Yaup, That's Tea

I was reading a mystery by Susan Wittig Albert, Mourning Gloria, and came across yaupon holly tea, aka ilex vomitoria.   As we can see from the Latin name for it, as well as the common name, it is part of the holly family.  The second part of the name indicates it has been used in the past as a purgative.  Ms Albert says that the leaves and twigs can be dried and used as tea, since it has caffeine in it, as an eye wash, a laxative and a purgative, depending on how strong you make it, and how much you drink.  She said nothing about the taste.  Wikipedia seems to think that the vomiting that was associated with this drink, as part of indigenous people's rituals, was actually learned behavior or caused by another drink.

This shrub can be grown in the Southeastern US.  Perhaps some of you have it growing in your gardens, as it is quite attractive.  If so, and you feel adventerous, try drying and brewing some.  Let us know so we can find out what it tastes like.  From several sources, other than Wikipedia, there seems to be a general consensus that it will not make one vomit.

I was waiting for a mammogram today and came across this quote in an O Magazine:  "True happiness is sustainable delight in the beautiful moments of everyday life."  That delight is a bulwark against sorrow, depression and the host of other things that can make our lives miserable.  Flowers, sunset, sunrise, animals, friends, clouds, light in the dark, cool shadows on a hot day, there are so many.  One certainly is drinking tea.  There is so much there to appreciate.  Warmth for both hands and tummy, scent and sight, a whole host of different tastes.  It is a wonderful gift.

My gift today comes from The Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants http://www.thejasminepearl.com/  and was a gift, as it is a sample they included in my order for their wonderful t-shirt, "Pothead" - go check it out.  The tea is Jasmine Peony Organic Green Tea with jasmine blossoms.  It smells divine - very floral with the tiniest citrus hint.  The leaves are quite long, with lots of jasmine.  Because they are so long, I used a large teaspoon per cup with water about 180 degrees.  The JPT folks say to brew 3-4 minutes.  I did 3.  The leaves are very slow to unfurl, and don't dance around much as they do.  The liquor is a pretty pale yellow, with a very mellow jasmine aroma.

The taste is lovely, definitely jasmine, but neither too floral or too sweet, just mellow, as I mentioned. It is one of the few green teas I've had that is soft and sweet right to the end of a large cup, instead of getting bitter.

I liked this tea company's web site.  There was a lot of information about each tea and a good bit of educational information as well.  Also, a lot of their teas are organic, which I think is a big plus.

Part of the large central fountain in Durlach.  I think I was going to translate this information on the sign, but I haven't yet!

Winter Warm

Winter, what does that word conjure up for you?  Coming into the warm after being in the cold.  Growing up on the farm, it was a warm cow barn, new calves, molasses on the feed, and sneaking a little bit for myself from the barrel. It was a slow time, time to dream, time to fix what you didn't have time to fix in the summer or fall, the aroma of silage in the silos.  The light was different then, too, with a gentle golden pinkness towards the end of a day.

Winter was also harsh, walking a mile to the bus stop, digging out after a storm, trying to keep the ice out of the ditches.  Even fun was cold and often wet with sledding and ice skating to do.  But there was always  the knowledge of warmth waiting for us; warmth, hearty food, cats and dogs on laps and feet, the heat from the big black wood-burning stove, something warm to drink, generally  chamomile tea, gathered in the summer and carrying with it the scent of warm July days.

It is winter and I am warm.  There is tea to drink, which warms from the inside out.  There are still cats to warm my lap.  Life is good.

Today's tea is from one of my favorite companies, Upton Tea Imports.  It is ZY64 - China Yunnan, Select Dao Ming.  The dry leaves are long and twisted, brown and black with golden buds.  They give off a kind of woodland aroma, laced with spice.  The dark brown brewed tea smells more of roasted acorns or squash.  This organic tea has a lot of body to it, so it feels like it is more than just colored water.  As it cools only a little, more spice is apparent in the aroma.  The taste has a floral edge to it.  I tried it with milk and I think I liked it better.  It seemed to have zoomed into a freshness stratosphere.  Very interesting.  I brewed it for 4 minutes with boiling water.  I am a big Yunnan fan and this is one I will get more of, as it is quite different from the usual.

We're still in Durlach, Germany, as you can tell from the yellow sign on the right.  This is not a perspective problem with curving lines, the houses and street are following the inside curve of the ancient city walls.  Hopefully I will be able to find a picture of the outside curves of the walls.

A Wind in the Trees

There's nothing like a hot cup of tea when you come in from a blustery winter walk.  The Ernster cat went with me and ran ahead and back, but we both stopped at the spinney to hear the secrets the trees were telling on the wind, the groaning of old limbs, and the rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker.  This morning's songster was silent, probably nestled in a hole somewhere to keep warm.

Once again I am having some Christmas present tea, something called Mim from a local shop.  It comes from the Metropolitan Tea Company, which is a wholesaler, but I am sure they would tell you a store you could purchase it in.  I did my usual 1 teaspoon, 212 degrees, 3.5 minutes that I use for new teas.  I have read in a few places lately that official tea tasters push that to 5 minutes for all teas because no off flavors can hide that way.  I've had some that were fine at 3.5, but awful at that longer time.

Th dry leaves were mostly short and black, with a few long, twisted ones and some gold leaves or buds.  There was a faint, sharp aroma.  However, by the time  it got in my cup, it was an autumn woodsy scent of dry leaves and wood.  It is a clear soft amber.  It is woodsy tasting and somewhat astringent.  Milk softens that edge.  It is pretty bland, but seems to get heartier as it cools.  This might be a good breakfast tea, if I made it stronger or indeed brewed it longer.

Just a small German garden I liked.  The plaque on the left indicates this house survived the 1698 fire in Durlach.  I was very impressed there, as everyone had these little gardens, often carving out a bit of street so they could put in a wisteria vine or something else pretty.  I was also impressed that their houses were over 300 years old.  Mine is almost 2.

Food hint for the day.  If your spaghetti sauce is somewhat sharp, there are a couple things you can do with it to cure that.  One is add a pinch of baking soda and stir.  This is ok, but not optimal. The other is add a pork chop, with the fat, please, or some lard.  My mother-in-law always said the pork sweetened the sauce and she was right.  I know some of you will be having conniptions about lard, but have you ever read what is in margarine?  You don't need much and if you can get some that doesn't have a bunch of chemicals in it, so much the better.  Sometimes a teaspoon of sugar helps, but be careful not to use so much you get sweet and sour sauce - it's very weird.

I am loving the snow on the branches - they are so well defined.  The evergreens have their own character; some look like lollipops, some like the spoon dancers in Beauty and the Beast, some have gawky stances, some are just naturally the shape we like for Christmas trees.  They're all lovely.  I am reminded of the old carole - "O Tannenbaum, oh tannenbaum, how lovely are your branches...."

Branching Out

Hooray for snow.  Beautiful sparkly white stuff.  Hooray for tea to drink when it is cold.  My next wish is for it to stay cold so we can keep the snow.  Well, two wishes, because I would like the sun to hang around also.

Today I am having the last of the flavored green teas I got from Blue Raven Teas.  It is called Caladosai and is made from sencha (Japanese) green tea, dried cherries, lime, lemongrass and Asian spices.  I brewed it with water about 180, for 3 minutes.  The resulting liquor was a pretty pale pink and smelled mostly of star anise and the green-ness of the sencha.  That is just what it tasted like, as well, with the barest hint of fruit.  I thought the dried fruits were strawberries but as I chewed them it was clear they were not.  But they tasted good.  I don't think this blend worked particularly well, as the star anise pretty well carried the day.  It's a strong spice, brought out by heat and moisture.  I like it, but only in moderate amounts.  I think if I had made this in a pot, instead of just one cup, I would have liked it more, as the ingredients would've been able to blend better.

Driving around, seeing the tree branches, I have been noticing how the different trees put out their limbs.  I have been marveling at the many genetic codes that make one tree short, one a giant, one send out branches in a cork-screw pattern, another vase-shaped, another very round, that one an arrow, etc.  The trees that have grown apart from others have the room to be fully themselves and some are breathtaking in the beauty of the arrangement of their limbs.  I still miss my favorite pine that went down in the tornado last spring, it had lovely branches.

I need to find beauty in the winter, it is not as apparent as it is in summer.  Well, perhaps, it is a different sort of beauty, quieter, waiting to be seen instead of showing off.  One very bright sight was spotting the brilliant red berries of some deciduous holly.  Did you know that there is such a thing?  I just found out myself.  Even against brown and gray it really reaches out and grabs your eye.

What has been beautiful for you this winter?

One of the many, many medieval fountains preserved in Durlach, Germany.  Note the frog climbing up the side of the bowl.

Of Ships and Shoes and Sealing Wax and Cabbages and Kings

Okay, I am forced to put down my stuck up nose about mixes.  I made a scone mix yesterday from King Arthur Flour, given to me along with so very many tea things for Christmas.  They were absolutely delicious!  I put some raisins in as I like raisins, but otherwise followed the recipe and baked them in my new scone baker.  Such a cinch!  We had them with lemon curd and Devonshire cream.  Way to go sister-in-law!  They didn't last long.

A. C. Cargill has written a fun piece about cats and tea lovers - see the Little Yellow Teapot link at the right.  I must admit I am both and I also admit I share both tea and goodies with the worst beggar in the universe, Ernie, the Earnest.  He is very serious about his pursuit of goodies.  Usually he creeps up on my lap, purring as loudly as possible, but not looking at my tea.  Slowly he edges closer, purr at high rev.  Finally he ever so casually pokes his nose or a paw on my plate.  When he was a kitten he wasn't nearly so subtle - then it was the lightening paw flick and away he went with his prize.  At the present time I can make him wait his turn, but I usually pour him a small bit of tea because he will keep putting his nose in it and I don't want it to spill.

It is okay to share small bits of goodies with cats, but be careful they only get things that won't harm them.  Please look on line to see what these may be.  Of course, one could have well disciplined cats, but that, my friends is an oxymoron.

I am having some of my Christmas tea - Golden Monkey from Adagio.  It is a pleasant, somewhat sweet tea with a nice woodsy edge to it and perhaps a pinch of spice to add interest.  I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water, but I think next time I am going to push it to 4 and see how it does.  It is one of those all purpose teas, strong enough for breakfast, but pleasant enough to do for tea.  Cold, it makes a very nice ice tea, as it is somewhat light at 3.5 minutes.  I thought it was just fine with or without milk.

Did you know you can make tea from saffron, those expensive and heavenly orange stamens from autumn crocus?  Hop on over to http://www.bellaonline.com/artibles/art174619.asp.zzz for an article about it.  Bella online is a website with many areas of interest, geared mostly to women.  Some of the tea articles are pretty good. 

Here you have an Austrio-Hungarian Emperor and some of his summer palace near Vienna.  it is so huge that the "short" tour takes over 2 hours and only covers about 1/20th of the rooms.  The last emperor, Franz Joseph, much beloved by his people, was married to Cissy, even more beloved.  She spent upwards of 8 hours a day beautifying herself for the evening.  Her hair touched the floor.  I am sorry, but I think that is a wasted life.  But she was beautiful.

Nilgiri Noon

It's a perfect day for tea.  It is either snowing, sleeting or raining, depending on which minute you happen to look out the window.  The cats have snagged all the warm spots and it is pretty gloomy, even with the lights on.

I am having some of Upton's Premium Quality BOP Nilgiri.  BOP stands for Broken Orange Pekoe., meaning a largish leaf that has been chopped.  Nilgiri is in the far southwest of India and means Blue Mountains.  Perhaps they have a blueish haze like our Blue Ridge Mountains.  Upton's recommends a 3 minute brew with boiling water.  The smallish, dry, black and brown  leaves give off an odor of old wood in the sun.  The brewing tea has that fresh wash aroma.

Taste wise, this is nothing special.  It just tastes like tea.  It is pleasant and very middle-of-the-road.  There is nothing wrong with that, as we can't spend all our time searching for each little nuance in every cup we drink, although that is also very pleasant and rewarding.  I would serve this to people who aren't adventurous and I think it would make a good tea for a tea party as it is so pleasant.  I think it would probably go well with almost anything you serve.  For myself, I am going to push the steep time to 31/2 minutes and see how that affects the taste.

Just part of the houses built into the ancient walls of Durlach, Germany.  They are from the 1500's, although they have undergone many transformations.  This is a town that dates things from before and after "The Fire", which was in 1698.  When I asked someone where old Durlach was, they told me most of it had been destroyed in the fire.  I thought 20-30 years ago, not over 300.  I took most of these picture because at least some of them would have been scenes my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather may have seen as a boy.  It's quite a juxtaposition as I sit here in my 18 month old house.

Tummy Trouble? Turn to Tisanes

We still have snow drifting down, turning everything to fairy land.

We also seem to be having tummy troubles.  They seem to be going around the area.  I thought I would talk about a few herbs that can be helpful and taste good, too.

The first that comes to mind is ginger because I am getting ready to plant a nice "hand" of ginger that is sprouting.  This is extremely easy to do if you have some sandy soil around.  I don't, but I have quick draining orchid soil and I am going to mix that with some potting soil and compost - my black gold - and in will go the ginger, a few inches under the top of the soil.  I'll water it well and soon it will grow nice green shoots.  In the fall, when the leaves die down I can harvest it and replant it.  This will be a back porch plant, where it will get filtered sun and I will remember to feed and water it well.  It needs to come in in the north, as it is a tropical plant.

In the meantime, I have cut off about 1 inch of it, peeled it and grated it for some tea.  This is very soothing to an upset stomach and the 1 inch piece will make enough for about 3 cups, which I will sweeten with honey.  Of course, if you happen to have ginger tea bags around, you don't need to do this, but I like it this way.  A very easy way to keep a big hand of ginger is to peel it and put it in a plastic bag in the freezer.  When you want some, grate it and return the rest.  Works a treat, as they say.

Another tummy friendly herb is peppermint or spearmint, in fact, most of the mints.  This is an extremely easy to grow plant, and if not controlled, it can take over,  so if you plant it, put it somewhere by itself.  You can snip all summer to add to tea or raitas or to put in Middle Eastern food.  It does do wonders in calming your tum and you can drink it cool or iced as well.  Alternating the ginger and peppermint throughout the day will help you feel better, as well as ensuring drinking enough liquids.

Our third tummy tamer is chamomile.  Not only can it ease distress, but it is generally a calming herb for the whole system.  It is very gentle and smells like apples.  Again, it is an easy to grow plant, but it is far more polite than the mint family.  I warn you, you need a lot to dry enough to be worthwhile.

For these and many other herbs, if you can't wait to grow them, I have found that Mountain Rose Herbs http://www.mountainroseherbs,com/ has very good ones at reasonable prices.  They also carry some herb seeds and some teas.  Make sure you get their catelog, it has a lot of neat stuff and they carry wonderful catnip, heartily approved by Andy, Sarah, Bert and Ernie, the little beggers.