Tea for Two
The Memories of Slow Drinks and a Salted Maple Blackberry Matcha Recipe
For the first six years of my life, I lived with my grandparents, and following that, I lived just across town from them. They were the constant in my life, and I miss them desperately. Most of who I am today is because of them.
My grandpa was in the Army for over forty years, and he loved his coffee. It’s one of my fondest memories, waking up in the morning to the coffee brewing. The smell was so inviting and warm. I think I started drinking it when I was three? —dunking powdered donuts in it with my grandfather while sitting at the breakfast table. He loved donuts, and continued to eat them daily until his death at the age of 89.
At family gatherings the coffee was always started shortly after dinner. Literally—we could not get the Bunn heated up quick enough. Often dessert followed. But coffee after dinner meant we’d sit and have conversation until long into the night. My grandpa was a meticulous man, which included cleaning the kitchen until it was spotless before retiring to his bed where he preferred to read instead of watch TV. I recall how we would all be gathered around the table conversing, as he stood at the counter with a towel over his shoulder, finishing his coffee and evening cleaning.
My grandma, on the other hand, was a tea drinker. I rarely saw her drink coffee, save a cup of Sanka here and there. In the morning, and again on cold evenings, she brewed a pot of tea, which had a permanent place on the kitchen table. We would carry our too-full cups of tea out to the living room where we curled up with blankets as we watched episodes of Love Boat and Fantasy Island, our cups of tea placed nearby on little TV tables. In the summer, we always had iced tea for dinner instead. I can still see the tall glasses filled with sun tea, all lined up on the counter, ready to be personalized with sugar and lemon.
These memories demonstrate the loving rituals of my family that made even a simple cup of coffee, or tea, seem so special. Rituals tether us to the past, and shape who we become in the future.
When my sister and I started the bakery we knew that we wanted to offer a place for people to linger over dessert. The way we lingered over dessert in our family was with coffee and tea. So, we planned for that by developing relationships with great coffee and tea vendors. Our shelves were lined with big mugs, teas in a variety of flavors and porcelain teapots.
The making of coffee and tea at the bakery became its own ritual. In the morning, the first thing we did was heat up our commercial Bunn coffeepot. It would take a good bit to heat up, and I was always the first to sneak out of the kitchen and pour mugs of coffee for my sister and me. The heat of the kitchen would drift into the front cafe and the smells of fresh coffee would swirl with the scent of cinnamon spice. We’d drink coffee and bake while listening to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, singing along to Islands in the Stream. I am not a morning person, but mornings at the bakery were always my favorite.
While I have always been partial to coffee, the bakery is where I expanded my knowledge of tea. Growing up, we simply drank the tea of choice—Lipton tea bags. Later, I expanded with chamomile and sleepy time teas. But when we connected with a professional tea vendor, our world opened. Suddenly we were stocking loose leaf tea in every variety from black to green to herbal. Customers came in just to try the Raspberry Champagne and Green Peach teas, and of course the teapots made it even more special.
Once a week, beginning nearly immediately from the time we opened, we were visited by the sweetest couple. Every time, they ordered the same thing: a slice of cake (in the flavor of the day) and a teapot to share. They sat in the window seat, and stayed for hours.
Eventually, we referred to them as the “Teapot Couple”, and every one of our employees called them so. They were lovely. They made conversation with all of us, then enjoyed their teapot and dessert as they watched the passersby. Sometimes, early on in our journey, they were the only ones in the shop until late in the night and we would stay open until they were ready to leave.
Mr. Teapot was a professor and one day they announced they would be moving out East as he had accepted a new academic position. Their absence from the shop window was deeply felt. Despite moving far away, Mrs. Teapot continued to support us on social media and never strayed from liking and commenting on our daily dessert posts. To this day we still talk about our Teapot Couple with glowing affection.
My experiences have taught me that people want a place to linger. People don’t crave transactions. They crave moments. Rituals. We live in a world that constantly rushes us to the next thing. Slowness is the only way I know to reclaim beauty. Rituals invite us back to ourselves—to remember who we are and where we came from. To belong to our life again.
For me, the ritual of making coffee is a part of my slow down. It’s a part of me reclaiming who I am. Brewing coffee at home in my french press in the morning is something I eagerly look forward to. There is no doubt that I am reminded of my grandparents as I do it. I bask in these tender memories.
These days, I have added an afternoon Matcha to the line-up. I never enjoyed it before I started making it at home. When I learned about the health benefits of green tea, particularly Matcha, I decided to give it a try. Learning how to make it was not difficult at all and now it has become something I drink daily, and that my daughter joins in.
I have enjoyed learning how to turn some of our favorite bakery flavors into Matcha drinks. Below you’ll find my recipe for Salted Maple Blackberry Matcha. It was inspired by the last of the summer blackberries and the first hints of Autumn air. It has quickly become a favorite, similar to my passion for our Pancake cupcakes.
I do Matcha a little differently than Matcha aficionados—using standard measurements instead of weight measurements. I hope that makes it a little easier if you’d like to try this special treat.
Salted Maple Blackberry Matcha
Ingredients
1-2 t ceremonial grade Matcha (depends on how strong you want it)
1/3 C water heated to 175 degrees, plus extra for soaking Match whisk
1 C milk of your choice
maple syrup (to your sweetness liking, I use 1 t)
1/4 C fresh blackberries
pinch of sea salt
Directions
Mash blackberries with maple syrup in bottom of a glass. Let sit for a few minutes.
Heat water to 175 degrees. Pour some water into a bowl to soak your Matcha whisk for at least 30 seconds. Measure out 1/3 C and allow to rest on counter to mix with Matcha.
While your whisk is soaking, sift Matcha into bowl.
After whisk has soaked to loosen bristles, pour about 1 T of the water into the Matcha and stir with whisk to form a paste. Add the rest of the water and stir in an “M” or “W” pattern for 30 seconds. Use the whisk to gently break up the bubbles at the top. Then stir in the same pattern for another 30 seconds. Again, break up the bubbles at the top. Then stir in the same pattern but this time do so only on the surface of the Matcha for 10 seconds. The matcha should be frothy. This is referred to as the 30-30-10 method of whisking Matcha.
Fill the glass containing the blackberries with ice.
Pour milk into glass.
Pour Matcha on top of milk.
Add a sprinkling of salt on top.
Stir and enjoy!
Note: If you don’t have a matcha whisk, no worries. Forego the 30-30-10 instructions and use a milk frother instead.
Every cup holds a memory. Drink slowly and linger longer.