Ember's Review: This week our blog post was a little delayed. Due to the Capital City Comic Con shenanigans (and a bit of a vision scare on my part), life certainly had a lot in store for us. However, this isn't a life blog, so I won't bore you with the details of our long, exhausting and equally exciting weekend. I would like to tell you about this amazing tea we got from Tea Sparrow called Lavender Cream! It was all too perfect that our next tea happened to be a cream tea. Recently my roomate's friend asked me if I had ever tried one, and whether I thought they were any good. Of course, I love cream teas. I find them very soothing and comforting after a long day, and they're a perfect companion when you want something "strong but soft". Usually the cream teas tend to be black teas, but I have also seen hibiscus based herbal teas as creams as well. You may be wondering what makes a cream tea a 'cream' tea. Usually--in the case of black teas--it is some combination of lavender and vanilla, which is exactly the case with this lovely tea! Black tea leaves, lavender petals, lavender pieces, lavender extract, and vanilla extract are all that are in this organic tea. I find that cream teas like this Lavender Cream are a good way to ease in to the morning, or to ease out of a hard work day. There is something about them that always soothes you, and even the smell of the dry leaves is enough to send you in to a euphoric daydream. I have not been disappointed with a cream tea yet, and the richness it boasts in its simple yet complex flavour is exactly why we chose it for The Picture of Dorian Gray. From start to finish, there's a smooth sophistication to this tea that we felt was very fitting for Dorian. The first thing I noticed about this tea was that its dry leaf smell had much more vanilla to it then lavender. It is really easy to overdue the lavender, so whenever dealing with a lavender toting tea name, I always get a little leery. It is very easy for lavender to taste like a soap product. I was really impressed once we steeped it how subtle and perfectly balanced the lavender was with the vanilla. The two were like perfect partners, leaving you with a very satisfying and a very round, full mouth flavour. After the steep, the leaves smelled quite a bit more like lavender. I always love seeing how the tea starts and finishes. I find the taste of the tea is usually somewhere between the beginning smell and the finished smell. If you have a good imagination, it's pretty telling! You'll note that some of the tea lacking in the flavour department tend to have all their aromas stripped once steeped. Next time this happens, smell the wet tea leaves. I'll bet you anything that the tea leaves don't smell like much after you've poured hot water over them and let them rest. This tea is perfect as it is, without honey, cream or sugar to round it out. I would recommend this tea to any earl grey fanatics, or to those scared of trying a lavender tea for the first time. You can buy this tea here at Tea Sparrow's shop if you're interested! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Astra's Review: Oscar Wilde wrote plays, short stories, fairy tales, and most famously, his novella: The Picture of Dorian Gray. Sensual, sexual, and depraved, it matches the luscious flavour and enveloping scent of Lavender Cream tea. But to fully appreciate this book, it helps to have an understanding of the era in which it was written. Victorian England was morally uptight. While the British Empire appropriated culture from the many nations they’d invaded, they reframed imports to be ‘acceptable’ by British standards. On the surface Britain clung tightly to a moral high ground, while behind closed doors, mysticism was all the rage, along with the growing popularity of opium dens, the Kama Sutra, and hedonism. Enter Oscar Wilde, the poster boy for hedonism. In an age when sodomy (i.e. any male gay sexual act) was punishable by death, a sub-culture of dandies arose as a fashionable way to parade one’s sexual preferences without the police being able to arrest them. Wilde got away with a lot just by being a witty, gregarious, clever man. (He was so entertaining at parties that he inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to invent a certain eccentric detective with the mental acuity to solve any crime.) Originally published in a serialized format in 1890, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray still caused uproar for its depravity (despite his editor cutting 500 of the more salacious words out). There was so much press around it—along with Oscar’s vehement defence of his book in the papers—that it was swiftly picked up to be published in novel format. This edition included the author’s aphorism defending the right of art for art’s sake, and became a sort of literary manifesto. Wilde’s story about a pair of male friends (Basil Hallward, a painter, and Lord Henry “Harry” Wotton, a hedonist) who both fall in love with the same pubescent boy (Dorian) is one of love, lust, purity, pleasure, and corruption. Oscar Wilde was known for writing characters into his plays that got to speak his observances or thoughts. In Dorian Gray, it could be argued that he presents himself as both Basil and Harry, in a sort of Jekyll and Hyde of his own desires. You probably know the key elements: Dorian’s perfect beauty inspires Basil to create his one artistic masterpiece—a portrait. Dorian, flattered by Basil’s attentions, recognizes his own beauty for the first time in seeing how Basil has portrayed him and becomes obsessed with his own power over women and men. Harry Wotton’s scandalizing conversations during these painting sessions introduces innocent Dorian to the ‘ways of the world’, including drugs, sex, gambling, seduction, and the finest luxuries. Basil tries to prevent his perfect Adonis from being corrupted, and somehow, mystically, his painting takes every marring disfigurement of Dorian’s rapidly degenerated soul instead of the young man himself being tarnished by his actions. There is far more to this story, both in allegory and plot. The slippery slopes are as understandable as they are horrific; the fickleness of a young man drunk on his own invincibility is as realistic as it is heart-breaking. Though full of drama as everything spirals out of control, a modern audience is less likely to be scandalized because Wilde’s themes have become a regular feature in entertainment. So, sip at your luscious Lavender Cream Allow the scents and richness of the tea to wash over you as you turn the page. Give in to the pleasure of Wilde’s luscious writing, and unravel the philosophical questions the story poses. In our current culture of striving for LGBT acceptance, we need Oscar Wilde more than ever.
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AuthorsEmber and Astra joined forces to blog about their two deepest passions: books and tea! Here you will find information on various teas, and--alongside each tea--a book that will be perfectly paired and analyzed. The full book reviews (containing spoilers) as well as the source for the tea will be linked to in each blog post! Archives |