hello and bon jour adele

Check out this Bon Jour® model of lovely and transparent style at the Bon Ton:  Inspired by the elegance of Paris, the hand-blown glass teapot, charmingly named Adèle, has a distinctive look and is designed for loose leaf teas.

Something to think about when exchanging the unwanted toaster or putting Visa gift cards into play.

holiday focus

One of the best teas to accompany the onslaught of holiday sweet treats:  Tazo's Well-Being Focus.  Strong but not overbearing, with a blend of black tea, yerba mate, orange essence, cocoa peels, rose petals and rosemary that smells and tastes delicious while also cleansing your palate and getting you ready for more Christmas cookies, fudge, gingerbread, pfeffernuesse, pannetone, lemon squares, figgy pudding, marzipan, cannoli or whatever Yuletide brings your way. 

(A Christmas Carol image from Wikimedia Commons)

bad tea and burning the midnight oil

When I was in college, I lived on a food budget of about $16 per week and along the way developed a bit of an anemia problem, but beyond that I actually managed to drink generic tea.  It was a horrible no-name brand and the teabags had no strings, though not in the eco-conscious way of today's stringless teabags but simply because these were teabags that were awful and completely no-frills.  The tea itself tasted like whatever leaves might have fallen onto the Lipton factory floor along with maybe some sawdust and perhaps loose tobacco or rat droppings.  It was harsh, it was nasty, and it left stains on the cup that I could never get out -- but it was also weirdly addictive.  I drank cup after cup of that bad brew, especially around final exam and term paper time, and every December at what was once semester's end I get an odd craving for that nameless rock bottom-grade tea that I doubt they even serve in prisons.  In fact, I doubt they even make it anymore and I think the FDA pulled it off the shelves in the late 90s, but to me it still has a strange association with independence and knowledge -- and whatever not killing me making me stronger.

Pictured:  Tea Cups -- Juan Gris, 1914

december, vanilla, and cardamom

Somewhere along the line I've collected lots of vanilla tea.  Also somewhere along the line I've collected a jar of cardamom pods, so I thought I'd put the combination to use in semi-latte form.

10 ounces lowfat milk or vanilla soy milk 
2 cardamom pods
2 bags of your favorite vanilla tea or whatever vanilla tea you've collected along the way (I've used Harney's Vanilla Comoro and Bigelow's French Vanilla so far)
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
whipped cream
nutmeg

Pour milk into a small saucepan with cardamom pods and let simmer until it begins to boil and foam.  Remove cardamom pods and discard, then add vanilla teabags and allow them to steep in hot milk for about 3 minutes. Place brown sugar at the bottom of a 10 ounce cup and pour hot tea/milk mixture on top, then stir gently.  Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.   

Regular soy milk does not taste very good in this concoction, i.e., sticking to vanilla soy is probably best.

Pictured:  Columbus Circle, Winter -- Guy Wiggins, 1911 (Smithsonian American Art Museum)

decaf without the bleh

Last year my father was given the kibosh regarding caffeine from his doctor, so since then he's been unhappily drinking decaf coffee.  And unless he's in a restaurant or at someone else's house, he prefers instant to brewed, yet we were both recently agreeing how instant decaffeinated coffee tends to have an "altered" taste.  Vaguely chemical, maybe a little salty or murky, whatever -- but never quite satisfying.  Not exactly blah, but more of an off-putting bleh.  I saw that Starbucks has its own instant decaf Italian Roast, and at first I was a bit nonplussed as to why Starbucks was venturing into the instant market and figuring their coffee quality would be compromised too once it become dry and powdery.  Still, I gave it a try and bought him some of the VIA® Italian Roast for his birthday.  Surprisingly, it really is delicious and robust -- not cheap, but definitely worth the extra quarters to keep caffeine out without losing flavor and intensity.  No bleh, and ideal if you get a craving for a strong cup in the wee hours but don't want to stay wired.

ginger delight

Ginger delight may sound like a stripper's name, but the post is really about a wonderfully delicious ginger tea recipe that, as someone pointed out in the comments, New York Magazine happily persuaded the Balthazar Bakery to share.  Mint, ginger, lemon, honey and a cinnamon stick make up a heady brew that not only tastes great but also helps knock out impending colds or ones that just won't quit.  Highly recommended, especially with winter on its way.

Pictured:  Still-Life with a Late Ming Ginger Jar -- Willem Kalf, 1669 (Indianapolis Museum of Art)

The Red Tea Set -- Hermann Max Pechstein, 1916

stir stir stir

The first time I saw this scene from Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America, I kept waiting for the dramatic reason why Robert De Niro was taking forever to stir his coffee.  (No, it's not a Guinness Book record like the YouTube spoof claims or even 8 hours long, but it was certainly long enough.)  The spoon circled round and round and the suspense built and the questions formed -- did he think it was poisoned?  Was he going to fling it in someone's face?  Was he stalling for time or was it just really hot coffee?

It turned out that De Niro a/k/a Noodles' stirring was a bit of a control thing and not overly integral to the plot, but as an hours-long epic film, the movie had room for expansive coffee and character moments.  Lately my own favorite espresso blend to stir and stir is Ferrara's Café Espresso, originating from NYC's century-old Ferrara Café, a can of which somehow ended up in Chicago for me to buy on sale for $4.99.  I haven't even been using an espresso machine but instead am making big 10 ounce cups with a Melitta drip cone and filter -- it's smooth enough for that method, yet also a nice morning or late afternoon eye-opener.

marching into fall

Halloween pumpkins are for sale at the Farmers' Market, leaves are turning, days are shorter and for the most part cooler -- unless you're experiencing a spell of Indian summer.  But it's definitely fall and that always makes me think of the chapter in Little Women where Jo sneaks up to the attic to enjoy some russet apples and a good read:

...wrapped up in a comforter on an old three-legged sofa by the sunny window. This was Jo's favorite refuge, and here she loved to retire with half a dozen russets and a nice book, to enjoy the quiet and the society of a pet rat who lived near by and didn't mind her a particle.

I think finding some kind of refuge, attic or otherwise, to read or reread Little Women with a cup of hot cider might be equally nice, or even boosting the taste of the cider by dropping in a bag of Bigelow Apple Cider tea.  I don't totally care for this flavor of Bigelow just brewed on its own, but when added to real hot apple cider or even the powdered mix form it takes on a whole other citrusy-spicy dimension.  Not interested in the March sisters or maybe that's a bit too girly a tale?  Perhaps a better choice would be Geraldine Brooks' wonderful Pulitzer Prize winning novel March, which follows Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy's beloved yet absent father through his Civil War odyssey while serving as a chaplain for the Union side.  Not an apple fan?  Try Harney & Sons Cranberry Autumn Black Tea instead, a strong cranberry-orange blend that conjures up thoughts of New England and Mr. March drinking tea and discussing the universe -- or coffee vs. tea -- with his good friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.

curious cucumber

Well, it's been a stretch between posts and how did it become mid-September -- but before summer ends I wanted to take note of a tea that tastes somewhat summery whether hot or cold.  It's Tazo Cucumber White and though it's not new, it's new to me; it's a blend of white tea, lime peel, dandelion leaves, Black Darjeeling, cucumber, peppermint, lemon myrtle, natural flavors and lime essence oil.  I really like its almost herbal, mellow limey taste (and I'm not a white tea fan at all so perhaps the touch of Darjeeling is a boost), but I have noticed that other internet reviews vary from dislike to love to vague confusion.  I think it's good served iced with a wedge of cucumber and honey or a few leaves of fresh basil; also good brewed hot and sipped straight or with honey; and I'd imagine that it's a natural for the teatime favorite of little cucumber sandwiches.  Or this Kraft Tazo Cucumber White Golden Shortbread Recipe sounds rather interesting too....

(Cucumber Image from Wikimedia Commons) 

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. -- Abraham Lincoln

mango delight

The Indian beverage known as the mango lassi has gotten quite popular in recent years, and there are lots of variations on the theme recipe-wise.  Some involve milk, some include sugar, honey or agave, others add rosewater or lime juice or ginger -- but they all have the basic ingredients of mango pulp and yogurt.  As a cardamom person, I put that spice in my version, but I've also seen the cardamom skipped and ground pistachios used instead.  It's up to the individual, and it's a worthwhile and luscious experiment that tastes especially nice after enjoying some fiery Indian food.

1 large or 2 small to medium mangoes

1 cup Greek-style honey or vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup almond milk or vanilla soy milk

1/2 teaspoon powdered cardamom

ice

Cut off all mango flesh and pulp.  Add to yogurt and almond or soy milk in blender; sprinkle in cardamom and puree until smooth.  Pour over ice; makes two servings.

We live in the world when we love it.  -- Rabindranath Tagore

Pictured:  Still Life with Mangoes -- Paul Gauguin

vintage philosophy

A bottle of wine contains more philosophy 
than all the books in the world. -- Louis Pasteur 

Pictured:  Man with a Glass of Wine -- Amedeo Modigliani (ca. 1918)

portrait of a lady grey

The latest tea and a book choice is Henry James' classic Portrait of a Lady and Twinings' classic Lady Grey.  The 1881 novel is full of quirky Jamesian characters and the unusual romantic suitors of Miss Isabel Archer, and the citrusy tea is delicious hot or iced.  And what tea lover could resist this opening paragraph?

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. There are circumstances in which, whether you partake of the tea or not--some people of course never do--the situation is in itself delightful. Those that I have in mind in beginning to unfold this simple history offered an admirable setting to an innocent pastime. The implements of the little feast had been disposed upon the lawn of an old English country-house, in what I should call the perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon. Part of the afternoon had waned, but much of it was left, and what was left was of the finest and rarest quality. Real dusk would not arrive for many hours; but the flood of summer light had begun to ebb, the air had grown mellow, the shadows were long upon the smooth, dense turf. They lengthened slowly, however, and the scene expressed that sense of leisure still to come which is perhaps the chief source of one's enjoyment of such a scene at such an hour...

(Pictured:  The Hour of Tea, Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1914)

sober but still spirited sangria

For those of us lucky enough to live near supermarkets that are turning more Hispanic in food offerings, you're probably going to be able to find wonderfully grapey-sangría flavors of soda made by Goya or Señorial.  The latter comes from Mexico, and the former from Secaucus, New Jersey.  Drinking this soda straight is a little too sweet for me, but I like to use it to make non-alcoholic sangría.  Just in case you're craving sangría but still want to keep a clear head -- and the fun thing about the Señorial version is that it seems to taste slightly more fermented and alcohol-based, even though it's not.  You'll need: 

1.58 quart bottle of Señorial Sangría flavored soda or 3 12 ounce bottles of Goya Sangría soda (pre-chilled)

One 12 ounce can of orange, lemon or lime seltzer water (pre-chilled)
A good-sized navel orange
2 small limes
6 ice cubes
About one and a half cups of sliced fresh fruit -- like grapes, peaches, strawberries, melon, cherries -- whatever you prefer

Combine sangría soda, seltzer water and ice in a 2 quart pitcher.  Add the juice of one lime, then save the other lime for garnish.  Cut the orange in two and squeeze the juice of one half into the pitcher with the other liquids.  Cut the remaining sections from the other half of the orange and add to the pitcher along with the rest of the fresh fruit.  Refrigerate for another 10 minutes and then serve in glasses garnished with wedges from the remaining lime.

¡Mucho gusto! -- and the hotter the weather, the better this seems to taste.

colorful café

Turkish Café II  -- August Macke, 1914

when life gives you meyer lemons

...perhaps contemplate a tartly fragrant cup or chilled glass of Stash Meyer Lemon herbal tea and/or even enter Stash's Meyer Lemon Tea recipe contest.  Categories are for Savory, Sweet and Beverage recipes, and the prizes are appropriately worthwhile.  The tea itself combines an appealing blend of lemongrass and Meyer lemon oil, rosehips, orange peel and hibiscus -- while the deadline for any contest entries is June 17th.

(Pictured:  The Lemon -- Edouard Manet, 1880)

mulled and feisty

Since we're stuck in hopefully one of the last cold and chilly spells in Chicago before summer arrives, I figured it was time to fire up the kettle and try another cup of Loyd Tea's Mulled Wine Tea with Honey and/or Grzaniec Kozacki.  I had this a couple of months ago and found it a bit harsh, but now with some additional honey and an appropriate windy rainy 40 degree temperature backdrop, it was a unique but not unwelcome taste.  The box that the tea comes in reveals various things -- that it's a Polish brand, that fur-hatted cossacks seem to be  involved, and that it has a rooibos base with cinnamon and apple and "a hint" of alcohol.   I can buy this tea around the corner but for others it might be difficult to find; I did, however, come across this sweetpoland.com website which sells the Mulled Wine and Honey Loyd flavor and wonderfully describes it as being like "Polish gentry - exuberant, dissolute, swaggering and eager for a brawl." 

ginger and fizz

Fentiman's Ginger Beer is a carbonated tonic made with ginger, of course, along with other delightful natural things like pear juice, yarrow and juniper.  Fentiman's is a British company but their refreshingly unique beverages are available at places like Cost Plus World Market in the States (or the "former Colonies" as their North American website reminds us), should you wish to sample Fentiman's Ginger Beer or Curiosity Cola, or perhaps their Shandy or Victorian Lemonade.  I've noticed that some people and the Fentiman's website describe this drink as pleasantly pungent, with a "tickle and burn" effect, but that taste is nothing compared to the more intense assault of Goya's Jamaican Ginger Beer.  That's a total ginger mule kick with some spicy pepper thrown in for good measure, and I would say it's really only for true ginger fans like me who want to feel the fire and/or who can't resist the colorful parrot on the bottle.  

wonder if she's drinking russian caravan

Pictured:  The Tea Merchant's Wife (Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev, 1918)

beans and dreams

Second Chance Coffee Company in Wheaton, Illinois offers a variety of amazingly delicious, rich roasts under its I Have a Bean brand -- and it also offers the promised second chance by employing and helping to transition ex-offenders following release from the State of Illinois prison system.  The positive purpose as noted on Second Chance's website is to end "[t]he cycle of recidivism" that often plagues former prisoners, and to stop the "ubiquitous tale of wasted lives and victimized communities" by creating an extended network of employment, reeducation and counseling.

You may not live in Wheaton or even close to it, but you can order on-line and help support this worthwhile venture while purchasing some excellent coffee blends.  The smell of the coffee alone is an alertly intoxicating experience -- and consider yourself warned that if you make one order, you're probably going to want more.

makioka and genmaicha

In support of Japan's struggle to overcome its recent tragedies, the latest Tea and a Book selection here is Junichiro Tanizaki's novel The Makioka Sisters along with Harney & Sons's Genmaicha.  The Makioka Sisters began as a serial novel in 1943 and details the saga of the four young women of the Makioka family and their various paths in love and life.  Tanizaki was born in 1886 and throughout his twenties was fascinated by American and Western culture.  Following the sobering devastation of the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, however, he began to appreciate more native Japanese traditions and to include them in his literary works.  Genmaicha is a green tea blend with rice kernels roasted right along with the Bancha leaves, pairing both integral elements of the Japanese diet.  The pace of The Makioka Sisters is slow and carefully crafted with detail -- and it's definitely not a racy page-turner.  A feminine mindset obviously dominates the plot, but there is something richly steeped and curiously compelling about the book that lends itself to the Genmaicha tea as well. 

Japan continues to reel from the horrors of the quake, tsunami and nuclear complications; the country is resilient and resourceful, but still clearly in distress.  America's outpouring of aid has been strong, though, and in reading The Makioka Sisters it's remarkable and encouraging to reflect how even though Japan was once a mortal enemy of the United States, there is that mutual support now -- just as Japan came to America's aid following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

(Pictured:  The Makioka Sisters, Junichiro Tanizaki (Vintage Books edition, 1995)

the fifth element and/or warm, comfortable drinks

"

"In lecturing on cookery, as on housebuilding, I divide the subject into, not four, but five grand elements:  first, Bread; second, Butter; third, Meat; fourth, Vegetables; and fifth, Tea—by which I mean, generically, all sorts of warm, comfortable drinks served out in teacups, whether they be called tea, coffee, chocolate, broma, or what not. I affirm that, if these five departments are all perfect, the great ends of domestic cookery are answered, so far as the comfort and well-being of life are concerned."  Harriet Beecher Stowe -- Household Papers and Stories, Ch. 10 (1864)

Pictured: Mate, Coffee, Cocoa and Tea Plant (New World Encyclopedia, 1902)

mardi gras treat

Cafe Brulot involves coffee, sugar, orange peel, lemon peel, cloves, cinnamon, orange liqueur, brandy and perhaps a fire extinguisher.  Skilfully ignited before serving, the resulting tastes are deep, citrusy and delicious, along with the exciting drama of setting something culinary on fire -- but of course proceed with equal parts caution and adventure.  Here is Saveur Magazine's recipe for cafe brulot, along with another Saveur on-line feature for Six Classic New Orleans Drink Recipes.

Pictured:  Woman Seated on a Balcony, New Orleans -- (Edgar Degas, 1872)

fortune telling

What soggy wisdom lies at the bottom of your cup?  Check out Madame Z's cyber Victorian-style reading of the tea leaves and dictionary of symbols here.

Pictured:  Tea Leaves (William McGregor Paxton, 1909)

the lime in winter

While most of the world around you is sniffling and snuffling with winter colds and sipping hot beverages, why not mentally travel elsewhere (like an island paradise) via a hot steamy shower and a glass of the following limey iced green tea?  (Coconut oil lotion and sounds of the rainforest and/or tropical beach waves CD backdrop highly encouraged.)

1 large glass full of ice
1 cup strongly steeped green tea
1 tablespoon raw sugar or 1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 
lime wedge

Add lime juice to the green tea and stir.  Pour over ice and garnish with lime wedge; sweeten with raw sugar or honey to taste.

how do I love thee...let me count the tea leaves

Harney & Sons Valentine's Tea weds black tea, chocolate and rose flavors into a blend that I personally like quite a bit, though I have seen a similar reaction noted by one of the reviewers on the Harney website, i.e., that it seems to be a tea which you'll either love or not love at all.  A simple thing to keep in mind, however, is that the blend includes rose petals, so if you are averse to rosebuds or flowery notes in your cup, this is not the tea for you.  Otherwise you'll most likely find it very special and Valentine romantic -- not just on February 14th, but perhaps even all year round.

(Pictured:  Psyche -- William Adolphe Bouguereau)

rabbit ready

Are you ready for the Chinese New Year Year of the Rabbit's arrival this week?  Rabbits seem quiet yet quick, charming, and obviously very prolific.  These Tea-Steeped Eggs from Twinings of London might add to your Chinese New Year's party menu, taking hard-boiled eggs and soaking them overnight in black tea along with star anise flavoring and a nice dose of salt for good measure.   

tea and the little black cat

When the tea is brought at five o'clock,
And all the neat curtains are drawn with care,
The little black cat with bright green eyes,
Is suddenly purring there....

Poetry:  Harold Munro
Artwork:  John White Alexander

bathing with the green fairy

If you're intrigued by yet still a bit wary of absinthe and/or you don't have time to reenact the whole Johnny Depp From Hell bathtub scene, then perhaps this absinthe soap is for you.  From PerpetualKid.com, it comes in a lovely pale green tin with green fairies dancing upon it, and it lets you inhale the heady scent of absinthe-scented suds while keeping a clear head.  Absinthe was of course referred to as the green fairy back in its day, because of its distinctive color and how it could lift you out of the mundane.  Yet sometimes if you drank too of the green fairy she might have turned into a green harpy, like in this 1895 featured art by A. Maignan.   Maignan's title was The Green Muse but their relationship looks a little worrisome to me, and it also seems like it's time for Monsieur Writer/Poet to put down the bottle and clean up that messy workspace.

verona and its caffè

I was happy to be gifted with some Starbucks Caffè Verona this Christmas, described on the package as a full-bodied blend of Latin American and Asia/Pacific coffees, with Italian Roast...added for depth.  And that's where they get me, with the Italian Roast part.  I can't quite relate to the further description of it being the flavor of a fire-roasted marshmallow after you pull off the darkened cap, mainly because in my campfire days I was always very meticulous about only toasting marshmallows to a pale golden brown and not roasting them in the least.  And since I've been drinking it in the morning, I'm not following Starbucks' suggestion of enjoying Caffè Verona with "[c]hocolate truffles and dinner guests."  But it is pleasantly addictive! 

"How use doth breed a habit in a man!" -- Two Gentlemen of Verona, Wm. Shakespeare

Pictured:  View of Verona and the River Adige from the Ponte Nuovo (Bernardo Bellotto, 1747)

new york's finest

One of the things that's always made New York special is the simply distinctive, blue, gold and white Grecian-style paper coffee cup that first appeared on the scene in the early 1960s.  Called the Anthora, it was originally designed by Leslie Buck for the Sherri Cup Co., and although Mr. Buck passed away this past April, his cup lives on in paper form--and in a more enduring version at the Museum of Modern Art store and various other on-line venues.  I grew up seeing many an Anthora tossed into a garbage can, ironically at the same Long Island Railroad train station where Mr. Buck made his NY home.  I'm sure he saw all his discarded designs as well, but hopefully he just took it as a sign of his mass consumption success and felt good about how his cups brightened the mornings of so many Manhattan-bound commuters in need of a stylishly served dose of caffeine.