Traditional German East Frisian Tea
A 19th Century German Sweetened Tea With Cream
Loose Leaf Black Tea
1.5 oz
Water Temp: 200 Degrees
Amount Per Serving: 1 Tbsp in 8oz water
Brew Time: 4 Minutes
Directions: 1 Tsp Sugar & 1 Tbsp of Cream Per Cup
Steep 1 tsp 2 for 3 minutes.
Certified Organic
Contains Caffeine.
Ingredients: Black Tea Blend
Why did we decide to bring East Frisian Tea to our shop?
This came from our partnership and collaboration with Old World Wisconsin. If you haven't had the opportunity to tour Old World Wisconsin, you are missing out! "Old World Wisconsin is an open-air museum located near Eagle, in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It depicts housing and the daily life of settlers in 19th-century Wisconsin, with separate areas representing the traditions of different ethnic groups who settled in the state and original homes."
We were asked to come and tour the grounds with them and think about what traditions and products each ethnic group brought with them to Wisconsin in the early 19th through the 20th century. Early Wisconsin had a lot of German settlers, and each group was unique. We chose to work on researching teas and spices.
You may be familiar with our traditional Czech spice blend Here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/907683240/organic-historical-spice-blends-bohemian?ga_search_query=spice&ref=shop_items_search_6
When we came to the German settlements, we wondered how many people were familiar with Traditional German East Frisian Tea. East Frisia (Ostfriesland) is a region in the northwest of Germany, next to the Netherlands in the German state of Lower Saxony. The old East Frisian dialects that used to be spoken are almost now all extinct. They say that the last Frisian speaker died in 1953. Even though the dialect is no longer spoken, there are still a large number of inhabitants in that region that consider themselves Frisians and still drink their traditional East Frisian Tea. East Frisia's topography is flat, with a multitude of dikes, canals, and green pastures. Its coastal region was next to the North Sea, which allowed the inhabitants access to sea routes for the trading of goods from the Orient, and this started the tradition of the blend of preferred teas.
Over the years, this tea blend has had little change. It usually consisted of a secret percentage blend of Assam and Ceylon. Today you can see other types like Darjeeling being used, but we wanted to stay as traditional as possible. Assam is considered the most popular and palatable black tea. Many believe it consistently delivers full-bodied flavor, which is both dark and malty. This type of tea is produced exclusively from the highly skilled tea region of Assam in India and has become a morning staple because of its rich aroma, crisp flavor, and beautiful color. On the other hand, Ceylon tea comes from partially fermenting young tea leaves. It is revered for its classic, smooth taste, making it a very nice afternoon tea that goes wonderfully with snacks.
In 1610, the Dutch East India Company introduced tea to the East Frisian people. After this, they quickly began to import and drink a special blend of tea, in a specific way, along with excessive amounts of it. This started their tradition of East Frisian Tea. As Germans began to immigrate to other countries, some of their regional traditions went with them. It's important to note that not all Germans prefer this tea. In the 19th century, when coffee took off in Germany and other parts of Europe, the East Frisians kept their tea, making this German tea very specific to East Frisia (Ostfriesland). In fact, much of Germany to this day enjoys more coffee than tea, except the East Frisian culture. It has been said that East Frisians drink an average of 79 gallons of East Frisian Tea, per person, per year. In fact, the dependency on tea for East Friesland ( Ostfriesland) was so well established that during World War II, they were said to be the only people in Germany that were given a tea ration.
What Will It Taste Like?
The ceremony behind how they prepared the tea is very important and lends itself to enjoying multiple impressions from one cup.
After you go through the specific preparation ( below) - your tea generally will first taste creamy, then a little later, you should get the flavor of the tea blend itself, and as you finish, it becomes sweet like an after-dinner dessert. This is an important aspect of the preparation and tradition. To make your tea time extra authentic, pick up some "Kluntjes" or rock sugar. It's also really important that you drink this from a proper teacup. Drinking it from a mug or paper cup would be frowned upon. If you are visiting friends, it is normal to drink at least three cups full. Also, make sure not to stir your cup! I know it's hard not to do, but trust me here. Don't stir it. There is a reason.
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A: Preparing Your Historical East Frisian Tea
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1. The Table:
SUGAR & CREAM: On a typical East Frisian tea table, you will find a bowl of kluntje that you can take with a pair of tongs. A kluntje is a rock of sugar, much like a crystal the size of a very irregular sugar cube. And a small Jar of Cream.
PORCELAIN TEACUPS: This is a must. You must have real teacups and preferably a real teapot. You can do it without a teapot but it's not the same and would not have been done this way historically.
SWEETS: Cakes with sweet whipped cream or Gugelhupf, a simple sheet cake baked with sugar and butter and then topped with almonds, fruit, streusel, or meringue. You could also have sweet Teilchen, mignardise (Kaffestückchen), petit-fours (Gebäckstückchen), puff pastry (Plunderstücke), and so on The possibilities are endless.
2. The Ceremonial Preparation Of East Frisian Tea:
First: Boil Water to 200*
Second: Prep your teapot. Rinse the teapot with boiling water to heat it up. Then add the boiling water and your East Frisian Tea. I use 1 heaping Tablespoon for my teapot. Others say to add one teaspoon per cup of tea desired plus one for the pot. Make sure not to sweeten it in the pot, that will come later in your cup.
Third: Allow your pot to sit for 4-8 minutes before you serve it. I usually allow it to sit 8-10 minutes.
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B: Serving Your Historical East Frisian Tea:
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1. Place rock sugar or lump sugar in an empty tea-cup
2. Pour Steeped Tea (DO NOT STIR) - A tea strainer works well for this.
3. Pour the cream into your teaspoon. Some pour it into the center of their teacup and others say it should be ladled around the side of the cup in a circular motion and Watch the Clouds Form but - DO NOT STIR.
4. Now take a sip of your tea. As you hold your cup to your mouth and tip it to drink- the tea, sugar, and cream will begin to mix. At first, you may only get a bit of the cream, then just tea, then both as they slowly blend together, it all depends on how the cream clouds form and spread.
Enjoy a few cups!
There is a theory behind this: You should be able to experience all three different flavors the cup offers you.
