buy two packets instead of one?
I’d hate for you to think Rare Tea was the kind of company that came up with crafty ruses. (For one thing- I’m just not clever enough.)
And if I’m trying to revive the art of tea-blending I ought to offer you some encouragement.

So…

If you want to blend you’re own Green Silver Tip Tea just order one packet of White Silver Tip Tea and I’ll add a free sample of Green Whole Leaf Tea to blend it with. All you have to do is send an email at the time of ordering with the subject header:

Free Green Tea Please

To: cs@rareteacompany.com

This offer is open for two weeks until the 12th November.

I’d be really grateful if you’d let me know how you get on.

I know Green Silver Tip had a few fans around the world but they just weren’t enough beside the legion White Silver Tip lovers. Over the years you have bought x20 more white than green silver tip. I pride myself in just stocking the best teas available anywhere and your preferences informed me that Green Silver Tip just wasn’t. So it had to go.
BUT don’t despair Green Silver Tip devotees. I know that white silver tip is too delicate for some of you. I have the solution.

Green Whole Leaf Tea is a first flush, spring tea and contains a high proportion of buds (silver tips) as you can see.

The flavour is, of course, more robust than 100% green silver tip due to the whole photosynthesizing leaves. However, if you blend White Silver Tip with the Whole Green Leaf you can get just the level of strength you desire.

In the days before mass-market tea production and sealed tea-bags most households would make their own blends. Spoon-fulls of different loose leaves were carefully measured into the pot according to individual preference.

Please let me know what you think the perfect proportions are.

You read about dipping cotton wool balls in cool tea to use as eye pads but you prize your tea above all else. You’d never neglect it and let it cool, heavens above what a frightful idea.

Thankfully there’s another way to soothe your eyes with tea and even more satisfying in a recycling sort of way.
The beautiful unfurled leaves of infused whole leaf green tea or silver tip teas still contain masses of beneficial nutrients that help rejuvenate and protect the skin.
Put the leaves in an unbleached empty tea bag, dampen with cool water and place them over your closed eyes. Lie back and luxuriate with a home made eye mask that’s ideal for reducing puffiness.
Please don’t try this with ready made black tea bags – the tannins in the tea will dye your skin brown and leave you looking like someone who wears a balaclava in the sun. Not necessarily the look you’re after.

The infamous Manhattan mixologist David Sprouls of the Cabrini Bar just contacted me in regards to the Green Tea Mojito.

Not only is David a cocktail expert of the highest order (my Scottish blood sings when he makes a Manhattan) but he is a real tea aficionado. With his improvements the Mojito is now perfect and it gives us an excuse to make it another splendidly decadent Monday.

“Muddle the sugar and mint leaves together.
And measure the tea exactly, don’t top up the cocktail - defeats the purpose of shaking with ice - it will elevate the temperature of the drink.”

Enjoy

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have made a stunning announcement:

“Our research shows that drinking green tea could reduce the risk of becoming infected by HIV, and could also slow down the spread of HIV….”

Read more about this on BBC news

Its incredible how many health benefits scientists are discovering about green tea (the same and more applies to white tea) in the short time that tea has been studied. So far its has already been linked to a positive effect on a wide range of conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s. Now HIV.

But I don’t want you to think green tea is nasty medicine. It should be a luxuriant treat not a bitter brew.

Just because it’s good for you doesn’t mean it has to be horrible. I know that there are horrible (low grade) green teas out there and people drink them because they think they are healthy. But green tea should be really delicious. And drinking the really wonderful good stuff has got to be better for you.