Most of us are familiar with green, black, oolong, red, and white teas. These are the standard types of tea found in homes, cafes, hotels, and grocery stores across Canada.
These varieties usually require little more than a spoonful of milk and a dash of sugar to please the senses.
However, tea time can also be an opportunity to explore a variety of unique teas and unusual tastes. Take for instance Chong Cha, a Chinese infusion which literally translates to “worm tea.”
Worm tea is made from the droppings of small, dark caterpillars and is a common cooling beverage in China. On hot days, sipping a cup of this infusion is said to cool the body, prevent heatstroke, aid digestion, and reduce symptoms of diarrhea, nosebleeding and bleeding hemorrhoids.
The difference between a tea and an infusion is that teas are made from plant leaves. Anything not made from plant leaves is classified as an infusion, according to Susanne Pickhardt, co-owner of the Tea Store in Ottawa.
She said worm tea wasn’t on her list of favourite infusions.
“I don’t think I would drink it,” she said.
If sipping caterpillar poop isn’t your cup of tea, perhaps a mug of maple bacon tea will do the trick.
Maple bacon is a black tea that contains the plant lapsang souchong, which is mixed with apple and caramel flavoured Ceylon teas and imitation bacon bits.
“Lapsang is a tea that has been smoked over a wood fire … it would give you a very smoky taste, with maybe a hint of flower,” she said.
For a unique tea with a more traditional palate, blossoming teas are more pleasing to both the eye and the taste buds.
In blossoming teas, a bundle of dry jasmine and green tea leaves are surrounded by a blossom such as Osmanthus and shaped into a small ball. Once this dry bundle is steeped in steaming water, it opens up and releases subtle hints of jasmine and lily with floral undertones.
Pickhardt said the resulting teas look like they have a flower in them, and can vary in taste.
“Depending on the type of green tea you use, some of them are more grassy tasting, some of them are more mellow with a floral hint,” she said.
What makes this tea exceptional is the presentation of the blossom. As if it were alive, the blossom grows, infusing gentle flavours into the teapot.
