Tea with Katie - A tea review

I love tea. I like drinking it hot, warm, cold and even in the form of tea-ice cubes in the summer (mind you...it would be more like crunching in that case).

I met a girl named Katie about a year or so ago while attending and participating in a homestead trade show of sorts on a Friday evening in my mom's neighbourhood in Kitchener, Ontario. (for those of you who don't know, I am successfully running an Arbonne business)

There were a number of home-based businesses in attendance that evening, typical ones, you know... Tupperware, Avon, Scentsy, Silpada Jewlery, Enjo Cleaning Products, and a few crafters and artists. All cute and hoping to stir-up some business.

Well.

Then there was Katie. She was such an outstanding little cutie-pie among the crowd of ladies. Her bubbly personality, kind and gentle demeanor, and sweet giggle had me at "do you want to try a sample of our teas?" I believe I tried something roobios because it's usually my "go to drink" for tea at night-time. Caffeine free, full of anti-oxidants, and something I really enjoy at anytime of day.

Katie added me as a friend of facebook, and we quickly realized we both have a lot in common as far as interests and personality. She is someone I am thankful I crossed paths with that night (along with a bunch of other ladies I have come to know as friends and partners in business). Since then, she has introduced me to other awesome business owners, shared likes and loves on facebook, and one of her family members became a great customer of mine. It's all about networking people!

Katie posted a week or so ago that she was looking for a handful of ladies to do a "taste test" and again... she had me at "want to sample some of our teas".

Katie is an independent consultant with a company called Steeped Fine Loose Teas and Accessories, a Canadian company that recently got some incredible and positive attention while on Dragon's Den.

Knowing the business of network marketing, I believe Katie has found a wonderful method of distributing products, while personally benefiting from the success of her own business from a financial standpoint. It's very important that you love the products you are representing, and it is very evident that Katie LOVES her teas and accessories.

Here is my review of the teas she sent:

The tea arrived Tuesday morning of this week, great timing because I was actually low on energy, and knew the tea would help me get my gears going again. I decided to make all of the teas at one time, so I would give them all a fair chance, and have their individual tastes in my memory.

So, as per the bag's instructions, I boiled a total of 3 cups of water, and used 1 cup/tea bag. 

Timer set for 8 minutes (5-10 was recommended, so I went middle ground)

I got the idea half-way through setting up my mugs, I read that all three kinds she sent me could be served chilled too.

So, I made my full cups of hot tea, and then divided them into 1/2 servings. 

The hot ones, I drank consecutively, noting the below comments... while the tea intended for chilling was put into labeled mason jars, and placed in the fridge.

Since I am a smell and taste lover when it comes to tea, I did my review based on those two criteria.

Organic Georgia Peach - Roobois Tea

HOT
Smell:  really lovely. My salivary glands got all wet and excited with I took in a big whiff  Think: healthy fuzzy peaches.
Taste: Smelt great while rising to my nose before the first sip. Definitely smelt like it was going to be "sweet", but had the typical roobios tea flavour to it, with a tiny hint of dried-peach.
COLD
SO good chilled. Although this is March, I have the greatest of imagination sipping on a cold tumbler of this while sweating away in the garden this up coming summer.

Black Currrant:

HOT
Smell: Berry smell, like fresh blackberry jam (I am not familiar with the smell of currants)
Taste: Smelt good at the nose, enjoyed the smell more than the taste. It was kind of a let down.
COLD 
I definitely prefer the black currant tea chilled! Perhaps the flavours when hot were not mulled enough, but after sitting in the fridge chilling for over an hour, it came alive with berry flavour.

Cherry Pie

HOT
Smell: This tea is the winner when it came to smell. It tricked my senses into thinking there was something milky and gluten-y (crust?) in the cup when I closed my eyes.
Taste: I liked the flavour of this tea, and the almond-extract definitely was on the palate. This tea I would have to way was the winner of all three for hot-smell and flavour.

COLD
It was almost like I was drinking a virgin cherry amaretto, minus the syrupy-sweetness of that liquor. It was a tasty treat when drinking chilled, and again, a real winner against all three according to my taste buds and sniffer.  

Raspberry Jam that will curl your toes with delight

Social media can be a wonderful thing. It brings the big-old-world we live in a little closer... and in this case, right to my front step. 

Front Step Farms (smartly named!) was first discovered my yours truly purely by the grace of God Himself! I'm almost sure it was a tweet from some other Ontario local food lover. After taking a quick look at their recent tweets, I simply "followed them" and began to learn about the incredible operations they have forged over in Maple, Ontario.

One thing lead to another, and so the story goes... I became obsessed with tracking down some of their jam. 

Front Step Farms proudly grow, pick and preserve their goods and are crossing their fingers for some wholesale action in the near future. Their youtube videos show that they are constantly thinking ahead for growth, planting row upon row of garden goodies. Last year their peach jam sold right out. They also have famous pickles. I think I smell a road trip coming this summer once our baby is born. We have family that lives in Barrie... and I know we'll want to stock up on their goods. 

They are even experimenting with making raspberry wine. BOOM! 

One of Front Step Farms claims to fame is their raspberry jam, and this baby-sprouting lady simply HAD TO try their jam. Thinking innocently about how I could get my hands on their goods... I tweeted that I wanted to try their "toe curling" jam... and their responded in saying they were actually heading to Niagara in the next week or so, and that they could bring me some. WHAT!?

I say toe curling because that's exactly how I envisioned it... (and even labeled my jars accordingly after trying some).

My own personal label for their Raspberry Jam 

I did a double take when they privately messaged me on twitter with their phone number, and a genuine request, wanting to give me an opportunity to try the jam. 

WOAH. This kind of customer service in 2013? ... unbelievable. SO THANKFUL. 

Wanna know what else was unbelievable... this.

Front Step Farms - Raspberry Jam

If you have ever wondered if there is such thing as "the best raspberry jam ever" ... there is. 

It's from Front Step Farms. 

The wonderful farmer (who's name I didn't get because seconds before his arrival at my front step, my husband's chin-up bar DECKED me over the head) was quick to tell me it was his pleasure to come by and let me try their jam. 

The swift and shocking blow caused me to crawl to the front door, tears streaming down my face. 

I apologized for the strange welcome, and assured him that I don't usually cry over jam being delivered to my door.  It still hurts... 5 days later.      :( 

I think the jam slightly helped eased the pain.      :)

4 Simple ingredients:
LOADS of Raspberries (and I mean they really jam them in there) ;)
Lemon Juice
Pectin
Sugar

These super heroes wanted to take tablespoons to the jar... I almost let them, because of how darn cute they are... almost.

I highly recommend you get your hands on a jar of this jam. Get yourself some crusty, bakery fresh bread (or gluten-free alternative)... or better yet..... a large spoon.... and dig in. 

You will thank me later.