Friday, December 31, 2010

To Spill Or Not To Spill The Tea




Words are the containers we use to carry our fragile thoughts and ideas from ourselves to others. Once we put our thoughts into words, they no longer exist within the private domain of our individual craniums. The words we share become as public as the audience who hears and sees them.

What's In Your Cup?

Words also flow in a stream and have the capacity to spill over based on the carrier. Growing up, my elders taught me that "whatever is in you will come out." In particular, my maternal grandfather, a gifted and eloquent speaker, admonished us children to pay especially close attention to a person's words. I recall him saying that "you hear a person's heart through his mouth. When it's time [to speak], you don't have to say everything because it's not their business. But when you need to say something, speak up!" Because of our relationship and how I observed my grandfather live behind the scenes, the words he spoke carried considerable weight. Consequently, I speak up.

Speaking up, however, is as different from spilling as pouring hot tea into a tea cup is from pouring hot tea into someone else's lap. Both share the same tea. The outcome yields two results: the tea cup produces a smile and the lap produces a hot mess literally. Let us use our words as carefully as if we were pouring hot tea and stop pouring them out before the cup overflows.

Tea Vernacular



Tea and words interwine within different cultures with astonishingly varied meanings. For example, isn't it odd how the current expression "spilling the tea" is now American slang for spreading gossip? As a native Philadelphian and unapologetic tea aficionado, I must protest such tea misappropriation.

In Middle Eastern countries, tea is offered to every guest and served by holding a metal teapot filled with steaming hot liquid held aloft. While mid-air, the tea is then poured into a small glass via a graceful arc. Yes, this takes strength and skill as the host takes great care not to waste a drop of tea. Certainly spilling scalding hot tea onto one's guests is not a welcoming gesture. For the record, spilling tea is not an American past time.

Tea is a sign of hospitality and welcome where someone can come, take a break, and relax from the journey. Every host takes responsibility for each guest's comfort and safety; the guest trusts the host to do so or the invitation is declined. So, spilling tea is not only rude but it violates the sacred trust that tea creates. In addition, tea generates conversation where people feel it is safe to share their words and their hearts. So, no spilling the tea here. What's put in the cup stays in the cup. That is, of course, until the first sip.

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

When Steep Turns to Stew (Part One)




Tea preparation is both art and science because timing and temperature are critical factors that affect the results. Every tea, i.e. pu-erh, black (red), oolong, yellow, white, and green, has a temperature range and steeping time that combined offers an ideal flavor profile. On the other hand, there are few things more tragic than a delicately fragrant Jasmine Pearl green tea gone wrong. This signals a less than ideal outcome and our taste buds remember the experience.

Some Like It Hot - Others Do Not



In order to make a good cup of tea, the water must be hot enough to open the tea leaves yet not hot enough to destroy the leaves themselves. Achieving this balance takes practice.

It was a great day that I learned that one should not allow water to come to a full boil when making green tea. Green tea leaves are not oxidized during its manufacturing process. The freshly picked leaves are:
• Steamed or pan-fried
• Rolled and shaped
• Dried until 2-3% water content remains

What does that mean? It means that water does not have to boiling hot for the leaves to open. The green leaves are willing to open and to release their flavor at a lower temperature.

Taste the Difference

For tea, one temperature does not fit all so please read the suggested time and temperature guides printed on the tea's packaging. However, for those who choose to ignore the difference water temperature makes, there are bitter consequences.

Not very long ago, a colleague issued me a challenge equivalent to a pistol duel at dawn: attend a coffee tasting. I met his challenge, attended the event, and demonstrated to coffee merchants how to improve their tea. True, I didn't go into the establishment to gather new tea converts but... tea draws followers.

Teas Worth a Sip

At your request, here are some teas and/or tisanes to try and to buy:
• Thé des Sables (Le Palais des Thés, @LePalaisdesThes) - Dragonwell green tea blended with Damas rose, yellow peach, mango and citrus fruits

• 3 Essence of Beauty (Fang's Leaves & Petals, @fangtea) - a fragrant, relaxing tisane of rose, jasmine and marigold/calendula

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Greene Ave,Brooklyn,United States