Tozy Tea Blog Moving to www.tozytea.com/blog

To make it easier for you, our readers, to visit both our website and blog, we're going to be posting new blog entries at the blog on our own domain.  Our content here on Blogger will remain, but our new entries will be there.

We're glad that you have followed us here.  We'll continue to bring you the same good information about tea, tea accessories, and tea events at the new blog.

Cheers!

The Process

So you may have already read our previous blog on how we select our teas. Now, we will take you on the rest of the tour to learn more about the finishing process. So hold on to your seats here we give you rest of the tour..

After we find we our new teas, we move forward with the labels. Here we think about names. The name, we feel should reflect the tea and its characteristics. Sometimes the naming of a tea takes constant contemplation for a long time. Yet other times the name just pops out, such as with our Up North!. After Chris had tasted this tea and said he agreed we had to sell it, he said, “It's so Up North!” That's how Up North! Got its name. Of course there are still some teas where you just don't mess with name, such as English Breakfast or Earl Grey. In many ways naming a tea is like naming a child. You want to make sure the name is a perfect fit.

Then it's off to visit our graphic artist. He does a fantastic job! We sit down with him and give him the information for the new labels. Everything that must be adjusted is changed, such as water temperature, steeping time, name, description, list of ingredients and sometimes the outlying color is changed too.

Once we approve all changes and updates, the labels are sent to the label makers, who in turn forward proofs for us to see. After we have given the okay the labels are printed and then sent to Tozy Tea. 

Of course, then there are all of the updates that are made to the website, too. Some decisions are easy. If a new tea is a green tea, it goes under the green tea banner. Other items, such as the new teapot that we will be selling involves more thought, product placement.

As you can see, the job of introducing new teas and new items is quite a process, but you know, we love it!

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How We Select Our Teas

In just a few weeks we will launch our newest teas. For us, it is an extremely exciting process and one that we take very seriously, too. But what goes into this process and how is it done?

The first step, we listen to our customers. We want to know what kind of teas you want us to carry. If people ask for a certain tea, we will look into it. We also keep a running tally of teas that people are looking for. For example, one weekend last November, over 50 people asked is we carried a specific tea, We didn't have it, but looked into it right away. Unfortunately, this particular tea contained large pieces of other ingredients that were too large to be put into the pyramid sachets. That being said, we still have not given up, as we may possibly sell it as a loose leaf in the future.

The second step is quality. Our tea must be premium luxury tea. It must taste, smell, and look fantastic. If the tea doesn't pass the quality tests, we won't sell it, period.

Another step is figuring out what teas people will like, before they have ever heard of it or even tried it. This gets complicated, as everyone has different tastes. For example, some people like unflavored teas, whereas others prefer flavored,whereas still others are looking for an infusion, containing no tea leaves whatsoever.

Then there are the combinations for different blends, too. There are some blends out there where you know they will taste great and still others where you might say, “Really, this is supposed to taste good?” Then after you taste it, you find out it is fantastic. An example of this would be our Brahms Lullaby infusion. When you first read the ingredients and see things like oat straw, hops, passion flower, mixed with other ingredients and you get that thought of, “Really?!?”. Even with the interesting combination of ingredients Brahms Lullaby tastes really, really fantastic.

So you can see that that there is a lot of thought that is put into selecting teas.  We want you to have the very best teas and  tea experiences possible.   So the next time you have your cup of tea, remember that that cup of tea was designed for your pure enjoyment.  

If you have any suggestions as to teas you would like for us to carry, please contact us.  We will look into your suggestions.

Cheers!

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City by the Bay

 The city by the bay has been mentioned in songs and reminds people that San Francisco is a city that rocks (not an earthquake reference, but it does fit), and that people should wear a flower in their hair.

It is certainly true that the city of San Francisco never stops. Everyone and everything seems to be in a constant state of motion. However, that being said, some areas exist with an energized calm, such as last weeks San Francisco International Tea Festival. 

The festival consisted of exhibitors, workshops, and tea tasting sessions. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the exhibitors, people from Glenburn Tea Estate tea tasting, and volunteers were all extremely phenomenal people. Everyone who had a hand in this event is to be congratulated for a job well done.

In all, there were eight tea tasting sessions that all sounded fabulous. Due to time constraints we were only able to go to one tea tasting session. We would have loved to attended other tastings with Sky Tea, Jade Mountain Teas, and Yunnan Teas.

The seminars also looked very interesting. The three that particularly caught our attention were History of Tea in the U.S., Great Teas of Japan, and The Full Cycle of Gung Fu Tea. Again, any of the seminars would have been great to attend, as you can always learn something new, even if you already know a lot about the subject matter.

In all, we sampled eight teas during the tea tasting session and another 20 teas from the vendors. We also enjoyed three samples of chocolate and 3 or 4 different kinds of ginger ale produced by Bruce
Cost Gingerale, some of which contained tea. Very tasty, indeed.

San Francisco is the perfect place for a tea festival. Think about it, San Francisco has always been the gateway to the west. There are many people that have come from literally all over the world to this city and made it their home. Look at a map of San Francisco and you will find Little Italy, Chinatown, and Japan town. All of these groups of people helped California become the beautiful state that it is today.

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St Patrick's Day

     Erin Go Bragh! If you are Irish you may hear this many times this weekend as St. Patrick's Day rolls around on Sunday. When you think about St Patrick's Day, what images do you conger up in your mind? Maybe it's corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. Maybe you think about parties and Guinness beer. Perhaps, you think about those mischievous little Leprechauns that like to make a mess of things, such as a classroom. For some reason, they always left a really big mess in my classroom after recess. Hmm, can't figure that one out... :-) Sometimes, we could even hear them in the Parish Hall, giggling and laughing. The students would get very excited. Hmm... ;-) Maybe, you and your family even review the story of St. Patrick. However you celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I've found that it always goes well with a nice cup of tea. 

     Now we are not Irish, but it is fun to enjoying the festivities. We'll probably enjoy some nice Earl Grey tea with scones for breakfast. For dinner, it will be easy, corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. This is super easy because I've already prepared the corned beef. There's not much left to do, just heat and eat.

So watch out for those little Leprechauns looking for gold. They can be tricky little creatures. Who knows, maybe you'll even see one this St. Patrick's Day. Good Luck!  May the luck of the Irish be with you.

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Darjeeling in San Francisco

Earlier this week we were in San Francisco, attending the 2^nd Annual San Francisco International Tea Festival. There were many wonderful exhibitors with their wares at this festival. It took us a two hours to check out the exhibits. Unfortunately, there were items downstairs that we never got to see as we ran out of time. However, we felt very fortunate to have met so many wonderful people at this event.

We had signed up for a Darjeeling tea tasting and were not only very eager to taste these teas, but also to meet with the Glenburn Tea Estate people themselves, and to learn more about the Glenburn Darjeeling teas. Sidhant Prakash was one of the two speakers for this tasting. Both speakers were very knowledgeable and a joy to talk too.

Before we started tasting eight teas, we were given a little background information that was fun to absorb. First of all it takes 1,000 leaves to make a pound of ready to steep tea. Sixty percent of all of the work is done by hand, of which all of their tea is handpicked. When it comes to picking tea by hand, it is not as easy as it looks. Tea requires an exact plucking technique. The plucker wants of course to only get the first two leaves and a bud, not the stem. 

Tea is effected by soil and climate. Tea from the Glenburn estate is grown on the western slopes of the Darjeeling mountains between 1,000 and 5,000 feet.

One tidbit of knowledge that I learned was that teas harvested during Monsoon season (July-September) have a much mellower taste due to the over abundance of water. When the plant gets less water, it stresses out a bit and has a stronger tea taste. This occurs during the harvest; March to June and October thru November.

The winter months are used to prune the tea plants and perform many other tasks that cannot be done during the harvest season, one of which will be working on an irrigation system.

Of the eight teas that we tasted with Glen burn Tea Estates, there were three that really stood out for us. First, was a lovely white tea called Moonshine, which had a lovely citrusy taste, a light liquor, and finished well on the tongue. It was very tasty. This tea is harvested in March at the beginning of the tea season. Our second favorite tea was a white tea, Silver Needle. Silver Needle is harvested during the Monsoon season and therefore has a much more mellow taste. I found the aroma to be wonderfully intoxicating. The tea liquor had a lovely light appearance and finish on the tongue was smooth and buttery. The other tea which we both favored was the Autumn Oolong, which is harvested in November. The Autumn Oolong had a wonderful aroma and a coloury liquor. It had a wonderful crisp sensation in the mouth and left a nice lingering taste. 

It was sad to leave the San Francisco International Tea Festival and the Bay Area, but hopefully we will return sooner rather than later. There is always joy in hoping of a return trip. I'm already planning what we would do the next time we visit. Of course, tea is always in the plan. How could it not be?

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Off the Beaten Path

When people go to tea while traveling, there will be those who head for the lavish settings, some go to known tea rooms in large cities, while still others head off the beaten track and find a small local place along a country road.

Many years ago, while my mom and I were traveling in Ireland, I can't tell you how many times we would pull off the road when it would start to rain and quickly scamper into a tea room in a little village. We always felt that hot tea went very well with the rain. At least, that was our excuse.

Besides the great tea and yummy scones, we always found the people to be so warm and personable. One woman spoke to us for over two hours. It is amazing how much you can learn from speaking with the locals over tea. As mom and I drank our tea and ate the wonderful snacks, we learned the ins and outs of the area along with the ideas people had proposed that would greatly effect the local economy. Let's say that at that point in time small business owners in this particular area of Ireland were not too happy. We never did find out the outcome of the proposals and others things that the many people spoke to us about.

I always felt that it was better going to the small off the beaten path places for tea. It's just a personal preference as I feel that you really get to know people much better than you would in a big city. For me, the road less traveled always had a hostess that reminded me of a grandma. You know the type, the ingratiating grandma that always makes you feel right at home. These tea room hostesses and owners would make you feel as though they had known you for years. I guess that's why I like going off the beaten path for tea when I traveling.

Of course we had tea at many different times during the day. Tea was always great with the Irish Breakfast. Then we worked tea into our schedule both before and after the Waterford Crystal Factory tour. Neither one of us would ever forget the tea served on a short 8 mile river cruise to Passage East. It wasn't fancy, but rather, plain simple, and very good. At 4:15 sharp we were served brown bread, scones, tea, brown bread, scones, tea, and yet still more tea. Of course there were so many other times where we had tea. Throughout this entire time we were always talking with the locals, whether it was the servers on the boat, the hosts at the bed and breakfasts, workers in cafe's, or purveyors of tea rooms. Having tea off the beaten path is just such a great way of getting to know the locals. That being said, we always had a great tea times in Ireland.

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Studytime

Isn't it just amazing how one little piece of information can pique our curiosity in wanting to learn so much more? Maybe, it's a delicious fruit you discovered on a trip, a part of history that you knew nothing about, or yet still a new piece of technology that could make a great difference in your life. So whatever it is, you just want to learn more about that subject.

Over the last several weeks, I have been doing a great deal of research on a particular tea subject. What started out as a little nugget of knowledge from reading, turned into the “Oh, wow that's really cool.” and then blossomed into the “I need to know more” phase. From here, things just sort of snowballed into lots and lots of reading.

Eventually, all of this studying will be put together in a future blog. The topic won't given ahead of time, as I want it to be a surprise when it is posted. 

Let us just say that the information is being gathered so that you too can enjoy this wonderful form of tea.

As for the research, yes, it takes time and is thoroughly enjoyable. Hopefully, many of you will take time out to learn something new too. Your learning doesn't need to be in depth or complicated. Maybe you can try to learn at least one new thing a day. However, whatever kind of learning takes place, just remember it always goes well with a nice cup of tea.

Cheers!

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Staying Cozy with Tea Cozies

The tea cozy has quiet beginnings as we are not sure who exactly invented it. People have debated that it could have been invented by anyone of four European countries. But of regardless of whom ever invented the tea cozy, one thing is certain, it has become a welcome addition to having tea.

We do know a few things about tea cozies though. First, cozies keep tea hot longer than without a tea cozy. Of course, I would think that keeping the tea at a hot temperature would depend upon the thickness of your tea cozy. A thickly batted cozy I think would keep the tea warmer longer than a double thickness of fabric.

Second, there are many different kinds of cozies. They can be as simple or as fanciful as the user wants them to be. It all depends upon the users taste. Cozies can be knitted, crocheted, quilted, batted, or just fabric that has been doubled. As far as style, that too varies greatly from prim and proper to cute to hilarious. Be sure to take a look at Pinterest to see all of the many different types of tea cozies that people have.

When you use your tea cozy, you may even have a great story to tell about it which then makes it great a conversation piece. Remember, there is usually a story that goes with any piece. 

My very first tea cozy was a gift that my father brought back from a business trip to Russia. At the time he had to explain that it was not a toy, even though it looked like one. He then went on the explain what it was and how it was to be used. It wasn't until a few years ago that I actually used it. The batting is really thick and varies from 1 to 11/2 inches.  As a result, it kept my tea warm for a very long time.

So pull out your tea cozy (or invest in one) and keep your tea warm and cozy.  You'll be glad you did.

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Try it, You May Like it.

On a recent blog I discussed a tea that celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the Ladies Aid at our church. We had skits, stories, fun, food, singing, and a history lesson. All of the stories were extremely funny and even more so when we found out they were all true.

One story in particular struck a chord with me. We were probably all taught to never judge a book by its cover. But how many times have we been somewhere and have either seen an odd offering of food on a menu or have been presented some food which we consider to be different at an individuals home? Do you politely decline? Do you become an adventurous explorer and go for it?

Growing up, we were always encouraged to try different foods. That help this last Sunday at the Ladies Aid tea. There was a cute story about an elderly woman who would just make do with what she had. You know, necessity is the mother of invention. When this woman would run out of regular bread (and she didn't drive either) she would substitute Stollen for her sandwich bread. Stollen, is a German bread that contains dried fruits and can also contain marzipan. Sometimes it has powdered sugar or icing sprinkled or drizzled on top of the bread, while other times it is plain. 

Now there is nothing wrong with having Stollen as sandwich bread, as long as it has something like Nutella or peanut butter on the bread. But the woman in one story took it to a whole new level. This woman would take a ground bologna spread and spread it on her Stollen to make a yummy sandwich. Personally, I was trying to keep an open mind to this combination, but....

To our surprise, the tea committee had put together open faced sandwiches of ground bologna spread on Stollen and gave everyone a taste. You know, it was quite tasty. In thinking about it, the sweetness of the dried fruits went very well with the saltiness of the bologna spread. 

Since Sunday, I've tried different Stollens with different types of bologna spread.  Essentially, you have to mix and match until you kind your favorite combination that is suitable to your palette.

In the end though, all of the Stollen went well with English Breakfast tea. Because of the different fruits in the Stollen and paired with the saltiness and meat flavors of the bologna spread, a straight unflavored black tea works best.

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Chickens and Tea?!?

Tea can be used to celebrate so many different days and accomplishments. Maybe you know of people who have a tea party to celebrate a birthday, a promotion, a bridal shower, baby shower, or even to remember a historic event.

Last year, there were people that held tea parties commemorating the sinking of the Titanic. I'm sure these tea parties were very lavish. I also read about a tea party commemorating the 50^th anniversary of James Band. I wonder if when he had tea, if it was shaken, stirred or none of the above.

This last weekend the Ladies Aid at our church had a Valentine's Tea to commemorate the 100^th anniversary this particular group. Women of the congregation were asked to host a table and supply a centerpiece that was old, as the theme was, “Those Were the Days”. At my table, was my grandmother's teapot from the 1950s, a pair of sugar tongs from my other grandmother, along with an old tea strainer. 

The history of the Ladies Aid provided a fun afternoon with singing, skits, stories, historical information, and of course wonderful treats.

Of all of the information that was given, my favorite was about the chicken dinners that the women prepared. Someone had an old list of ingredients that dated back to the chicken dinner of 1938. Keep in mind, you couldn't just go down to your local grocery store and pick up precooked chickens.

Everything was done from scratch. The person in charge of the committee would start the fires (Yes, you did read this correctly, fires.) well before 5a.m. when the rest of the ladies to arrive and start work on the meal. The bread was also freshly baked in a brick oven. It took all day to make this meal that would be served from noon to 7:00p.m.

As you can probably imagine, this was a huge undertaking. Many women helped make this chicken dinner successful. As you can also imagine the list of ingredients was also very long. Hold onto your hats as you read this list; 1,000 chickens,10 bushels potatoes, 4 bushels tomatoes. 12 dozen noodles???, 24 dozen eggs, 64 heads of cabbage, 16 quarts cream, 32 dozen doughnuts, 24 quarts strained tomatoes, 4 gallons lard, 12 quarts salad dressing, 48 cakes, 25 pounds coffee, 30 pounds of butter, 75 pounds flour, 25 pounds sugar, 2 dozens lemons, 60 loaves of stale bread (most likely for their famous stuffing), 40 pounds pork, 30 gallons milk, onions, peppers, 15 pounds of salt, and finally, 30 more gallons of milk.

It's to bad that they don't have tea listed instead of coffee. Can you imagine 25 pounds of tea?

Anyway, the point is, you can celebrate anything with tea. Did we celebrate Valentine's Day? Yes. Did we celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Ladies Aid? Yes, and we had a great time celebrating too.

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Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and maybe you're wondering what to do for this special day. It's definitely time for a brain storming session. Of course, I recommend incorporating tea into your festivities.

As you know tea can put an extra bounce in someone's step. On the flip side of the coin, it is also very soothing and relaxing. When sipping tea, all the cares of the world seem to just melt away and vanish into oblivion.

Think way back in history when tea was very expensive and was only for the rich and the royals. In today's world, really good tea is available to everyone. There is no longer the need for the lady of the house to keep the key to the tea chest with her at all times. However, there is probably still a special location where your tea is kept. Ours is kept in two specific cupboards. Yes, both of them hold a great amount of tea.

With kids in the house, you can never go wrong with a heart shaped pizza in Valentine's Day. We used to visit a take and bake pizza place near our home many years ago that would make heart shaped pizzas on Valentine's Day. I don't know of any places that do that around us now. But, you can always make your own, too. You could even throw tea leaves into the crust, but be sure you have a tea that pairs well with your pizza toppings.

Dessert always seems to be very big on Valentine's Day...chocolates, chocolate cake, chocolate fudge brownies, angel food cake with strawberries and chocolate sauce drizzled on top... The thing about dessert, is that tea always goes well with dessert as it rounds out the meal and adds a wonderful finishing touch. Remember, tea can give you extra energy, but it also helps people relax. Enjoy a nice cup of tea. I would recommend Earl Grey as it goes extremely well with chocolate or Cherry Blossom tea, i  also a great selection as it is a wonderful green sencha tea combined with cherry oil and rose petals. Moroccan Mint would also be a great idea as it pairs very well chocolate and strawberries, too.

Of course, you can make your Valentine's Day meal with tea, as simple or as extravagant as you like. You can put up heart shaped cut outs on the windows, candles and rose petals on the table...it's all up to you. Whatever you do, I would recommend a beautiful teapot filled with hot tea be placed somewhere, not only to taste, but also to remind to relax and enjoy your loved ones.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Local or Not

Over the last 8 years or so, there has been a big push in the United States to buy locally grown foods. Each locale gives its locally grown produce a different flavor. Say for instance you're growing Beef Steak tomatoes in Indiana. Your Beef Steak tomatoes will taste different than those same Beef Steak tomatoes grown in Texas, Arizona, Montana,and California, just to name a few examples. So each area in the U.S. due climate and soil conditions will give produce a distinct flavor different from others.

But what about tea? Yes, tea will also have distinct and different tastes due to where it is grown and of course soil conditions etc.

It is great purchasing locally grown foods. We too buy locally grown foods, but not all things can be grown locally. There have been several occasions at Farmers Markets where we get the question, “Is this tea grown in Michigan? You see I only buy locally grown things.” I love this response, because as an educator, this is a teachable moment.

The teacher hat goes on and I explain that due to our climate, there are only two places at this moment that I know of in the U.S. that grow tea. One spot is on the Hawaiian Islands and other on an island in South Carolina. People's usual response is, “Oh, wow, I didn't know that.” and then we talk more about tea, such as, where and how it is grown.

Speaking about U.S. tea, I'm hoping to purchase some tea grown in Hawaii in the next few months. I'm really quite excited to try some when we head out on a trip in the near future. I'm sure it will live up to our expectations. 

So yes, it's good to buy local produce. Just remember not everything you consume can be grown locally. Sometimes, you just have to branch out a bit and try something from somewhere else.

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Snow Day Education

Wherever you have snow falling in  winter and there are schools in the area, there will undoubtedly be snow days. For a child, it can be oh, so exciting. It may mean watching TV, playing games, and taking extended naps. For the older student, say high school age, it may be a welcome relief. This snow may mean one extra day to work on a project or study for a test. For parents, it may be a question as to how to keep the kids occupied. There may be some point in the day where the kids may say those dreaded words, “I'm bored.” or “There's nothing to do.”

Assuming you can stay home because the weather is so bad that you cannot get to work either (or give this idea to the children's caregiver if you have to get to work) and also knowing how important education is, try this idea. Have the kids plan a tea party. Now not all kids like tea, but you can use hot chocolate, hot cider, or cold apple juice. Build your idea up around this idea of a tea party..or a feast if you will. Along the way, they will be keeping their reading, math, science, and artistic skills sharp.

First plan what you will want to eat. Have the kids pour through cookbooks and read different recipes that look interesting. Check to see what supplies you have for cooking and baking as this could limit what you can make. Remember, you don't want to go out in bad weather, just to get a pack of nuts. It's a bad weather day, so stay home and make the most of it. Then make a list of what you want to make. If your list is really long, take some time to whittle it down, unless you really want to prepare the really long list of  foods.  If you are actually serving tea, think about what teas you would go well with the foods being prepared.  Black teas are always good.  Try Up North! or English Breakfast.  If you are looking for a caffeine free infusion, try Northland Blueberry, as it has a nice fruity flavor. Another task that can be done is to have one of the kids use their artistic skills and come up with a way to dress the table for tea.

Now gather supplies for the recipes. Have the kids read the recipe several times before they start so as to have an idea as to what they will be expected to do. This part of the tea day can count as their reading hour that they would have had in school, as did pouring through the cookbooks and reading the recipes there.

Follow the recipes and prepare the foods. This is will be the math class of the day. You've got to love all of the fractions and all of the different measurements. Plus, as an added bonus, you might have to double or triple the recipe, depending upon how many you will be serving. This means that the kids get to multiply! Yippee! Oh, and multiplying fractions, too. You have to love this!

The science portion of the day comes into practice if you make things with yeast, like breads. You can explain how the yeast makes the dough rise. If you yourself are not sure why this is, have the kids google it on the computer. Another goodie is making a souffle'. Again a science lesson on why it rises so much and also why you should not let the over door slam shut or any other door for that matter when the souffle' is in the oven.

Now maybe you don't have any cookbooks. Have the kids come up with ideas at to things they would like to cook. Have them use their imagination. Be sure to have them think though flavors that are compatible with one another. I wouldn't recommend putting mint in a bacon and tomato scone. If they are using their imagination to create, be sure that they explain everything to you that they intend to do. By doing this, they will be practicing their communication skills. Of course when all of the preparation work has been done, it's good to have them clean up as well...that's part of the job.

Finally, when all is said and done, sit down and enjoy the tea that the kids have prepared. Chances are they will like it since they prepared it. If you like, you can also educate them on using proper table etiquette. Take pictures of their creations and of them with their smiling faces. Capture this important moment in time.

You can even talk about where tea is grown or research the cultures that grow, harvest, and process the tea. (Social Studies)

 

If there is still time, you can have them write about their tea party experience (creative writing) and draw sketch pictures (more art) to go with it as well.

So you see, you can still unofficially have school at home even on a snow/ice day. The kids can cover: Reading, Math, Writing, Handwriting/Printing, Science, Art, Computer skills (if they need to google something), and Social Studies. Education is always important.

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Snowfest Iced Tea Sculpture

This week in Frankenmuth is the annual Snowfest which is a snow and ice carving competition sponsored by Zehnder's of Frankenmuth. Each year many teams come to town to exhibit their talents and skills in both snow and ice. These teams are groups from high schools all the way through international groups all vying to be the winners of their category.

While drinking some Masala Chai the other morning, I decided why couldn't I try this in my own way? The first item on the agenda was to find ice cube trays that make miniature ice cubes. It's actually a difficult thing to find in Michigan during winter months, but I did find them at Bed, Bath and Beyond in Saginaw, MI. They are true life savers!

The next item on the agenda was to decide which teas to use. The list was whittled down to the nice and bold Earl Grey, Moroccan Mint, Silver Needle, and finally Masala Chai with milk. With an idea of what I was going to built in mind, it really didn't take long to decide on which teas I was going to use.

Next, I brewed the tea, let it cool a little, finally poured it into the ice cube trays, and popped the ice cube trays into the freezer. While the tea was freezing into its cube form, I set to work on sketching out my design. Hopefully, this will work. But as they say, “You never know until you try.”

After making mini tea ice cubes and having my sketches in hand, I set to work. Neatly, I set the ice cubes in bowls on TV tables, on our back deck. The weather was a perfect 12 degrees and I was bundled up perfectly to go along with the weather. Now all I had to do was get to work.

In looking at my designs, I thought that the teacup design would be the easiest to start with. Then once I accomplished the teacup I would move on to the teapot.

Unfortunately, my iced tea art did not go as planned. As hard as I tried, none of my ideas worked, even with the constant refinement of theories. But then I decided that what I was trying to do would take a lot more practice. Therefore the plan was simply to simplify things. The concept went from being a 3D work of art to something simple in 2D. Success at last! 

The bottom 2 layers are a wonderful Earl Grey, while the next two layers up are made from our Moroccan Mint. The top two layers are made of Silver Needle tea, The handle is made from a Masala Chai with milk.

In looking back, I think it would have been easier to start with the teapot design. But as they say, “Live and learn”.

Finally, I have no intention of giving up on the iced tea sculpture. I just figure that if I keep practicing, I should be able to figure out how to do this by next year's Snowfest. So stay tuned and we will see what gets sculpted between now and then.

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Tea or Toy

It's amazing how items can be used in different ways. Take for example a framed window screen. We use them all summer for keeping bugs out and letting the fresh air into our homes. But a window screen and it's frame can be used as a magnetic bulletin board. How cool is that?

A few weeks ago, a woman came and told me that her rambunctious kitten loved to play with the tag and string on her tea pyramid. She said that at one point she left cup and pyramid for a just moment. When she returned, her pyramid was missing. As she looked around, she spotted a trail of tea on the floor, which led her right to her kitten and to the tea pyramid. The woman's kitten had been playing with the string and the tag. Come to think about it, the pyramid with the string and tag do have a mouse like appearance to them. Isn't is amazing how a tea pyramid became reused into a completely different way?...cat toy.

After having heard this story, I wondered whether tea was on the list of foods that was okay for cats. The results from research says to NOT give your cat tea. It is the caffeine which is not good for your furry feline friend. However, that being said, I wouldn't allow a cat to touch any tea (even decaf), just to be on the safe side.

 

All in all, I have to admit that when I heard this story I was chuckling. I mean, how often does it happen that your tea pyramid disappears from your cup? Your answer is mostly likely, never.

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