Monday March 24, 2008 | 4 comments
The three boys in front of me looked unwell. One had glassy eyes, and his mouth was set in what can only be called a grimace. On the other side, the lad kept blinking and licking his lips, as if they were dry. The boy in the middle, Eliot, was silent as a mountain, yet every muscle in face was screaming “YUCK!” I tried to determine whether they looked guilty. Then I noticed that each had a full teacup in front of them. I asked what was the matter.
“I decided to follow your example.” My spirits plummeted at the possibilities. “I tried to make tea -” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You screwed up!” Dry lips finally found his parched voice.
“No. Yes. I guess. I thought I was doing what you always do -”
“What kind of tea?”
“The matcha genmaicha, you know, with the rice?” I had been out of the room for ten minutes. It was an after school debate practice; the kids were, when I left, busily researching a topic regarding presidential primaries and democratic values. I bounded to the teapot. “Take the strainer out?” It was above the top of the brew left in the pot. The tea was packed in tight and expanded to above the rim. I looked carefully at the rice and stems. Besides forgetting the expansion of the tea, something was wrong.
“Time the steeping?” A debate coach’s classroom is littered with stopwatches, among other things. The answer was affirmative. I sniffed the strainer. Cooked. I checked the Zojirushi: 208 degrees.
“I know what’s wrong, guys.” The debate practice shifted from primaries to discussion of temperature and tea; from there back to differences in teas; back from there to processes . . . guided, of course, by the information to be found on T Ching’s archives. Unfortunately, we had to throw out the cooked tea. We made a new pot with measured tea steeped at the proper temperature and the three watched my every move. We sipped together.
The three boys in front of me looked well.
Main Image :: Image 1
Ha ha! I’m fairly sure these three are in all the advanced science classes too, with flawless lab technique!
I had a similar experience just yesterday with my home-for-Spring-break college-student (just graduated!) daughter; sitting at the table with a glum look on her face and a teacup in front of her. “What’s the matter?” I asked, expecting a long story about a bad experience or something. “I cooked my tea!” she replied!
Regena and Anne,
Yep, I think that at one time or another in our “newbie” phases of tea drinking (whatever age that may be) we’ve all probably cooked the tea. With many herbals (which isn’t technically tea but an infusion as many tea drinkers know) this isn’t quite as important for time and temperature as it is for REAL tea, especially those delicate whites and greens. Oh well, live and learn and at least genmaichai isn’t one of those $100.00 per ounce types of tea (at least not usually).
Regena, did they reset the temperature on the Zojirushi for green after this experience?
Cheers and I’m glad that the second pot was MUCH smoother!
Fr. Patrick
Thanks to the generosity of T Ching, all the tea these kids drink is DONATED. Except for this instance, however, they are fascinated with the notion of re-steeping the leaves. They will re-steep up to ten times! (The Zojirushi I have has the following temperature settings: Boil; 208 degrees; 195 degrees; and 175 degrees. Because of the heat loss in dispensing, 195 is the choice for green.) The favorite teas over the last two weeks have been Nepalese Oolong and Golden Lion’s Paw. For several months it was matcha genmaicha. As the weather warms, it will be interesting to see what new favorite emerges.
And yes, these young men are the brightest of the bright.
Thanks to T Ching . . . tea is one of the few things that I know more about than they do. For now. :-)
It is our pleasure to donate the teas to the High School. I’m delighted by the enthusiasm the kids have shown. I received a thank you note just today from the”Tuesday Tea Gang” that I’d love to share……”Thank you for the wonderful tea. You have revolutionized the way the students in HRVHS think about tea”. I’m lovin it :)