Book your tea time and learn how to brew a better cuppa in isolation,
Artisanal tea purveyors help home brewers in Toronto up their game
Was a box of tea on your pandemic shopping list?
Nielsen Canada data pulled from grocers and major retailers show that tea sales are up by 37 per cent across the country. This is over the 10-week period from the start of the pandemic to May 9 and it’s almost twice as high as the total sales of consumer packaged goods, which have increased by 20 per cent in the same 10-week period.
Shabnam Weber, president of the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, thinks that the bump in tea sales could reflect how consumers use the beverage as a way to keep calm in a crisis.
“I think that tea is a source of comfort for most of us,” Weber says. “When you’re in constant crisis mode, you need something to level yourself off. And I think that tea is just one of those things that provides a bit of calm and that feeling of taking time for you.”
With many tea drinkers having more time on their hands in isolation at home, now might be the time to try out new styles and ways of drinking tea. Honing in on regional differences is a good place to start.
“A black tea from India versus a black tea from Kenya or China will be quite different in flavour,” Weber says. “You can learn about and see tea the way that some people learn and talk about wine.”
Inquisitive tea drinkers can also seek more information about the season that the tea was picked. Sierra Joseph-Quon is a tea sommelier who runs a small importing business called the Tea Practitioner. Most of the tea she sells has been picked during the spring season. These teas are called the “first flush” since they are the first crop of tea leaves to be plucked. “First flush teas are some of the more desirable teas,” explains Joseph-Quon. “Generally those teas will be a little bit more complex and the flavours may be a little bit sweeter, a little bit brighter.”
Once at home, Joseph-Quon recommends storing tea in an airtight container and keeping it in a cool, dark spot.
“If you’re keeping your tea in your windowsill in a glass vessel, you’ll notice the tea quality deteriorates faster, so you’ll either get a little bit more bitterness or dullness in your tea,” she says. When stored properly, black and herbal teas are good for about two years, while green teas, which are more delicate, stay fresh for six months to a year.
For optimal brewing times and temperatures, check the packaging of your tea. Each style, from oolong to green, white, black and herbal, has its own preferred water temperature. Using too-hot water with more delicate styles can result in off-tasting tea. “You’ll get an unpleasant bitterness and your tea might feel over-brewed,” she says.
An electric kettle with specific temperature settings for different styles of teas can help you attain that optimal temperature. But given the coming of summer and the city’s first heat wave having already arrived, holding a mug of steaming tea may be the last thing on our minds.
When it’s hot out, Joseph-Quon is a fan of the cold-steeping method to create iced teas, especially with Japanese sencha green teas.
“I put two grams of tea per eight ounces of water into a vessel and put it into the fridge overnight,” she explains. “Then you just put it over ice. It’s so refreshing and it’s one of my favourite ways to brew tea.”
Laura Chodola is the cofounder of the Toronto tea company Tealish, which operates online and through a retail shop on Roncesvalles. Chodola amps up her summertime tea drinking by making the beverage into an iced latte. The first step is to create what she calls a “tea concentrate.”
“You steep the tea for a little bit longer and use more tea and half the amount of water,” Chodola explains. “Usually I stir the tea leaves while the tea is infusing just to make sure you’re extracting all the flavours from the tea.”
The tea concentrate is then mixed with cold milk to make an iced tea latte.
“Usually we shake it in a cocktail shaker and that kind of froths it up,” says Chodola, who recommends using creamy dessert teas like Earl Grey or spiced chai, for iced tea lattes.
To make the sweet and flavourful tea lattes reminiscent of your local café, Chodola makes a simple syrup infused with spices or herbs that can then be mixed into your tea beverage.
“Making a flavoured simple syrup is fun, especially if people have more time at home,” says Chodola. She recommends making a lavender simple syrup by simmering the dried herb with water and sugar. It makes a nice pairing with an Earl Grey iced tea latte.
While recreating that café experience at home, you can still support local operations by swapping out those grocery store brands with a local tea purveyor. Your neighbourhood café might also be selling packages of tea straight to customers these days.
“There are lots of local tea businesses that are doing curbside pickups or have pivoted their business to do online,” says Shabnam Weber. “I really encourage everybody to support those in the best way that they possibly can.”