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Tea Time and Blueberry-Lemon Scones
Jul. 12th, 2022 04:04 pmToday's tea is another one of the foofy flavored black teas from Bingley's: "A Tea Rose Gown for Mrs. Allen". Well...roses, I had to try it, right?
Ingredients: black tea, dried rosebuds, natural vanilla flavoring
Brewed at 212F for ca 5 min (then left in the pot as I consume), drunk sweetened
I wanted something that would go well with a blueberry-lemon scone. The blueberries are from my yard. When I've collected enough for a scone or muffin, I bake just one scone or muffin (using mix). I've taken to adding some sugar-preserved citrus zest to make them even more interesting. This is a citrus preservation technique someone on social media turned me on to. You layer citrus zest with granulated sugar in a jar then let it macerate. The original receipe suggested that you press out the resulting syrup to use and discard the zest, but I just keep the jars as-is and remove eitehr zest or syrup depending on what I'm doing. So: about a quarter cup blueberries and about 1 Tbsp sugar-preserved lemon zest, in just enough scone mix to hold it together.
So, A Tea Rose Gown for Mrs. Allen. Originally this mix had tiny dried rosebuds in it, but since they are less dense than the tea leaves, they tended to float to the top of the packet, and now that I'm doing to the last quarter or so of the contents, I don't think there are any more roses. Honestly, the dried rosebuds are pretty but I don't recall them adding a great deal to the resulting flavor of the tea. The loose tea now has a lightly pleasant vanilla scent, but nothing of roses. The brewed tea--both aroma and taste--is very lightly vanilla scented, but mostly just black tea. Which goes very well with the scones.
I really should pick up more of the Rouge Bourbon tea from Mariage Freres that I like so much. Now *that* is a vanilla-flavored tea! (There is no bourbon liquor involved, it's the Bourbon vanilla that gives it the name.)
I should try drying rose petals to add to tea for my own blends next year when the gallicas are in bloom again. This year I have a quart jar of rose petals in olive oil macerating in a dark cabinet, but I haven't checked it recently to see how well the scent has taken.
Ingredients: black tea, dried rosebuds, natural vanilla flavoring
Brewed at 212F for ca 5 min (then left in the pot as I consume), drunk sweetened
I wanted something that would go well with a blueberry-lemon scone. The blueberries are from my yard. When I've collected enough for a scone or muffin, I bake just one scone or muffin (using mix). I've taken to adding some sugar-preserved citrus zest to make them even more interesting. This is a citrus preservation technique someone on social media turned me on to. You layer citrus zest with granulated sugar in a jar then let it macerate. The original receipe suggested that you press out the resulting syrup to use and discard the zest, but I just keep the jars as-is and remove eitehr zest or syrup depending on what I'm doing. So: about a quarter cup blueberries and about 1 Tbsp sugar-preserved lemon zest, in just enough scone mix to hold it together.
So, A Tea Rose Gown for Mrs. Allen. Originally this mix had tiny dried rosebuds in it, but since they are less dense than the tea leaves, they tended to float to the top of the packet, and now that I'm doing to the last quarter or so of the contents, I don't think there are any more roses. Honestly, the dried rosebuds are pretty but I don't recall them adding a great deal to the resulting flavor of the tea. The loose tea now has a lightly pleasant vanilla scent, but nothing of roses. The brewed tea--both aroma and taste--is very lightly vanilla scented, but mostly just black tea. Which goes very well with the scones.
I really should pick up more of the Rouge Bourbon tea from Mariage Freres that I like so much. Now *that* is a vanilla-flavored tea! (There is no bourbon liquor involved, it's the Bourbon vanilla that gives it the name.)
I should try drying rose petals to add to tea for my own blends next year when the gallicas are in bloom again. This year I have a quart jar of rose petals in olive oil macerating in a dark cabinet, but I haven't checked it recently to see how well the scent has taken.
