My Beautiful Cortex

Santa Elena Canyon by Wyman Meinzer

If you’re a reader of this blog, you know we are big fans of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi.  Among other things, wabi-sabi teaches that there is beauty in all of nature’s stages and ages.  With our 'wabi-sabi' eyes, we look at and see the stark images of the Texas landscape differently.  (And looking through the official Texas state photographer Wyman Meinzer’s eyes certainly helps as well!)  

We’d like to share with you another artist who has taken the concept of beauty in nature to a new level.  Greg Dunn was initially trained as a scientist.  One day he was studying stained neuron slices under a microscope and ‘realized they had a lot in common with Asian art aesthetics.’  More specifically, they reminded him of the ancient brush-painting technique of sumi-e, which is grounded in a meditative practice.  He began to paint pictures of neurons and, well…one thing led to another and he’s now a full time, commissioned painter. 

Two of our favorite works of his are shown below; both began with brain cells.   (In more ways than one.) The first of the two – Cortex in Metallic Pastels – not only was inspired by one of nature’s smallest ‘beings’, but was even painted by Dunn in as natural a style as he could conceive.  (Instead of painting with his hands, he blew on the paint so it separated into tendrils - much as a neuron would actually grow.)  In Cerebellar Lobe, he depicts the cells responsible for planning motion in the more primitive cerebellum.  And we especially love this one because of that subject.  It’s those beautiful, golden cells that also give a pianist’s fingers ‘motor memory.’  And give us the pleasure of hearing the result!

Have a wabi-sabi day!

Cortex in Metallic Pastels (2012) by Greg Dunn

Cerebellar Lobe (2012) by Greg Dunn

Try your tea with this cup!

What’s in a Name? 

Culture and your Cultured Cup: Part 3 of 3

Meret Oppenheim's Object (Breakfast in Fur) (1936)

This piece of art is considered to be one of the “10 Must See” pieces on display at MOMA in NYC.  Why?  By covering a usually delicate object with fur, Oppenheim ‘both objectified and sensualized the very simple act of sipping from a cup and saucer.   She took the present moment and made you see and understand it differently.’

 

In our last two blog posts we’ve been exploring what the ‘cultured’ in our Cultured Cup name means to us.  We talked about how we cultivate – or culture – our knowledge of coffees and teas in order to make them taste as wonderful as they can.  Then we focused on how coffee and tea rituals not only get us through the day, but can help build both personal and community cultures.

Now, we want to talk about one of our favorite ways to add further to those rituals.  Obviously, you can frame your imbibing any way you want.  But we think that if you’re pausing to take a moment and enjoy a cup, then not only will how you make the cup impact your experience – opening yourself up to the possibilities of the moment is also key. 

It’s been said that the cultural arts have the power ‘to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time’.  The cultural arts – all of them, at all levels of development - help us make sense of our world through our own and others’ creativity.

Now, if you ask us, that’s a heck of a way to frame a coffee or tea moment.

That’s why we love to dabble in and support as much “culture” as we can here at the cup, and why we enjoy sharing it with you and vice versa.  From Shakespeare to Serra to Schubert or your favorite 2-year-old’s finger paints – we encourage you to further ‘flavor’ your coffee and tea with whatever opens your mind to bring you joy!

 

2nd Place, PreK—2nd Grade Painting, 2012 Space Foundation Student Art Contest by Aylana Wray, The Classical Academy - Central, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

Share your favorite accompaniments to a cup of tea or coffee - just leave a comment below!

What's in a Name: Part 2 of 3

What’s in a Name? 

Ritual and your Cultured Cup: Part 2 of 3

 

Ever watch someone sit down with their first cup of morning coffee?  Or pour themselves that herbal cuppa that separates the stresses of the day from the peace of the evening?  Chances are, you’ve watched a transformative ritual, even if it lasted only a few minutes and involved the simplest ingredients and preparation methods.  There may be a particular cup, or chair, or thing you’ll always read or listen to while sipping, and that’s the moment when everything starts to click…  And it can happen every day, even if the person performing this ritual is unconscious of all of its elements or their impact.

Science is showing that rituals are incredibly important in helping us get through challenging times. They bring you to the present and make that moment – if even for just a few seconds – a special place, a time to catch your breath, to refresh and to focus.  To think about where you are and where you’re going next.  And then to move on.

As simple a ritual as sipping your coffee or tea can still open us to the possibilities in life.  Taking the time to savor both a great taste and the experience of drinking it elevates each even more. 

Rituals are also culturally important; all kinds of cultures are built around them.  They provide opportunities for comforting social interactions and they bind groups together.  Sharing a cup of coffee or tea – in person or virtually - does a lot more than just provide a caffeine boost.  It can create the culture for a relationship boost.  In fact, you might say that great cultures can start with great cups.

 

Here at The Cultured Cup, we know that the right ingredients and the right method can make or break your cup of coffee or tea.  That’s why we spend so much time learning about the best of both, and then sharing that with you.  We cultivate (or culture) that enlightenment.  But that’s only a part of the story.  We know that YOUR imbibing ritual, and how and when you share it– whatever it might be – is the third ingredient of that perfect cup. 

What are your coffee and tea rituals?  Take a minute and share them with us – help us keep building our community Culture one cup at a time!

What’s in a Name? 

Learning and your Cultured Cup: Part 1 of 3

We’re often asked at The Cultured Cup if our name has a specific meaning.  In fact, our name means at least three different things to us.  The simplest answer is found in the definition of the word ‘cultured,’ which means ‘cultivated’, or ‘enlightened’.  We think that’s generally the key difference between a good and a great cup of coffee or tea: how much you know about the whole experience and how much of that knowledge you use when you make your cup.

Obviously, the latter is not a new insight on our part.  In Japan, centuries of tea masters have studied for decades to master the intricacies of making tea in the tea ceremony. They cultivate their knowledge of every aspect of the tea until they genuinely are enlightened by the experience. 

While Japanese culture is unusual in the degree of care it gives to the ritual of selecting and making tea, it is hardly alone.  Many countries have developed rituals around the making of tea.  From the Russians and their Samovar, to the Indians and the sweet, milky hot water they add to the tea to the distinctly British process of making a proper ‘cuppa,’ cultivating a knowledge of your ingredients and the best way to prepare them can significantly elevate your tea – or coffee - experience.   

 

Here at The Cultured Cup, we’re dedicated to continually educating ourselves and you about the best coffees and teas as well as the best ways to prepare them in order to enrich and elevate your coffee and tea drinking experiences.  That’s the first and simplest reason why we call ourselves The Cultured Cup.  For more reasons, check out our next post!

 Baptism by Bentley Potts: what's in a name?

 

It was 24 years ago in Bangkok.  Phil and I were on our tea and coffee world tour.  We had just purchased a popular Dallas coffee shop called The Coffee Mill, and we were both educating ourselves on our products and celebrating our new careers.

We had decided to splurge when we were in Bangkok and stay at the 135 year-old Oriental Hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. A world-class resort, we walked into their amazing lobby, and - whether by kismet or coincidence - bumped into a gentleman dressed in black tie and tails. I introduced myself and Phil and thus we met Bentley Potts III.

A fellow Texan in Thailand!

BPIII, as he liked to be called,  had been recruited as an antiques buyer to Dallas from California by Stanley Neiman.  Introductions turned into a conversation with a new neighbor and before long we were telling him all about The Coffee Mill. After our return to Dallas, BPIII visited us at our new store and declared that The Coffee Mill was clearly not the right name for ‘two such cultured gentleman.’  And so, The Cultured Cup was born.

We’ve come a long way since those days.  But we do love our roots!

Coffee Quiz!!

Coffee Quiz!!!!

You know everything you need to know about coffee, right?   Want to make sure?  Here are four basic questions about coffee – the answers are explained below the next picture.  See how well you do!

Questions

1.)  What part of the coffee plant is the coffee bean?

2.)  How many types of coffee beans are there? 

3.)  What kind of climate do coffee beans grow in?  What continent does not grow any coffee?  (Antarctica doesn’t count!)

4.)  What are the FIVE characteristics professional tasters evaluate all coffees on?

 

Answers:

1.                    The coffee bean starts out as the seed of the fruit of the coffee plant.  (See the picture of what looks like cherries above?  The seed that’s hiding inside of each one is the green coffee bean.)

2.                    There are just two strains of coffee beans in the world – Robusta and Arabica.  (Arabica is the’ gourmet’ bean, and the first thing you should look for when you buy your coffee.)

3.                    High altitudes in equatorial or subtropical regions are where coffee is grown, which is why Central and South America, Indonesia and parts of Africa and the Middle East grow lots of coffee.  It’s also why Europe grows none!

4.                    Professional coffee tasters evaluate all coffee for five characteristics: aroma, acidity or brightness, body, flavor and bitterness.   However, if you’re a person who likes a low-acid coffee, you can still drink most coffee flavors providing you cold-brew your cup.  (Check out the Toddy cold coffee maker below and on our website.)

Here's to wabi-sabi women!

We love both the beauty of imperfection and the natural transience of all things that a wabi-sabi world view celebrates.  And we especially love it when we see it take root in unexpected places. 

Like what makes a woman beautiful.

So, when we heard about Ari Cohen’s AdvancedStyle.com, where he posts updates on ‘the most stylish and creative older folks’ he finds while roaming the streets of NYC, we got VERY excited. 

You simply MUST see this!

Check out Cohen’s blog here – or give yourself a grin with this YouTubevideo.  Or both.  And don’t stop there either.  Look at the gorgeous women on Pinterest’s‘Plus Size Pretty’ as well.

 

Then go out and celebrate your age, your shape or your size with your own creative style!

Wabi—sabi!