New Facebook Page!

Because I know all of you are spending your summer pining over the loss of our In Too Steep time together, I made a fanpage on Facebook for In Too Steep :)

Just search for "In Too Steep Tea Appreciation Society" and you should be golden!

Yes, we have been upgraded to a society. Congrats, sisters! ;)

This week: Boston Tea Party!

This week's meeting will be our last Tea Club meeting of the semester! Our theme will be Boston Tea Party and we'll be chilling out and enjoying some tea and treats.

Meeting will be 6-7 pm in Beebe Common Room!

Bring your own mug :)

Just brew it,

Claire

No Meeting This Week

Hey everyone!

Just a quick reminder that we don't have In Too Steep this week due to Ruhlman. Enjoy your day off! The Wednesday after that (5/6) will be our final meeting of the semester! I'm looking into a nice Boston Tea Party, sans rioting of course.

Our past few meetings have been very fun! We learned a lot from Priya about Chai, especially how cutting up pieces of ginger and letting them steep gives it a great kick.

This past week we hosted "Teddy Bear Tea," which was quite relaxing as finals are looming. It was a bit of a "Clean Out The Tea Attic" selection of teas, including herbal and assam teas from our previous meetings. Also, we served cookies and Teddy Grahams to fit the event. And there was a lot of coloring done in the Spongebob, Disney Princess and Sesame Street coloring books. 

Who says you have to grow up?

Just brew it,

Claire

Reminder: Chai Tea 4/15

Hey all! 

Just a quick reminder that we'll be having Chai tea at this week's meeting! Priya Nakka '12 will be teaching us all about chai. Meeting will be at 6 pm in Beebe Living Room.

Just brew it,

Claire

p.s. Remember to bring your own mug :)

Hippie Shake Recap

Hey all,

Hippie Shake was so much fun this week! Our lovely hosts Allison '11 and Lina '11 kept the fun going with Taboo, and our guests enjoyed some yummy cookies provided by Lina, Jess H., and In Too Steep. Our promise for a relaxed meeting held true! 

 I learned how to make herbal iced tea about 15 minutes before the meeting as well. We have to remember that Herbal tea is apparently not a "real" tea since it doesn't come from the Camellia sinensis. However, we also have to remember that it is DELICIOUS! We made Peppermint and Chamomile Iced Tea, and both of them were quite refreshing. A good tip is to add some honey to the Chamomile. 

As far as brewing the iced tea, I used a quick brew method where I put about 10 tea bags in a pitcher (thanks to the Pub!) and I filled the bottom with hot water so it created sort of a concentrate. Let that brew for 10 minutes, then fill the rest of the pitcher with cold water. What I did to make the cooling process go quickly was to fill a second pitcher with ice, pour the tea over it, and then re-pour the tea back into the original pitcher filled about half-way with ice. Good stuff! 

Tune in next week for Chai Day!

Coming up this week: Hippie Shake!

Hey all,

This week's meeting will be "Hippie Shake: Herbal Iced Tea Week" and will be hosted by Allison Kwan (Beebe RA) and Lina Heitmann (Beebe APT). Our goal this week is to provide a bit of relaxation for all of you during this stressful time of the semester. Allison and Lina will provide fun board games and I'll provide the iced herbal tea for your enjoyment. Per usual, there will be coloring books available for all of you as well. The time has come to mellow out, ladies!

Just brew it,

Claire

p.s. Remember to bring your own mug!

Chinese Tea Recap

Hey tea lovers!

We had a great meeting this week featuring our guest speaker Professor A. Lee, otherwise know as Ashley Lee ('11). Ashley brought in Tung Ting Jade Oolong tea for her presentation on Chinese Tea. 

For those of you who don't know (including myself), Oolong tea is mainly manufactured in China and Taiwan. According to "The Tea Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide" by Jane Pettigrew, there are many unique characteristics of Oolong, including:

• Referred to as "semi-fermented"
• Must be processed immediately after plucking
• Always whole tea leafs (never broken by rolling)

In addition to this, the manufacturing process is quite fascinating:

1. Leaves must not be picked to soon
2. First wilted in direct sunlight
3. Shaken in bamboo baskets to slightly bruise the edge
4. Shaken and spread to dry until turns slightly yellow
5. Edges turn reddish as bruised leaf reacts with oxygen
6. Oxidation period is halted through firing.

All this information can be found in "The Tea Companion", specifically on pages 29-30. This book is fantastic and will prove educational both about different types of tea and how different no two geographical locations provide the same exact tea. 

Ashley gave a great presentation on the history of Chinese tea, and some useful tips for brewing the leaves. She informed us that the oldest type of tea comes from China, and that there is a myth that places the introduction of tea around 2737 B.C.E. The myth says that there once was an emperor (Shen Nung) who only drank water that had been boiled. As he sat in his garden one day, a leaf from a wild tea tree fell into his pot of boiling water and began to steep. When he noticed it, he decided to try it and declared it to be delicious and revitalizing. The rest is history. ("The Tea Companion" p. 10)

On a side note, I'm glad I hadn't been in the emperor's position, because I would have said "GROSS!" and dumped my cup out if tree bits fell in it. 

Ashley also explained how the Opium Wars were fought over tea. In addition to this, she explained how Oolong is a tea in-between green and black tea. In order to get a good cup of Oolong, you should let the leaves steep for about 3 minutes. Remember, these tea leaves can be reused! That way you can get more bang for your buck. 

China is still the center of tea today, producing over 200 different types of tea to this day.

A huge thank you to Ashley Lee for all her hard work this week, to Teavana for recommending the Tung Ting Jade Oolong tea, and the lovely members of In Too Steep who make our meetings so enjoyable each week.

Coming up next week:

• Hippie Shake: Iced Herbal Tea Week
• Allison Kwan (Beebe RA) and Lina Heitmann (Beebe APT) will host our meeting 
• Board games and snacks will be provided for this low-stress session
• As usual, I will provide an array of coloring books for your entertainment

Have a great week and remember: "Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world" -T'ien Yiheng

Just brew it,

Claire