Friday Knows Tea

"Yes, I'd like two ounces of the Darjeeling...sfff...tug..fop?" We hear your attempts at pronouncing this alphanumeric stew every day at the tea house, and who can blame you? When an estate or region name is followed by a gibberish string of letters and numbers and you have no idea what they mean but remember your grandmother pouring you delicious steaming cups of fine Indian black tea and just want to recreate the experience for some nostalgia and comfort, dang it? Worry not, my dear. I've got you covered. Let's talk tea grades! The mysterious collection of letters and numbers on your Indian and Sri Lankan tea labels is a code and I am here to help you crack it. This is a simple leaf grading system created by our brilliant and hard working South Asian tea appraisers, and understanding what each letter means can give you a hint as to what flavor you are about to enjoy! First things first: the more letters, the higher the grade. If you like a full-bodied, astringen...

For those new to our blends, welcome! Our themed teas are mostly developed from CEO Friday Elliott's neurological superpower, lexical-gustatory synesthesia . These BTB ( behind the blend ) posts serve as a dissection of Friday's process and experience.  Today, however, we are examining one of our blends NOT developed by Friday. This tea was created by our shop teen, Teacup, also a polysynesthete. We interviewed Teacup about the inspiration behind The Modern Pro-TEA-theus. Portrait of a Young Blender Friday: Teacup, hello! Teacup: Helloooo Friday: Can you tell us why you chose Frankenstein as subject material? Teacup: We were working on the Horror Collection, and so I felt like having a good Frankenstein tea would be really really beneficial to the collection, especially because it's like a "classic horror monster," and I thought it would be fun to do that. Also I had several ideas for it. Friday: Tell me about the tea! Teacup: The tea is a fu...

For those new to our blends, welcome! Our themed teas are mostly developed from CEO Friday Elliott's neurological superpower, lexical-gustatory synesthesia . These BTB ( behind the blend ) posts serve as a dissection of Friday's process and experience. Caffeine jolt with a leather body and smoke underbelly You know that energy dip that hits about 70% through a writing session? The total drop in motivation and the brain fog that accompanies it? This tea is designed to taste like the opposite of that. Sometimes we all need a little bolstering, and sometimes we need a lot of bolstering. That bolstering kick in the butt tastes like no-nonsense peaty earthiness and bitey smoke with a honeyed zip of go-get-em smile. These qualities manifest in today's featured tea, Writer's Fuel ! I started with a base of Rwandan black tea , a smooth and sweetly malty-floral black tea from Africa (made with cultivars brought from Taiwan, hence the floral notes). It's full-bodied...

The Excelsior My parents met in their high school Star Trek club, and so naturally baby's first fandom was the one to which I literally owe my existence. I've lost count of the number of conventions I attended growing up. The Klingons I've met surely number in the hundreds at this point. This may not have made me the coolest kid growing up, but I can honestly boast the ability to paint my body head-to-toe green with no streaking in fifteen minutes flat (while the only tool in my cosplay skill set, I do love to brag about it). When I was nineteen years old, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting lifelong heroes George Takei and Nichelle Nichols at the Star Trek 40th anniversary gala atop Seattle's Space Needle. They were both so warm and affable and allowed me to hug them (after of course being reassured my green body paint was sealed and wouldn't stain their clothing). I was enchanted, and still smile every time one or the other crosses my Twitter timeline. ...

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 ...

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 ...

Here in Seattle, we just hit full-on summer. June-uary is over and we are facing days hovering around 80°F for the next few months. Seattlites are renowned whiners when it comes to weather over 70° (Don't make that face, Lauren. You know it's true.), so we've got you covered with some fantastic summer bevvie ideas. #1: Shaken Iced Tea Really want to elevate your iced tea game? It's as simple as playing Cocktail and shaking that sucker up. Brew a strong pot of your favorite white, green or black tea (or tisane, if caffeine isn't your game) and throw a hefty pour into a cocktail shaker with a handful of those yummy berries you scored at the farmer's market and a handful of ice. Shake it up for a solid 30 seconds, then pour into your favorite iced tea glass. A whole new level to the simple classic iced tea. #2: Tea-Infused Sangria My personal favorite part of hot weather season: an excuse to drink sangria! Next time you make a batch at home, try infusing your...

Today's episode of Behind the Blend may feel a bit out of season, but it's a particularly chill and blustery April morning and I've been thinking a lot about death and seasonal shifts lately. So, for today's foray into synesthetic perception, I would like to introduce you to an old Friday Afternoon fave: Raise the Dead.  Raise the Dead The inspiration: This blend was originally commissioned by our lovely friend Tara ( aka The Geeky Hostess ) to celebrate the release of the movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Tara wrote me before the movie launched, asking if I'd like to collaborate on a collection themed around the movie. We had way too much fun with the project! I used my Synesthetic Superpowers to taste up three blends: Darcy's Delight , Mrs. Bennet's Nerve Tonic , and Raise the Dead . Tara paired each tea with her super fun naturally-colored sprinkles (sadly no longer available) and the teas got picked up by Espionage Cosmetics as part of a...