LCBO Food and Drink Spring 2016

TREND SPOTT ING

serving suggestions [ HOW TO ]

Here, she shares her favourite tea accessories to help you steep and serve the perfect cuppa, at home or on the go.

“I prefer loose-leaf teas,” says Eshun, who is fond of tins of Kusmi tea (kusmitea.com), “thanks to their beautiful packaging.” At home, she brews in a small Japanese cast-iron teapot with a loose-leaf strainer insert, kept extra-warm with the addition of a Dutch-style padded tea cozy. If she’s on her way out, she’ll place tea leaves inside an unbleached paper filter bag, and prepare her tea in a Klean Kanteen insulated bottle with splashproof lid (kleankanteen.com for stores). “It keeps tea hot for hours on the go,” she says.

Food stylist Eshun Mott is such a tea fiend she carries an emergency stash in her styling kit, ready to brew on location in whatever vessel is handy.

Cast Iron Teapot from Teavana, teavana.com

“Try a lot of teas and you will become an expert,” says Karen Hartwick of Stratford’s Tea Leaves Tea Tasting Bar , who ranks quality—in general—from tea bags, to better tea bags, to loose tea, then to better loose tea. Smell for freshness—green tea should have a green and grassy scent, for example—and taste for full-bodiness and intensity of flavour. Store in airtight, lightproof containers for up to a year. Here are some Canadian brands to try. The basics on buying tea, plus how to store it. SHOPPING TIPS

Sloane Fine Tea Merchants sloanetea.com Pick up these tea blends in stores across the province, or shop online by taste profile, type or collection.

Camellia Sinensis camellia-sinensis.com

Pluck Teas pluckteas.com

Tea Leaves stratfordtealeaves.com

Buy tea and accessories online, or travel to Quebec to linger in its tea houses or attend workshops and events.

Teas from this Toronto-based brand include Ontario-inspired blends like Muskoka Chai, with dried Muskoka cranberries.

Purchase loose-leaf tea or a monthly tea subscription on- line, or drop by this Stratford shop for tastings and classes.

FOOD & DRI NK SPRING