1. Less Packaging
Loose leaf tea typically has less packaging than commercial tea bags which creates less garbage and litter.
2. Compostable
Loose leaf tea can easily be compostable. If you have a compost, it’s often best to discard your used leaves there instead of the garbage. Many people also use tea leaves in their garden as a natural fertilizer.
3. Many commercial tea bags are not fully biodegradable.
Some tea bags may contain micro-plastics making them not biodegradable. Choosing tea filters that are biodegradable ensures that there is no waste left behind!
4. Re-usable tea infusers
Teapots, metal strainers, gaiwans, and other tea making equipment are all waste free allowing your tea time to be litter free.
5. Sourcing teas that are organic and sustainable
There is many teas that are certified organic in Canada or grown with organic practices. It is also important to know where your tea is sourced from to ensure that the tea is made ethically and sustainably.
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LaKyrsiew Boutique Organic Tea Garden
LaKyrsiew translates to "awakening" in the Khasi language, which is so appropriate for this relatively new tea estate initially planted on virgin soil in 2002 and carved into just 25 acres on the hillside bordering the banks of Umiam Lake at an altitude of 3,000 - 3,900 ft. This exquisite tea garden is an enclave in the wild, where monkeys, wild boar, civet, spotted deer, abundant local and migratory birds and even the occasional leopard are frequent visitors.
Everything you know about fine wines is true of fine tea. The exact patch of earth (terroir), the pH of the soil, the gradient of how it drains, when and how long the sun hits the leaves in the morning and throughout the day and the careful crafting of the tea determines the flavour.
Cultivated organically from the start on their ancestral lands, the owners of LaKyrsiew pursue the quality of their tea at the expense of everything else - very fine plucking, careful handling of the green leaf, careful withering and rolling, careful drying and sorting and discarding anything that doesn't meet their standards.
Tea this fresh - plucked in early spring 2017 - is extremely hard to come by in Canada. Order on-line here or come out to one of our upcoming markets for your chance to try this delightful, rare tea!!
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Below is the easiest way we've found to make fruit based iced tea. This works for Solar Fantasia, Ursa Major, Copacabana and Osiris. Make extra and freeze it to just thaw and enjoy throughout the summer or anytime.
1. Using a heat proof tea press, pot or even a bowl, put approx. 1/2 to up to an inch of dried fruity tisane in the bottom.
2. Bring freshly drawn, filtered water to a full boil. Pour over the fruity tisane and fill up your pot. Cover and let it steep for 10 minutes.
3. Push down the press or strain off the fruity tisane into another heat proof pot or container. Add sweetener, if desired (agave, sugar, honey, etc.)
4. Place in the refrigerator and chill. You now have a fruity tisane concentrate that you can keep and use for a week or freeze and keep for up to 3 months.
5. To serve, pour over ice and add cold water to your desired concentration. Taste and adjust sweetener, if desired.
Enjoy!
]]>White, green, wulong and puer are all teas that definitely should be re-steeped. First flush teas, if you are lucky enough to find some, can also be re-steeped. Many Chinese full leaf fine black teas can also be re-steeped, such as Golden Monkey, . Recently we've encountered some fine 2nd flush black teas from boutique gardens in India that also produce some delicious results after the 2nd steepings.
Here are some tips when re-steeping tea:
1. Make the first steeping short.
2. Fully pour off the tea after each steeping into a cup or a small non-porous pitcher. If you are using a basket style steeper, just remove it from the cup of pot and set it aside so it is not sitting in a puddle of tea. Do not leave the leaves in water because you want the extraction to be halted between steepings.
3. Ensure there is air flow around the leaves so they cool off in between steepings. You don't want them to continue to "cook" or steam in between steepings.
4. When you are ready for your next cup of tea, heat your water and add it to the leaves again. Gradually increase the steeping time with each subsequent steeping.
Here is an example for re-steeping Misty Mountain Tea Moon Rabbit, a lovely peach apricot fusion white tea.
1st steeping - 45 seconds
2nd steeping - 1 minute
3rd steeping - 1 minute 30 seconds
5. You can continue re-steeping tea over a number of hours. Start in the morning and continue to re-steep the leaves throughout the day. Start fresh with new leaves each day or after 6-8 hours
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1. Use 1/2 tsp of matcha for one cup
2. Bring freshly drawn filtered water to approx. 80°C (same temperature as for any green tea).
3. Put approximately 1/3 a cup of water in your cup or bowl.
4. Sift the matcha into the water using a small, fine mesh strainer. (this prevents the matcha from "clumping" in your cup. Wisk the matcha and water together until the matcha is suspended in the water and there is a nice froth on top of the surface of the water (approx. 5 - 10 seconds)
5. Top up to fill the cup with more hot water
That's all there is to it. Enjoy!
For Matcha Latte
Follow the steps above (Steps 1 - 4)
However, instead of topping up with more hot water, heat enough milk to top up your cup (you can use dairy, soy, almond, etc.) . Froth the milk with a wisk and add to the matcha. Add a touch of sweetner if you like. Makes an amazing matcha latte!
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Rooibos – already a proven agent in thwarting the effects of ageing and promoting general health – has further been put through its paces by two leading scientists from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in a bid to beat the rate at which age-related diseases develop, which makes this research study so significant.
Lead scientist, Prof Maryna van de Venter says it’s the first time a study such as this has been attempted and the results have been promising.
“Our research focused primarily on the preservation of healthy fat tissue as the redistribution of fat – a natural process which occurs with age – particularly to the abdominal region, has been linked to the onset of many age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and cancer. Our aim was to slow down the rate at which these diseases develop as a way to improve the quality of an individual’s life.
“Loss of fat under the skin also results in the appearance of wrinkles, sunken eyes and skin folds. To put it in simple terms, in old age there is less fat in places where it should be and more fat in deposits where it shouldn’t be, and it’s this that significantly alters one’s state of health as one ages,” explains Prof van de Venter.
Using various independent in vitro models which mimic specific aspects of the ageing process, van de Venter and her team established that Rooibos protects preadipocytes – the predominant cells found in fat tissue – from degenerating and therefore could reverse the onset of age related diseases and even keep wrinkles at bay.
Factors responsible for the decline in preadipocyte function, include oxidative stress (inability to counteract the harmful effects of free radicals in the body) and mitochondrial dysfunction (inability to power cell functions which occurs with ageing). The study further proved that Rooibos has the ability to partially restore the function of these aged cells and that both fermented and green Rooibos can protect cells from severe oxidative stress, which firmly establishes Rooibos as an anti-ageing proponent.
Co-researcher, Dr Trevor Koekemoer emphasises that the mere fact that their work suggests that the anti-ageing effects of Rooibos can be ascribed to more than its well-known antioxidant effects, is an important finding.
“The discovery opens doors to ways in which Rooibos could prevent or at least delay the detrimental effects of ageing and holds profound implications for the industry. Our findings could spur novel therapeutic approaches for improving general health in the aged and potentially lead to a breakthrough in the field of regenerative medicines,” he says.
Dr Koekemoer notes that further research is however needed to establish the best route of administration (oral or dermal), which will ultimately determine the potential for new product development, specifically aimed at targeting healthy fat tissue. As examples, one might consider Rooibos tablets or a serum for topical application.
It’s not yet clear how much Rooibos tea should be consumed to derive the maximum anti-ageing effect since only cultured cells were used during experiments. Therefore, additional factors, such as the bioavailability and metabolism of Rooibos when ingested vs applied to the skin, would need to be taken into account.
“In our experiments we used concentrations that were physiologically relevant and from work done by other researchers on human subjects, we can assume that the remarkable effects observed in our cell culture models, are achievable,” concludes Dr Koekemoer.
The just-released research study was commissioned by the Rooibos Council in 2012. Prof Van de Venter and PhD student, Anli Hattingh, have recently embarked on another exciting study, which investigates the extent to which, and how Rooibos preserves the functionality of the preadipocytes and other cell types. The results of this study should be concluded by 2018.
The number of scientific papers published investigating the health benefits of Rooibos have increased substantially over the past decade, and the rate of scientific investigation is set to be further boosted this year by a significant cash injection by the South African Rooibos Council to independent researchers at a number of SA universities and science councils.
Rooibos is part of the fynbos family and endemic to the Cederberg region of the Western Cape.
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#1 Lasting, smooth caffeine alertness for hours: Both coffee and matcha contain caffeine, but with coffee, the caffeine wreaks havoc on your body. It causes a rapid spike in caffeine but an equally rapid crash. It can result in jitters and nervousness and the need for cup after cup throughout the day with the resulting caffeine highs and crashes.
Matcha, on the other hand, does a much better job of creating a calm alertness - with only a quarter to a half of the caffeine found in a cup of coffee. There are no spikes and crashes. This is because the caffeine in matcha is being moderated by another beneficial component in tea called l-theanine. This calm alertness typically lasts for 3 hours although some people report the effects last for even 6 - 7 hours.
#2 Very high in antioxidants: Matcha is very finely ground powdered green tea. So when you are drinking matcha you are drinking the entire tea leaf with all the benefits it contains vs just the brew resulting from steeping and then discarding the leaves. As a result it is very high in polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants - in fact matcha has as many antioxidants as 10 cups of green tea! The polyphenols in tea have been linked to many health benefits including protection against heart disease and cancer; better blood sugar regulation, blood pressure reduction and anti-aging.
#3 Better Breath: It is well known that coffee is one of the leading causes of bad breath. Fortunately matcha does not have this affect and in fact contains polyphenols that have been shown to prevent the growth of the bacteria that cause bad breath.
So find some matcha, grab a wisk and start your day off with a cup of matcha tomorrow!
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1. Using a heat proof tea press, pot or even a bowl, put approx. 1/2 to up to an inch of dried fruity tisane in the bottom.
2. Bring freshly drawn, filtered water to a full boil. Pour over the fruity tisane and fill up your pot. Cover and let it steep for 10 minutes.
3. Push down the press or strain off the fruity tisane into another heat proof pot or container. Add sweetener, if desired (agave, sugar, honey, etc.)
4. Place in the refrigerator and chill. You now have a fruity tisane concentrate that you can keep and use for a week or freeze and keep for up to 3 months.
5. To serve, pour over ice and add cold water to your desired concentration. Taste and adjust sweetener, if desired.
Enjoy!
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Follow these simple tips and let us know on our Facebook page what you think https://www.facebook.com/mistymountaintea/
1. Use any non-metalic, non-porous pitcher
2. Make it by the glass or pitcher. The quantities below make 1.5 litres of tea.
3. Measure our 2 heaping tablespoons of any loose leaf tea into a 1.5 litre jug.
4. Add freshly drawn, filtered water (we like using tap water that has gone through a Brita filter). This is important because particulates in your tap water can alter the taste - and typically not in a good way.
5. Cover and put in your refrigerator overnight.
6. In the morning, remove the tea leaves in their strainer (if using) or simply pour the cold infused tea through any kitchen strainer into another container.
7. Sweeten, if desired. Pour over ice and voila! Crystal clear, delicious iced tea ready to enjoy.
Note: You can cold steep any tea (black, green, white, wulong), but I do recommend you try cold steeping just 1 cup of tea first to make sure you like the end result. For 1 cup of cold steeped tea, follow the instructions above, but just use 2 teaspoons of tea in 250 mls of water.
Try adding sliced fruit (limes, lemons, oranges, peaches, apples, etc) or crushed berries to your tea as you cold steep it to add additional flavours and variety.
]]>All I can say, is that if you haven't tried one you are in for a truly delightful tea experience if you are lucky enough to get hold of one in the year it is produced.
If Darjeeling teas are the "Champagnes of Tea" then the First Flush Darjeeling is the "Dom Perignon of Darjeeling Teas". Although it is technically a black tea - it looks nothing like any other black tea you have ever or will ever taste. The lovely light, fresh, clean taste of an excellent First Flush Darjeeling needs no milk or sugar. There is absolutely no bitterness if it is steeped using freshly drawn and boiled filtered water for no more than 4 minutes.
The "Flushes" are a term used uniquely for Darjeeling teas.
Tea gardens can only produce a small quantity of true First Flush. As its name implies, this tea is only produced once a year when the tea bushes spring out of their winter dormancy, usually sometime in mid-March. For this reason this tea is bought up quickly and is very difficult to find.
The Second Flush Darjeeling can also be a very high quality tea, but is not quite as premium priced as the First Flush as more of it is produced. This tea is amber in colour, full bodied ideally with the typical muscatel flavour associated with a high quality Second Flush Darjeeling. Quality of Second Flush varies from garden to garden and from year to year. Always look for a Second Flush Darjeeling from a Single Estate.
Lastly, note that only teas grown in the Darjeeling district can use the official "Darjeeling" logo below.
]]>The Tea Association of the U.S.A has done an excellent job of summarizing some of the key clinical studies on tea and health prior to 2013 in the publication below. Click on the link provided (or copy and paste it into your browser) to access the full document.
Tea drinking on its own is no "magic bullet" and will never equal the greatest health promoter of all - a healthy lifestyle. But it certainly fits well with that lifestyle and the evidence supports and continues to build for tea being incorporated into an overall healthy diet for many people.
http://www.teausa.com/teausa/images/TeaCouncil-ResearchDocR5_-_FINAL.pdf
]]>High altitudes produce the perfect combinations of ideal temperatures and drainage to manage the vast quantities of rain required to grow premium teas. The weather conditions are different, often resulting in thick mists that filter the sun's rays and moisten the leaves so they are usually more tender than leaves grown al lower altitudes. The closer to the equator, the higher the elevation where tea trees can thrive.
Teas grown at higher elevations are highly sought after. Explore our Misty Mountain Tea Company Single Estate high altitude teas and see the difference for yourself!
]]>1. Measure out the desired amount of Ursa Major or Solar Fantasia into a pot or tea press: 2 heaping teaspoons per 6 - 8 oz cup of water Note: This is double the concentration for hot tisane
2. Boil your water and pour it over the fruity tisane. Steep for 10 minutes.
3. Pour off liquid into a heat resistant container.
4. Add sweetener if so desired to taste. Note: We use approximately 1/2 tsp of Organic Agave per cup
5. Place in refrigerator until well chilled
6. Pour chilled fruity tisane over ice and add additional cold water to achieve desired concentration.
7. Enjoy!
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