Well, you know how the song goes.
The tree is decorated, there’s snow on the ground, and it’s feeling pretty festive at The Beach House lately.
This morning I even drank a cup of Winter Delight — the loose leaf black tea that Katie and I bought in Sarajevo last Fall.
In order to best preserve their flavor, loose leaf teas should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container and kept away from light, heat, and moisture. I’m not as diligent about this as I ought to be, but I do own a number of tea tins, which are pretty as well as functional.
I bought one decorated with a painting by Gustav Klimt for my Winter Delight because he’s one of my favorite artists and I’d recently seen some of his work in Vienna.
I decided to try out a tea strainer I bought in India, which sits on the rim of the cup. I was worried it wouldn’t be deep enough and the leaves would sit above the water rather than be submerged, but it worked out perfectly. And when the tea was done steeping, I moved the strainer to its convenient silver holder.
Winter Delight is a flavored black tea — spicy but smooth and even malty. It has a prominent clove flavor, which isn’t overpowering, and exemplifies one of my favorite things about tea: It’s a subtle beverage. The flavors can be complex, but they’re rarely in your face.
Instead tea warms and heals and satisfies. And, for me, it makes a merry time of year even merrier.
Do you celebrate Christmas or another holiday this time of year? How’s your December going? Any plans for New Year’s yet?
2 Comments
Jess
I love how simple that tea strainer is! I love loose leaf tea, but I’m usually too lazy to go through the effort of making it.
opportunemma
I love how simple it is too! It takes me forever to go through my loose leaf tea because I get lazy and just grab bagged tea instead.