Friday Knows Tea

 Lemon Pound Cake with Death's Flower Glaze Death's Flower Hello, darlings! A few months back our house teen, Teacup, designed for us a whole collection of teas inspired by the hit D&D actual play show Critical Role. The blend featured in today's recipe post immediately became a fan favorite, and we drink it frequently in our house as well! Death's Flower is inspired by Caduceus Clay , a kind-hearted and loyal Firbolg cleric. The tea itself is a humusy, rich, dark earthy blend of fifteen year cave aged puerh tea with dry grapefruit peel and perky hibiscus. Our friend Celeste Conowitch mentioned in passing that this tea would be fantastic in a glaze of some sort, and while she may have meant a savory glaze for roasts (which would also be delicious for sure), I immediately  decided we were talking about cake. Because as the tea house's Executive Fae, it's my job to be sure we are always talking about cake. On the spot, in that moment, I promised y'all a ...

Hello, Thirsty Nerds! I've been receiving quite a number of emails, dms & in-person questions regarding pu-erhs lately. It seems there's an upswing in popularity for this complicated and delicious tea family and y'all are thirsty for knowledge! Pu-erh tea (most closely for American tongues pronounced as "poo-ahr," try to swallow the R) is one family in the category of tea known as "heicha," (pronounced "hay-cha"). Heicha is the sixth type of tea and the outlier when defining true teas (leaf from the Camelia Sinensis plant). All other tea types are defined by their oxidation range at time of processing as such: White tea is unoxidized: 0% Yellow tea is delicately oxidized (also smothered to slow the oxidation process): 1-4% Green tea is lightly oxidized: 5-10% of possible oxidation in the leaf Oolong tea ranges widely from moderate to high oxidation: 11-99% Black tea is fully oxidized: 100% of possible oxygen saturation in the leaf...