Kukicha ~ Twig Tea

Our morning cup of tea has been this lovely Kukicha, or Twig Tea, from Japan.  A gift from my pen pal, my sister and I have been starting our day with this delightful tea.  Utilizing every part of the Camellia sinensis plant, this Japanese green tea, with its fresh grassy fragrance, is made up of stems, stalks, and twigs and produces a mellow cup of green tea.  Slightly lower in caffeine than most green teas, Kukicha yields a light, slightly vegetal brew with a pale green color.

Recommended steeping suggestions: use 1 heaping tsp. per cup, with a water temperature of 180 degrees. Steep for 2 to 3 minutes. This tea is perfect for multiple infusions, so save those stems and stalks, and enjoy them over and over again. Typically, I have been steeping the same leaves (twigs) three times. Each subsequent cup of tea is more mellow, but very pleasant. 

Tea cup Thursday

Alas, there are no markings on this richly decorated tea cup.  Just a beautiful design on a simply elegant tea cup.  Some of you have commented on this pretty tea towel that has been the background for several of our tea cups.  The towel is a linen/cotton mix, offered by Kay Dee Designs many years ago.  It was Made in Poland, but printed in the United States.  My intent was to have it framed at one point, but that hasn't happened yet, and now most of my wall space is otherwise committed.  It says 'Tea Time' at the bottom of the towel, and then the pattern is as shown, with the names of a wide variety of tea flavors and accompanying tea pots and cups.

Wave Hill, NYC

In late September we took one of our famous Traveling Herb Seminars to the Bronx, New York. Our second destination on this bus trip featured  Wave Hill  a 28 acre plot that was once considered a "country retreat"  boasting former residents like Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt. 

This now urban oasis features overflowing flower gardens, herb gardens, alpine gardens and many more all planted together with an artist's mastery of composition, color and texture and with a great vista of the Hudson river as well.

 

The Head Gardener displays his sense of whimsy in this paisley plot complete with relaxing chairs and beverages.    We loved the way the herbs were labeled and some of the unusual varieties of herbs grown.  Wave Hill is certainly worth a visit.

Isn't this planted chair just adorable? 

New York Botanic Garden

We typically schedule two bus trips to unique destinations each year.  This past fall, The Traveling Herb Seminar to the Bronx Beauties, took us first to the New York Botanical Garden.  This 250 acre garden features over 50 diverse gardens including the rose garden, perennial garden, and children's adventure garden. 
The herb garden photographed here has the gorgeous conservatory as its backdrop.

 The Victorian conservatory was built in 1902 and features 11 gardens including the rainforest, orchid, and cactus gardens. 

After our intrepid travelers meandered through the grounds of the New York Botanic Garden, they stopped by the pavillion to gather their basket lunch prepared by Sweet Remembrances. The menu featured French Style Cheese Spread and Crackers, a Marinated Beef and Sun Dried Tomato Salad, Parmesan Tortellini Salad, Flavortop Muffins and Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Cedar! Nine!

Packin' a whole lot of livin' in 9 years!

and from Harney & Sons...

Another quick purchase, a sampler pack of four assorted black teas, was made while the majority of the group was heading out the door towards the next destination. Each tin holds about an ounce of tea, and features samples from Africa, Ceylon, India, and China.The descriptive information on each tin captures your imagination and entices you to sit down and sample each tea to discover whether you can discern the toasty flavors of the black tea from the Northern Fujian Province or whether you can detect the honey notes in the light bodied Temi Sikkim tea, processed in Darjeeling style or the hint of minty spice in the high grown Ceylon Pekoe from the Uva Highlands. There are many natural flavors to discover in the abundance of black teas being produced in the tea growing region, and this sampler pack is only a mere speck of the world of black tea. 

One of the notations that I appreciate on the Harney tins is their scale of Briskness, Body, and Aroma that they have designated to the teas. On a scale of 0 - 5, they rate the tea by these categories so that the consumer is aware of the particular characteristics of that tea. For example, Livingstonia GFOP, the full leaf black tea from Tanzania has a briskness of 3, body of 2, and aroma of 2; compared to the high grown Ceylon Pekoe from the Uva Highlands which has a rating of 4 in all three categories. It's just another little guideline to help you begin your tea tasting journey and discover the different types and varieties of teas, all within the group labeled, black teas.

Souvenir Shopping

Somewhere in the planning stages for our New York weekend excursion, we apparently forgot to mention that we might enjoy some shopping. So, alas, souvenirs were limited to what we might discover during any stop before we headed out on our trek through the city.  Thankful to have discovered a tea shop, I knew there was something I might purchase quickly without holding up the group!
This little collection of bookmarks was spotted in the Ten Ren Tea shop we visited. Probably one of the best bargains in NYC at only 3 for $1.00, I now wish I had purchased more to share with friends! The front of each bookmark depicts a different  tea type, Long gin, tung ting oolong, pouchong, white, and Pu-Erh along with a relevant photo. The reverse side of the bookmark features some information pertaining to the tea type, and brewing instructions or additional little hints and tips.

These are simply fun!  Perfect to tuck into a book to discover and enjoy over and over again!

Tea Cup Thursday

Time for another Tea Cup Thursday ~ still another treasure from this past Christmas! This delicate floral tea cup is hand painted and marked Lefton China on the bottom of the cup.

Almost too pretty to use!  Almost!

Please do visit Miss Spenser and others today to discover the wide variety of beautiful tea cups they are featuring on this Tea Cup Thursday.  

Tea Tasting - Darjeeling

Inspired by the use of the Tea Taster's Set while in Harney's Tasting Room, when I returned home I decided to break out my set and use it to sample a lovely First Flush Darjeeling from Glenburn Estate, hand carried from India by Steph of Steph's Cup of Tea and offered as a prize for participating in a writing prompt on her blog.


The tea is placed in the larger cup, filled with water at the appropriate temperature and brewed as recommended (Steph suggested 200 degrees, 3 minutes), and covered with the lid.  When the brewing time is complete, the lid is held tightly while the tea is poured out through the little riveted edge so the tea leaves remain in the steeping vessel.  Smell the wet leaves, savor the beautiful color of the brew, and sip (slurp) the sample from the cup.

Shown here are the wet leaves (left) and the dry leaves (right) for comparison.The dry leaf of the First Flush Darjeeling from Glenburn Tea Estate had a very fresh, very green fragrance to it. Darjeeling teas are considered the "champagne of Indian teas".  Personally, I noted a very light flavor to the tea with a touch of astringency accompanied with a floral note, almost an orchid-like sweetness to it.  There are many factors involved in brewing a tea, from the type of water used, the amount of leaf, and length of brewing time, that the next time I brew this tea, there might be subtle differences noted, and if you were to brew this sample, your tasting notes might differ.  That's okay! It's pretty subjective.  It is a very pleasant tea, and exciting to know that it was hand carried from the source.  Thank you so much for sharing your tea, Steph!  Stephanie has been sharing her travel journeys on her blog, and just recently shared her initial impressions of India.  Please visit Steph's blog and tell her Rosemary sent you!

Harney & Sons Tasting Room

In addition to the Flight of Teas sampling being offered, while at the Tasting Room, you are able to select one tea of your choice to sample.  Tough choice!  The two young foreign exchange students traveling with our group were eager to make a selection.  Eero (from Finland) selected Sally's Secret, an aromatic blend of Earl Grey combined with rose petals while Adam (from the Czech Republic) opted for a Ceylon from Kenilworth Garden north of the Dimbula area. 

The tea specialist quickly went about brewing the selections in pristine white taster's cups, using the proper temperature and allowing the tea to steep for the required time.  It's probably a good thing I don't live close by, or I'd be selecting a different tea to sample each day.  Wonder how long it would take to go through their wide assortment of teas?  Oh, but think of the fun!

Harney & Sons Fine Teas

When Harney & Sons announced that they were opening a tasting bar in Manhattan in November of last year, I knew that this would be an attainable destination.  We accomplished that goal this past weekend! This tony establishment located in the trendy district of SoHo is a must-see for any tea enthusiast.  Situated at 433 Broome Street, we welcomed the opportunity to step inside out of the wicked cold and poke around this specialty location.

From the rows and rows of tea tins that require a ladder to reach, to the artsy TEA sign, there was no doubt what was available to sample and/or purchase here. On this day, the Flight of Teas that were featured included a lovely variety of green teas, including Anji Baicha (a Chinese green with a light herbal honey flavor), Snow Dragon (light and sweet), and Bi Lo Chun (a light bodied green with woodsy and fruit notes).

The tea specialists, anxious to please and share their knowledge, were happy to pour a sampling of the green teas.  The three assorted flavors were lined up behind the clear glass jars that displayed a sampling of the dry leaf.  If you look closely, you can observe the difference in the leaf and also in the various shades of the brewed tea.  It truly is a study!  Snow Dragon was my tea of choice, a delicately sweet brew with a light floral note. 

Ginseng at TenRen's Tea Shop

Ten Ren's Tea Shop is an Asian Company so it came as no surprise to me to see pounds of Ginseng roots available for purchase. Ginseng is a famous Chinese herb and they had several varieties (both Chinese and American) and grades of roots.   It is a very slow growing perennial.  In fact is is so slow growing United Plant Savers encourages planting and restoring the American Ginseng in our country.  Ginseng has many amazing uses.  It can decrease stress, increase performance, increase energy, enhance memory, and stimulate the immune system.  It has been studied for diabetes and heart disease.  It is credited with restoring youth.  Use it by slicing a piece of root and eating it raw.  Add a slice of root to soup and simmer for hours, or add it to stir fry.  As a tea, the root is reused for 2 to 3 Cups.