I guess I never realized how spoiled I really am when it comes to tea. Not a tea drinker before working for a loose leaf tea company, I never suffered through the early stages of the tea bag. Luckily I was overwhelmed with a veritable treasure-trove of loose leaf tea my first day on the job. After a snide remark or two about bagged tea from my new co-workers, I fully understood that I was never to waste my time with any tea that was delivered to my cup via a bag. So I never really spent much time thinking about the ground-up tea that lives inside a tea bag and how it, when combined with water, responds differently than the sprawling leaves I've come to know and enjoy. Until yesterday. Our CEO returned from her trip abroad with some loose leaf tea and promptly steeped the crew each a cup. Curious how it became so bitter after only steeping 30 seconds, I began asking questions. So this particular tea was ground up almost into powder form, like the tea in a tea bag. I guess it makes sense that the water has more surface area of the tea with which to connect, essentially speeding up the process. I can't think of a better time to utter the old adage "The best things come to those who wait."

picture from www.bookeyetest.info

Simple to understand, yet difficult to uncover.

The other day I was describing to one of my accounts how important it was to put the right amount of tea leaves in for the amount of tea you wanted to make, e.g. 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8oz cup of tea, 2 teaspoons of tea leaves for a 16oz cup of tea, etc. It seems like a simple enough concept, but when people have used teabags all their life (no matter how much water they used), it's a bit more time consuming to convey.

It was during this that the light bulb went off. Ding! (that's the sound the light bulb makes when it goes off). I've been saying it all this time, but never thought of it before, "use a TEAspoon of TEA for an 8oz cup". It's right there! So simple 1 TEAspoon for 1 cup (aka 8oz), 2 TEAspoons for 2 cups (aka 16oz).

I was amazed. How come it had never passed through my consciousness before? I mean, it makes sense to describe it this way to customers, to make it easier for them to understand, but of course I couldn't leave it there. WHY did teaspoon mean teaspoon? What were the origins of the name? Did they really use that size spoon to measure tea and becuase it was so commenplace that is how its name was derived? Being research driven, I tried to find more.



I looked on Wikipedia, no good. Origins of Words, failed. Online Etymology Dictionary, crash and burn. And typically the winner of all true research needs, The Oxford English Dictionary, nuthin. (How do you like THAT grammar OEM?) I searched high and low but to no avail. I couldn't find a valid description as to how the common nomenclature of the teaspoon, which measures approximately 4.92892159 milliliters of a substance, came about! There was one other person out there in the world wide web who had asked a similar question on Yahoo! Answers and was given a response that seemed pretty valid, but I couldn't quite trust it as fact, particularly because the words "stuff" and "lands" were used. The answer (given below in italics) seems like a half assed attempt to research it and a unoriginal deduction that any of us could have come up with.

But I WANTED FACTS! sigh. No such luck, but if anyone out there truly knows if the name of a spoon holding 4.92892159 milliliters of substance came about because people often used that much TEA for a cup of tea, I would greatly appreciate you letting me know how you know this and where I can find the facts .

Ah...I love US measuring standards...meh.




Word origin for "teaspoon" and "tablespoon"?
Anyone know (and/or have a link to a reference describing) the origin of the names of "teaspoon" and "tablespoon"?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
They refer to two different pieces of flatware (or silverware). A tablespoon is one that is used for eating stuff - like soups or sauces or puddings. A teaspoon is a smaller utensil that is used for stirring beverages that are served in a teacup. Their becoming units of measurement for recipes came as a result of their simply being used in everyday cooking, quite frankly, as scoops. It was much later, when cookbooks started to be written for the regular folks like us in the late 17th century (there were earlier ones) that the actual volume of these measurements were standardized. Oddly, in many lands, measurements are made in grams and liters. America in one of the few that use Tbl spoons and tsp as units of measure. I think it is a system referred to as "avoir du pois" and was kept in use by apothecaries in the US. This system utilized measurements like inches and feet, quarts and pints while the rest of the world used meters and liters. I think that avoir du pois (oddly) was a British system that was used at a time when the French were measuring in "drams" and "grains."

Pictures from:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://openclipart.org/people/Anonymous/Anonymous_light_bulb.png&imgrefurl=http://openclipart.org/media/files/Anonymous/7121&usg=__KXTvQRX0gzmpPKpjvJTNaxSHqYs=&h=408&w=406&sz=14&hl=en&start=8&sig2=CadL65qbswiqZ5CmzP3zbg&um=1&tbnid=8NNPkMdyJPVdxM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlight%2Bbulb%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGIH_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=5P2eSuCBD6jeswOYkrGSDg

http://www.mariasurawska.com/projects/tea/photos/step4.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mykeangelo.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/teaspoon.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mykeangelo.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/&usg=__kEamssEDyRPeIzrYEIUlmn1Tbz0=&h=310&w=413&sz=14&hl=en&start=9&sig2=uZm9E4d5G0t_AOTet6PVGQ&um=1&tbnid=B4EPPS3_iO2srM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=125&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dteaspoon%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGIH_enUS276US305%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1&ei=KvaeSvaFC6iKtAOHxbXlDQ

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fastcompany.com/files/imagecache/multimedia_image/files/Aramica%2520Teaspoons.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fastcompany.com/multimedia/glass-bead-demitasse-teaspoon&usg=__w3jS_T5BDmfGz12cVo_azpPT4Yw=&h=270&w=480&sz=13&hl=en&start=14&sig2=u8wQgZMZZQ-HUrdEE7jf8Q&um=1&tbnid=VOQsdn6bVtlR0M:&tbnh=73&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dteaspoon%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGIH_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=GP6eSrzHI6XStQOby738DQ

How to TEAS your palate...

Photo by j-tea.blogspot.com

For your first tea tasting it's helpful to taste the four different types of single estate teas to better understand the basic varieties: white, green, oolong and black. Once you've had an introductory tasting, it's fun to move on to a tasting featuring only one type of tea but that is another blog post...How to REALLY TEAS your palate...

Four types of tea should make for a comprehensive, though not overwhelming, tasting. I recommend steeping about 1/2 tsp per 1/2 cup of each tea. Steep the tea according to the directions on the package or the recommendations of the tea merchant. Tea, like wine, has a general sequence to tasting: 1) Look 2) Smell 3) Taste

TEAS your palate
Ask yourself the following questions when sampling the teas. Take tasting notes to learn your palate. These questions help you get a sense of the quality of the tea. They also help you determine whether you like and would purchase the tea.

1. Look: Describe the appearance of the dry and wet leaves. Are they whole or broken? Are the leaves twisted or flat, regular or uneven? Describe the color of the tea liquor (liquid). It is clear or cloudy?

2. Smell: Close your eyes and inhale. What does it smell like? Does the smell ignite any nostalgic memories, like rolling around in the grass or smelly socks?

3. Taste: Now, slurp the tea. Don't worry about making loud noises. Spread it all over your tongue and mouth. What flavor notes do you detect? Finally, swallow the tea. Is the finish (or aftertaste) long or short, meaning do the flavors dissipate quickly or last for a while in your mouth? What flavors remain? Do you want another sip or would you rather feed it to your plants?

Like many things in life, tea tasting is very subjective. Many people love the smokey aroma and flavor of Lapsang Souchong, but not me. Although the smell brings back memories of camping in the Grand Tetons, the taste reminds me of eating the ashes of a campfire. Pu-erh, on the hand, also brings back memories of camping in the Grand Tetons while the dark liquor coats my mouth with rich, and earthy memories of gardening fresh vegetables in my back yard.

Do you have a tea worth tasting or one we should stay away from? 

Herbs & Spice Pairing with Tea

It’s been more than a year now, since I have had the pleasure to be guest-blogging for the T-Ching site, a favorite site for many tea lovers. Beautiful in its simplicity of design, and more profound in its pursuit of tea information on all levels – gastronomic, scientific, social, literary… you name it, and they have a thread on that tea-related topic! The people we correspond with there are most professional, welcoming and courteous – it’s been a real pleasure. Today I wanted to share here a recent post I did on T-Ching, since we still have a bit of Farmer’s Market season left, and since this post got a good amount of interest. Hope you enjoy…

Inspired by the bounty of fresh, beautiful herbs available at our summer Farmer’s Markets, this is the first of a two-part series on tea and herb pairings. Next month I’ll present some tea rubs developed by our own Tea Spot Chef, Karen Harbour. This post begins with the basics and explores pairing teas with fresh herbs and spices.

We tend to think of certain herb personalities as being especially well fitted to a particular primary ingredient – such as basil with tomatoes, rosemary with lamb, oregano with anything Italian, or chives with eggs or potatoes. But the interesting conversations at a breakfast meeting I attended this morning got me thinking way outside the box. So in this light, I stopped by Whole Foods Market on my way home, and bought some fresh herbs and spices to experiment pairing with my teas at home. I strongly encourage you to check out some of these winning combinations. (There were some serious losers that came out of this experiment as well, but for now I won’t dwell on the negative!)

Fresh Basil: Our Boulder Blues blend of green teas, wild strawberry, and rhubarb makes this herb sing! Try open-faced sandwiches of Italian bread spread with goat cheese, tomato, and basil with an iced Boulder Blues on the side and you’re set for the perfect gourmet summer lunch or snack. Best of all, you can cold-brew the Boulder Blues tea. Cold brewing instructions can be found here.
Fresh Mint: The connection here seems far-fetched, but because of chocolate’s affinity to Darjeeling, and the heaps of chocolate mint I have growing in my yard, I was led to trying this combination – and what a win it is! Perhaps my favorite discovery of this project. So please do try a nice pot of Darjeeling accompanied by anything made with fresh mint, like tabouli, stuffed zucchini, roasted potatoes tossed with garlic and mint leaves, or even fresh strawberries tossed with mint and honey. There’s something about the slight astringency in the tea with the refreshing juice of the herb that makes this a perfect match!
Chives: This one had me stumped for a while. But two great pairings for dishes made with fresh chives (like omelets, savory herb custards, or quiche) are Japanese Sencha (green tea) and Genmaicha (another typical Japanese green tea blended with roasted rice).

Cumin: Apricot chutney with iced Gunpowder Green tea. In fact, the chutney used as a glaze for pork or poultry with this tea is quite yummy. Or, crackers with mascarpone cheese and apricot chutney with the Gunpowder Green on the side…fantastic!

Cloves: Try a dusting of freshly ground cloves on green apple slices with a pot of pu-erh on the side – just heavenly!

Gourmet Sea Salt: Lapsang Souchong is a perfect complement. The strong salt bite of a gourmet sea salt in a dish of your choice balances the intense flavor of smoked tea, making this a great pairing.

Ginger: Love it with Oolong, especially a darker roasted oolong. Think Asian veggie stir-fries made with fresh ginger and garlic, a spinach salad tossed with a ginger-peanut dressing, or even ginger-snap cookies if you’re in the mood for sweets.

Chiles: A must-try with Keemun. I tried a lot of black teas for this pairing, including Yunnan (which was my first instinct), Assam, and even white teas…but the Keemun did the trick. It’s all about the balance of Keemun’s natural malty sweetness and chile pepper’s fiery kick-in-the-pants in two of my favorite dishes made with fresh chiles – a red thai curry and a colorful veggie stir-fry.

Food pairing really is all about balance…and the willingness to try new things and spit some of them out along the way! But an effort that’s well worth it, and I hope you’ll agree, was well worth sharing in the end.

photos, in order, from:

http://thenonconsumeradvocate.files.wordpress.com

http://www.salmonellablog.com

http://wendyusuallywanders.files.wordpress.com

Simply Adorable! A hidden gem of a coffee shop found in Lafayette, CO

So in my constant search to find the best coffee shops, roasters and tea shops to work with, I came across a new coffee shop I had never heard of called Mojo's Coffeehouse, located right near us in Lafayette, Colorado. I tried to find some information about the coffee shop and the best source I had to go off of was Yelp. There were some nice comments about the shop so I decided to check it out. I gave them a call and set up an appointment to meet this past Wednesday.

Not being from Colorado, and only passing by Lafayette on my way to Denver, my previous opinion of the town was that it was a pretty nice suburb with mostly chain stores, restaurants and coffee shops to choose from. I've driven route 287 (the main route through town) a number of times and have never really gone out of my way to see what was beyond that street, assuming it was more housing or just more of the same.

Boy was I wrong, and I will reiterate the famous old saying "you can't judge a book by a cover" or rather my NEW saying, "you can't judge a town by just one street". I printed out the directions and drove most of the way on 287 but google directions took me down a side road and I headed into a whole new world of Lafayette. All of a sudden I was in a quaint New England town (not literally people, figuratively). This area (and I'm not sure for how many blocks it looked like this), but this area of a couple of blocks was completely adorable! Shaded sidewalks with intermittent trees. Cute brick store fronts with unique designs in the window. A little bank, a little Italian food shop, and the most adorable corner coffee shop with patio seating!

Wouldn't you know! This is the coffee shop I was looking for!

Mojo's Coffeehouse is cute, cozy, bustling with locals and is definitely far from your mainstream chain coffee shops. Once inside you can find a variety of seating options, pending on whether you want to curl up in a couch, work busily at a table on your computer, or sit by the window and people watch. It has all the trappings of an eclectic coffee shop with fun drinks, yummy pastries and a delicious scent wafting through the air while the quiche was in the oven baking. (this is starting to sound like a yelp post itself!). Well my intention was to say how excited I was to find this quaint part of town and shop where I least expected it. It was so reminiscient of small town that it made me want to be settled down, with a couple of kids at school and take a break to go grab a cup of tea with a couple of friends, but only for a second I swear!

I don't have any pictures (none on yelp yet and I believe they're working on a website) but here is the yelp postings for the shop http://www.yelp.com/biz/mojo-coffeehouse-lafayette-2.

As for our meeting? Well come by Mojo's Coffeehouse on Labor Day and you might just see some new teas on the shelf ;)

The Fundamentals of Wine Tasting...

Last night in culinary school we learned how to taste wine technically and organoleptically. Technical wine tasting uses all your senses so you can taste the wine in its purest form. 

Photo by CLTV

The following is a general sequence to technical wine tasting: Look, Smell, Taste

1. Look at the wine. Use a white background to better identify the color. Tilt red wine to help identify the age of the vine and its maturity.
2. Smell the wine, swirl the wine for 30 seconds, agitating the stereoisomers in the wine causing the wine to awaken the aromas and flavors that may be inactive. Smell the wine at the front of the glass by tilting the wine towards you (smell forward). Smell the wine at the back of the glass by tilting the wine a little away from you (smell backward). Alternate smelling forward and backward, noticing and describing the difference
3. Taste the wine, take a sip and swoosh it around your mouth. Feel how your mouth reacts to the wine. Take another sip, slosh it around, take in some air and examine the texture and body of the wine. Feel and describe how your mouth feels after your swallow.

But before you even look, smell or taste the tea you can actually learn a lot from its label but that's another blog post...

Organoleptical wine tasting adds another dimension by pairing food with wine. The general rule when pairing food with wine is that both the food and the wine should taste better together then apart. Like peanut butter and jelly...Which brings me to another rule, wine tasting is a subjective sport. What I think might taste good paired with something, you might think tastes horrible...The bottom line is that whether tasting technically or organoleptically you need to use all your senses which may ignite nostalgic memories and bring you back to playing in the sandbox with your best childhood friend...

Smelling Benton-Lane, Willamette Valley, Pinot Noir, 2007, 13.55% last night reminded me of camping in Yellowstone. The wine's musky, earthy aroma lingered in my nose as a memory of sitting by the campfire emerged in my mind. As I tilted the wine on its side against a white napkin, the rainbow of reds with a translucent glow around the edge appeared. The different color reds imply that the wine is mature and ready to drink. The translucent edge refers to oldness of the vine (not the wine). The first sip made my mouth salivate. The second sip quenched my thirst. Notes of grass, berries and subtle tannis finally began to develop by the third sip. A great wine worth tasting for $26.

Do you have a wine worth tasting?

Tune in next week when we discuss how to taste tea....

My cup of tea was somewhat weak :( evoking further memories of “Tea”…

Last night, we were at Santa Fe Opera’s production of Donizetti’s “Elixir of Love”, one of the funnest and most melodic operas ever. If you’ve never been to the opera before, this would be a fine place to start… The production was stellar: original, aesthetically beautiful, and superbly executed. But the soloists’ singing left me a bit wanting… which brought back memories of the last time I left the opera here wanting for more – Tan Dun’s Tea opera 2 years ago.

Needless to say, as both an opera and tea lover, and a great admirer of Chinese culture, I had expectations for Tea… Tea, the opera, is set in ancient Japan and China, and tells a tale based on historic facts of erotic love, mystery and intrigue surrounding the chase for the legendary tea master Lu Yu’s Book of Tea. This too, was a superbly professional production by Santa Fe Opera, but the only things that remain in my memory 2 years later are a shrieking E-flat clarinet, great banners of paper being rustled and ripped, and the sound of water being poured in and out of uplit glass bowls.

Like with all artistic endeavors, the outcomes are mixed – from production to production, even from night to night. But with a house having the stature and legacy of Santa Fe Opera, we’ve been thrilled here enough times to know that the outcomes can be world class. With the exception of the amazingly lovely bassoon solo last night in the tenor’s aria, this production left me wanting for more than the warm personality and solid performance of the two male leads. So onwards and upwards to Don Giovanni tonight and La Traviata tomorrow… we’ll be sure to hydrate plenty and caffeinate ourselves before the long evening shows here at 7000 ft altitude with Bolder Breakfast and Earl of Grey Puerh. And here’s to hoping our next “cup of tea” in Santa Fe is stronger! (Image courtesy Santafeopera.org)

Simply Fantastic! A mug to keep stealing coworkers hands at bay!

Ok this may have less to do with tea than I normally blog about, but this is the COOLEST mug I've seen in a while, so I had to share it! This mug actually has a key that can be removed, which produces a hole so that only YOU can drink from it. This mug insures that your coworkers or roomates who can't find their own mug, will keep their grabby hands away from yours! Mug security if you will. I LOVE IT!

The Pressure of Culinary School

Who: Tea Spot Chef

What: Mid-term practical

When: August 18th, 2009 / 6:30-9:30pm 

Where: Culinary School of the Rockies

Why: Because I love to cook & want to learn...

         

It seemed like a simple enough menu, but it was wasn't as easy as I thought...

The Menu:

• Mixed salad & dressing
• Puree of carrot soup
• Mashed potatoes
• Sauté squash
• Seared chicken breast

As I was saying, it seemed simple enough. I even practiced this past weekend. I made the exact menu for 6 of my friends and did such a better job. Of course I didn't have chefs looking over my shoulder critiquing every little thing. I never thought the pressure would get to me, but it all came down to the last 15 minutes. In the end it is all about presentation, attention to detail and being well organized. When under pressure, these are the same things I struggle with outside of the kitchen.

WOW, what a breakthrough!!! I knew I was going to learn how to cook but never thought that culinary school would be such a personal learning experience. 

At the end of the day, I passed my practical. BUT to tell you the truth, the most important part of this experience was understanding that if I learn how to conquer my weakness in the kitchen, I could conquer them out of the kitchen...

One of the hardest things in life is identifying a weakness, which is why I thank chef Michael and Chef Marilyn for bringing them to my attention. The next hardest thing is to own a weakness, but I know if I don't then I won't grow because I can't change. 

That said, I have 8 weeks until my final. I wonder how much I'll change...

Anybody have a similar experience they'd like to share...

Boulder... tea bagging capital of the nation.

I'm a huge fan of Steven Colbert. He's got the driest, most sarcastic delivery of any comedian, ever, rarely breaking character or cracking a smile during delivery of his ridiculous arguments. He's committed to the degree that the first time I saw him, I thought he was actually the pompous conservative political pundit that he plays. I'd go so far as to say that I'm a proud member of his Colbert Nation (his fan base). OK, enough gushing...

Boulder was recently featured in Colbert's "Better know a district" segment, where the host features different political districts around the nation and interviews their congressional reps. In this interview he features Boulder, congressman Jared Polis, and tea bagging. So I thought I'd share...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Even Better-er Know a District - Colorado's 2nd - Jared Polis
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests