Yoga Boot Camp

First off, this photo is not of me. Or anyone I know. Or anyone I would know.

That being said, I'm currently putting myself through what I'm calling yoga boot camp. I'm taking an hour-and-a-half yoga class every day for the next seven days. I usually go to yoga once a month.

What does this have to do with tea, you ask - well, yoga in L.A. is about a lot more than a gauche interpretation of a millennia old practice and showing off your $2 toe ring from Pac Sun. It's also about tea.

At the yoga place I go to, they offer hot tea to drink before or after your practice. So for each day I go, I'll write a quick review here of the tea they offered.

Thursday: Yogi Tea's Egyptian Licorice Mint. It's not too bad, actually - but I like licorice. It wouldn't be something I'd drink every day, but a quick cup of it was pretty refreshing.

Friday: Yogi Tea's India Spice. This was vile. Pepper water - except not spicy hot. Just like you took a packet of pepper from a fast food place and dumped some water into it. Epic fail. I took two sips and then hid the half-full cup behind the carafe.

Tea at Home

I teach middle school kids. That being said, I've had my share of rough days. On any give day I'm one step closer to becoming that teacher we all had who is always clutching a coffee mug that, in retrospect, you're now pretty sure didn't just have coffee in it.

Typically, I have been known to indulge in a libation... or 6... to unwind after a day inspiring the future people of tomorrow. However, on a day such as today, one that felt more like fall than spring. Brisk and windy with white fluffy clouds in the air... I turned to the indulgence of tea.

The ritual of tea can sometimes unwind one more than any measure of wine. As I sit here sipping violet tea from my overly fancy china cup, La Boheme annoying my neighbors, eating butter cookies I have no business eating... I am content... and that, is bliss.

In Defense Of...

Some, namely B, may quibble that the Starbucks venti soy chai tea latte doesn't meet the definition of tea. To this, I say bah. Why? Because frequently the venti soy chai tea latte, much like, say, gin in colonial India, is the only damn thing that gets me through the day.

Once, I tried to make one at home instead of spending $4.25 that otherwise would have gone to charity or trashy historical romances by Philippa Gregory. I brewed a cup of Tazo Chai tea, added some soy milk, and threw in some (like 40) sugar cubes for good measure.

And do you know what it tasted like? Crap. Why? Because according to the genius Starbucks gossip site the ones prepared in the stores are made from a concentrate AND the soy milk Starbucks uses is exclusive to them. So you can't make it at home and get it to taste similar to what you buy at the store. You have to buy it at Starbucks.

This is capitalism at its best. While it may be a glorified chai tea soy milkshake from a box, it's my glorified chai tea soy milkshake from a box.

French Tea

In my experience of sampling many teas, there is no tea finer than those of  the Mariage Freres.  My personal favorite being Marco Polo.  All tea lovers should make a pilgrimage to this little tea mecca in Paris, where you will be greeted by handsome french men in linen suits awaiting to open canisters of fine teas for your olfacation pleasure.  You will then slip back to the tea parlor in the back of the store, and indulge in the delectable delights of their afternoon tea.  Le Magnifique!
http://www.mariagefreres.com/

Tea At The Home Of Another

One may ask: Now, you two are certainly modern girls, therefore what tea measures do you take when you wake up at a home where, persay, you are not on the deed? At the home, perchance, of a gentleman caller? (Said gentleman caller has been the same gentleman caller for upwards of eight years now, so don't get your no doubt complicated Victorian panties in a twist. Hi Mom.)

The answer is shown here. One drinks Harrod's house mix, looseleaf, with water from crazy Japanese quick water boiling science fiction thingy purchased for said gentleman caller's birthday last year.

Dude, it boils eight quarts in minutes - and keeps it at a tea-appropriate temperature as long as you want. It's magic! It's double magic when one of the burners is out on the gentleman caller's stove, and his water heater is on the blink. It is, in fact, the only link to modern civilization that exists at the gentleman caller's house right now.

Why Tea?

The art of Tea is sadly dying, or even worse, being bastardized to the point of misrecognition. But there is something almost magical about sharing a cup of tea with friend. It calms, sooths, refreshes and relaxes. It encourages conversation and gossip.
Tea with friends could be as simple as tea and simple cookies, or as elaborate as high tea with an exhausting number of courses.

I personally, have some tea rules;

*Loose tea should be brewed in teapots. No teabags, please.
*Teapots should be warmed before brewing.
*Use cold fresh water for brewing and make sure it has reached a boil.
*Tea should be served in porcelain teacups and saucers. Mugs are for coffee and gin.
*Iced tea should not be served @ a tea party.
*Jeans should not be worn to a tea party.
*Milk, sugar and lemon should be offered, but all 3 should not be used. Never mix milk and lemon.