Tea Time on the North Shore

Marriage Freres Sakura 2000 Tea, originally uploaded by Ayala Moriel.

On a somewhat rainy and not particularly cold afternoon, three ladies of varying ages sat to have some tea at the stuffy Mariage Frères boutique/tea house in West Vancouver (Park Royal).
Tea service included cheescake with stilton and rhubarb and strawberries, pistacchio and sour cherries, and almond and pear tart. This was accompanied by the Sakura 2000 green tea, scented with cherry blossom and rose petals.
I have to say that while I enjoyed the company
And the scent for the day is Terre d'Hermes.

Mental Note: Green Powder Addiction

sencha in blue, originally uploaded by pzed.

I am willing to admit of having one addiction.
Matcha.
Perhaps the only thing I drink (almost) every day.

Today's mental note is for the scent of green tea. There are many types and grades. But I'm particularly smitten with the ones grown in Japan. The other day, my friend Junichi gave me a couple of tea bags that are a non-traditional alternative (shall I say sacrilege? But since it was given to him by his mother, who is Japanese through and through I think it can be trusted) for a loose-leaf brewed tea. It's a blend of sencha leaves and matcha powder. I couldn't help but deelpy inhale this green goodness (only to find some suspicious green powder residue up my nostrils a bit later...). What a way to start the day.
The brand I believe to be Kirkland and it is quite good actually. I particularly like the fact that the tea bag is not made of paper but of some kind of sheer fabric of sorts, through which the appearance and aroma of the leaves and the matcha powder comes across quite invitingly.

And throughout the day I was sipping not matcha, but my own (first) tea invention: jasmine tea with lemon verbena leaves (the latter are organically grown at my mother's garden, harvested, dried and packed with plenty of love which makes it taste all the more magnificent).

Today was an ode to tea. Of the green kind.