I am in love with David

It’s been 3 months since I fell in love.  It all happened one cold November evening when I went to the Cote Saint Luc library for an event to learn more about tea.   You see, there is a new kid in town.  His name is David and he sells tea.   A lot of tea.  Really good tea.

Before I came to know of David and his tea, I only drank it occasionally.  I always loved the idea of tea but I guess I never really truly loved the taste.   Tea is packed with a plethora of antioxidants that are good for our bodies.  But if doesn’t taste good who is going to drink it?

It turns out, as I learned that November evening, I was brewing tea all wrong.  You can’t poor boiling hot water over green tea or it will turn bitter!  The water has to cool down to approximately 80 degrees Celsius first.  The girls that gave the workshop that night explained about water temperature, brewing time and the health benefits associated with the different teas.  All of this information can be found at DAVIDsTEA.  This website has a wealth of information pertaining to a variety of tea.

The truth is, I haven’t actually met David.  But I am still in love with him anyway.  He has brought the best possible tea to the masses.  According to the website he started this business in 2008 at age 27!  He opened up his first shop in Toronto and 3 years later he has over 40 stores across Canada.  How cool is that?

Back to the tea.  What I learned that evening was fascinating.  Depending from where on the plant the tea leaves are harvested, determines taste, caffeine content, oxidation and health benefits.  For instance, white tea has less oxidation therefore its leaves are lighter in color.  White tea leaves are also harvested when they are younger from buds that are higher up on the plant.  In contrast, black tea is highly oxidized with that characteristic dark color, caffeine and  stronger flavour.  You can pour boiling water on black tea.

I tasted four different teas at the library that night.  They were all very aromatic.  They smelled divine and tasted heavenly.  I was instantly hooked.  The very next day, I headed over to David’s head office on Paré where they also have a store front.  I was not prepared for that experience.  I expected to go in and ask for 2 of the teas I had sampled the night before.  But the girl at the counter started asking me what I like.  I wasn’t sure what she meant but when I said I liked chocolate she took down a canister, opened it up and instructed me to smell.  Wow!  I had never smelled anything like it before.  It was a rooibos (red tea) blended with chocolate tea and cinnamon.  This is how you choose tea at David’s. You tell them what you like, they bring you a canister and then you smell it.  If you like the aroma chances are you will want to take some home.  That is the only danger with David. That first day I left with TEN pouches of tea.  I was back there 2 weeks later for more. The tea is sold as loose leaves.  You tell them how many grams you want and they put it in these airtight bags or canisters.  You can steep it in reusable mesh teaballs, cups or compostable tea bags (my preference).

Aside from the antioxidants, tea is beneficial because it keeps you well hydrated.  Water is very important for our health yet most people walk around dehydrated.   Even though tea has caffeine you will not get the jittery feeling that coffee gives you.  It seems that the caffeine in tea doesn’t get absorbed into the body the same way caffeine from coffee does.

I have been sharing my love for DAVIDsTEA with all of my clients, friends and family. One of my client’s has taken it a step further and is using tea to curb her appetite through behaviour modification.  She was overeating and now instead of doing that she takes a plain hot tea.  She has created a new healthy ritual!

I contacted the nice people over at DAVIDsTEA and told them how impressed I was. Guess what?  They sent me their New Years Resolution Collection to give away to you!!! All you have to do to win it, is follow me on Twitter, post a comment on this blog, a comment on my Facebook page and finally a comment on DAVIDsTEA Facebook page (if you can link Montreal Nutrition and DAVIDsTEA together on Facebook I’ll count your entry as 2!). I will randomly choose a winner on February 3rd! Good luck.