a beautiful blend to behold in the bag, but as i pulled it out on the spoon the hugely long assam fingers would fall off. and once i finally got the pieces into my tea ball i realized there was zero chance i was going to get the lid on… i also didn’t have nearly enough of the blend into the ball. what’s a boy to do? in short commit butiki sacrilege in the form of crunching the bag.
in my tea mad brain i got a lecture from bonnie as i crunched, approval of my critical thinking skills from scribbles, and a moderate wince from stacy when/if she reads this.
the potential for this tea to have been lacking or imbalanced in any number of ways was huge, especially on the part of the assam base. this creation makes me wonder if butiki teas architects are required to have studied gestalt art theory briefly summarized as ‘perception as the product of complex interactions among various stimuli’ and that a whole is worth more than its separate parts. lol.
this tea is a very successfully blended whole—less a caramel vanilla assam to me, and more a spun vanilla sugar highlight laid over a delightfully smooth black.
having been at art school for a very long time i tend to equate the world around me with complimentary senses: so a smell may trigger an image, and a taste may draw out a sound. for me this tea is imagery.
https://www.google.ca/search?gs_rn=18&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=oUoYdeX6mbIz0UJ3c0MKaQ&cp=11&gs_id=eo&xhr=t&q=spun+sugar+recipe&biw=1366&bih=576&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=JG7KUbn-AeSKjAKtsoG4AQ#facrc=&imgdii=&imgrc=ISlvkoAER3KIzM%3A%3BPcFGENVLcS_etM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ffc08.deviantart.net%252Ffs70%252Ff%252F2012%252F103%252F0%252F3%252Fspun_sugar_birds_nestbycakecrumbs-d4w2yj7.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcakecrumbs.deviantart.com%252Fart%252FSpun-Sugar-Birds-Nest-295750483%3B500%3B500
which translates to: skill, diligence and if you weren’t careful as you built it then it all comes tumbling down and leaves you with nothing more than a puddle of goo that you spend the next year trying to scrape off your floor!
very nice! i think in my next cup i may use a bit of brown sugar to draw out just a little bit more of the spun sugar taste, although that will have to be tomorrow as it is already 10pm and i do need sleep!
UPDATE: okay, brown sugar maximizes this tea. my mouth is very happy!
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I did wince a tiny bit. Hahaha. Oooh, that spun sugar looks very challenging.
your blend must have been very challenging! i am sorry for my crunching… but my tea ball is a vicious taskmaster regarding what will and will not fit! if it helps i did not (would not) pulverize… just snapper the larger lovelies in half.
As soon as you can ditch the tea ball…do it. The leaves are not happy in such contraptions. A stainless basket where water can flow around the expanding leaves is best or for a by-the-cup portion a finum infuser.
I’ve been known to use a pyrex measuring cup (since it has a spout) and a somewhat fine kitchen strainer in a pinch. :)
@Bonnie…. yeah, i was going to look for a basketed cup today. just have to watch the budget!
okay… i got a proper mug. with a basket strainer. yay stokes! they’re always reasonable and everything in the store was 25% off!!!
Great!
You’ll be soooo much happier! I started my loose leaf tea adventures with a tea ball and quickly discovered that the teas didn’t taste very good if the leaves couldn’t fully expand. A brewing basket makes a world of difference!
it gives me an excuse to go back and reassess, lol. i am discovering that the taste is more sincere.
I did wince a tiny bit. Hahaha. Oooh, that spun sugar looks very challenging.
your blend must have been very challenging! i am sorry for my crunching… but my tea ball is a vicious taskmaster regarding what will and will not fit! if it helps i did not (would not) pulverize… just snapper the larger lovelies in half.
As soon as you can ditch the tea ball…do it. The leaves are not happy in such contraptions. A stainless basket where water can flow around the expanding leaves is best or for a by-the-cup portion a finum infuser.
I’ve been known to use a pyrex measuring cup (since it has a spout) and a somewhat fine kitchen strainer in a pinch. :)
@Bonnie…. yeah, i was going to look for a basketed cup today. just have to watch the budget!
okay… i got a proper mug. with a basket strainer. yay stokes! they’re always reasonable and everything in the store was 25% off!!!
Great!
You’ll be soooo much happier! I started my loose leaf tea adventures with a tea ball and quickly discovered that the teas didn’t taste very good if the leaves couldn’t fully expand. A brewing basket makes a world of difference!
it gives me an excuse to go back and reassess, lol. i am discovering that the taste is more sincere.