I’m on Vancouver Island right now staying at a friends house. I have some extra time this morning before my school presentation, so I was reading a little, and enjoying a nice cup of tea. Caryn and I just bought some new loose leaf teas, so I snagged a bag of Irish Breakfast tea (stronger than English Breakfast) to take along; however I forgot to bring a strainer for the loose leaves. Hmmm. Yesterday at the B&B I stayed at I carefully tore the top off of a red rose tea bag, emptied it, then filled it with the Irish Breakfast tea; I then scewered the opening of the bag and hung it in the boiling water off the top edge of my ‘to-go’ mug. That was a good cuppa! I repeated that process this morning. As I said, I’m a tea freak. But for good reason, they fill those red rose bags with the sweepings off the floor! Well, perhaps that’s exaggerating, but there is just no comparrison! Okay, I’m a tea freak slash tea snob. Anyway….
I’m not a vegetarian, but I have vegetarian tendencies. There are many reasons to eat a vegetarian diet, but my main reason is environmental. When I have a really busy string of demos, I tend to add a little extra meat to my diet, usually in the form of chicken or fish, not so much in the red meat department (although I did have an In&Out burger while I was in California). I have slowly been collecting stats and stories on the impact of our western cultures mass meat consumption habits; the video below is an excellent summery of some of those points.
Like most environmental videos, it is quite one sided—so take it with a grain of salt. I don’t agree with the overall scare-tactic-tone of the presentation, but the stats are pretty spot on. It’s incredible how powerful a worldcentric perspective can be for change, and it is only in todays day and age that we have access to the knowledge that is needed to create a worldcentric vision. So if some of the stats resonate with you in some deeper way, perhaps order something vegetarian next time you eat out or cook. If not, that’s all good too!
RL
[youtube width="425" height="355"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiYghMmFc_8&feature=channel_page[/youtube]
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Visit the shop called Teatime on Lonsdale if you visit the Shore – Great teas from all over the world, without the often silly price tags.
The Scottish Breakfast is a winner. Smooth, but strong and tasty.
The perfect pre-ride opener.
Beer usually wins out post-ride though…
Right on Warren, thanks. Actually got the tea from Lonsdale Quay, but I’ll look up Teatime next time. And yup, good call on the apres ride, cheers!
Here on little ol PEI it`s hard to find really good teas, I like Constant Comment by Bigelow and White Pear by Celesstial Seasoning.
I did have some really nice English Breakfast loose tea that was purchased in England and it was fantastic!
If you like ginger tea- you might try buying fresh ginger root, peeling it, shredding it and drying it in your oven (or the sun). It’s the same as the loose ginger tea I’ve been buying but less costly. Makes a nice cuppa too.
Hey Ryan, If you really love tea then you have to check out a great tea shop in Courtenay, The Tea Centre. The owners are just getting back from an annual tea buying trip to Asia so they should have some interesting teas and stories. They’re great with mail order as my friends and I place an order about every six weeks. We like the rooibos tisanes and I keep a thermos of chocolate mint by my desk all day. I’m trying to get into more green teas for the health benefits. Check out their website, too–www.teacentre.ca
Thanks for the link Patty, I’ll check that out! Green tea has some great health benefits for sure, but as far as antioxidants, it doesn’t get much better than rooibos.
a chap should always have tea available. it is the elixir of life.
personally i prefer assam (smoky and dark) in the morning and darjeeling (light and flowery) in the afternoon.
maybe you could get sponsored by twinings?
pip pip.
Thanks for the tips. But, You would need some strong new evidence to keep me off my favourite cup of Red Bush or Rooibos. I guess an AA flyer for Rooibos wouldn’t even be exaggerated.