Inspiration: Count Cisco's Earl Grey Tea

Count Cisco's Earl Grey

Do you ever come across an Earl Grey and think to yourself that it smells... stale? I have too. A good Earl Grey seems to be something that's hard to find, which is weird considering it's one of the most popular black teas.

I spent a number of months researching, tasting, blending, banging my head against walls... and then I stumbled into this.

Named after the character of one Mr. M. Gomez, this is a super fresh Earl Grey blend that I am rather happy with. Have you tried it? What do you think?

On Etsy

On our Website

Zen and the art of Making Tea

Howdy folks - TeaMonkey here

I read an article not long ago about meditation, and how the Modern Person just doesn't have enough hours in the day for such a thing.  Between Kids in the morning, Traffic getting to work, 8-12 hours at the office, Traffic coming home from work, Putting dinner on the table, Spending some quality time with the family/spouse, and 4-6 hours of sleep per night, it is no WONDER that you don't have the time to sit down for 20 minutes and clear your head.  Just writing about that makes me feel claustrophobic in the clock.

The article put out by the Huffington Post, offers up that in some traditional cultures (IE: eastern, specifically Japanese) people use their daily actions to meditate.  Taking the time to do SOMETHING with a clear mind, and intent on JUST the action.  Not planning on what is for dinner, or the business meeting that afternoon, and certainly not how they can afford Little Suzy's dance lessons.  Just Being.

So how does this relate to tea?

Set the Wayback Machine, Sherman.  We are off to Feudal Japan.

Imagine yourself sitting in a room - you can see everything going on, but the world doesn't notice that you exist right now.  You are simply a fly on the wall of a VERY well appointed room.

A man enters, very stern faced, from his dress and carriage he is a lord of some sort.  He kneels on a mat at a small table and calmly waits, not moving.

Presently, a woman enters.  She is dressed well for the time, she carries a tray with various cups and pots on it.  She is also silent, as she sets herself to the side of the table and places her accoutrement just so.  A silent bow from her to him, and the Service of Tea begins.

The entire process is silent, except for the gentle rustle of clothes, or the clink of the crockery. As you watch the process, you realize that The Lord hasn't acknowledged anything about the room around him, or the actions in front of him at all. He just sits, with a passive look, his eyes mostly closed, as though dreaming.  The woman, simalarly, seems to be either paying no attention at all to the preparation of the tea, yet doing it flawlessly. Or, her focus is her actions at hand, to the exclusion of everything else. Could two people, from the complete opposite ends of the caste system be doing the exact same thing, simply because of a cup of tea?

Lets come back to right now.

Have you ever gotten so involved in doing something, that you weren't actually thinking about it, but just doing it? And the moment that you finished, the rest of the world came into sharp focus - the colors just a bit brighter, the smells a little bit richer, your mind feels like it was just scrubbed clean? Well done. You just brought me to my point. Meditation is is not avoiding activity so that you can just think of nothing. More, it is a state of COMPLETE activity to the exclusion of worry.

It's time to get practical.

The next time you make a cup of tea, go through the entire process with a complete and whole intention.  Fill your kettle with water, and then stand there and do nothing except watch it boil. Don't think about lunch, or dance lessons, or the football game. Just wait for the water to boil. Then get your cup. Feel yourself reaching for the cup, the weight of it, the texture. That cup is everything you need for this moment. THIS moment. Don't worry about what tea you are going to put in it, that is for the next moment.  RIGHT NOW it is just you and the cup.  Breathe.

Now is the moment for the tea.

Pick a tea.  Any tea.  Especially Dryad Tea.  But any tea will do in a pinch.  Same as with the cup, THIS is the moment for your tea.  The moment for the cup and the water has passed, they are already dealt with, so you don't need to think about them anymore.  Just the tea.  Smell it, feel it, stick the bag up to your ear and LISTEN to it.  Everything in this moment is sbout the tea.  

Now we bring everything together.  Tea in Water in Cup.  Three perfect moments that you have experienced, leading into another.  Wait.  Watch the tea steep into the water.  Don't worry about the dog, or taxes, or about Little Johnny's spelling test.  Right now, it is just you, and the culmination of a series of beautiful moments.  Keep breathing.  

When it is time, take the tea from the water, and enjoy.  Feel the world come into that nice sharp, fresh-scrubbed focus.  You have just taken time to meditate, all while doing something that you would have done anyhow.  

Cheers.

Link to the Huffington Post article:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/ways-to-meditate-mindfulness-tips_n_3605845.html

Inspiration: Blueberry Imp

Blueberry Imp

This tea is very, very blueberry. When I blended it I honestly had no idea what to call it, just that it smelled amazing and I simply had to make a tea out of it. There's a touch of vanilla in the blend as well.

When the magical Imp was brought up to me in conversation the idea just clicked. What about a line of fruit teas named after imps? Well, they are coming. This is only the first!

On Etsy

Inspiration: Keeper Tea

Keeper

This tea is inspired mainly by the song that Pandora Celtica sings called "The Keeper". The band jokes that this is the only happy song they sing, and that they often send it to festivals to prove that they aren't always singing about death and destruction.
Some of the lyrics: 
The keeper did a hunting go

And under his cloak he carried a bow

All for to shoot a merry little doe

Among the leaves so green-o.

Chorus:

Jackie boy (Master) Sing ye well (Very well)

Hey down (Ho down) Derry derry down

Among the leaves so green-o

To my hey down down (To my ho down down )

Hey down (Ho down) Derry derry down

Among the leaves so green-o

(Thanks to this site for the lyrics)

When I blended this tea I was thinking of green, and fresh and bright. Apple paired with mint just happened to be the perfect pairing, and I have to say that this is one of our best sellers! It's really great both hot and cold, with nothing added in.

Find it on Etsy. 

Inspiration: Awaken

Awaken.

This tea was created for someone that didn't want to drink as much coffee, but still loved the caffeine. The blend itself is a base of roasted mate and a mix of vanilla and honey black teas. Roasted mate has a very high caffeine content while still being an herbal. Cinnamon was added to bring out the sweet notes of the mate, vanilla and honey.
This tea is best with a touch of milk and sugar. 

Find it here on etsy.

Inspiration: Dischordia Tea

Dischordia tea was based on Dischoria of Pandora Celtica, a member of the Fall Court and Court Archivist for the Fae Courts in general. When teas began rolling around in my mind I asked Dischordia what she enjoys in a tea. The list was incredibly long but also incredibly helpful. 

She wanted green tea, rosemary too. She listed over a dozen ingredients that she was interested in me using. I did my best. What you see in today's blend is a mixture of her ideas and my own. Green tea, ginger, rosemary, peppermint...

This is a spectacular blend that tastes great both hot and cold!

Find it on etsy.

Inspiration: Nessa Tea

Nessa; the darling, amazing, petite Nixie of Pandora Celtica...  She was quite an adventure to blend tea for. I wanted something different, something with pizzazz that was also soothing and fun to drink. 

I had to take into account her love for life, her cheer and many other great qualities about her when coming up with this blend.

I ended up with a green and black tea blend, chock full of Vitamin C and antioxidants. Orange and jasmine are the two strongest notes in the blend but there's also rosehips, heather and other yummy things.

Find it on etsy.

Inspiration: Selkie Tea

This tea happened before its name did. I wanted a tea that was good for vocalists, a tea that tasted and smelled good, and a tea that would be good hot or cold.

First things first, lots of ginger and then some lemon. I chose green tea as opposed to black, for the more calming and antioxidant properties of the tea.

After making the blend I had to choose a name, the name "Selkie" came about quite by accident. I didn't want to think about saltwater, or anything of that sort with a selkie. I found that I could really imagine them all having afternoon tea together with their seal skins draped across their laps, shoulders or tied about their waists. I knew they would keep them close while enjoying tea in the sun.

It's one of Nessa's personal favorites.

You can find this tea on etsy.

Inspiration: Maid in Bedlam

Maid in Bedlam was a song that I had the pleasure of hearing when I visited Scarborough Renaissance Festival out in Texas. I fell instantly in love with it and brought it back to Pandora Celtica with hopes that they would love it just as much.

They did.

When I started into the idea of blending teas for the music that the band sings I felt like maybe this would be any easy blend. Honestly it wasn't. Floral flavor profiles tend to be incredibly light so I had to make sure that nothing overpowered anything else. I knew that I wanted to quote the song in the tea, 

"With straw I'll weave a garland, I'll weave it very fine

With roses, lilies, daisies I'll mix the eglantine

And I'll present it to my love when he returns from sea

I love my love because I know my love loves me"

I wanted the roses, daisies and lilies to be present in the blend. Even if that meant having a representation of them instead of the actual flowers.

This was the third blend I ever successfully created.

Inspiration: ShadowCat Tea

Ah ShadowCat... To say that this blend was interesting to make is rather an understatement.

It all started when we were playing one of our gigs at the Mercury Cafe, each of us came up with our own alcoholic drinks, and ShadowCat's was very much coffee and chocolate. Now, I'm as much a fan of coffee and chocolate as the next person, but I really felt that the Prince of Dreams and Thief of Sorrows deserved something... more for his tea.

I started with a chocolate base, because who doesn't like chocolate? And from there I tried many things. Nothing really stuck... Until the raspberry. A dessert tea! 

I find that though this is a dessert type tea, it really is something you can drink anytime!

So far most people prefer it with milk (or almond milk) and honey, finding that the flavors blend wonderfully.

Find it on Etsy!

(Photo thanks to Capture by Design Photography)

Inspiration: Chemical Worker's Tea

I suppose that this is sort of the tea that started it all.

When I was first dreaming up the idea of doing teas inspired by the songs that Pandora Celtica sings I had to find a few songs that strongly spoke of what they were and exactly what was going on in them. Chemical was the first.

Often called "Process Man" this song speaks of those that worked in chemical factories, not usually a very good subject, nor is it one that you might want to drink in tea.... but I was determined to make it something that people would enjoy drinking while listening to the song.

I wanted to make a tea that reminded the drinker of smokey skies, but also warm spices, things that a chemical worker would want to drink- the stronger the better.

Blending the black tea was probably the easiest part. I wanted smoke, but also pure and strong black tea. Then there was all of the spices. I can easily say that this is a blend that is more herbs and spices than it is tea leaves. Cardamom, cinnamon and ginger are the big three in this blend, likening it to chai in a way.

You can find this tea on Etsy.