Tea on Tuesday

Last Thursday, I attended another tea class given by Susan Teter at Julieanna's (Broadway, Va) Included was a very interesting video on tea farms in Japan. This was a preplanned class, not knowing the devastation that would hit the area near where this tea farm was.

It was really interesting to see how the different grades of tea leaves are created, and how the powdered teas come out of that processing too. I urge you all to google tea processing - just to see how it all comes to your teacup!
At the last minute, Susan had suggested that everyone bring their own teacup, altho she serves the tea in tiny paper cups to taste - all tea seems to have a better flavor in a REAL teacup!
There were quite a variety of cups - including mugs! I brought, in honor of the class being about Japanese tea, my Occupied Japan teacup I received in an online teacup swap I had last year. If we wore something green (it was also St. Patrick's Day) we would get 10% off any purchase that night - so my purse, and my teacup had green!!!LOL

I decided to make use of the furoshiki cloths my friend Teresa sent me, and wrapped my fragile teacup in those for travel to the tea class.

The saucer is wrapped in one, and the cup in another, tied in a knot and carried like a small tote.

The two teas sampled were gun powder green (oops- Sencha!!!-not gunpowder ! Gunpowder is from China!!) and wood smoked green.

 The wood smoked was ok, if you did not inhale - kind of had the odor of fish!! LOL  Loved the other Sencha green tho!

 

Here are Julie (dark hair) and Susan serving tea.

Dessert was a tasty  shamrock currant scone with cream. I forgot to take the picture, BEFORE I bit the shamrock "stem" off!!

One of the attendees, Nick, then got up to demonstrate the proper way to make matcha tea. Now I have spoken of matcha in previous posts. I love it. Now, I see I need to get a bamboo wisk!!! His method is a much thicker, stronger blend. The proper way to drink the tea, is with a sweet eaten prior to sipping. I like matcha either way.

Nick also drinks yerba mate - so I checked with him to make sure that I am drinking mine properly. I knew I was, but a second opinion never hurts!! I just wanted to make sure I was not creating a toxic mold in my gourd each time I drink!!!LOL

My purchase that night was this cute refurbished box- which will make a wonderful sewing box - the padded top is an excellent pin cushion!!!

Please feel free to join us every Tuesday for tea and drop by Kimmie and Patty for a list of other tea partiers!!!

Tea on Tuesday

Well, here we are again, for another episode of "Tea on Tuesday"! A week really does fly by!!!

My tea this week is a matcha latte. I was reminded that I had this jar of matcha in the pantry (sent to me from Teresa, who builds up frequent flyer miles going to Japan!) by an article in Sept/Oct's Tea Time Magazine.

Matcha is green tea that is ground into a powder - similar to iced tea, but  a finer consistency. Kiley Holliday, the youngest certified Tea master in the country, mentioned( in an interview in Tea Time Magazine) a chai she loves to drink Indian style. She uses matcha tea, adds almond milk and a sweetener. 

I have been using almond milk lately in other things, in place of regular milk - and love it. So, I put 2 little spoonfuls of matcha in a mug, added hot water, a tablespoon of almond milk, and a smidge of dark honey. Delicious!!

I usually take my tea straight up,  sometimes with honey , and maybe lemon, but NEVER milk. This matcha latte was a nice change.
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In keeping with the tea theme - here are some recent thrift store scores- below, a trio of English ironstone cups- Hunt Club, 2 different raised hunt scenes on the cup. Guess how much???? 25 cents for the trio!!!! Missing saucers, but who cares!!!

Next, is another little teapot with infuser, and a copper coil to put on the burner, so you can actually heat this one on the stove. I probably won't do that, but it's nice to know you can- I forget how much that was, but it probably wasn't more the $2 or $3.

Next to it, is a lovely orphan teacup- no markings, but very similar to some Homer Laughlin that I own.

Last, altho not tea related, is my favorite thrift find of that day!!! Let me preface this by saying - I have always been averse to wearing fur of any kind. My children were raised with this thought in mind, altho we do eat meat from time to time, and wear leather shoes, sooo....

As a result of their upbringing, when I showed them the coat, they both read me the riot act, "but MOM, it's FUR!!!!!! "
Being a fan of things vintage, I could NOT pass up this lovely vintage custom made jacket, circa 1940's/ 50's, I'm guessing.Made in a shop in Johnstown, PA, that no longer exists.
Since no other animals will be killed to replace this jacket, and I hope there are no PETA activists hiding behind a tree with a can of red paint, I am wearing  and just love this little coat! I am not an expert on fur, unless I have handled it while on the live animal(!), but am thinking this is either a dyed chinchilla, or a sheared dyed beaver. It is sooo soft, the craftsmanship that went into making it is something you don't see often today- the clip closures, ruffled edges in the lining, inner pockets- and it was just being reduced - so it was $21.50!!!! And, it is warm!!!

When I went out in it, my daughter said, Mom, you are wearing a fur, looking like a rich lady (ha!), we live in the boonies, you are driving a mini van,that is covered in mud and missing two hubcaps!!! What can I say, I am a contradiction in terms, an anomaly,a dichotomy....and definitely never been rich!!!!

These are before and after photos- my daughter was taking the pix, and said I never smile and always look so serious, so when I acted like a fool, she snapped a shot!!LOL

Please feel free to join us each Tuesday for tea- drop by Kimmie and Patty, for a list of other tea participants.



Thought for the day:

Our homes are our cocoons, our sanctuary, and our safety nets......