Sunday, November 06, 2005

Earl, and One More Tea Stop at the Wine Shop

I wound up going back for a few days at the wine shop from a few weeks ago and this time I did it right. I brought Earl.

Earl, the thermos of goodwill that is. It might seem odd to name a thermos but famous teapots get named and any thermos that wants to be famous will need a name. Now I know Earl may not be famous to you but around me it's just about as recognizable as I am. You see when I get comfortable at a place I do what anyone would and start to preach the truth. I am a Tea Advocate and this is my tool.

Before I bring in tea I always try to do a little research into what kind of tea people like in this case the lady I was working with said that black tea makes her feel acidic. A little more digging and I discovered she liked jasmine. She just hit the jackpot since I happened to have a big ol' tin of Jasmine Pearls. I filled up Earl that morning with a damn fine brew. Now Earl is rated at "1.0L" and that might sound like a lot of tea but I just brew up a two cup size pot, then repeat using the same tea. You wind up with a very nice brew by mixing the first and second pots and you save a bit of cash. I wanted the tea to be enjoyed so I brought a few mugs from home that I knew to be free of any office coffee stains.

The tea was a hit but the cups were more of one. Stemware was the word of the day. Every person who came in was told about the wonderful tea and how great Jasmine Pearls were followed by "and he brought his own stemware." In the wine world a lot of effort goes into pairing. Pairing wine with cheese, meat, and the proper glasses. All of the vendors were thrilled and I was quite the hit as a result. They all were very insistent that I try their wines. Again, what kind of fool would I have to be? Now, something came up that only a tea lover in a wine shop would notice. Don't try tasting wine after drinking Jasmine Pearls all day. The first wine I tried was border line and when they asked my opinion I responded that it was "OK, but it would probably kill me to drink a whole glass." Thankfully they didn't appear too fond of it themselves and began laughing at my honesty. I apologized for being so blunt and added that it probably just didn't mix well with the tea I had been drinking.

The next day I brought some green tea, in fact the same one I used in the pizza recipe Hojicha Fugue. It's a green tea that's been lightly roasted, to me it tastes like a green but smells like an oolong. I've never been too fond of green tea but this day that would change. After having a few cups I had really become quite fond of this tea and was quite impressed at how well it went with wine. If anything it may have made that days selections taste even better. Of course it could be that the wines coming in that day were just plain better, but being who I am I must go with the tea.

So if you happen to be going out to do some tasting feel safe having some green tea before going but beware the jasmine.

As for being a Tea Advocate apparently the key to success is to bring your own gla--stemware(!) The irony is that the ones I tend to bring in these situations are $0.49 finds at a local thrift shop. Or I thought it was a find until I noticed that every thrift shop in the world has these same glass mugs with the lotus flower on the side. They hold a damn fine cup of tea though.

That was a few weeks ago and now I'm at a new place. A really nice job that pays well, well enough that I've been so side tracked with not being broke that it's taken a few weeks to get around to this here post about Earl. Speaking of Earl, has he made an appearance? Not yet but you can bet he will.

Now go have a cup.

2 comments

At 11/10/2005 12:39:00 PM, Blogger Knitty Cat said...

I wish I had friends that worked in a wine shop! Oh, wait, I live in Utah, and the only place you can buy wine is at the liqour store... damn. :)

 
At 12/07/2005 06:29:00 AM, Blogger Steph said...

Fun, fun! Maybe sometime you'll treat us with a photo of the stemware! >-)

 

Post a Comment

<< Home