Sharing a steaming cup of tea or coffee with friends and family is often central to holiday gatherings. Whether we share it with others or enjoy it as a solitary experience, most of us have our favourite blends, indeed, our favourite cup.
Since starting his local coffee and tea business more than 10 years ago, the quest for the ultimate cup of tea has taken Bob Krul, owner of Cornelia Bean on Academy Road, to many of the world's tea-growing regions in distant lands. When we sat down together over a cup of tea to talk about his latest adventures, Krul was enjoying a cup of Taiwan Ruby 18, a gold-medal-winning black tea that comes from a place called Sun Moon Lake in Yuchi Township. Just south of that region, says Krul, is the famed Alishan mountain region where, in his opinion, the best oolong teas in the world can be found.
Krul is a tea connoisseur. He says that we stand to learn a thing or two while drinking tea -- one of our most essential daily rituals -- when we share the time with others. In this age of K-cups and one-touch automatic tea makers, Krul is on a mission to bring a fresh new meaning to one of life's simple pleasures and to nurture a synergy between the drinker and the harvester. This time he is looking to the Far North as his travels take him to Canada's boreal forest, rich in herbs and berries for teas, but also rich in peoples whose knowledge and traditions teach respect for the delicious gifts of Mother Earth.
Krul has begun a new venture called Boreal Wildcraft Tea Company. His new partnerships include Algonquin Tea Company and Northern Delights (Délice Boréal) herbal tea, a Nunavik Inuit company that is part of the Avataq Cultural Institute representing Nunavik harvesters. Krul is now representing them, as well as a wildcrafter in British Columbia.
Krul proudly introduces a delicious new line of handpicked, ethically harvested Inuit, boreal and grassland herbal teas. "The world," says Krul, "is moving toward a greater understanding of the relationship between what we grow, harvest and consume and the impact we have on the environment." Krul has come back home, so to speak, to the tea plants that we can grow organically right here and now he wants to tell the whole world.
With the skill of an experienced purveyor of fine coffee and tea, in recent months this master blender has met with the King and Queen of the Netherlands; signed a deal with the University of Manitoba to study the bio-active components in Cornelia Bean's new selection of herbs; tramped through the forests of the North with elders to learn from their history and traditions; created new blends in his food studio; and successfully persuaded some of the finest restaurants in Winnipeg to offer their patrons a tantalizing taste of the boreal forest.
Wild mints, sweetgrass, sage, cloudberry, juicy black crowberries, sunflower blossoms, anise hyssop, angelica, rose hips, raspberry leaf, wild chamomile -- these are just a few of the riches from the boreal forest to be savoured in a soothing cup of tea. Everything is organic. The herbs are neither cultivated nor sprayed with chemicals. Krul says the blends are purer than organic because they are harvested ethically by hand in the forest. Pickers leave two-thirds of the plant so that it can be sustainably harvested the next year and the year after that.
Ever the entrepreneur and an unapologetic devotee of loose-leaf teas (he recommends tossing out the cellulose bag with its offending staple), Krul has also designed a cup called the Wall. A unique, clear glass teapot and cup all in one designed to enhance the quality of the infusion, Krul's hope is that it will revolutionize and improve our relationship with the tea we drink. Its reception has been nothing short of astounding.
Krul is now putting in process all of the components for solar drying and solar-powered chopping of the harvested herbs, even the possibility that these treasures will travel by canoe to the shores of Lake Winnipeg in the traditional method of transportation. "A longboat filled with boxes of teas," says Krul. "Think of it." For in addition to providing his customers with the best teas possible, Krul is committed to supporting northern peoples in the local food economy and educating tea drinkers about the tea they drink and our relationship to nature.
Dave Hanson, owner of Sage Garden Herbs, imbibes daily. In colder weather, he says, there is nothing nicer than brewing a comforting cuppa tea or coffee. Plants with distinctively spicy aromas fill his crowded shop on St. Mary's Road. Could you grow your own coffee plant indoors such as coffee Arabica, indigenous to the forests of the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia, or make your own signature house blend of tea from Osmanthus fragrans, also known as sweet olive, a species native to Asia from the Himalayas?
"Sure, why not," says Hanson who delights in introducing customers to the pleasures of growing herbal plants indoors, including yerba mate, allspice, peppermint, cinnamon and lemongrass.
Yerba mate is a stimulating drink with a strong,bold flavour but without as much buzz as you might get from other caffeinated beverages. Easy to grow indoors, the process of harvesting and drying the leaves differs from harvesting the leaves of a plant such as peppermint. "When harvesting yerba mate, quickly blanch the leaves after plucking," says Hanson. "This breaks down the enzymes and begins the process of developing yerba mate's earthy, distinctive flavour." After blanching, allow the leaves to sit in a warm, evenly dry place to cure for a week or two until they are fully crumbly. Steep the dried, loose leaves in hot but not boiling water.
Hanson says yerba mate plants can grow to as tall as 1.5 metres. Regular harvesting and pruning encourages flushes of new growth. Bushiness is achieved by frequently pinching off the stem tips just above the lower leaf buds where they intersect with the ends of the stem.
Yerba mate combines well with peppermint. A hardy plant well suited to the outdoors, peppermint is not always easy to grow indoors unless it is regularly chopped back in order to stimulate regrowth.
This summer Hanson was visited by an Italian-born customer who was excited to share that she had harvested two kilograms of coffee beans from the large coffee plant she grows indoors. Her joy in roasting the beans and sharing the drink with her guests has been immeasurable. Hanson says that his supply of coffee Arabica plants sells out quickly. "They're great houseplants," says Hanson, "because they don't need as much indoor light as some other plants."
Hanson recommends situating coffee Arabica near a window facing east or northwest. It takes about three or four years before a young plant attains fruiting size. The plant is self-fertile so only one is needed. The pretty, small white flowers are followed by bright red berries, which contain the coffee. After harvesting them from the plant, lay them out in a basket to cure. Once they are ready, try skillet-roasting them, says Hanson, in a hot frying pan. As the beans heat up and expand, they have a popping action similar to popcorn and, of course, a wonderful rich coffee aroma. The longer you roast the beans, says Hanson, the darker the coffee that develops.
Lemongrass is an excellent houseplant because it doesn't go into dormancy. Hanson prefers the East Indian cultivars to Asian. Hanson trims off some of the strappy leaves, ties them into a bundle, and brews them in a teapot, either fresh or dried, by letting them steep in boiling water for about five minutes. Hanson says the lemony flavour of lemongrass combines well with yerba mate.
Mulled hot drinks are a favourite this time of year. Hanson says for a delicious, hot drink, simmer fresh allspice leaves and cinnamon leaves with good quality apple juice on top of the stove for about 20 minutes. The aroma is sensational.
Hanson also carries different variations of Camellia sinensis, which is a tea plant. More temperamental but very beautiful when its white flowers are in bloom, its preference is for a cool location.
Whether your choice is to savour your own signature house blend or a steeped, flavourful infusion from the boreal forest, take time to share and enjoy the experience this holiday season. And remember to inhale slowly and deeply.
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