of Toast and Tea

I’ve had a lot of free time as of late and have spend some of it baking a little homemade bread and custom blending my own tea. And going to TechShop but that’s for another post.

After tasting some great bread from the Manressa Bread Project I was inspired to attempt my own.

About a month ago I started a wild yeast pre-ferment called a “Levain” that forms the basis for baking bread. Its pretty simple, mix 100g of Rye flour, 400g of All Purpose White flour and 500g of water in a container, cover and let stand for a couple of days.

Wild yeast that arrived on the flour begins to reproduce and along with rapidly developing Lactic Acid Bacteria turn the Levan acidic preventing the growth of undesirable mold.

After three days I began to feed the Levan 500g AP Flour and 400g of water every day. Prior to feeding I remove about 90% of the old Levan, which I can use for baking or pizza dough. As the Levan ages, the depth of flavor increases as different yeast strains colonize and mature within the starter. One San Francisco bakery claims their Levan has been alive since the mid-1800s!

When I first started the daily ritual of feeding the Levain I dirtied 3 bowls a silicons scraper and a chopstick and it took nearly 20 minutes. Now I do it in about 5 minutes with one bowl and a chopstick. During heavy baking I’ll feed it twice a day.

My baguettes have turned out beautifully because they rise in the same pan as I bake them. Boules however are still a work in progress. They cook in a pre-heated Dutch oven. I’m trying to successfully transfer the risen dough from a stainless steel bowl to the 500+F Dutch Oven without letting out all the CO2. If you are ham-fisted with the dough and it deflates, you end up with a 4” tall baked loaf not a 8” tall loaf.

Even without a full rise the bread is totally edible. It has a mildly sour flavor, a hearty texture and a crispy, crunchy crust. I often have it for breakfast; toasted with a little butter and blackberry jam from a batch I made last summer.

Here in the Bay Area we have easy access to spectacular Artisan bread. On Sundays the team from Michelin-Starred restaurant Manressa have a weekly booth at the Campbell Farmer’s market.  There you can get fresh white and whole-wheat Levan boules baked by a master.

I’ve also recently made the trip to the Mill, where bakerJosie Baker and Four Barrel operate a collab serving prepared toast and coffee in the City.

During our visit I had Whole Wheat with Butter and Almond Butter. It was awesome. Not exactly a meal, but an epic nosh none the less.

I’d love to wax poetic about the Four Barrel shot, pulled on one of two beautiful La Marzocco Stradas installed there. Unfortunately it was a sour-bomb not worthy of comment. As we were leaving we picked up loafs of Josie’s Wonder Bread and Country. We enjoyed them tremendously, the latter ending up as a Stirrer/Crouton for Kathy’s Squash Blossom/Corn soup.

On the other hand, Avery, the head baker at Manressa’s Levan Boule is baked perfection. Perfect crust and crumb. Just the right amount of flavor and the sound it makes is a symphony of crackling goodness.

One key thing I learned for these inspiring sources is how dark to bake the crust of the loaf. Boules from both sources looks almost burnt on the outside – much darker then I would ever go. I used to think it was baked when it was “golden” brown when the right color is much darker – almost burnt. It makes a huge difference in flavor – those extra few minutes caramelize a lot of sugars and adding depth to the flavor. 

Teabagging

Our espresso machine is down until we get an electrician to make a wiring change so I’ve been drinking tea instead lately.

I traditionally drink “English Breakfast” tea. I acquired a taste for Tetley’s during trips to the UK early in my career. It’s easy to find and thus became my tea of choice. Just a few years ago I discovered that along with my favorite, Black Cat Espresso, Intelligentsia also sells a line of teas. I ordered a bag of their whole leaf English Breakfast tea and really liked the strong flavor over Tetleys.

At that point I started reading a bit about tea and have come to better understand levels of quality and types of leaves.

As my knowledge level grew I began to seek out the stronger, more flavorful teas. I’ve since ordered tea from many online sources and have pretty much settled on Mighty Leaf as my primary source. I love their OrganicBreakfast blend. It’s my favorite commercial tea blend.

For a while I was blending my own Breakfast-style tea, a combination of Assam Estate, Ceylon and Golden Pu-erh.  I love it. However it costs a mint to make and many of the included teas are only available seasonally. I’ve got about a pound of perfect blend that will last a few months.

One of my favorite tea discoveries has been Sapsang Souchong. It is a fermented black tea dried over a pine fire. When fresh and of high quality (for LS), it smells and tastes like an Oregon campfire. Sharp and smokey.  I often add a teaspoon or two to my cup.

I never liked those little cup tea strainers, they always seem to let leaves escape into the tea. For many years I made my own Origami tea bags from unbleached coffee filters.

My brewing technique has also changed since I discovered single-service tea-bags at Mutsua. They are little fold-to-close polyester bags that hold 2+ tablespoons of tea. Amazon has them here. I like them because they hold a lot of tea – probably the equivalent of 6-8 commercial teabags.

I use a 14oz cup of spring water heated to 190F. I use 2 tablespoons of Organic Breakfast and steep to 2.5 minutes.  The short steep prevent astringency, although it’s not common with high quality tea like this, I really dislike it. I sometimes forget the tea with a bag in leading to over-steeping. A dash of milk can soften the tannic acid the can develop when over-steeped.

I sweeten with a little pinch of German Rock Sugar I get at Tevana. It’s a crystalized form of rock sugar about the size of pea-gravel.

The resultant brew is dark, almost coffee-like in appearance with a very strong, rich tea flavor and no astringency. The sweetness of the rock sugar balances the unusual strength of the tea.

I double the sugar and pour over a tall glass of ice for Iced Tea in the afternoon.