#109 - Meagan Francis Spills the Tea: History, Sourcing, and Brewing a Good Cup

George Orwell writes, “If you look up ‘tea’ in the first cookery book that comes to hand you will probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions which give no ruling on several of the most important points. This is curious, not only because tea is one of the mainstays of civilization … but because the best manner of making it is the subject of violent disputes.” In this episode I got to sit down with Meagan Francis, a supporter and friend of Ancestral Kitchen and veteran podcaster herself. She is the host of The Kettle with Meagan Francis, which is a lovely podcast, and author of “The Last Parenting Book You’ll Ever Read” which just came out this spring. Meagan also owns a tea and variety shop and in this episode she shared with me some surprising and interesting tidbits on the history of tea and how it was introduced to Western civilization, some of the finer points of sourcing and brewing, where some of our familiar tea traditions came from and what High Tea really means.

We had so much to talk about that we overflowed into an Aftershow which will be available on Kitchen Table Chats, our private podcast of bonus episodes for podcast supporters. As a thank you to our podcast supporters for keeping us on the air, Alison also created a new recipe for Spelt Buttermilk and Honey Scones, which is available where supporters can log in to the podcast downloads section of our website. Sorry Orwell, no violent disputes broke out today, but I learned a lot. Pour yourself a hot cup of brew - whether you’re doing the dishes or just gazing across the lonely windswept moors as you listen - and let’s get into it.

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What we cover:

Meagan's new book!
Alison's Sourdough Starter course (with code for FREE purchase)
A brief history of tea and how it came to the Western world
What is the difference between black, green, oolong, white tea and more
What about herbal tea?
What about local, free-trade and organic concerns for tea?
The truth about tea bags (and the surprising history!)
Best ways to prepare tea at home?
Steeping and straining tea

In the aftershow available on the private podcast feed for podcast supporters, Meagan and Andrea chatted further about tea and tradition, discussing Orwell's Essay about A Nice Cup of Tea, caffeinated and decaffeinated tea and how to brew a low-caff cup at home without chemicals, why Americans are challenged by traditions and more.

The personal views and opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect our own personal views or opinions. We recognize that our guests are whole persons and this may include views we or our audience actively disagree with; our guests are invited to the show because we feel they have something valuable to share with us all, and we do not ask them to censor their personal views on air. Our sharing of their work is not necessarily an endorsement of their personal views.

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Resources:

Meagan's Website

Meagan's Shop and Tea Tips

Meagan's Podcast, The Kettle with Meagan Francis

Meagan's new book, The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read

Link to Alison’s course 10 Tips for Creating & Maintaining a Sourdough Starter - Use code STARTER100 to get the course for FREE!

Too Many Eggs by Mimi Dvorak-Smith

Free PDF of the book

Infused: Adventures in Tea, by Henrietta Lovell

The Tea Cyclopedia: All You Ever Wanted to Know about the World's Favorite Drink, by Keith Souter

Where Meagan got her Camellia sinensis tree