Author Archives: artandtea

Saturday Morning Tea

Good morning to you, tea friends, on this searing hot summer’s day here in New England. I feel like something light this morning so I brewed up a pot of a very unique white tea from the Tinderet estate in Kenya. I’ve never had a white African tea before. Isn’t the leaf gorgeous with all of those fine downy white hairs?

This tea leaf was grown in the Lelsa subdistrict of Tinderet which is located in the Rift Valley province of Kenya. Wikipedia describes a Rift Valley as follows:

“A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault.”

As with all white teas, the new growth is plucked and then allowed to wither to reduce its moisture content. A heating process follows to halt the natural oxidation of the leaf which would turn it dark.

A gentle 3 minute steep in 180 degree F water reveals small pointed leaves that have curled into tiny swords.

The light aroma reminds me of biscuits.

The straw yellow liquor has a delicate flavor with fruity hints and, yes, a hint of eucalyptus there.

Oh so silky smooth with a sweetness that lingers.

As the temperature outside rises and my tea cools, I wonder what it would taste like iced…

Enjoy this beautiful weekend. I leave you with one of my favorite Rilke quotes.

“If only it were possible for us to see farther than our knowledge reaches, and even a little beyond the outworks of our presentiment, perhaps we would bear our sadnesses with greater trust than we have our joys. For they are the moments when something new has entered us, something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy embarrassment, everything in us withdraws, a silence arises, and the new experience, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it all and says nothing.”

~Rainer Maria Rilke

Saturday Morning Tea

This morning I felt like having something fresh and clear and green so I turned to a spring harvest Japanese Sencha called Uji Shincha.  The word “shincha” literally translates to “new tea”, referring to the harvest of only tender young spring shoots to produce this wonderful tea.

The dry leaf reminds me of dark, glossy grass clippings. It gives off a fresh, sweet aroma as I open the sample packet in preparation to make the tea.

For steeping this very special leaf, I used my Yokode Kyusu, commonly known as a Sencha teapot, with the handle being on the side of the teapot. The Japanese word for teapot is kyusu.

As the leaf is very tender, I steeped it for only 40 seconds in 175 degree F water.

There is a fine mesh screen on the inside of the spout so I could steep the leaves directly in the water.

The aroma is fresh and vegetal like new asparagus shoots. The spring green liquor tastes quite vegetal with an interesting bittersweet quality that is best described as umami. The best word to describe umami is savory.

This tea really wakes up my tongue with its intensely fresh, savory flavor.

I’ve so enjoyed my time off this past week, spending a lot of it trying out some new jewelry ideas in my studio. I’ve also been working on finishing the painting in my guest bedroom by finally tackling the molding in there. I’m pleased to say that it’s almost done! I have a household to-do list tacked to my fridge and have slowly but surely been crossing things off as my time and budget allows. Do you have one of those lists?

Enjoy this beautiful weekend, dear tea friends!

“Take control of your destiny. Believe in yourself. Ignore those who try to discourage you. Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits. Don’t give up and don’t give in.”

~Wanda Carter, writer

Return to the Guild and ATCs

A couple of Saturdays ago I was delighted to attend a meeting of the Rhode Island Polymer Clay Guild, or RIPCG, for short. I had become a member back in the fall of 2002 and happily went to the monthly meetings until around 2008-2009 when I had to turn all of my focus onto my unsettled personal life. Now that I’m all settled in my new place (6 months now!) and am feeling more grounded and balanced in my life again, I can bring art group fun back into my life. Yay!

My dear friend, Judy, mixed media queen extraordinaire, showed us how to create and embellish ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), using polymer clay, rubber stamps, paints, markers and a fabulous little invention called Stickles, better known as glitter glue. Oh, be still my heart! You can see Judy’s tutorial here. She’s an amazing teacher, so patient and inspiring. If you’re in the E. Bridgewater, MA area, she gives classes at the Scrapbook Cupboard. Her next class is in Sept. on how to make polymer clay buttons. Check it out!

Lookie, lookie, what we made.

Aren’t they fabulous?!!

The ladies put together a delicious pot luck lunch and we ate and chatted and then ate some more.

Words can’t describe my joy at being back with this gifted, creative group of artists who all inspire me so much. Their talents are many, including Chinese brush painting, Zentangles, acrylic painting, beading, pottery, quilting and knitting. And, of course, polymer clay!

As I painted my little pieces, I felt my heart sing. There’s something about painting that really gets my creative juices flowing.

I started envisioning how I could bring this fun into some jewelry pieces. Starting with my clown pendant pictured at the beginning of this post, I am expanding that vision into components for bracelets, necklaces and earrings. What do you think?

Stay tuned for how this idea shapes and evolves…

“As we give fully, unafraid to let others know the truth about ourselves, we receive unexpected rewards from unexpected sources.”

~Helene Lerner-Robbins, writer

Saturday Morning Tea

Today is the first day of my 9-day vacation and I am savoring the first moments of this day with a cup of dark, rich Ceylon tea from the Ceciliyan estate.

I have read that the Ceciliyan estate is located right on the edge of a tropical rain forest in the southwest Ruhuna district of Sri Lanka. This unique micro climate produces tea leaf yielding a thick caramel-y cup of tea. Its “spider leg” leaf style, designated as FBOPF Ex. Spl., results in a tea that has notes reminding me of a China black tea. I’ve written about another “spider leg” tea here.

Steeping the leaves for 4 minutes in boiling point water produces a deep amber colored liquor. Its syrupy sweet aroma greets me as I lift out the infuser basket.

Interesting. The wet leaf has an aroma of artichoke and fig.

With my first sip, I taste bitter chocolate with hints of a dark, tart berry. Its lively astringency fills my mouth and lingers there.

Either a shorter steeping time, say 3 minutes, or a dash of milk would smooth out the astringency, if you prefer.

As I drink my second cup, I listen to the music from the Pride and Prejudice movie soundtrack and I am whisked away to another time. A time when ladies wore long dresses and sipped tea from tiny, fragile teacups. I love Jane Austen’s stories.

Happy 234th Birthday to this great nation of ours. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

“We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” ~last paragraph, Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson

Saturday Morning Tea

This morning’s tea was actually started last night. In honor of my visit to the Rhode Island Polymer Clay guild meeting today, I steeped up some iced decaf chai tea to share with the group. I talked about this flavored spice tea and made the hot tea version here.

First, I started with two 10-cup Chatsford teapots. I love these teapots. They come in 4 different sizes, each with a plastic and very fine mesh infuser basket. This largest size is perfect for steeping tea for a crowd.

Taking into consideration the later addition of ice and possibly milk and also because I wanted the tea to be extra spicy, I used a heaping teaspoon of leaves and spices for every 6 ounces of water. After inserting the basket into the teapot, I spooned the tea into each teapot’s infuser basket and then added cold water. You want to add water up until this line. Any higher and the tea leaves could possibly spill into the teapot through that notch opening and defeat the convenience of the basket. Place the teapots in the fridge and wait til the next morning.

This morning I removed the baskets. Now how simple is that?

I saved an empty gallon water jug and just poured the tea from both teapots into the jug.

I placed the jug into a cooler with a small plastic bucket of ice, a bit of milk in my Kleen Kanteen and agave for sweetener and I’m ready to go!

At the meeting, my dear friend, Judy, will be showing us how to make ATCs using polymer clay, paint, rubber stamps, colored pencils and glitter. You can see her tutorial here. A fun Art Day!

“When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body?” ~Helen Keller