Hello Dreamers!
It’s hard to fully understand the enigma that is Kate Bush, our tremendous featured artist this week. As a listener, it is arresting to hear music that is so singular, so free from convention, that you find it sounds absolutely like nothing you’ve ever heard before.
Kate Bush is such an artist, with her acrobatic melodies that soar and dive. Her inquisitive, imaginative storytelling on subjects such as war, politics, dreaming, sexuality, and loss; subjects which were often too daunting or simply not considered by many musicians of her time, especially women. Her full artistic control and exploration in the writing, production, musicality, choreography and performance aspects of her work that has mesmerized listeners for decades.
To possess such qualities with such conviction and determination is no small feat in a world that demands women to conform, lest they be ridiculed or dismissed. And Kate had her fair share of critics, unable to reconfigure their ears to listen to such an unusual stylistic expression, or simply scornful of her inability to mold herself into one genre. Nevertheless, she has inspired decades of musicians across the world to experiment with melody and dance in ways that are true to themselves and not convention.
With the magnitude of Kate Bush’s music, the imagination soars to new heights. Yet these stories of army dreamers, hounds of love, and machines that make it rain, these stem from the vivid imagination of a girl from an ordinary upper middle class family from Kent, England. I love to imagine Kate sitting in her parents sweet smelling garden, drinking a cup of tea and daydreaming up the stories that would one day become musical scripture for admirers around the world.
Below you will find this week’s featured recipe, an homage to the girl from Kent who was known to drink endless cups of tea, which I’d imagine helped fuel her vivid, creative imagination.
Proper Cuppa English Tea
I prefer PG Tips tea, however you can use any good black tea, in tea bags or loose leaf.
Boil Water. Make sure to use fresh filtered water, as anything else will affect the taste of your cup.
While you’re waiting for your water to boil, prepare the tea. If you’re using loose leaf tea, the rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon of tea per cup in addition to one extra teaspoon for the pot itself. Loose leaf tea is also often steeped from within a diffuser to maintain quality. Or, you can use one PG Tips tea bag per cup.
Once the water has boiled, slowly pour it in your cup, and then give it a good stir.
Wait two to three minutes for the flavor to fully develop. If you remove the tea leaves too early, your tea will be weak, if you leave it in for too long, it will be too bitter.
Meditate on how brilliant Kate Bush is. Take out the milk and sugar. Try to imitate the sound of a bird call. That’s plenty of time.
5. Add the milk and/or sugar. I have disagreed with plenty of English friends on the use of sugar in tea. I enjoy it, some find it blasphemous. Make your choice solemnly.
6. Here is a perfectly cream tinted cup of tea:
