In case you haven’t caught on, I’m not much of a coffee drinker. I love the taste, smell, and rituals associated with coffee, but at the end of the day I can only really drink it when I want to stay awake for 48 hours straight in a constant state of panic. In conclusion, coffee makes me crazy, but luckily I have something I would argue is even better. I have a strong, undying love for tea.
Even after working for two years in a high-stress tea shop where I had various tea-related nightmares, I am still incredibly passionate about the world’s second most consumed beverage. Tea warms my body, my soul, and my heart. It reminds me of afternoons spent with my great grandmother as a child, and early mornings getting things done. Tea both comforts and excites me; it’s new, ancient, traditional and exciting all at once. With tea, anything is possible. It whisks me away to new places with every sip, like a great scent or a forgotten photo.
I love to experiment with teas, blending them to create unique new flavours, or using them in cooking and baking. I have somewhere around 50 different kinds at home (too much, I know), so the possibilities are pretty much endless! One cold wintery day, I decided to come up with the perfect latte recipe, and stumbled upon something that can only be described as “Earl Grey Goes Camping”. In other words, I made an Earl Grey toasted marshmallow tea latte, and it was delicious! I used a wonderful Monin syrup that I picked up while vacationing in New York last summer, a blend of two of my favourite teas, and some soymilk that I foamed on on the stovetop.
The end result was a divine, fluffy cup of tea reminiscent of campfires and traditional tea time, and it was super easy to make. All you need is:
*A Milk frother (handheld or a steamer on an espresso machine)
*Vanilla soy or Almond milk (ideally something fatty like Silk)
*Monin toasted marshmallow syrup
*2 teaspoons of Kusmi’s “Smoky Earl Grey”
*3 teaspoons of Sloane Tea Company’s “Heavenly Cream”
*Boiling water, fresh from the kettle
Step 1. Measure out your milk using the mugs you will be drinking the tea from. You want the mug to be about a quarter full of cold milk. Once measured, pour the milk into a small saucepan over medium low heat.
Step 2. Scoop the tea into a tea filter of some sort. You can use a teabag, but I prefer to use a strainer so I create slightly less waste in the world. Pour the boiling water over the tea until your mug is half full. You are aiming to make a super strong half cup of tea ideally, so don’t add too much water!
Step 3. While the tea is steeping for 2.5 minutes, foam the milk until it is as pillowy and frothy as you prefer. If you are using an espresso machine, steam the milk like you traditionally would instead. Once the tea is finished steeping, dangle the strainer over the cup to get the last few drops of flavour out, and compost the used up leaves in your garden/bin.
Step 4. Stir 1 Tablespoon of Toasted Marshmallow syrup into the steeped tea (or to taste).
Step 5. Top it all off by filling the remainder of your cup with warm, frothy milk, and serve piping hot with biscuits or any other treat of your choosing!
Photos by Brianne Burnell