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This week on the Herbal Infusions blog we’re going to step away from individual tea blends and talk about types of tea on the whole. To be specific, loose leaf in Toronto tea versus the public standard: bagged tea. For the longest time loose leaf tea has been an incredibly hard thing to find. For the most part, tea bags have completely overtaken loose leaf tea. Go to almost any restaurant, cafe or supermarket, and 9 times out of ten your tea will come in one of those little bags. We’re going to talk about why bagged took over, and why it never should have.

There are a few reasons behind how prolific bagged tea has been in recent years. They all seem to stem from a notion that loose leaf tea is somehow a hassle, and by using tea already in a strainer (bag) we eliminate the hardship that is making a cup of tea. The people who came to believe this naturally tell their friends the secret to a simpler life, and it slowly became “common knowledge”. I’ve asked almost every tea drinker I know here in Toronto why they drink bagged tea; the response is always, “it’s easy!” Until recently even I took people at their word on bagged tea over loose leaf. Naturally, it wasn’t until I actually tried loose leaf tea that I learned how ridiculous this notion was. All it takes to brew a cup of loose leaf is a scoop in your tea strainer. Oftentimes, this takes just as much time as digging the bag out and getting it out of the little paper packaging. The only extra step to a cup of loose leaf is rinsing out the strainer where you would normally throw the bag out.

Which smoothly brings us to the next point: waste. This manufactured bagged teas are incredibly wasteful. The amount of packaging that is used on a typical box of bagged tea is beyond excessive. For argument’s sake, picture a regular large box of tea from a supermarket of eighty portions of tea. Right off the bat, the tea is put into eighty disposable filters, with their string and cardboard handle. Each of these eighty bags of tea are then usually put into a printed paper package for display and to limit the exposure of the tea once the box is opened. They are then placed in the box and the box is then shrink wrapped. This is done for every single box of tea at a grocery store. None of this is even reusable. Everything that goes into manufacturing that box is designed to be thrown away. Compare this to loose leaf tea. Most stores that sell loose leaf sell wholesale, which means they and the people they sell to need their own containers for smaller portions. By necessity these containers are almost always reusable. Loose leaf tea drinkers also typically buy a reusable filter to save money. No bags, no shrink wrap and no paper. The amount of waste produced by loose leaf is negligible compared to bagged.

In addition to being extremely wasteful, this bagged tea simply just isn’t as good a quality as loose leaf tea. The more tea leaves are broken up, the more chemicals and essential oils that are found in tea evaporate. For the most part, when bagged teas are prepared in a factory they are often smashed and powdered by the machinery when put into their individual bags. The leaves get so broken down that they lose almost all of the chemicals that give tea its colouring and flavour. Bagged teas are generally much more bland and weak in comparison to loose leaf teas (when brewed for the same amount of time, of course). Because loose leaf teas retain their chemicals much better, they are much more nutritional than bagged as well.

The final difference between these two types of tea is more for those of us running businesses like restaurants and bars. Loose leaf tea is hugely superior when bought wholesale versus bagged. Because of how much space the bags and individual boxes take up, loose leaf tea is much easier to store than bagged tea. Loose leaf tea put into glass jars is also much more presentable than stacks of boxes and paper packages. Prices for loose leaf versus bagged tend to vary wildly depending on who you buy from. At Herbal Infusions, our wholesale tea tends to be about equal price with wholesale bagged teas at comparable serving quantities. Follow this link if you would like to learn more about our wholesale teas.

These days stores are beginning to get wise to the massive jump in quality you get from switching to loose leaf teas. Spas, cafes, campus stores and offices have slowly begun making the change to these healthier and tastier options. For restaurants, particularly those here in Toronto, it’s a great way to compete with major chain stores which have so much brand power. For those of us at home, its just simply a better cup of tea, and isn’t that what it all comes down to?

Holiday crazies are over and we’re well past New Years. The holiday season is wonderful; spending time with family and friends is always something to be treasured. However, the holidays are far from relaxing. The holidays are INSANE. Never mind shopping for presents for those of us who celebrate Christmas or related holidays, if you hosted a party this winter you know how stressful the holidays can be. Mercifully we’re past that now and we can all kick back and relax for a while, right?

Valentine ’s Day.

While it isn’t nearly as hectic as the holiday season , Valentine’s Day can sneak up on us. There have been too many stories of boyfriends and girlfriends who realize ON Valentine’s Day they forgot a present. For goodness sake, don’t let it happen to you. You’ve only got a few weeks, go out this weekend and get that present now!

To give you a hand, we have a few shopping suggestions. Primarily, your choice depends on how long you’ve known your significant other. Even a gentleman wouldn’t choose diamond jewellery for a girlfriend of 2 months. The old standbys are often the best: chocolate, flowers, and a reservation for dinner at a nice restaurant. These gifts are great because they don’t break the bank, or they can serve as a small addition to a larger present like jewellery.

But where would this tea blog be without bringing it back to the theme at some point ? Chocolates and flowers are all well and good, but in order to bump your presents up and make them unique we have picked out some amazing tea blends that go great with those chocolates, themed to the occasion.

First off is Endless Love tea. It’s made from black tea with blackcurrant flavouring and blackberry leaves. Dark in colouring, Endless Love is rich with black currant giving a wonderful fruity bite to the bold flavour of black tea.

Next is Cupid’s Kiss, a much sharper flavoured tea. Of the selections we’re going through today, this is the most traditional in look and taste and steeps to a light yellow. Japanese green tea with rose buds and strawberries give it a wonderfully sweet taste.

Finally, we have Red Velvet Rooibos. If you’ve read previous blogs, you’ll know all about Rooibos teas. They are extremely good for health and come in a variety of blends. Red Velvet Rooibos is made with raspberry and vanilla. This is an excellent tea for either people just getting into specialty teas or complete neophytes.

All three of these teas are strongly infused with berries; black currant s, strawberries and raspberries respectively. They taste great either hot or chilled with ice. Every single one goes great with those chocolates you’ll be getting for that special someone.

Don’t agree with our recommendations? Make your own selections on our online store.

This week at Herbal Infusions we’re going to continue our focus on healthy teas with a strain that is growing rapidly in popularity throughout the western world. Rooibos tea has become very big ever since baristas found a new way to prepare it. Coffee shops in South Africa have begun serving “Red Espresso”, Rooibos tea concentrated and served in the style of an espresso. In addition to this very cool preparation style, Rooibos tea is also rich in those antioxidants we love so much (for more information on antioxidants, read our blog on Lapacho Tea).

Rooibos tea is grown in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Rooibos is Afrikaans for “red bush”, so named because Rooibos tea leaves naturally oxidize giving it a red colouring. This oxidization is often inaccurately referred to as “fermentation”, which has lead to a lot of confusion for consumers. It is possible to find unoxidized Rooibos tea with a green colouration and subtly different flavour. The production process is much more demanding though, which makes the tea more expensive and hard to acquire.

Rooibos tea has a malty flavour with grassy undertones. Green variants tend to have a stronger emphasis on the grassy undertones, giving them a stronger and richer flavour. Typically Rooibos tea is prepared with milk and sugar for flavour. However, for those health conscious folks among us there other methods of preparation: either use honey instead of sugar or add just a slice of lemon and no milk.

As said above, Rooibos tea is another very healthy tea. It is rich in antioxidants as well as low in tannins. Tannins are a plant’s natural deterrent against herbivores. They inhibit digestion and with excessive consumption can cause bowel irritation or liver damage. For most people, while no individual food will push us over the brink into over consumption, it is recommended that you limit tannins wherever possible. Finally, Rooibos tea has another use enabled by its slick new preparation technique.

Rooibos can help wean you off coffee.

Caffeine addiction is one of the most prolific addictions of the 21st century. Hyper-caffeinated energy drinks have made us much more aware of the drug’s harmful effects. These effects mostly revolve around a dependency on caffeine. Coffee drinkers will know exactly what this means: Skip your morning coffee and see how you feel. The lack of caffeine makes you anxious, sloppy and headachy. Because of this, many people are looking to cut caffeine from their diets as much as possible. A great way to do this is to simply replace your afternoon coffee with a cup of Red Espresso. Prepared and served just like an espresso, with a similarly strong flavour, Red Espresso can act almost like a coffee patch.
For more information, read up on Rooibos tea and Red espresso.

Or, browse our online store to see the Rooibos mixes we have available.

Meeting our new year’s resolutions can be very hard. It’s especially bad when that resolution is to get into shape, particularly to lose weight. Every year people looking to slim down head down to their local gym, start jogging, or follow any number of other exercise regimen. The key thing many of them don’t realize is that losing weight is not just about exercise. Diet plays an enormous role in our health. In addition to exercise, effort should be made to focus on food and drink that will help keep us slim and support our workout.

Two of the most important parts of a healthy diet are calorie count and through a property known as fat oxidization. Fat oxidization is the process by which your body burns fat for energy. Normally this process only occurs during long, hard workouts, where your body has burned fast-access sugars and resorts to burning fat. If you make sure to reduce the calorie count in your diet, you can lose weight without actually eating less. Fat oxidization is a little trickier to promote. Only specific food items have the ability to increase this process.

Tea is an drink that not only can improve fat oxidization, but has extremely low calorie counts. An excellent way to improve a diet is to simply replace a soft drink with a cup of tea. However, as most tea fans already know, different teas have wildly different properties. The health benefits of tea depend entirely on the type of tea and what it is blended with. Among the many blends available, Oolong tea is commonly held to be one of the best teas for weight loss. It is extremely low in calories (with no additives like sugar), and Oolong tea’s chemical composition also promotes fat oxidization.

Polymerized Polyphenols, found commonly in Oolong tea are responsible for this increase in fat oxidization. In layman’s terms, these polyphenols have the ability to dramatically increase the rate at which your body burns fat for energy. Normally these effects last about 2 hours after drinking tea, with the peak in effect around 1.5 hours. Therefore, for the best results with Oolong tea, have a strong cup with no additives about an hour before a hard workout. This will make best use of the fat oxidization properties without overexerting yourself in a workout.

Tea on its own will not magically make you lose weight. No more than changing any other part of your diet will. In order to get into shape you need to exercise. Tea, especially Oolong tea, will help you get into shape by improving the results of your exercise.

Oolong tea is often a tea that depends on its blend for flavour. At Herbal Infusions we have a huge number of Oolong blends from many different plantations. We recommend a few particular blends for their flavours or for being more friendly for those of us on weight-watch duty. In particular we recommend the Thousand Arrows Oolong. This tea is a relatively strong oxidizer for Oolong, and looks stunning visually. The individual leaves are hand-rolled into arrow and dagger shapes. When steeped the tea has a many layered flavour. Dominantly it is slightly nutty with a creamy and complex finish. For tea beginners we recommend the Grapefruit or Orange Blossom. These are much less complex teas with sharper citrus notes.

Special note should be made of Grapefruit Oolong tea, as it is commonly the number one pick for weight loss. We have already discussed Oolong’s weight loss benefits, but what makes it unique is the grapefruit included in the blend. Grapefruit naturally curbs the appetite to prevent snacking and overeating. In combination with Oolong leaves, the tea naturally curbs the appetite with almost none of the sugars of a grapefruit.

These and more strains of Oolong are available in-store or for order from our online site. Follow the link here to see the many different blends available.

This past weekend was a great one. Besides ringing in the New Year with some of the most amazing friends ever, I was able to get over to R Squared Cafe (a new local coffee shop) to meet up with a friend of mine who also happens to be one of the best damn baristas in Toronto.

Although I am well versed in cupping and blending teas I am not afraid to admit that the world of green tea latte art is a new one for me. My attempts at trying to understand how to make matcha latte art by doing a search online also yielded few leads that would really help me in trying to figure it out. So for anyone out there who is trying to unravel the secrets to creating some matcha latte art take a look at our short video below. I hope it helps you in understanding this really artistic style of adding flare and excitement to your next cup of matcha.

Don’t know where to pick up matcha? We carry an assortment of matcha that is perfect for matcha latte art!

Have you tried this yourself? Let us know how it worked out for you by leaving us a comment below.

Winter is in full swing. With it come those cold days and colder nights that we (especially fellow Canadians) know so well. Dressing up warmly is key. None of us want to get sick, right? Cold and flu season is always tied to the colder weather and we should do everything we can to protect ourselves from infection.

Dressing up warmly isn’t the only thing we can do to protect ourselves though. Often, people take vitamin supplements and the like to boost their immune systems. Today though we’re going to talk about a way to boost your immune: Lapacho tea.

Also known as Pau D’arco and Taheebo, Lapacho tea has been shown to be an extremely powerful immune system booster. The herbal tea is filled with antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. In addition, it is also a strong expectorant, making it useful not only in preventing but treating chest congestion and other respiratory problems. Some people use the expectorant qualities to alleviate smoker’s cough as well.  For those of you who are considering the tea as a preventative health drink, it also contains antioxidants. Lapacho tea in general can be an extremely powerful and effective health drink.

Unfortunately, Lapacho tea is a very difficult tea to acquire, as it is a rather obscure strain of tea that is almost impossible to grow in North America. Normally Lapacho tea is grown in continental South America, as well as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It is made from the inner bark of the Tabebuia tree, which grows naturally only in extremely warm and wet climates.

Herbal Infusions is one of the few places to sell Lapacho Tea commercially, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area. Our Lapacho tea is mixed with vanilla, and a hint of fresh citrus, giving it a mild, slightly nutty, smooth and creamy taste. Unmixed Lapacho has a taste that has been described as a bit harsh. We highly recommend Herbal Infusions’s blend, as we have improved the flavour of the drink for a more natural palette.

WIth such a miracle drink, there is one disclaimer. Lapacho can have natural blood-thinning effects. Tea is the most diluted form of taking it, however, so there should be no issue with most people. Generally it is recommended to drink no more than 3 cups of Lapacho tea a day. If you are taking any form of blood thinner, contact your doctor to make sure you have the green light on Lapacho tea.

For more information, head on over to http://www.paudarco.org/

If you’d like to get your hands on some Lapacho tea, you can visit Herbal Infusions in-store at 404 Adelaide Street West or visit the online store at http://www.herbalinfusions.ca/store/?page_id=4&shopp_pid=68

The past Tuesday was an exciting one for us here at the shop. Not only was it our 1 year anniversary but we also got to celebrate it with some of the coolest people in Toronto! We hosted the first ever Yelp sponsored tea cocktail speakeasy and it was a HUGE success!

For two hours we partied and mingled around the shop enjoying tea infused appetizers courtesy of chef Andrew from L-Eat Express and drank the most delicious tea infused cocktails blended up by our very own mixologist Michelle Tham. At the end of the night we had everyone vote on their favourite name for the new tea blend that Dan created in time for the holidays. The winning name? Graham Slam!

We can’t wait to have everyone together to do it all over again! In the meantime check out some highlights of the night below. A big thank-you to Edwin for putting this video together.

Yelp Speakeasy Tea @ Herbal Infusions from TE MA on Vimeo.

Okay so we might be a few weeks off on this one, but to be fair we filmed this during the Halloween weekend. So why not discuss a seasonal pumpkin Rooibos while we try to figure out what went disastrously wrong with Johns first on campus co-ed Halloween party?

In our second episode Dan digs down and shows us how you can easily whip up a delicious and healthy tea latte (similar to London Fog Lattes) in your home with minimal effort while John describes another meetup at a sushi restaurant with a blind date.

In our first episode Dan and John show our viewers how to properly steep different varieties of tea including black, green, white and herbal infusions.  We then dive a little deeper into John’s disastrous first date at a London Ontario sushi restaurant with Captain Wigglesworth.