Calming Down

Perhaps it has something to do with having an inexperienced palate, or simply having a sweet tooth, but I've never drunk tea (happily) without sugar. I had never been able to understand how some friends (Stella, you especially) love their tea sans sugar so much. To me, tea without any sweetener like honey or sugar, is tasteless. It may emit the most heavenliest of aromas but would taste just like water to me. However, a friend (and a tea purist) once told me that great tea needs no sugar.

I took that statement with much skepticism since I had never enjoyed any sugar-less tea before. But after trying a little cup of Mariage Freres tea one day, with a sugar bowl on standby nonetheless, I can say with all conviction now that I agree - Great Tea Needs No Sugar. I didn't need to know that Mariage Freres tea has been around for more than 300 years to decide that it was great. It was the fact that besides the perfume from the deliciously golden tea, it had little tannic taste to it and had a perceptible fruitiness to it (it was afterall a fruit-spiked tea). To say it was anything like water would be doing tremendous injustice to it.

Sipping a cup of Mariage Freres tea while browsing through cook(or ice cream)books makes for a perfect afternoon.

But of course when one has no access to any Mariage Freres, a date with Moka is no less.