December 13, 2011

Name that Tea – Strawbango Black

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‘The naming of teas is a difficult matter,

It isn’t just one of your everyday games—

Some might think you mad as a hatter

Should you tell them each goes by several names.

For starters each tea in this world must belong

To the families Black or Green or Oolong;

Then look more closely at these family trees—-

Some include Indians along with Chinese.”

T.S. Elliot, The NAMING OF CATS with liberties taken by Local Coffee + Tea :>

The naming of our latest tea was very difficult too and you have every right to think the name was taken straight from a T.S. Elliot book!  We are very excited to announce STRAWBANGO BLACK in time for the Holiday season and we know you will love this blend as much as we do.

STRAWBANGO BLACK is an organically cultivated black tea from the mountains of Sri Lanka.  Not only do we have a splendid tasting black tea, but two of our favorite Florida fruits are added for the perfect amount of exotic sweetness!  Scattered between the juicyness, you will find delicate Calendula blossoms.  A truly beautiful and aromatic tea.

Have you guessed what those fruits might be?  Strawberry and Mango of course, two fruits made for each other.

We are already planning to serve lots of this tea hot and iced both at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market and in the Carriagehouse Tea Room at Selby Gardens.  Also, I will be featuring STRAWBANGO BLACK in my tea class on December 13th.

Join us in celebrating this exceptional tea with a ‘bang’!  Gift yourself, a friend, or a member of your family with some loose leaf tea and celebrate the Holidays in style.

Cheers,

The TeaLady

 

November 30, 2011

Tea Caddies and George Harrison Quote

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‘I’m a tidy sort of bloke. I don’t like chaos. I kept records in the record rack, tea in the tea caddy and pot in the pot box’

-George Harrison 1943-2001

I found this quote from my favorite Beatle very amusing. I also share the sentiment, excluding the part about the pot of course!

The tea caddy was a favorite kitchen item from my chilhood and I have memories of opening our caddy and inhaling the rich smell of loose tea when Mum gave me me instruction to “put the kettle on and make a pot of tea”.

A TEA CADDY is a box, jar, canister, or other receptacle used to store tea.  The word is believed to have derived from ‘catty’, the Chinese pound.  The earliest examples that came to Europe were of Chinese porcelain in the shape of a ginger jar.  They had lids or stoppers and were most frequently blue and white.

Tea Caddy from Ming Dynasty

Later designs used a variety of materials with wood becoming  very popular. Tea was very expensive so the caddies were locked and the keys only available to the lady of the house. In the late eighteenth and through the nineteenth century the caddies became even more elaborate often mounted in brass and delicately inlaid, with knobs of ivory, ebony or silver.
As the price of tea decreased toward the end of the nineteenth century the use of lockable caddies declined.  Those precious tea leaves which had held pride of place in ornate boxes on mantles and sideboards in refined drawing rooms were relegated to cheaply produced tins and boxes that were stored in the kitchen.  That was the style of caddy you would find in our kitchen!
We have a few tea tins at Local Coffee + Tea as well as a few decorative cardboard tea caddies.  I still use several caddies in my kitchen today, one which is fashioned from a tin which used to contain a favorite British candy called Licquorice Allsorts. It makes an excellent tea caddy.
Do you have a favorite tea storage container?  Your comments are always welcome.
Cheers,
 

November 20, 2011

SRQ Farmer’s Market – Nov 19th

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A superb Saturday morning at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market with sunny skies and a slight, humidity free breeze.  Our sampling teas were also very special; Strawberry Smile green tea (perhaps why so many people were smiling Saturday morning), Nilgiri black tea and our Red Berries.   All make a nice cuppa for a Thanksgiving celebration.

This week’s action shot is of the Tea Paparazzi visiting our tea tent and admiring our Mable’s Rose Rooibos.  See the entire album at our Facebook page, Local Coffee + Tea - Tea Journey.

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The Tea Paparazzi

 

November 3, 2011

Pinhead Gunpowder and Guy Fawkes

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November 5th is the perfect time to talk about our Pinhead Gunpowder.  For me, this tea conjures up images of Guy Fawkes, a very celebrated and notorious fellow in Great Britain.  Born in Yorkshire, I am sure you have seen the mask below on Halloween or in the “V for Vendetta” movies or comic books, but do you know what Guy Fawkes was notorious for besides drinking Yorkshire tea?

Guy Fawkes

“Remember, remember the Fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.”

In 1605 a group of conspirators including Guy Fawkes attempted to destroy the House of Parliament by filling the cellar with explosives.  Known as the “Gunpowder Plot”, the conspirators wanted a Catholic King rather than the protestant King James I.  The plan did not work and Guy Fawkes was captured, hung, drawn and quartered for his part in the plot, but his name lives on.  Guy Fawkes Night is a festival in Britain remembering the Gunpowder Plot and the King’s survival.

Every year on 5 November Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated with open air fires or bonfires in towns across England.  Dummies, or “guys” are burnt atop the fires.  A great tradition we children anticipated with excitement was making the “guy” dummies a few days before the 5th. We carried the dummies around the village shouting “penny for the guy.”  The quality of our ‘guy’ was determined by the number of pennies we collected.

Today, the Guy Fawkes mask is worn by protesters to demonstrate their commitment to a shared cause against the establishment as was the intent of Mr. Fawkes.

Pinhead Gunpowder

And so to our pinhead gunpowder, a classic green tea from Zhejiang province in China, made from leaves rolled into small pellets which look like actual gunpowder.  It never ceases to amaze me how many people visiting the Carriagehouse Tea Room at Selby Gardens comment on this fascinating tea.  The tiny pellets transform, unfurling into graceful, dancing leaves.  If you have a glass teapot, enjoy the performance.

Gunpowder green tea is harvested in the month of April, as this is the absolute best time of year for quality leaves.  The leaves are withered to reduce moisture content making them more pliable, then steamed, rolled and dried.  Although the individual leaves were formerly rolled by hand, today most gunpowder tea is rolled by machines, though the highest grades are still rolled by hand.   This rolling process also renders the leaves less susceptible to any breakage and allows them to retain more of their flavor and aroma. You can determine the freshness of gunpowder green tea by the sheen of the pellets.  And the smaller the better, as size is associated with quality, hence the name pinhead.

Our Pinhead Gunpowder green tea brews darker than most green teas with a rich flavor and a slight smokey finish.  I have enjoyed Pinhead staright up, infusing multiple times but it can be brewed very succesfully with both ginger or mint and used as an iced tea.

I hope you enjoyed the gunpowder plot and please do enjoy many infusions of this classic tea.

Cheers,

the TeaLady

 

October 29, 2011

SRQ Farmer’s Market Oct 29th

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A rainy Saturday turned into a sunny Saturday at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market. We offered our world famous Goji Green, our Earl Grey and Patriot Tea (rooibos) for sampling.  We offer these three teas at a discount this week from our online shop and all orders over $40 ship FREE.

This week’s picture is of Market Manager Phil Pagano swapping hats with Eve Worden of  Worden Farms.  See the entire album at our Facebook page, Local Coffee + Tea - Tea Journey.

Phil swapping hats with Eve Worden

Sip Locally

md

 

October 26, 2011

Teetotalers to Tea Parties?

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In 18th century England Tea was an expensive commodity, heavily taxed and a luxury for the rich. At that time coffehouses were popular meeting places for social interaction where news and views were exchanged, though women were banned!  Because of escalating drunkenness of the working classes (gin and ale being their drinking options) it was decided to start serving tea to ‘persons of inferior rank’. Many new cafes and coffee houses opened as alternatives to pubs and inns leading to the Temperance movement.

The Preston Temperance Society of 1823 was started in the north of England by Joseph Livesey to promote abstinence from alcoholic beverages.  The movement quickly spread throughout England and to the States. In the village where I was raised in Yorkshire, there was a  hotel called the Temperance Hotel.  The picture above depicts Christian women in the New York promoting the movement .

It is not clear where the term ‘Teetotaler” originated and why someone who never drinks alcohol is referred to as such, but it has nothing to do with tea.  However, the movement laid the foundation to something that would change the world.

In 1864 the Aerated Bread Company opened what would become known as the ABC Teashop. The manageress of this London based company had been serving tea and snacks gratis to customers of all classes, and received permission to open a commercial tea room on the premises.  This created a place where women of the Victorian era could take a meal ‘unescorted’ without sullying her reputation!

Soon other companies followed and from the 1880′s onwards, fine hotels began to offer tea service. Going out to tea became a fashion reaching its heyday in the Edwardian era (1901-1914).  By 1913, tea was an elaborate and stylish affair served in palm courts with string quartets playing, leading to the even more fashionable tea dances.  How I would have loved to have been part of the era!

Changes in social patterns and lifestyle came about and fashions change.  Cocktails once again became popular, though tea continued as the choice of drink at home and the workplace.

Thankfully there is a new surge of interest in tea drinking and going out for tea.  I have enjoyed some recent outings myself as you can see in previous posts.  Tea dances are enjoying a revival and tea parties are becoming a popular option to celebrate weddings, family events and gatherings as our sister company, Local Catering offers.

Whether you are a Teetotaler or totally into to tea, please join Local Coffee + Tea in this fascinating journey of TEA through the centuries.  Maybe the best is yet to come!

Cheers, the TeaLady

 

October 24, 2011

Tea Tent at SRQ Farmer’s Market – October 22nd

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Back at the Market after a week off.  The perfect morning to start offering a hot tea among our samples at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market. Perhaps most exciting was the addition of Caroline and Marissa to our tea team at the tea tent.  Both are very tea savvy so say hello to them next Saturday.

We offered three great teas for sampling including our Bertha Palmer rooibos (hot), Flowering Pomegranate green tea and Yorkshire Harrogate black tea.  An earlier post shared an essay from George Orwell titled “A nice cup of tea” and so we selected our wonderful Yorkshire Harrogate to celebrate.  And for all of our teas we suggest multiple steeping, and our Flowering Pomegranate is a great example of a tea that holds up to 3 or 4 or more steeps.

This week’s picture is of Caroline and Marissa on their first day.  See the entire album at our Facebook page, Local Coffee + Tea - Tea Journey.

Caroline and Marissa

We offer these 3 teas at a discount from our online shop and as always all orders over $40 ship at no charge.

Sip Locally

md

 

October 10, 2011

Tea Tent at SRQ Farmer’s Market – October 8th

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Lovely morning at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market on Saturday.  We are very comfortable in our new spot in front of the Java Dawg Coffee Bus, sort of their hood ornament.  We will not be at the market this Sat (10/15), but back the following Saturday (10/22)

We offered three superb teas for sampling including our best selling Selby Select Rooibos, our Assam black tea and white tea we call Pear Mu Tan. (link to earlier post on Pear Mu Tan)  We created Selby Select to celebrate Marie Selby Gardens and the GartenFest Music Series that kicked off on Sunday.  Each Sunday Selby presents a performance under the majestic banyan trees.  Our sister company, Local Catering serves OktoberFest inspired foods and beers, along with lots of Selby Select tea.

This week’s picture is of a few ladies basking in the glow of our teas.  See the entire album at our Facebook page, Local Coffee + Tea - Tea Journey.

Basking in the glow of our tea

We offer these 3 teas at a discount from our online shop and as always all orders over $40 ship at no charge.

Sip Locally

md

 

October 2, 2011

Tea Tent at the SRQ Farmer’s Market October 1st

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Perfect weather, autumn in the air and a happy crowd at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market on Saturday.  But just as Jesse White and daughter Amelia salute all the tea drinkers of the world by raising a cuppa our White Mischief, little Amelia loses the grip on her tea. Disaster caught in this picture below.  After tears and wailing cries, we finally calmed Jesse down and believe he will be okay.  Amelia promised to keep us updated.  See the entire album at our Local Coffee + Tea - Tea Journey Facebook page.

Jesse and Amelia saluting tea drinkers of the world

The big winner on Saturday was the iced chai, our Cochin Masala Chai with a strong tea flavor blended with cardamom, coriander, cinnamon and black pepper with a spicy ginger finish.  Our White Mischief was also popular and our Organic Honeybush is always a crowd-pleaser.  We offer these 3 teas at a discount from our online shop and as always all orders over $40 ship at no charge.

Sip Locally

md

 

September 25, 2011

Tea Tent at the SRQ Farmer’s Market Sept 24th

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Steamy morning at the Sarasota Farmer’s Market on Saturday, and we had plenty of iced tea to keep people refreshed including this little guy.

We start them young

We sampled our Nilgiri black tea, our Sakura Rose green tea and our Van Wezel Anniversa-Tea rooibos.  The big favorite was the Van Wezel with black and red currants, created to celebrate the performing art hall by the bay and one of our local treasures.

Again, our Market Manager Phil Pagano begged me to take his picture, this time swapping hats with Tim Brown of Brown’s Grove.  See our Facebook page for the entire album of pictures.  And please subscribe to this blog by adding your email address on the top of the column to your right.

Phil swaps hats with Tim Brown

Again, this week we offer our 3 market teas at $1 off from our online shop this week for those not able to join us on Saturday…packets of Nilgiri black tea, Sakura Rose green tea and our Van Wezel rooibos ship at no charge if your order is over $40.

Sip Locally!

md

 

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