Make Metaphysical Mood Tea: Add in Some Flower Essence!

Since it is Spring I’m celebrating the magical energies of plants.  Everything blossoms and transforms in Spring.  It‘s a time of great growth and beauty.  My new book, ‘The Book of Sacred Baths: 52 Bathing Rituals to Revitalize Your Spirit,’ is being published by Llewellyn Worldwide and is due out in just two short months.  I am filled with joy about that.  The sun is shining and people are already stopping to enjoy life more.

I’ve been studying some things related to plants that enhance wellness.  My family and I learned about the Japanese tea ceremony together and I’ve taken many courses in essential oils and flower essences.  So, today for this tea blog I thought it would be fun to write about how you can enhance your average cup of tea by adding flower essences!

Let’s begin with a distinction between flower essences and essential oils.  Essential oils are derived from the actual plant material and are highly concentrated.  I do not suggest drinking them and in some cases this could have a dangerous reaction.  I use essential oils in my sacred baths (mixed with Epsom salts and dispersed in water) and in a diffuser but I do not ingest them. 

In contrast, Flower essence is created by infusing the energy of the plant into pure spring water preserved with brandy or an organic vegetable glycerin via sun or moon light. It is a vibrational imprint of a flower and practitioners say that flower essences affect our consciousness and that we begin to resonate in harmony with the qualities of that flower.  Flower essences can be drunk, under the tongue or in water.  Also, essential oils smell like the plant but flower essences don’t.  They both come in these tiny jars and can look alike, so please be careful to only add flower essences to your tea!

You can also make your own flower essences.  I did this with my kids, but since this is beyond the scope of this blog, you can research it if you want to do so.  For now I’d suggest purchasing Bach Flower essences for your tea. ~ Dr. Paulette Kouffman Sherman

My favorite mug...

This is my favorite mug.  I was drinking Red Rose Tea from it when I wrote my last entry.  Afterwords, I started thinking about the remarkable history of this mug.

It is 5 inches tall and holds 12 ounces.  I like the size for its capacity and depth.  Because it is not a wide mouth large mug, the tea stays hot longer.  The handle is long enough that all of my fingers fit through.  Sometimes when the weather is cold or I am cold, I love to wrap both hands around it and sip.

This mug is more than 40 years old.  I know I had it when I moved out of the home where I grew up, and my first move was at the age of 21.  It was purchased at a big box type store - I don't remember which one and was made in Japan.  Nothing is written on the bottom, but I remember the sticker.  That was when "Made in Japan" was as common as "Made in China" is now.  It has been through the dishwasher thousands of times.  Every few months I give it a bit of extra cleaning with boiling water and baking soda to really get out all the tea stains.  There are no chips, and the inside is as shiny as the outside.  I doubt it cost more than $2.99; although, I have no recollection of what I paid for it.

I remember seeing it and loving the design, the colors, and the feel in my hands. It is not totally smooth; the leaves are not quite as shiny, and the texture shows in the photo.  The brown spots almost appear to be pin pricks.  There were probably several on the shelf, but buying more than one would have been an extravagance.  

I marvel at how long I have had it.  Many mugs have come and gone over the years.  I have never glued a mug after it broke; there are so many in my collection that I periodically go through them and give some away.  I call it my bamboo mug or the Japanese mug.  I say  to myself sometimes when putting the water on to boil,  "Where's the bamboo mug?"  It has survived many years, many bumps, five moves, and thousands of uses.  It has survived longer than many friendships.  It has seen me through the death of many people I love.  It is more a part of me than I care to admit.

Over forty years of history...

Kate

Review - Brewla's The Lifeguard

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend in the United States. It's a time we remember those who have given their lives for our country while serving in the military. It's also the semi-official start of summer. Here in Western New York we're looking at very high temperatures and high humidity, with a chance of scattered thundershowers. In order to try to beat the heat I picked up a new treat, made with tea!

I was browsing in my local health food store when a package caught my eye - Brewla! I stopped, captivated by the name and the gorgeous photo of a red popsicle on the box. But this was not just any red popsicle. It was a Strawberry and Hibiscus Tea specialty brewed bar! I also saw a Cherry Pomegranate and Red Tea option, but I bought the strawberry, which had fewer calories, plus I love strawberries.

OK, anyone who has been reading my posts for a while knows that this tea is not actually a tea, but rather a hibiscus tisane.  When I opened my wrapper I noticed the lovely color as well as a lovely strawberry aroma. I quickly took a few pictures, but couldn't help myself and had a lick part way through. It was absolutely delicious!!!!

The main flavor is strawberry. Not a fake strawberry either, but more like a wild one, or the ones that grow here in WNY during our short strawberry season. I was concerned that it might be too floral for my taste-it is a hibiscus tisane, after all, but that was not the case at all. It had only slight floral notes and it wasn't sweet at all. I do recommend licking it, instead of biting, however. When you bite it the frozen bar becomes more icy and you lose the delightful flavors.

The Brewla Strawberry and Hibiscus Tea, also known as "The Lifeguard", has only 20 calories and is boosted with Vitamin C and zinc. It is caffeine free and there is no added sugar (they do have stevia leaf extract). This particular bar is also gluten free, vegan, and kosher!

I am absolutely delighted by this impulse buy. I'll be trying the other varieties as well. I didn't see all of them offered at my store-but I'll be looking for them. I'd really like to try The Lullaby: Peach Ginger with White Tea boosted with Chamomile and L-Theanine. You can check out more about this brother and sister company at their website, Brewlabars.com. If you can't find them near you, never fear, you can order the bars online!

Yard Sale Finds And A Review Of Capilano Warm Grey, A Black Tea From A Local Canadian Tea Company

Karen here, today I am sharing some of my recent tea themed fun finds from yard sales in my area over the last month as well as a tea review from The Capilano Tea House, a local tea company that started in my own neighborhood!

 I love a good treasure hunt and I have a few good partners, my sister in law Janeen and my son Oli, both love the hunt as much as I do and we help each other find the things we are interested in, Oli loves his vintage video games, my sister in law china and tea cups and me all things tea related. We are up early Saturday mornings for some fun finds and most weekend we do well and then there are weekends that are a total bust. The good weather has encouraged people to have yard sales that have netted some truly great finds recently. Though my own tea cabinet is currently over flowing with cups and saucers that I use regularly, my tea themed book shelves are now stuffed with what I liked to call research books. All about tea, tea parties and self care.  I love to find books that have so much relevant information about the history of tea and ones that are now out of print. The 4 shown in the first photo above cost me a total of $4 at three different sales and I have loved going through them this last week.

Above two of my recent fun finds, I do love books with great quotes and this lovely 1940's hand painted German teacup and saucer. I can not help but think of the stories it could tell.

This beauty filled with a lovely Warm Grey a  Lavender Earl Grey, from the Capilano Tea House, cost me $5 and is now one of my most favorite cups to use.

It is stunning empty and beautiful full.

I admit I own mostly English sets so I know almost nothing about German tea sets but I thought it was important to share the stamp on the bottom with you.  Some people collect tea cups and saucers for their worth, I choose tea cups I love and use them. I think that is the secret to really enjoying them. Each cup of tea is a journey and the set used an important vessel.
I look forward to spring and the start of yard sale season here. I am already looking forward to Saturday morning.

Last year I discovered Warm Grey from The Capilano Tea House, a local company that was started just a few streets away from where I currently live.  This company combines the most wonderful teas with locally grown ingredients.  Warm Grey is a black bergamot tea with lavender that I have enjoyed this entire week, I have now actually run out!

" A West Coast, post-colonial twist on an absolute favorite, lavender warms this fine Assam and turns up the bergamot tones. Lean in and be free.

“The subject is sky, starting lavender beneath the trees and rising into a smoother hollow air space, greenish in tone, merging into laced clouds and then into deep, bottomless blue, not flat and smooth like the centre part of the sky, but loose, coming forward.” 

Emily Carr on painting the West Coast in Hundreds and Thousands, February 8, 1935"

 You can learn more about this rich and delicious tea as well as order on line by clicking here.

I look forward to sharing more fun tea themed finds as well as more tea reviews with you next week, until then....

I would love to have you for tea daily over at www.acupofteaandacozymystery.com

They say every cup of tea is an imaginary voyage. I hope this montage of images from my trip to Jun Chiyabari tea estate, Nepal last fall that I put together for you will help you fire your imagination. Jun is an Organic tea estate that produces some of best Nepali teas. It is very well regarded in the European tea houses, and has been making its mark among US tea drinkers in last few years. If you ever see a tea from Jun Chiyabari grab it without hesitation.

Plain Old Red Rose...

It's time for me to write my weekly contribution, and no inspiration is influencing the thought process.  I read over what the other tea lovers have shared and wish I could call in sick.

With my faithful cup of Red Rose within reach, a thought jumps out.  Is it wrong to pay homage to my beloved Red Rose Black Tea?  The humble Red Rose Tea, 100 bags to a box, one tiny porcelain trinket, and hours of pleasurable sipping for me.  It starts out piping hot, but if I get distracted, sometimes it is cold by the time I finish it off.  Doesn't bother me one little bit.  I love it hot, cold and inbetween.  I love it iced.  When hot I prefer a splash of non fat milk.  Aside from water, it is the most satisfying drink anyone can offer to me.  Yes, I drink coffee and love it.  But Red Rose is my drink of choice.  I usually make it in a 10-12 ounce mug.  Tea pots and cups are a waste of time for me.  On a typical day at home, I probably drink 8-10 mugs of tea.

I will continue to play along and try new teas.  Occasionally I find one that I enjoy.  Lately I have been trying to stick with an herbal tea past 11:00 PM.  But tonight it is closer to midnight, and when that electric kettle clicks off, I'll be having another delicious mug of Red Rose Tea.  I will still fall asleep without a problem.

Signing off until next Monday.
Red Rose loving Kate.

Tea Talk: an Interview with Brian Pfieffer of Design a Tea

A few years ago I was at an outdoor festival when I saw a couple manning a booth called Design a Tea. Imagine my delight when I saw that not only were they selling teas, but they were allowing you to create your own flavor combinations! I was hooked and have enjoyed their teas ever since. I'm delighted to welcome Brian Pfieffer, owner of this local (to me) company to the blog today.

Kathy: What led you to the world of tea? Have you always been a tea drinker?

BP: It was a crazy dream about 9 years ago that pointed me in the tea world direction and adventure. Instead of taking up tons of your time here- we actually made it a "Topic" in the About Us Tab on our website www.Designatea.com. 

Always been a tea drinker?  That's is a question that people look at me in dismay when I answer. Not at all; well maybe when under the weather growing up. I wasn't even a steadfast coffee drinker. But I will say I've tasted so much tea early on in the R&D phase of Design a Tea... I have no doubt I've made up for it!

Kathy: What gave you the idea to give customers the ability to create their own teas?

BP: It was the quest to figure out that dream that made the realization super clear... at least regarding tea. Choice! We all love the ability to make decisions and having choices to do so is what it's all about. Why let a focus group decide what tea you'll like or not like or for how long to offer it at the stores. 

I did about a year or so of research on the concept and learning about tea... will never learn enough. There were and are companies out there that offered the ability to design tea blends- but it still didn't (to me) seem there were enough "choices" they were offering. Some would only let you mix and match their blends. What fun is that?

Another major component of the mission was we had to be an e-commerce company. Only seemed to make sense to offer this to as many people around the world that might want choice with custom tea designing. Even today we don't have a brick and mortar place open to the public. Which for me is a negative at times, I love people and love goofing around with them. So the good thing about our present operation is I actually get work done. 

Kathy: How did your business start? 

BP: After the concept was figured out and the vision started to become clearer, it started in a spare room in the basement. We are and will remain by choice, a small artisan tea company- we small batch blend to order. We work with other small companies with their signature blends and our wholesale has grown in leaps and bounds. We partner with all sorts of people on the wholesale side from authors to small private label tea shops, even a company in the Caribbean.  With growth we've obviously had to upgrade from that humble basement "pad". By definition, we are still home-based, we had to build another "pad" on the property to accommodate stock and production area and make room for a couple of people... they take up so much room!

There was another aspect of starting our tea business. We found that the world of tea could be very intimidating and even snobby (no offense meant at all to the high-noon tea lovers out there) to the lay person. Like going to a wine tasting with a sommelier. We wanted to break out of that perception. That's in part I think why we started offering the ability to create from such a wide base of flavorings and not focus on the higher end base teas. I guess in a nutshell we are not purists. It's not that we don't want people to enjoy a simple (or complex) cup of high quality Darjeeling or note the subtle differences between green teas and the regions they came from. We want people to have fun with tea, throw the perception of complexity aside and design a crazy mango almond coconut blend- chill it and drink it at the beach. We had a customer a few years back say we are like the Ben and Jerry of tea companies. I wouldn't say that exactly (I don't know Ben and Jerry other than they make great crazy designed ice cream), but it is sort of cute and we do have a good time. 

Kathy: Have you ever looked at someone's mixes and wondered what on earth they were thinking?  

BP: HA, I used to early on. But now, I love it when people think out of the box. That's what it's all about. When people order, say a green tea with honey lemon... I roll my eyes and think, "Come on! You can get that anywhere. Yes, ours will be the best honey/lemon green tea you have ever had (well, I hope), but really, why not honey spice green tea!"

I'm sure many combos don't work. As you all know- tea is like wine- what is one persons elixir of the gods is another persons "find me a plant where I can dump this stuff..." experience! On the up side of customer's concoctions, we have been inspired by a few blends over the years that actually became signature blends for us. Our Backwoods Blend ("Man Tea") is a cranberry/juniper berry black tea. We called it "Man Tea"... because we felt we needed something more manly named than a Ms. Earl Grey or Butterfly blend.

Kathy: Do you have any tips on creating blends?  

BP: Have fun with it. We do have a sample program for the folks that just aren't sure on their crazy combo. We like when people think out of the box and design a blend that they know they can't find in a store or tea shop. We do like to stress though- if you are Libra or an indecisive person... Design a Tea is NOT the place for you to be.

I do have another tip. When it comes to adding herbs to your custom blend. Keep in mind "most" root based herbs can be bitter or stinky (yes I used the word stinky). So keep that in mind when adding them and that certain herbs can mess with certain medications. We never offer any advice or suggest medicinal benefits of teas and/or herbs. We expect folks will do their own research on them before peppering them in. We ALWAYS know when some article or Dr. Oz style show has talked about this herb or that herb... because we get a spike in requests.

A quick example story. This customer orders 3 large canisters of loose white tea with Valerian (no flavors). For those folks that aren't familiar with Valerian; it's used in most of the "sleep aid" blends, it's supposed to be a pretty potent sleep aid. The downside to Valerian is it is one of the most smelly herb I've ever smelled. Reminds me of an elephant house... 2 hours after feeding. So I email her just to make sure she was indeed looking for a post feeding elephant smelling tea. She replies back saying she saw something about it on television and she has had a difficult time sleeping, etc. And she added that with all the health benefits of white tea... what the heck, lets give it a try. It all made sense I couldn't argue the logic. I asked her if she had ever tasted or smelled Valerian? She obviously said no. It ended up she received a tropical themed passion fruit/pineapple flavored rooibos with Valerian ~ so she could think of that warm deserted island in her dreams. Besides on a selfish note- I would have done anything not to have had to blend 3 canisters up with no flavors and that forsaken herb.   

Kathy: How do you decide what flavors to offer?  

BP: Some of the flavors we carry are along the thought avenue of craziness. Rum flavoring or chocolate- for some that would be a nose snubbing almost sacrilegious thing to do to tea. In some circles I would agree. But this is Design a Tea where the concept is choice. So along with the unique rum chocolates we do have many of the standard base flavors like Almond/Pear/Lemon/Honey...With all the flavors we offer currently AND the herbs, there are literally tens of thousands of combinations as it is. Every time we add another flavor or herb- that number goes up. If we start getting requests for a flavor, we'll try and create that profile. We don't just add flavoring, we use various components to get that profile or enhance a base flavor.

Kathy: Do you have a personal favorite blend?

BP: It really all depends on the mood. I tend to hang around the nuttier flavor profiles. No jokes please.

Kathy: What's your favorite tea accessory?

BP: I have this "Tea Nest" that sits on top of my mug where I toss in my loose leaves. They are beautifully designed and made of cherry wood from Pennsylvania (that sounded like an HSN pitch). As you know there is nothing like loose leaf tea.

Kathy: What does tea mean to you?  

BP: Wow, that's a deep question! So I'm going to make it a simply complex answer... Tea is an experience. The process of making a simple cup of tea isn't simple. You don't just press a button or turn a cap- it's a process. So one has to want it to go through that process. So maybe it's the most "desired" beverage in the world. Get it (desired - want)?


I encourage you to check out the Design a Tea website and try out your own flavor combinations! One of my favorite combinations is chestnut caramel black tea! I've also enjoyed a passion fruit pineapple green tea. I've created several concoctions and plan on creating many more. I may try an apricot ginger oolong next! I look forward to hearing what you make!