Dr Who, Would you come to Tea?

 Dr Who, Would you come to Tea?

                                    Here you go for lovers of Dr Who - a video link to enjoy!

Check this one out as well:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L07Xc4BnOn4
There is an amazing  short video showing a person pouring tea.

MyTea Brew

My Tea Friend, Donna

It is always a pleasure to drop by and visit Donna Sikora, owner of MyTea Brew. She sells premium quality loose leaf teas and tea blends. Her company reaches into the community at local market places in the Toronto area. Donna is selling MyTea Brew teas at Humber Bay Shores Farmers Market until the end of the 2014 season. Drop by and tell I sent you!

Donna and I are fellow certified Tea Sommeliers and were among the first year graduates from the tea school at George Brown College. We laugh and share stories and recipes and ideas. Sometimes we meet up for a chat over tea with other tea school graduates.

Donna always has a little something special and today she was serving samples of  Sweet Prickly Pear Herbal Tea. This exceptional tea is flavoured with green tea, bits of melon, papaya, pineapple and mango and  has attractive yellow sunflower and blue cornflower blossoms.  The tea can be served hot or cold. Mytea Brew has other teas that work at all levels of the senses. You can see and feel  the tea leaves from the sampler. Smell it, taste it ! My fav is the little yogurt stars in Cinnamon Star!),

Now here is a great tip for iced tea: To keep the beverage cold for family, visitors or guests, make the tea in advance and freeze some in a reserved yogurt container or other mold. Pop out the frozen block of tea and add it to a large iced tea  pitcher or serving urn like the one pictured here with Donna.  The frozen iced tea will keep the beverage cold and will not dilute the drink. You can also freeze edible flowers, sliced fruit or herbs such as mint leaves into the ice block for an extra special presentation.

I find most teas make excellent iced tea brews. I prefer to use the cold steep method*(see below for instructions). Its fast and easy to prepare and ready to drink without the fuss of making ice cubes and ending up with a diluted drink.  However, I find that more flavours develop with a hot tea brew and are more intense. So, you have to use a little bit more tea when using a cold brew. To freshen up a tea containing herbs, rub the leaves gently between your fingers before brewing. This will help release some of the essential oils and flavours during brewing. Crack open any cardamom seeds to get extra flavour or add an extra stick of cinnamon for more intense flavour. I use the cold steep method when using Japanese teas such sencha or flavoured sencha

Donna has very flavourful teas some of which she has blended herself. From my experience, they are all wonderful and you should try a new one every week to maintain your gastronomic interest. Check out Donna's web site for descriptive ingredients and pricing.  I had a delightful hot cup of White Jasmine Goddess this afternoon. It was fragrant with Jasmine leaves and the floral scent of Ti Kuan Yin oolong tea. Very aromatic and gently relaxing for the afternoon and very aptly named as the liquor is pale. Later tonight, I will have a Camomile & Lemon before bed.

 

* Cold Tea Brew Method

Fill a carafe such as a Bodum Ice Tea Jug with cool filtered water. Add tea in the ratio of 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 ml) to 250 ml ( 8.4 oz) of water to a paper tea filter, large tea ball or a section of cheese cloth tied with string. Loose tea is messy and you will need to filter the tea before drinking. Drop the tea bag into the water, swish until leaves are wet, then cover. Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 7 hours. Remove the tea and filter the cold beverage if necessary before serving.

 

If you are using tea bags, try using 4 tea bags to 3 cups of water, One of my favourite cold tea recipes is combining  2 chamomile and 1 mint tea bags in 3 cups of water.  Serve with fresh mint. Or try 2 mint tea bags and sliced cucumber in 3 cups water.

 

A cold brew mellows out the high notes from the tea and makes it less bitter and thus more sweet tasting. People who use sugar may find a cold brewed tea sweet enough. Adding natural sweeteners such as Honey, Stevia or Agave can compliment iced teas.

  

Remember, you can add additional herbs and/or sliced fruit to play up the notes in the tea. For Prickly Pear Tea, add speared cubes of fresh prickly pear into a glass before serving. Star Fruit, Dragon Fruit and other exotic fruits are often fragrant and maybe a bit bland tasting but really look pretty as a garnish.

 

 

 

A Wee Bit of Irish Tea

Road Trip!

 I went off to Niagara On The Lake before Christmas for a day trip. Sure, there are lots of tea places in this quaint Ontario town. However, I visited  The Irish Shop, scouting out the gluten-free goodies for friend. I found a delightful tea room at the back of the store.

There something nice about being served tea in stainless steel. You know there will probably be no odours left from prior teas scented with peppermint or bergamot.

The tea bread was soft, moist and delicious with the sweet churned butter.

I will return when the weather is warmer before there are too many tourists.

The Tea Cart - For Serving English Tea

This is a Gibbard-built "1642 Tea Wagon". Gibbard was an amazing quality furniture company located in Napanee, Ontario, Canada that started in 1835 and produced much of the fine furniture in the southern Ontario region. They prided themselves in having well-developed designs and on hand polished furniture. Sadly, the business folded in 2008.

 This tea wagon is made of mahogany veneer and measures 18"W x 27"D x 30"H.





There is a drop handle and a drawer. There are two wings that lock extending the surface to a full 39". There are 2 large cartwheels and 2 smaller stabilizing wheels. The larger wheels have a band of rubber to dampen the bumps along the way. Its value today is in the range of $200-$400. These carts were very popular for the serving tea when entertainment in one's home was popular. The carts were made in different woods and styles. If you have one, it is best if left in the original condition. There are some replacement parts still available, such as the wheels.

Lets have a chat about some of the uses of the wagon for tea. Certainly it is a convenience to have a table with wheels for any home. I doubt that in 1624 there would have been such a table made. Tea was just coming to Europe and was not at a stage where afternoon teas were served in the style as they were later a century later. It wasn't until the mid to late 19th century that tea was a popular beverage and served among the gentry with fancy sandwiches and dainties (pastries and other sweets).

This tea cart has two shelves below the table top. There is one tiny drawer for silver teaspoons and sugar tongs. There is a detachable handle used to push or pull the cart to and from the kitchen,  and as needed to guests across a broad room. The most wonderful thing about this piece is the two elegant drop leafs that are able to lock in place. They serve as table extensions.

Typically the cart would be wheeled into the kitchen and loaded up with items for a fancy tea. The maid or hostess would wheel the cart out, with tea cups clinking lightly. The sandwiches and sweets and plates would be tucked on the shelves underneath.  The tea service (tea pot, cream and sugar   containers) would sit on top of the wagon. The hostess would prepare and pour the tea for her guests either from the top of the wagon or transferred to a table top. "Low tea" would be served from a low table, at coffee-table height while the hostess would sit on the edge of a sofa.

The glass tray is an elegant addition. However, only light items could be set on the glass. Tea would be poured by the hostess and the maid or a responsible girl from the family would go around the sitting room and offer the tea cup with milk and sugar from the tray to seated guests.

So, if you have a tea wagon, take care of it. Get out your good china and silverware and fancy napkins and make tea a party! If you need some guidance on tea party-ing, consult The Tea Party Guide.

Update - July 2014:
I found a few photos of a vintage tea cart on display at the Rutherford House in Edmonton, Canada, the home of Alberta's first premier, A.C Rutherford. The home is restored to circa 1911 and is open for public viewing and tours.  In the living room, there is a lovely silver tea pot on a tea cart. Fine homes would have enjoyed serving guests tea by a maid servant wheeling the tea cart across to guests around a large room.

Rutherford House, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Rutherford House Tea Cart - Profile



Rutherford House Tea Cart

The ornate silver tea pot pictured above and below is suspended in a cradle or stand from a pin at each side of the vessel. This permits the hostess to pour from her chair elegantly by tipping the heavy tea pot over each cup. The cup would be passed to either the guest or a maid would take the cup to a seated guest on a tray. This style of tea pot may also be used for guests to serve themselves. It is stationary so there is more control, less chances of spillage and easy access for refills.

Magpie at the Rutherford House

Tilting Silver Tea Pot on Stand

Update: May 19, 2015. Added additional views of the tea cart

  

A Canadian Japanese Tea Ceremony

I am teaching myself Japanese Tea Ceremony.

There are very few people to teach Japanese Tea Ceremony here in Canada. It is a very formal cultural practise among the Japanese as an aesthetic. It is very exclusive. So what's the problem?  I have the teacher - videos, You Tube and lots of books for reference. I have authentic tea ware. I am practising a Canadian form of Japanese Tea Ceremony. There is a mystery around this Japanese Tea Ceremony and there shouldn't be.

The Japanese tea ceremony is very ancient. According to reading material, the tea ceremony was developed at a time of strict rules of behavior during a time of military rule. The Shoguns were the warrior class. Its hard to relate to different social classes here in Canada as we are homogeneous, except for the very wealthy and the very impoverished. Perhaps we do have a Warrior class - our Military Service people, our boxers and fighters, sport competitors such as soccer, baseball, football and any activity that takes place in an arena and where there are active participants who take a position and observers (an audience). Sorry, the Anthropology background leads sometimes. Zen monks used the ceremony to provide discipline and order to everyday life. They were the original growers of tea in Japan and brought the plants over from China. Tea provided health benefits and alertness for the mind during long meditations. Soon it became a popular drink among all classes. Tea continues to have formal ceremony behind it for special occasions. When something is special, we want to take a moment to appreciate it.

We need tea ceremony more and more to counter a stressful life and to teach rules of behavior and proper conduct. Ritual provides teaching in Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a concept of watching your mind and returning to a natural state. It is taught in hospitals to help manage pain, depression and mental burnout. When you become aware of  thoughts, sensations and emotions and recognize them as phenomena of the mind, techniques can be applied to move past these challenges and behaviors. A tea ceremony helps to silence the mind through focus on what is happening in the here and now. The tea ceremony becomes a container for the mind. Drinking tea helps to wake up the mind and to provide alertness. Put the ritual and the tea together in one ceremony and you can have an enlightening experience, being both relaxed and alert. Just like a meditation.  So, when you sit and take tea, remember to reach for the noisy mental parts of yourself and offer them up for the tea to heal, to quieten the mind and to dissolve your thoughts into nothingness

In an age where there is attention deficit disorders among adults, a tea ceremony is something you work with your mind to focus on. You relax, you empty your mind of distractions. You don't know what's going to happen next. But if you do, you relax into that moment, moment by moment. Allow the nothingness to be there. Allow yourself to be aware of the nothingness and remain in that state while the tea ceremony activity continues. More of this later.

Madeleines for Autumn Tea



Lemon Madeleines

Madeleines. What could be better than fresh-baked lemon Madeleines for a Fall Tea. The furnace has been on for several weeks. There's already frost on the ground. Now the annual leaf rake-up starts. Who wouldn't welcome a warming cup of tea as a break from raking leaves. And why not invite your Mom to tea? I recently took along my Madeleines pan  to my mother's house so she could watch me whip up Madeleines. Her grandaughter's name is Madeleine. I wanted Mom to enjoy the namesake with hopefully better quality and freshness than Costco's yummies.

There are "secrets" to making good Madeleines. After pouring over many recipes, some good and others really not good at all, I decided there really is a lot of technique involved in these little wonders.  Baking does take practise. It takes analysis and correcting from mistakes to get the results you want.  I'm not formally trained in baking. No doubt if you are in a school or working in a food processing environment, you'd learn a lot. I've only baked a few batches. I know how to fluff them up and how to make them crispy on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside. I am still working on how best to dust the outside lightly with icing sugar.

 

Displaying the Madeleines is also a challenge. First, I recommend that you don't pile them one on another as in the first photo or you lose the visual impact of  these scalloped-edged treats. Also, if serving without tongs, your guest's fingers might touch another cookie and (heaven-forbide) contaminate the display for others. I found a large round plate works well, an oval glass plate or a tiered plate even better. Separate the cookies out so guests can lift them by pinching the sides between the fingers. Its a dainty thing. Your fingers won't get sugar on them.

I have found that when you are serving tea, having the freshest best baked goods possible adds to the enjoyment of tea. Also, if your mother is at your table, she will know the difference and tell you with a scowling look, biting into a stale dry biscuit. " Dear," she would say,"Have you tried baking them with less time?" Sure, I thought about that. The lesson here is - don't serve anything at tea that your mother would disapprove of.

Try incorporating some leaves, pine cones late fall flowers into a table setting. Bring the outside in to harmonize the environment and to celebrate the season. I picked nastursium and marigolds from Mom's garden as a token of the season and to honour her work with the garden during the summer. We found a favorite vase that hadn't been used in a long time. Nostalgic perhaps, but our parents have been doing things year over year and understand the ways of tea. Doing tea using traditional methods is to honour them and our ancestors. I think back to my family who built houses in the late 1700's here in Ontario as Loyalists and pioneers. They settled the land and made families. They contributed to developing the land and were leaders in their community. They became educated and their offspring became judges, lawyers, accountants and business and community developers. They had tea. Mom still has the cutlery and the modest china they ate and drank from. I have teacups from both grandsmothers estates. Using them for tea, is an honoring of the past. Consider a Tea for Autumn and honour the family and your past. Make life special.

How to Use Up Old Tea

No doubt you have wondered what to do with old tea. Here's a tip: Mix it with other teas to enjoy new flavours and health benefits.

I have a mixed berry tea from Germany, maybe Poland that's mostly colour. There are blackberries, black chokecherry, elderberry, rowan (that's sarsaparilla), black currant leaf, hibiscuss and "flavour". Well, I can't expect much from a package that doesn't identify where its from. Also, I had some white tea hanging about for the past year. It was tied up into little bows and had visual interest but was low quality.

I got out my favorite glass tea pot and put a warming ring on the burner as I knew this would be a long steep to coax the flavour out of the dried fruits.  I poured boiling water over an ample portion of the berries, about 1/3 c. to 8 oz. water and a small handful (about 2 tablespoons) of the white tea. I didn't want to use any tea that would turn bitter with a long steep.

 A long steep is at least 5 minutes or longer.  It is important to give the tea time to steep, keeping it warm in the meantime.The berries have to absorb the water then release their flavours.  I prepared a serving tray and rhubarb-bran muffin. The sour berries and sour rhubarb would require a balancing sweetness. I picked a home-made peach jam to also add some complimentary colour.  I could easily have made an ice tea as an alternative. Other times, I have soaked the berry tea in warm water for 10 minutes before adding in hot water and tossing in the white tea at the end of the steep. This keeps any bitterness from taking over the pot.If you have any leftover strawberries blueberries, apple, orange pieces, add them in as well.  This tea needs a good helping of sweetener.

The result was a beautiful burgundy-coloured tea with high antioxidants, great for saturating colour in the 1st chakra  and giving you an energy boost. You could also have made a dessert jelly by adding some unflavoured gelatin or agar agar for setting.  This tea was perfect for warming up a damp day and waiting for the clouds to clear.

Bodum Tea Press

I decided it was time to get a Bodum press. My everyday work calls me into long meetings that have no breaks and there is no time between meetings to sit back and relax with a cuppa. It was time to put away the tea pot at work and get something simpler for my work style.

This travel press can be used for tea or coffee. I prefer to see the tea and the tea leaves expanding as they dance with the water. Using a Mason jar just isn't my style. The transparent Bodum shows the leaf and, you can slip a photo or an inspiring message between the two walls by unscrewing the bottom. The lid has a pouring spout but is not drip proof, so keep your canister upright.

To celebrate, I took a big tin of David's Mao Jian, an all purpose green tea with a bit of refinement without being exotic or bitter after a long steep at the bottom of the Bodum.  It had just the right amount of unami/vegetative taste and low astringency. I had the Mao Jian after a bitter salad greens and sharp dressing  and was content that I could still taste the tea through the garlic, oregano and feta cheese flavours. I don't recommend Mao Jian with Kohlrabi. Such a strange taste! I'll do a comparison with another Mao Jian later on. For now, I am superbly relaxed and am going to crash and have a nap before the next tea time! I love weekends!

Welcome to The Tea Tiger

Perhaps you are aware that tea has a special affect on your mind as well as your body? As you sip tea. you may have noticed that you feel brighter yet relaxed and less stressed. You are feeling the subtle affects of tea! Now wouldn't you like to find teas that produce those effects without having to sample through so many?

As a fully Certified Tea Sommelier, I write about tea and the subtle affects of tea on clearing, fortifying and harmonizing the energy of the human body and spirit. I have a home web site under development  http://www.teatiger.ca/. You will be able to purchase some of these fabulous teas from my shop. I also offer tea teaching programs and tea attunements (tea tasting evenings).

If you would like to read about Tea and Spirituality, please see these selections form Amazon.com:

The Spirit of Tea, The Twelve Teas® of Inspiration: Celebrations to Nourish the Soul, Spirituality of Tea: God's Blessing for your Mind, Body, and Spirit, Taking Tea with The Buddha: The Gift of Practice