31 July 2008

The Only Iron You'll Find in My House

What to do with all those luscious, unfurled Iron Goddess tea leaves from yesterday's marinade?

Rebrew it as iced tea for today, of course.

Oolongs' rich flavor and fragrance are particularly forgiving- revealing, even- in multiple brews.

The name for Iron Goddess, or Tieguanyin, is a combination of the word for iron (ti) jars the tea was traditional stored in, and the female goddess of mercy (Guan or Kwan Yin), who allegedly showed the Qing-era emperor Kangxi these particular tea bushes in a dream.

Whether that's true or not, it certainly is a dream to drink after a night in the refrigerator.

Iced, it has a lingering woodsy taste, laced with a subtle sweetness. And maybe it's the ti talking, but I also detect a refreshing metallic tinge, like how cold water drunk from a silver goblet tastes- not that I've done that lately.

Iced Iron Goddess is not nearly as sweet as cold-brewed Dragonwell, but you still won't need any sugar for this one. Its earthy flavor is actually an invigorating change of pace from the dessert train that's been running rampant through my kitchen.

6 comments:

Teep said...

cool glass!

ana dane said...

it's an antique jam jar from the '60s that an old friend of my grandfather's gave me.

she is a fantastic cook and was sweet enough to bequeath me with some other beautiful old highball glasses, and a cookbook from 1932 that has a whole section on something called "vitamin J." it's got a killer blueberry cobbler- maybe i should dig that one up.

Teep said...

magnifique... ps: "the only iron" as in you don't iron your clothes... or you don't eat flesh.

pps: the pix of those cooked mushrooms/rice/tofu is *incredible* go macro go macro go...

Anonymous said...

As long as it's thee talking, it's refreshing

ana dane said...

as in i don't own an iron. the universe tends towards entropy. why should i waste my energy fighting it?

and if you think the tofu-mushroom pic looks good, try making it. it's delicious.

Teep said...

ah ha, I don't own an iron ether! either.... eeek... ee.. this word entropy... comes up every summer for me. now if you'll excuse me I feel an urge to listen to Lucinda Williams singing Ventura...