Grandma Shirley
March 20, 2012
Posted By: Shaunescy
Tea, for me it is the ultimate comfort. My grandmother lived with us while I was growing up. She was a lady with a lot of order, discipline and routines. Getting up early, eating a Jethro Bodine sized bowl of oatmeal to fuel her day in her red robe and sparkly gold mules. Putting on the tea.
And the tea was always the same. I don’t think I ever had an herbal tea until I was in my 20s. Toby, as everyone young and old called my grandmother used a family tea blend. Hot or iced, with cream and sugar or black, the specific scent and taste take me back.
Toby’s Tea
1/2 Lb Oolong (green tea)
1/4 Lb Lapsang Souchong (smoked black tea)
3 Oz. Gunpowder (green tea)
1 Oz. Orange Pekoe (black tea)
If you want to make a smaller batch, you can come close to the taste by eyeballing measurements. 3 Oz. of Oolong, 1 ½ Oz. Lapsang Souchoung, a pinch of Gunpowder and a smaller pinch of Orange Pekoe will do nicely. Orange Pekoe is simple black tea, like Lipton. Delish!
To make my tea blend, I went to Kitchen TLC , which is located at 7710 Shedhorn Drive in Four Corners. It’s in the small shopping complex behind the Big Sky Western Bank. And what a lovely experience! Walking in the door is to be embraced by the most wonderful aromatherapy in the world. I can hardly describe how good it smells in there, you just have to go.
This blog about tea was inspired by a comment left on the first edition of Grandma Shirley’s Bridge Club Recipes.
“I would love a good Chai Tea Recipe. Like a homemade concentrate?”
~Emily
Well, Emily I used to have a Chai recipe and I simply cannot find it anywhere but I did pick up 3 Oz. of Kitchen TLC’s Dirty Chai Tea blend and the most adorable floating rubber ducky tea infuser. It is the best chai I have had in years and the 3 Oz. costs $12 and will make between 30-45 servings.
