What happens when Tea Sommeliers get together for Afternoon Tea

The Tardis arrived with much noise and clatter. The noise due to my neighbour still doing some yardwork and the chainsaw sounded just like the noise the Tardis makes in the Dr. Who movies.

My husband and I have been Dr. Who fans for a long time, granted we enjoyed the old ones better than the new ones and we don't get to see most episodes anymore.  Nevertheless, it conjured up some fond memories of early married life.

I had been preparing my home for Christmas for a few days, in anticipation of having guest over for Afternoon Teas.  And my first travelers on board the Tardis were 2 of my fellow Tea Sommeliers - Momo and Rita.

Momo had just returned from Japan and brought with her some wonderful Matcha. Rita had just recently returned from living in Vancouver, gotten married and had a baby, so there was lots to chat about.

I found a wonderful little sleigh, that became the home for the Tardis during its stay in my home.

Here we are the 3 of us in front of my Christmas tree, about to take off into a wonderful tea adventure

Momo in the white top has her own online tea company and sells premium Japanese Tea, you can find her under Momo Tea on Facebook.  Rita is very much involved in Toronto Tea scene, especially with our upcoming Tea Festival in January.  

We started in my kitchen, where Momo expertly whipped up one of her premium Matcha. No ceremony, just everyday tea prep when one wants to enjoy a bowl.  

Proper temperature absolutely necessary, about 80 degrees C., I have a programmable tea kettle, so that is easy.  

The finished brew, it tasted fresh and oh so sweet, perfect, it didn't even make it to the table.... Yum we also had some Japanese sweets, which you taste ahead of time to give it the proper set up for the tea.

ALL GONE!

I had prepared my favorite scones, they always come out perfect and everyone loves them so very much.  To Eve's Kensington Palace scones, I added a touch of gingerbread seasoning as flavour and served Marmalade and Wildberry curd and of course Clotted Cream (imported from England). 

I added 3 more teas to it, pictures show two. With my savories I like to serve green and Oolong teas, I usually start with my favorite one, which is AnJiBaiCha.  (I have another blog post about it, so more later on those teas)

 

The third tea was a Genuine Tea Ruby 18 a native Taiwanese cultivar with an Assamica leaf. Perfect with sweets.

I have a lot of fun with my savories, especially when it is for a limited # of people, I like to decorate and create different styles.  

So let's start from the middle, the Lettuce wrap in the glass: Mango/Avocado/Daiko/Carrot with a poppy seed dressing - 2 bites and it was done.  

Then going clockwise:  Duck/Pear/Bluecheese with a touch of beetradish and a dot of cranberry; Smoked Salmon pinwheel with a bit of cream cheese/dill/caper; Egg Salad, I add a bit of hot mustard; then my signature sandwich, my Curry Chicken sandwhich, this time I added shredded Grany Smith apple into the mixture; Tuna with Avocado (instead of mayonaise) to round it out.

Top tier: Marzipan Stollen and Chestnuts
Middle tier: Marzipankartoffel and Gingerbread cake baked in a Christmas Tree form
Bottom Tier: my Applestrudel

Top: Vanilla Chai Macarons and my Rumkugel (rumballs)
Bottom: Tiramisu cakelets and Almond tartlet

I hope you enjoyed traveling with me and my friends.
Wroom wroom wroom until next time!  Ingrid

P.S.  I've had some trouble with the uploading of the pics and manipulating the script.  I hope the next blog will be a lot faster... I owe you a few more.