Buy yourself some art-tea prints

In looking for some inspiration for my next instalment of tea in art, I have come across a website which contains an array of paintings and prints containing tea related loveliness. It is however, an American site which may be an issue when it comes to shipping AND I cannot locate any shipping information on the site. That does not stop one appreciating the artistic representation of tea though! There are also paintings with a coffee theme available for purchase...or dribbling over!

UNUSUAL PHOTO OF THE DAY

I found this photo of Flickr (From The Lawleys photo profile) and it takes 'tea bags' to a whole new level!

Keep on drinking your hot tipple of choice! (Which according to the July poll thus far is COFFEE!!) Keep voting and soon we'll have the final results of your favourite hot drink in the sidebar!

Hello again!

Hello dear tea(etc) lovers,

I must apologise for the lack of posting recently! I haven't given up before things have even began! No way! I have been a little pre-occupied with things lately so though this has not stopped my tea consumption, I haven't been as dedicated. My fridge broke down and so I have not been able to store any fresh milk which has subsequently meant that my black tea consumption has decreased because I do like a smidgen in my tea!

Service will resume shortly as I now am the proud owner of a shiny new, fresh- smelling fridge with lots of room for my milk!!

Roll on the tea blogging...

CBC

P.s. I have put a book aside at work which I will scan before I purchase and read it to review on here. It is about the history of tea!

Tea and Impressionsim

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an Impressionist born in Pennsylvania, USA, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. At a young age, she left the USA for Paris and inspired by what she had experienced there, become an artist on her return. Cassatt's subjects were often women and children for whom she had a fondness. You can find out more about the artist in this Wikipedia article. This, one of her pieces is entitled 'Five O' Clock Tea', was painted in 1880.

I love the way the subject on the right is holding the cup, with her little finger sticking out. I think it perfectly conveys a feeling of 'poshness' and formality despite the relaxed posture of the subject on the left. I wonder who these two ladies are having their tea with!

And to think that this post was inspired by a work colleague who is particularly passionate (and knowledgeable) about arty things! Brilliant idea...

I hope to find more examples of tea in art and share them with you.

CBC

xx

Cassatt Biography Source

The Various Flavours of Coffee

I read this book a while ago and wanted to share it with blog readers as it seems in-fitting with this blog. This is a perfect read for coffee fans. It is written my Anthony Capella and is littered with clever Freudians and funny quotes; a coffee-filled love story with a difference. Robert Wallis is a man with an eye (and appetite) for the ladies and a nose and taste for coffee. The free-spirited man you meet at the beginning of the tale is almost unrecognisable towards the end where he falls hopelessly in love with a African slave, Fikre and tries to 'free' her. A overall good read full of references to coffee from plant to cup and interesting twist to its conclusion.

You can read more reviews here although the cover on the site is different from mine which seems to convey the feel of the story better.

Onto chocolate news, as I type this post, I am watching 'The Vicar of Dibley', one of my favourite British comedies and this video probably illustrates how many chocolate lovers feel about their 'vice'




Hilarious!

Well, I am off to rest my head and giggle at the vicar some more but I will be back with more tidbits soon!

CBC

xx

Whittard Cherry Blossom

Today, I succumbed and bought THREE new teas from the lovely people at Whittard. Thus far I have tried the Cherry Blossom Tea Bags. This is the first white tea I have consciously drunk and I really like how light it is. One more word on this tea...SWEET. If you don't like sweet and/or floral smelling or tasting tea, then this one is NOT for you. Personally, as I have a bit of a sweet tooth and am a suckler for a sweet smell (in the form of a slight perfume addiction), this tea was lovely.


It was smooth tasting, yet crisp and felt very clean; there was no aftertaste which made it all the more pleasurable to drink (in fact, after this post, I will be making another cup!) The colour of this tea when brewed, was pale yellow with an orange-red tint.

Overall, I would rate this tea with a 4 out of 5.

I realise that I'm no expert...but I LOVE a good cuppa! (Sorry if I've said this before...tiredness+headache does NOT a coherent post make)

Well, I'm off to brew me another cup of loveliness! Till next post,

CBC.

Tea Parties

On the recommendation on a friend of mine, the site to visit for places to have afternoon tea in London is http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/. For an outing with a difference and a quintessentially English Twist, I cannot WAIT to try this out! I will be posting pictures when I do visit!

Looking through the site at the Menu, the most interesting sounding tea (which may possibly be on offer in one of the Afternoon Tea sites) I found was 'Lapsang Souchong' described as, "A Chinese tea fired over smoking pine needles, which produces a striking smoky odour and flavour."

Looks like tea parties aren't just for Alice!

CBC

How water affects the quality of your tea

Reading an article from the knowledgeable people at the English Tea Blog, it is very informative as to the effect of the quality of water on the taste of the tea you are brewing.

"Overall, it is the quality of the water you use which makes or breaks the tea you are brewing..."

I think as time goes on I will need to be paying more attention to the water which I use to brew my tea! Excellent tips from the English Tea Blog there!

My-tea fine

Hello readers! I trust that you are well and drinking lots of lovely things. I wanted to share a tea with you which I had bought reasonably recently but had not been drinking much of because the flavour takes a bit of getting used to.

As I'm going through a bit of a Japan phase at the moment and wanted to try a new tea, when shopping at my local Whittard store, I came across this interesting tea.

Apart from the tag-line of "Famous, Japanese-style green tea" the description of the tea mentioned that it had a light spinach-like flavour. As I review this, I have a mug next to me so that I can convey, as accurately as possible, my thoughts on it.

Taste

The tea does indeed have a slight spinach undertone which is slightly overbearing if you let it steep for too long. I made this mistake intially as I often drink my black tea quite strong. Apart from that, you soon get over the strange taste sensation and will find that this is a refreshing and delicious green tea. It does have a bit of an aftertaste though...

Colour

As I'm not drinking from a transparent mug (I really should invest in one for reviewing so that I can include pictures), it is difficult to observe the colour but it takes on a light green-yellow colour when steeped for about 2 minutes.

Aroma

Sencha even smells a little 'spinachy' and herby

Overall Rating: 3/5

I'll be stocking up on new teas (and possibly hot chocolate) tomorrow!

CBC

Tea News from 'The Curious Black Cat'

Here is a link to a post I've made recently on my other blog about tea and advertising.

Tea News

Planting the seeds...

Hello!

As this is the first post of my new blog (which I have been meaning to start for a while) I thought I had better explain the title of the blog, which to non Creole or 'Kweyol' speakers won't make much sense. It literally means 'Cocoa Tea' in Kweyol; a French-English melange spoken in many parts of the Caribbean. 'Cocoa Tea' is a popular and delicious drink drunk widely in St. Lucia. It is made from the compressed cocoa extract which can be bought in 'sticks' and combined with water, milk, sugar and spices makes a scrumptious treat.

The following video from You Tube is the clearest explanation of how to make this drink!




As I am a bit of a tea-o-holic, (well a hot drink-o-holic more like!) I'll be exploring lots of tea related loveliness for you to enjoy.

I hope to see some of your comments as this blog gets up and running and feedback is always appreciated so I have added feedback buttons to the bottom of each post for this purpose. Review requests are also appreciated as I love tasting new things so will gladly oblige!

Thanks again!

CBC

xx