Oolong... syrup?

Owes its flavors to oxidation levels between green & black tea.


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May 6th, '06, 00:52
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Oolong... syrup?

by H.M. Murdock » May 6th, '06, 00:52

So, I have been thinking on it all day. While I do appreciate tea on many levels as a beverage, I am... concoction-enabled, you might say. That is, everything is suspect as a condiment for my cooking.
That said, I am a huge fan of ice cream. Particularly, I enjoy making my own vanilla ice cream with white pepper in it, which gives it a good kick or bite in the aftertaste, once the vanilla taste fades.
So, I figure, why not make tea into a syrup for ice cream?

The first thing that came to mind was to just whip out the old tin of Twinings earl grey and experiment the hell out of it, but that seemed not only disrespectful, but also seemed to be a horrible match- smoky, tart earl grey tea with lofty, uplifting vanilla ice cream? Ew.
So! I turn to the tea that captures my imagination on rainy days- oolong. The light, ethereal quality in its aftertaste makes it a perfect combatant for the tangy bite of pepper, and brings up a nice compliment to the vanilla.

But I can't figure out how to thicken the tea without destroying its beautiful bouquet. Thoughts? Ideas? I've got a suggestion for blending it with a caramel syrup so that it would harden and create sort of a shell, but... I am skeptical.
Help?
-Jason
We listen to the tales and romanticize
How we follow the path of the hero.
Boast about the day when the rivers overrun,
How we'll rise to the height of our halo.

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May 6th, '06, 03:46
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by EvenOdd » May 6th, '06, 03:46

You could try making a simple syrup, but instead of water, use tea. Simple syrup is usually 2 parts sugar to 1 part water in a pan, and boil it, for a thick syrup. Try using a nice concentrated batch of tea (as if making iced tea) for the water.

Jun 9th, '06, 09:24
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Joined: Jun 9th, '06, 08:49

also for chocolates

by cubby » Jun 9th, '06, 09:24

I once had a job making chocolate truffles by hand, and one of ours was a blue-flower earl grey dark chocolate. the ganache filling was made by steeping a large quantity of the tea in heavy cream, and then melting chocolate into it.

i have tried this method to make green tea white chocolate truffles, but the green tea flavor usually comes out either too subtle or too bitter.

for ice cream, you might use a similar method -- just replace regular cream with tea-steeped cream.

Jun 15th, '06, 18:55

by Guest » Jun 15th, '06, 18:55

LadyArden wrote:Anyone ever tried DeBrand chocolates? They have several tea truffles which look divine, but cost a small fortune to ship.
Mm. Nice!
I had a merlot-filled chocolate in Virginia last week. Little vineyard called Breaux vineyards. Amazing stuff.
cubby wrote:for ice cream, you might use a similar method -- just replace regular cream with tea-steeped cream.
Yesss. This is especially good, as I recently obtained a small ice cream maker. It would be good with white pepper tossed in during the process of making it.

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Jun 15th, '06, 18:56
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by H.M. Murdock » Jun 15th, '06, 18:56

▲ That was me. ▲

On a side note, I did make an oolong syrup the other day, with blueberries and red plums. It went well with pancakes.
-Jason
We listen to the tales and romanticize
How we follow the path of the hero.
Boast about the day when the rivers overrun,
How we'll rise to the height of our halo.

Jun 15th, '06, 23:40
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Joined: Apr 28th, '06, 20:37
Location: Berkeley, CA

by Darth Jeeling » Jun 15th, '06, 23:40

sounds nice - did you make it using EvenOdd's suggestion?

...and don't be surprised if you find it in this month's teachef, since the recipe I'm planning to make involves pancake and what was originally going to be a chamomile-honey mixture....so thank you very much for the idea! :D
' '...why this pain? If it would only cease just for a moment!' and he moaned. Peter turned towards him. 'It's all right. Go and fetch me some tea.' '

-The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy

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Jun 17th, '06, 20:32
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by H.M. Murdock » Jun 17th, '06, 20:32

You're very welcome. I'll vote for it. *wink*
I can give you some nice pancake suggestions. For example, a pinch of cardamom, a pinch of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp of Vietnamese cassia cinnamon and half a banana makes for a nice batch of pancakes.
I was going to work with this idea for the wuyi of last month, but after I recieved the sample and made myself a cup (gotta know what I'm working with, right?), it was... not at all savory to me. I will stick with my trusty tin of ti kuan yin.
-Jason
We listen to the tales and romanticize
How we follow the path of the hero.
Boast about the day when the rivers overrun,
How we'll rise to the height of our halo.

Jun 18th, '06, 00:32
Posts: 27
Joined: Apr 28th, '06, 20:37
Location: Berkeley, CA

by Darth Jeeling » Jun 18th, '06, 00:32

Thanks for the pancake ideas. I'm afraid I got here too late for the TeaChef entry to include them, but then, it was hard enough getting the chamomile to stand out already, so I'd better try some for breakfast tomorrow. :)
' '...why this pain? If it would only cease just for a moment!' and he moaned. Peter turned towards him. 'It's all right. Go and fetch me some tea.' '

-The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy

Jun 27th, '06, 18:10
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Joined: Jun 25th, '06, 06:08

by JamesBeach » Jun 27th, '06, 18:10

Boiling down a brew (without the leaves, of course, that would make it bitter) until you have a much smaller quantity will yield a very potent extract. It won't be syrup in its consistency, but it will be very strong. Perhaps that would work?

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