variations on tea

Ever since Jodie introduced me to mauritius tea about six or seven years ago (which I can only find at Alice's Tea Cup in New York) I have had the exact same pot of tea five days a week. It is definitely in that rare and refined group of one of my five favourite things, one of those things that I wouldn't want to live without. Here's how to make it (and this, I think, is going to be the best recipe on this blog--nothing surpasses it).

One small teapot with a holder for loose tea ingredients.

One teaspoonful of mauritius tea (I've tried to find it other places but thus far have been unsuccessful. If you go to to NYC you should buy a lot. I usually ask for $100 worth while Joel W faints in line beside me and Joel E suggests I should seek treatment for my "habit"). IF you can't get to NYC, you can substitute a regular tea bag of strong tea (PG tips is ideal but Tetley will do) and a one-inch vanilla bean cut open or vanilla extract. Mauritius tea grows on the island Mauritius and is apparently naturally infused with the vanilla plants that grow alongside it.

Half a teaspoon of whole cloves.

Half to full teaspoon of cardamon (adjust to taste--some cardamon is stronger than others)

broken up cinnamon stick

hot pepper flakes (just a few)

1/2 cup or so hot milk (adjust to taste)

teaspoon of honey.

Mix it all together and you have the best hot drink in the world.

BUT there is recent breaking news on the tea front. This past weekend I bought a premade organic chai mixture from the hole-in-the-wall tea shop, "Tea and Ginseng," in Ottawa and I was shocked to discover that it is almost as good as the above recipe. I have tried dozens and dozens of premade chai's, trying to avoid the process above because it takes a comical amount of time to make, and this is the only one that is in any way comparable.

The best chai I've had in a restaurant was in Palo Alto waiting for the train to San Francisco. Sarah L introduced me to this place; in my memory it serves only tea (but in fact surely must serve more things). A woman was always there stirring an enormous vat of this milky tea and on the few occasions when my train came before I could get my tea I mourned my lost cup of tea all the way to SF.

The best tisane I know of is from Cha Yi's Maison de Thé. It's called honeybush vanilla.

And, finally from the list, Eran mentions Mariage Frere Tea as his favourite tea and lots of people (way more than those who mention sports) note drinking tea and reading as a favourite activity.