Two Teas on a Summer's Day

Still in Ravenna, the other side of the altar from yesterday's mosaic.

We just had one of the quickest thunderstorms on record - about 3 minutes of downpour, enough to make it muggy. Phoo. We need about 2 days worth of a gentle soaking.



Today I am doing a tea from an old friend - Uptons. It is part of a lot I bought a while ago -Organic China Keemun Heng Ru. Supposedly an old Chinese black tea - they started making it in the 1860's. I'm not sure it's the oldest, as I don't know when China started making black teas. The leaves are very small, very black and smell a bit smokey and somewhat like a hay barn in the early summer, before the new hay is in. There is also a bit of cork and resin, like you might find on a boat. I brewed it up with boiling water for 4 minutes and the result is a nice red-brown liquor. The Chinese call this red tea and it is easy to see why. The pleasant hay smell is continuing, but the smokiness has lessened considerably.



Oh, this tea is so fresh tasting. Those sample packets from Uptons really do the job. There is almost no smoke, but a touch of astringency and some of the resin, which balances out the hints of fruitiness and sweetness; not sugary or cloying, but sweet nevertheless. This is a complex tea and one I think would make a very nice afternoon tea, with some sturdy sweets, as it is a sturdy tea. I wouldn't recommend it for ice tea, however.



The other tea for today is just old Cold Brew Lipton's, but I added several packets of Raspberry Lemonade from True Lemon. Very nice, the lemon and berry add some accent and sweetness, as does the Truvia the packets are sweetened with. It is a very refreshing drink. In my ice teas, I allow some sweetener, but if it is too much, I just pretend it is soda or I don't drink it. I really am bad about sweet tea.

Music and Tea

This is an example of scherenschnitte, or scissor cutting, which is a craft indigenous to Switzerland and Germany. Beautiful, no?

Last night we had a real treat. One of my cousins was in town to participate in the 1st Ithaca College Alumni Band Reunion Concert - 187 musicians. IC is highly regarded for its music programs and this concert was proof of it. 7 conductors, 8 pieces and it was spectacular. I especially love to watch conductors and this was such a treat to compare their different styles, from almost flamboyant to barely moving. Just wonderful, wonderful music and only 3 rehearsals. His sister and I were thrilled to be able to be a part of it.


With the hot weather, I have been making pitcher after pitcher of ice tea. I generally use Lipton's Cold Brew as I am really unfussy about my ice tea. I think it makes perfectly good ice tea, especially if I add a bit of lime or lemon juice. However, I have also been making pitchers with my loose leaf teas, also using a cold brew method.

The most recent loose leaf was Adagio's Apricot Green Tea, which was a gift from them, and I have to say I was really pleased. I used ¼ cup of tea in a pitcher that holds almost 2 quarts and “brewed” it for about 4 hours. The resulting tea was a lovely lime green and tasted wonderful. It had a very full apricot taste with a pleasant green under pinning that was very satisfying. We had it with a Chinese stir-fry with an orange/kumquat sauce and it was all delicious. I want to try some Lapsang Souchong and see how it works. That would really be good with Chinese food.

For those of you who care about using Fair Trade tea or coffee, especially if you are part of a church, group or small business, I just found this website you might want to check out http://interfaith.equalexchange.com . There may be something there you can use. I have only had the coffee and it is quite good.

Lazy dayz of summer

Today is a perfect, late summer - early fall day. Perfect day to transplant the lavender and iris and make one more batch of pesto for the freezer, repot the rosemary, feel the sun and the breeze on your back - aaah, perfection.

Another lazy day, tea wise. Tried the Earl Grey Rose and Lavender from yesterday iced and it was soooooo strong. It finally dawned on me I made it too strong, so another day I will try again.

Breakfast tea was just PG Tips in a bag - really a pyramid. When a non-tea drinker makes it for you, make it easy for him! For a non-specialty tea, in a bag, these are my go tos. Sure, they are not great tea, but they are definately more than adequate. Afternoon tea is just one of my favorites - Culinary Teas Lady Londonderry, which I love and I wasn't feeling one bit experimental. It also is very fresh and crisp/soft on the palate.

However, my package from Liber-Teas finally arrived - due to bureaucratic snafus, it's been a while. Anne, the company's owner and tea crafter, has been marvelously patient. If there is a contest for packaging, she wins! The box was like opening a present - all this marvelous purple tissue paper with little samples and candies - oh my! And the teas are in wonderful purple tins with silver ribbons and pretty labels. Really day brightening. I had to sniff all the teas I got, so I just may have to sample one or two, as they smelled alluring! I have high expectations for her teas as I have read her tea reviews and have found them thoughtful and imaginative.

This summer I bought something new from Lipton's - cold-brew ice tea bags. Use two per quart, brew in cold water for 3 minutes. Voila, your typical American summer ice tea. Not to be confused with super duper tea on ice, but for those of you who don't want to fuss, want it NOW, etc., like my husband, they are perfect. Having never been a big fan of ice tea - I really like water or Squirt - this is fine with me too.

Aah, Squirt soda, you can hardly find it anymore. When I was a child growing up on the farm, it was kept in the big milk coolers where the 30 gallon cans of milk were stored until the milk truck came. The coolers were filled with very cold circulating water and the lids were about 3x5 feet. I could lift them to sneak a soda, but I could never get the lid back down, as all the cans would bob up in the water. But I had an indulgent grandfather who would rescue me, shut the lid and not tell on me. Every child should have one.