Lavender Experience

Last night it got a little too late for the caffeine in Camellia Sinensis, so we tried a new herbal infusion that my mom's friend sent me for Valentine's Day.  It is Lavender, which I've never had in tea before!

Lavender Tea, English style.

Wouldn't you love to explore this lavender farm?

Beautiful Chinese Tea Thermoses

I love these ceramic designs.

More tea sessions!

Last night we had tea in my room - after several weeks without tea pourings!  Maria and Sarah were visiting from Pitzer, so they got to experience the gaiwan.

Chris!

We had a delicious and light green tea from Norbu called Huang Shan Mao Feng as well as a Japanese brown rice and matcha tea.  

Teacal Fall 2011

Final Projects in the Teacal

We had our final Teacal class of the semester!  The final project was an open-ended reflection and creative interpretation of the class on the whole.  We had a myriad of projects that ranged from artistic to culinary to scientific.

Several people made treats for the class to share: We had Jonathan's Chai Butter Cookies, Jeanette's Chai Cookies, Hayley's Green Tea Cookies with Green Tea Syrup, Elyse's Green Tea Shortbread, Wilson's Jasmine Green Tea Cookies and Torrin's Lemon Chamomile Shortbread as well as her Chai Gingerbread Bars.  Amazing!  Richard made us some Milk Tea with Green Tea, mint, lime zest, and honey to gulp down with the baked goods.  Also, Tianhui brought us Chinese herbs to taste.

Chris, who's into bar tending, made a Green Tea reduction syrup to mix into drinks, like a Daqiuri.

Chris' Green Tea leaves from his syrup.

Duncan made a composition about the experience of drinking tea.  He made it for a woodwind quintet, I believe, and acted it out for the class.

Duncan during his music performance

James, who is an MCB major, did a presentation on the molecular structures of caffeine and other compounds in tea!

Grace crocheted a Tea Cozy for a Gaiwan!

Theresa and her Tea Tree, made with real tea leaves. Shaina, Natalie, Andrew, and Erin also did artistic renderings of tea in collage, sketch, and scrapbook form. 

Other projects included Jessica's Genmaicha powerpoint presentation, Aaron and Frank's poems, and Anna's papermache teacup! 

Thanks, Teacal, for a wonderful class!

Shout out to Numi Tea

Numi Tea, based in Oakland, California, provided us with some great tea choices in the Teacal this semester.  My fellow Berkeley students and I were really excited to taste them.  We tasted a White Bai Mu Dan, a classically delicious Green Dragonwell, and Numi's Aged Earl Grey Tea, among others.

Numi also gave us some of their Flowering Teas.  They are intricately hand-tied tea leaves that open up into a beautiful flower bouquet when steeped.  The class enjoyed observing these when we tasted one during Black Tea week!

Thanks Numi!

Cook with Tea

Tea Seed Oil is on the market now!  I've been reading about how popular it is in China and Japan for cooking, as well as other uses.  Tea Seed Oil (not to be confused with Tea Tree Oil) is cold-pressed from the seeds of Camellia oleifera, a close cousin of Camellia sinensis (the variety which tea leaves for drinking come from).

Seeds!

 In China, tea seed oil is used in dips, sauces, marinades, and dressing as well as to make soap, lubricants, and rustproofing oil.  In Japan it is used to make tempura and to slick back the hair of Sumo wrestlers.  Lastly, the Emerald Harvest Tea Oil  website boasts these advantages:

1. The Highest level of monounsaturated fat of ALL oils 2. The Highest smoke point of ALL oils 3. One of the lowest levels of saturated fat of ALL oils 4. Vitamin E, Omega 6 and 9 essential fatty acids 5. No Transfat