Friday Knows Tea

Oh hello, Starchild. Ready to get weird up on this cosmic plane? Good, because we are here today to talk about the electric vibe of David Bowie. Stardust, our Ziggy tribute glitter tea David Bowie at his most iconic was a force of drag-level makeup, spiky hair, space alien Homo Superior sensibilites and very very tight pants. All obviously amazing pieces of an overall magical rock god maniac. When putting together a collection of queer rocker tribute glitter teas , our main man Ziggy Stardust (in addition to Prince and Freddie ) could not be overlooked. What determined the flavors, textures and funky style you see above? Let's walk it through. Underneath it all, Bowie was all Brit to his core. Crunchy London punk influence underneath floral dialect and turns of phrase all come together in a clean and mildly astringent classic black tea flavor. I went with our house black tea blend, Friday's Afternoon, for its balance of malt, floral notes and mild bitter. Over the nur...

Dry January, a social movement in which tons of people worldwide take a month off drinking alcohol in the name of health, clarity, or even just to keep self-discipline sharp. Easy enough to let yourself have one big last hurrah of a New Year's Eve before taking benching your liver for a month, but for those getting a head start by choosing not to make use of spirits to get into the NYE spirit, we've got you covered! Check out some of these recipe ideas: Classic Toddy 6 oz strong, hot black tea (we like our Rwanda FBOP ) 1 tablespoon honey 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 1 lemon wedge 1 cinnamon stick 1 star anise This one is simple! Just grab a mug and stir together your hot tea with lemon and honey, then garnish with the lemon wedge and spices. Tea & T 4 oz chilled bright and citrusy green tea (like our glitter-packed Freddie Mercury tribute blend) 4 oz tonic water (our favorite is anything by Fever Tree ) twist of lime to garnish In an ice-filled Coll...

Halloween is almost here, which provides a fabulous excuse for being super extra about baked goods. I have def been getting carried away with my baking and other craft projects, and to be honest this recipe was mostly created so we all have an excuse to say “rooiBOOS” while making spooky ghost gestures at one another. Hence the cute little ghosts piped in chocolate on top. You’re welcome. Teacup (our teenager) referred to these as “pumpkin spice lattes in cupcake form,” which I think just about sums it up. Let me know if you tried these, if you made any substitutions, and what you thought of the results! Punkin Pie RooiBOOS Cupcakes 1 tbsp Punkin Pie Rooibos 1/2 cup whole milk 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (we used Pamela’s gluten-free, but wheat flour works too! You can swap them out cup for cup.) 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) softened butter 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs, room temperature 1 tsp vanilla Combine whole milk and Pun...

Pacific Northwest local red-barked beauty Pacific Madrone, aka Arbutus Menziesii , is a sight to behold for sure. The rich hue and dramatically peeling bark, the curve of its sturdy branches and sheen of its verdant waxy leaves are all peak hiking aesthetic, but did you know this tree has long been a multipurpose source of healing tincture and tea? Various tribes of the west coast, ranging from California up through British Columbia, make use of Madrone bark and berries. Extracted as a tincture or bundled and bruised for a poultice, this plant can be used topically to treat minor wounds and sores. Brewed as a tea, the light-bodied brew has notes of cinnamon, foresty fungus and wood smoke and is used to help a stomachache or as a cold medicine. This tree serves as a very renewable source of bark, leaf and berry and can be harvested without damaging the tree. Madrones will naturally shed their leaf every two years and their bark each summer. When you approach a Madrone in midsumme...

Fall is here and we are ready ready READY for autumnal flavors. I'm personally using the season as an excuse to highlight one of my favorite fandom teas, inspired by an ill-tempered and irascible young girl from Omaha, Nebraska. September is the protagonist of Catherynne M. Valente's lush and heartbreaking Fairyland series. When the series begins (the first book is titled The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland on a Ship of Her Own Making), September is a discontented girl of twelve who is bored to tears by her life of rural chores and a school life where her imagination is underappreciated. She is swept away by the Green Wind to Fairyland, where she meets magical creatures and stumbles upon a series of quests. We see September boldly dive into danger in pursuit of friendship and adventure time and time again, feeling everything more keenly as the book goes on and she grows her small child's heart to match her rapidly maturing life experience. September's Blend ...

When teaching classes, speaking on panels, or even just in casual conversation, two of the most common questions I've been asked are: What is oxidation?  What does fermentation mean in regards to tea?   Tea terminology can be confusing to those who work outside the industry or are just getting their start. We tea workers have our own language for sure! When it comes to oxidation vs. fermentation, things can get especially murky. We hit a translation barrier when working with Chinese tea especially, as it's pretty standard for the terms to be used interchangeably in that region. Generally speaking, however, oxidation and fermentation refer to two completely different processes. Let’s break it down (ha ha cellular biology joke). Oxidation is the process of oxygen getting into the cells and  primary factor that distinguishes between the six true types of tea: white, yellow, green, oolong, black and post-fermented. You know how an apple turns brown when you bite in...

  Calling all tea-obsessed carnivores! Fall is upon us and everyone seems eager to get back to the kitchen. If you're looking for a cozy, low-maintenance dinner option and have a soft spot for complex flavor and a lush, fatty mouthfeel, follow me to tastytown. I wrote and tested this succulent rib recipe for you, and my friends and family can testify to its deliciousness. Enjoy, and feel free let me know what creative tweaks you made in your own experiments! *     *     *     *     *  Tea-Glazed Juicy Ribs (makes 4 servings)              Active cooking time: 40 minutes, Passive cooking time: 2 hours 1 3/4 cups water 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 4 oz. tomato paste 1/2 cup loose smoked tea (we used our Clockmaker's Blend ) 1 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic ...

Today's episode of Behind the Blend features my personal favorite of our RPG character class collection: Ranger's Blend! The inspiration for each character class blend is an archetype, rather than any specific character. Rangers are sly, observant, and physically dexterous. They have a close relationship with the forest, a kinship with the natural world. Toasty green mélange of foresty delish. Green was an obvious choice for our base, but which green to pick? With so rich and mysterious an archetypal profile, I needed to put together a base that was a blend of bright and dark, toasty and lush. Houjicha (toasted twigs and stems) has the tree bark roasted notes and light body of upper-canopy branches. Dragonwell green serves to bring both sunshine-butter and earthy toastiness to the blend, and Gunpowder green complements the butter with a clean mineral finish. This tea didn't need anything other than tea. The Ranger is pure and complex, simple and layered, myste...

We get asked a LOT what the difference is between white tea and black tea, herbal tea and green tea, and so on. The world of tea is mysterious and a lot of you want to learn more, so let's start with the basics! True tea comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant. Always. Any infusion made from the leaf, stem, root or whatever other part of any other plant falls into the "tisane" category, also known as "herbal tea." Those are a whole tasty world absolutely worth your time and attention, but today we're focusing on true teas.   There are six basic types of true tea, delineated by the level of oxidation allowed to occur in the leaf during processing. After picking, tea leaves frequently go through a process of bruising, withering, heating, and drying. (I say frequently because the world of tea is so vast and varied, every facet of the end product is up for flux. How much caffeine? What does it taste like? Is it smooth or brash? The answer is always "it ...

A fair number of you first encountered our tea company at NW Tea Festival , an awesome Seattle-based festival that launched in 2007 and has only grown bigger and better each year since. Newer to the tea festival scene is  Tea Fest PDX . This Portland festival only just had its third year, but is so put-together and well structured that I would have thought it was an event with 5-7 years under its belt already. I don’t have access to the attendance numbers, but we def got hit with a long line waiting to enter and it was tight moving between all the booths once we got in. I’m glad this was mostly an outdoor event, as the indoor booths were struggling to get folks to stop without completely blocking the pathway. I have to admit, being at a vendor fair/convention without working a booth of my own was a super weird feeling. We (my bestie Nat and I) kept running into people we knew and almost every person asked us “So where is your booth,” to which I gleefully replied “Nah, we’re ju...

Yoshiaki Hattori stands with his tea plants under a solar shade screen Meet Yoshiaki Hattori, sustainable tea visionary and crafter of some of the finest matcha we've ever tasted. The Hattori facility (Tenryu Agri-Farms) resides in Shizuoka, Japan, a region probably best known for its beautiful scenery, delicious food and huge trade in green tea. In fact, this prefecture grows 40% of the green tea in Japan! Even among smaller, more eco-friendly farms, Mr. Hattori takes an unusual approach to growing and processing. He strives to combine contemporary sustainability practices with very old-fashioned processing styles to bring the best of quality to the matcha market while minimizing his carbon footprint. In the world of Japanese green teas, it's common to cover the plants for the last few weeks of their growth cycle in order to encourage the final growth spurt to be sweet and complex, rather than tannic and dry. This is how matchas and senchas are given the smooth and t...

For today's episode of Behind the Blend, I am delighted to highlight our first ever Chari-tea: Rohan's Research Blend! Rohan's Research Blend Rohan is a delightful neighborhood kiddo whose mother approached me to request a custom tea to benefit the medical research organization with which she is involved. The Association for Creatine Deficiencies is "a nonprofit organization dedicated to the three Cerebral Creatine Deficiency Syndromes" (pulled from their website as I couldn't think of a better way to phrase it). Rohan himself has been diagnosed with Cerebral Creatine Deficiency and, along with his mother's personal flavor preferences, served as the inspiration for this blend. For those not totally familiar with my blending method, allow me to sum up: I have a neurological super power called Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia. This cross-wiring of the senses causes me to literally taste words and abstract concepts like personality, mood, ideas and so...

As the days lengthen and the clouds clear away, I've been finding myself holding back spontaneous laughter bubbling in my chest, itching to move, overflowing with inspiration. Are you feeling the same way? Here in the PNW, winter is dark, grey, dreary and a real slog to get through. Today may be equinox, the true first day of spring, but I've noticed for a week or two now that people's steps have been springier and conversations are more musical in tone. It seems we are moving again from greys and browns to pinks and oranges, electric greens and soft yellows. These colors are so lively and flavorful, it's only right to have delicious gatherings with friends to celebrate all the rich Yum around us! In that spirit, may I suggest we begin to make time for regular afternoon teas? How appealing is it to think of sweet, smooth tea over delicate scones and fresh fruits? Perhaps a tea sandwich with a twist? Let's play with Spanish smoke in our salmon and fresh lemon z...