Cambodia

Cambodia

Now that we're finished with the African continent, we move on to the topsy-turvy world of Asian teas. Nowhere embodies that more than Cambodia. Why you ask? Let me just say that there is a bath towel in the list of supplies for today's adventure. 

First, Cambodia. Cambodia is next to Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. It was once home to animals like rhinoceros, and elephants, but it doesn't sound like they live there now. Most of the population is rural, and over 60% of the population is under age 30. 

I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw the videos for today's tea, but I had to try it. I think this one falls under the umbrella of party trick tea (along with the layered tea from way back when I was exploring Persian tea). Like I said earlier, I had a bath towel out for this one, along with a tray with a lip on it, an extra cup just in case, my brewing glass, and one of my Turkish teacup saucers. Since the video looks like they were using green tea, I used gunpowder. Today we make upside down tea. 

It all looks innocent enough to start with. First, I rinsed the tea in the saucer. Then I put it into the glass, and added some hot water. After that, I put the saucer on top (people often cover their tea to steep it. Nothing strange going on yet...

Until you do this... 

Yes, the saucer is now holding all that water inside of the cup. I was proud of myself that there were only a few drops of water that escaped. Well, maybe a little bit bigger than a drop, but nothing you would need a large towel to clean up. Then you have to know how to get the tea out again... I'll let the experts in the video show you. I couldn't take pictures of the process, so you have to watch it for yourself. 

Maybe this should also be called leap of faith tea. I tried my best when pouring my tea. It might have been easier with a larger saucer, but I was quite proud of the fact that I got most of my tea in the cup. 

Sure, there are some tea leaf fragments in the bottom of the cup, but it was that way in the video as well. I think there would be fewer fragments if the tea leaves were bigger. Again, you can see a little water on the tray, but not too much. I would definitely call this a success, especially since it was my first try. The thing that made me the most nervous was watching it brew. There were little air bubbles that kept floating up to the top, and I didn't know where they were coming from. I kept waiting for the flood to come, but it never came. When I watched the video again, I realized that they also had random air bubbles appear while it was brewing. That made me feel a bit better. All in all, it's a fun way to brew tea, especially if you can baffle someone else as to how they are going to get their tea out.