Long Time No Reading

 So doing the weekly tea blog definitely burnt me out. That's probably why you haven't seen us posting a lot. I won't bore you on all the details because that's not what we're here for! We're here to talk about tea. 

Today we jumped back in to the deep end with a completely out of season tea that, in my opinion, makes for an excellent comfort tea.

Witch's Brew is a roobois base tea with heavy cocoa flavour. This tea in particular uses cocoa beans and cocoa husks. Normally I stay far, far away from cocoa teas because they just don't do it for me -- and neither do roobois teas. Yet, somehow, the two marry vary well together in this particular blend. This tea also features sweet blackberry leaves, elderberry flower, safflower petals, adorable witch hat shaped orange and black sprinkles and a mix of natural and artificial flavours. 

If you're like me and sometimes just have a bad day, this tea is a pretty no hassle tea to make. You can throw it in to a strainer, let the kettle boil, and not worry too much about the temperature of the tea. Rooibos can be treated in a very similar manner to herbal infusions, so you can steep it for as long as you want without fear of burning. I typically recommend 4-5 minutes for rooibos. For this one due to the sweetness inherently present in the tea I chose 4 minutes as I don't have a heavy sweet tooth. If you want to be specific with this blend, the recommended water temperature is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit or 95 degrees Celsius. 

Whether you want a decadent pick-me-up after a long day at the office, if you're feeling the witchy vibes, or simply wanting a hot and yummy drink on a crisp cool night, this is a tea that you can still enjoy out of season.

If you're interested in trying this tea, you can check it out on the DAVIDsTEA website, but it won't be available again until the fall.

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A Pocketful of Crows & Witch’s Brew

“The year it turns, and turns, and turns.” So begins the lyrical and beguiling A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M. Harris. This felt like the appropriate book to resume our blog. It has been some time since our last pairing, but with our new witchy teapot (from TheInkedShop.com) and Summer Solstice upon us as I write these words, it felt right to continue.
Sing a song of starlight
A pocket full of crows.
See the bonny brown girl
In her borrowed clothes--

Immediately, the bold design and strong voice of this little book arrested me. It begged to be read aloud. So, over the course of a few nights, I read it out to Ember and we both agreed it was spellbinding. It’s full of primal magic, nature worship, misplaced trust, and thwarted love. It’s about sacrificing yourself wholly for another—and needing to cast off stifling comforts to ensure your own wellbeing. It’s about feminine power, and smashing the patriarchy, and returning to the world. In short, it is timeless.

Harris presents the story through the turning of a calendar’s wheel, part fable and part fairy tale. Yet, the issues woven through her poetry and verse and prose feel just as relevant now. We, collectively, have embraced a modern life and forgotten our wild roots. A Pocketful of Crows would throw us, body and soul, back into the power we’ve forgotten we possess.

Interspersed with Cornish folktales, nursery rhymes, and folk magic, we follow our nameless Queen of the May (for names are only for tame folk) as she meets a lordling from the local hamlet, falls in love, and learns about the boundaries between what is tame and what is wild. A Pocketful of Crows repeatedly stole my breath and made me look deeper: how have I given away pieces of myself? How can I re-anchor? How can I give back?

It felt only right to pair with it the Witch’s Brew Tea by DAVIDsTEA. This technically is a holiday exclusive that came in a glow-in-the-dark tin covered in ghosts. Its woodsy, herbaceous, but invigorating flavours remind me of running through long grasses on a sunny day, birds winging above, the earth warm under my feet. Both book and tea alike evoke the same lost sense of freedom—not precisely childlike, but a feeling of being unencumbered. 

Especially after months of working from home, I have felt a deep need to re-evaluate my priorities and meaningfully reconnect. Just like our Queen of the May understands, this richness and bounty of the natural world is something to be cherished and reveled in. And we are part of it. It is also something to be cultivated and nourished so that when the spring comes around again, we can all be healthy and free together.

Embrace your inner witch. Sip some brew. And turn the page. . . 

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