Little Woods Blog

Tag: kristin roach

  • Backyard Botanicals by Little Woods’ owner Kristin M Roach

    Backyard Botanicals by Little Woods’ owner Kristin M Roach

    Our physical store is more than a tea shop, it’s a place to explore, to inspire curiosity in plants (tea in particular), and a place of calm wonder. The art that has become part of this environment is inspired by my passion for ecology, healing, and a deep love of plants.

    Bloody Dock, Gouache, 2021

    The current series of works on display are painting meditations in the form of botanical illustration. Uncertainty, overwhelm, and grief found me in the beginning of 2021 (unfortunately common combination for many of us these last two years). And it was in my backyard, spending sunrises with my local plant allies that I found myself and healed my heart.

    Un-Ripe Tart Cherries, Gouache, 2021
    Painting with age 19 Molly the day before we had to put her down.

    As an herbalist, it’s easy to think in terms of plants’ chemical components and how we can use them to support our bodies. We can lose sight of the healing power they hold by their simple existence in our ecosystem, the place nature holds as a sanctuary. The Backyard Botanical series is the pure reconnection to that place of plant sanctuary in my own life.

    As part of the series, I identified and researched each plant. On my portfolio, for those plant nerds out there, I’ve shared what I learned. Explore each plant in the series to learn more about what you might find in your own backyard, see process images, and purchase a print or the original.

    Solomon’s Seal, Gouache, 2021

    And the series continues. As the days are finally warming up, I’m back in the backyard painting more works that will someday find their way into the Little Woods space. While I’m not facing the same challenges I did last year, I continue the practice of spending time with the plants to replenish and restore.

    Yarrow, Gouache, 2021

    You can come visit the shop next time you’re in town to see the works in person and select a fine art print to enjoy in your own space.

    ArtWalk Studio Open House + Local Artist Carmen Cerra

    If you happen to be in town during the Annual Downtown Ames Art Walk (June 2nd 5 – 8pm this year), you can come chat with me in my studio above Little Woods or visit with local artist Carmen Cerra (he created our woodland animal tea party greeting cards) in the shop.

    If you’d learn more about what I’m up to in the studio on a regular basis, join my newsletter list to get a monthly-ish letter from me to you.

    Until next time…

    Kristin M Roach

  • Recipe: Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus Iced Tea)

    Recipe: Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus Iced Tea)

    Happy Cinco de Mayo! Food, festivals, and family fill this Mexican/ Mexican-American holiday! Bring a taste of this joyful celebration into your home this year with Spiced Hibiscus Iced Tea – a classic drink served in Mexican taquerias! It’s a great mocktail option to serve along side your favorite margarita!

    Here at Little Woods we mix up a special batch the week of Cinco de Mayo as our featured drink until it runs out — which is usually pretty quickly! First made based on a Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus Iced Tea) recipe over at Simply Recipes, we’ve adapted it over the years for our own tastes and tea bar service. Below is our own variation:

    Little Woods’ Agua de Jamaica Adaptation

    4 cups water
    1 cup dried hibiscus flowers whole (cut would work also)
    3/4 cup sugar
    2 x 2.75in cinnamon sticks
    1t. dried ginger root c/s
    1t. whole allspice berries
    1/4t. whole cloves

    1. Add spices and sugar to water and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
    2. Remove from heat and add hibiscus flowers. Let steep for 20 minutes.
    3. Strain into a pitcher.
    4. Top with 4 cups cold water. 

    For a sparkling twist, keep as a concentrate and add 1 part concentrate, 1 part carbonated water to a glass when serving.

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    Enjoy!

    – Little Woods –

  • Creating the Little Woods Space: New Paintings by Kristin M Roach

    Creating the Little Woods Space: New Paintings by Kristin M Roach

    Our physical store is more than a tea shop, it’s a place to explore, to inspire curiosity in plants (tea in particular), and a place of calm wonder. And it is with great pleasure that five years after opening I’ve finally added the next piece to the experience, a series of botanical paintings of threatened native plants.

    Curating the Space

    En. Specimen 01 by Kristin M Roach | ink, charcoal, gesso, raw beeswax on birch panel

    When first imagining the shop (and quite frankly feeling quite overwhelmed) one of my friends gave me the best advice — just approach it like you would any exhibit or room sized installation.

    Taking it to heart, I turned my artist eye to the shop. I stopped thinking in terms of maximizing shelf space and ROI’s, but instead how it would feel to come into the shop and the environment I was trying to create.

    When a customer told me that coming in the shop was like taking a walk in the woods at dawn… that, well. I’m tearing up just thinking about it. That’s it. Right there. That feeling. Wonder, calm, curiosity, solace.

    I’ve hosted my own work in the space before, but this particular series feels in tune with the shop so completely. I’m pleased to announce its addition to the space. Currently they are not for sale, but I do have prints of select tiles available. I can also create a similar piece for you space upon request based on a plant that speaks to your story. Just reach out via my portfolio site to arrange a commission.

    So without further ado, here is a deeper look at the works.

    En. Specimens 01 & 02

    En. Specimen 01 by Kristin M Roach | ink, charcoal, gesso, pigment, raw beeswax on birch panel

    En. is an immersive study of a single plant specimen slide. A meditation, an indulgence in a native plant that has threatened status. It’s not endangered yet, but our actions now will determine if it tips to endangered or stable. During the last decade more species of plants have faded away than in the entirety of my grandmother’s lifetime. And as new species thrive and others go extinct, what is our role going forward? For me, these paintings create a pause for us to consider their fate, our fate. 

    En. Specimen 01 by Kristin M Roach | ink, charcoal, gesso, raw beeswax on birch panel

    The specimen slides were provided by the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL through their digital archive program. The Morton Arboretum is a 1700 acres living museum representing 4300 taxa from around the world. Their specimen vaults house plants native to the Chicago land area — where I attended university.

    Come visit the shop next time your in town to see the works in person, or visit my online portfolio to see details of this and other works. I’ll be posting a video of install + detail shots of the panels next week.

    Until next time…

    Kristin M Roach

  • Little Woods Gallery: Winter Wonderland

    Little Woods Gallery: Winter Wonderland

    intothewoodland-poster.png

    This winter the owner of Little Woods, Kristin M Roach, took a trip into her favorite woods and emerged with a new collections of works. We are pleased to debut her first public exhibition of her photographic work. Traditionally Kristin’s works use multimedia methods based in line to create emersive environments. While these photographs may be two dimentional in nature, she has successfully transformed the apothecary into a winter wonderland.

    “I enter the woods. To forage. To draw. To walk. To find myself. Into the Woodland is the debut of my first photographic series of these wanderings. The first collection of works is focused around the winter season.”

    Enjoy the exhibition until mid April 21st, after which we will rotate the works out for our Junkmail Migration Collection. 

    All framed works are for sale and prints are available to order a la carte in the shop.

    To view the full collection online, visit Kristin’s portfolio website KristinMRoach.com.

  • Experimenting with Coffee Cherry Tea

    Experimenting with Coffee Cherry Tea

    coffee_cherry_tea-icedtea06hi

    Since it arrived, everyone in the shop has been dreaming up new ways to use Coffee Cherry Tea. Of course all the usual tea steeping ways. Iced tea with an elder flower syrup is phenomenal and definitely a favorite.

    Coffee Cherry Iced Tea

    • 7g coffee cherry tea (heaping teaspoon)
    • 4oz just boiled water
    • Steep 5 minutes
    • Strain into mason jar filled with ice and shake
    • Pour over ice
    • shot of botanical syrup (optional)

    Then Jason went and made it into a syrup. Whole. New. World.

    coffee_cherry_tea-italian_soda02web

    At the shop we have an old timey spritzer bottle, so making Italian Sodas and Creamosas was an easy first step.

    coffee_cherry_italiansoda08web

    One of the fun things about Ames is the ISU Surplus Sale — where you can pick up all kinds of old lab equipment. We love using them to measure for our drinks and quantify our blends.

    Coffee Cherry Tea Italian Soda (Creamosa)

    coffee_cherry_tea-steamer02web

    Making the coffee cherry tea into a syrup also lead to a most delicious steamer — milk and syrup steamed together.

    Coffee Cherry Tea Steamer

    1. 1oz shot of coffee cherry tea simple syrup
    2. 8oz milk
    3. Put together in pitcher, steam, dash of cardamon powder

    coffee_cherry_tea-espresso01web

    And then someone was like – let’s pull shots!

    Coffee Cherry Tea Espresso Shot

    • 10g coffee cherry tea, tea cut
    • Red Espresso restricted flow porta filter
    • 30 sec pre-infusion

    So now, the entirety of our TeaEspresso menu that we developed with RedEspresso and yerba mate can be used with Coffee Cherry Tea. I over packed the porta filter, but still had good results. It’s more flexible than white espresso or rooibos. It bulks A LOT. One of the things that’s easy to forget about Coffee Cherry Tea is how fibrous it is.

    coffee_cherry_tea-latte03web

    Coffee Cherry Tea Latte

    • 2oz shot coffee cherry teaspresso
    • 6oz whole milk, steamed
    • shot simple syrup (cardamom is pretty delish)
    • dash apple pie spice on top

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Tg8ew0eB0]

    At Little Woods we do a lot of careful development of our menu… but sometimes inspiration strikes I drop something on the menu and get super lucky and it works out great… Thus the Tea Spritzer. I had fresh lemon balm from the garden. A new ol’ timey Water Seltzer bottle and we were debuting our new Tea Espresso menu. I wanted to put them all together. Thus the Tea Spritzer is born.

    Coffee Cherry Tea Spritzer

    1. A shot of Elder Flower Syrup.
    2. A Double Shot of Rooibos or coffee cherry tea.
    3. Shaken with ice.
    4. Seltzer water.
    5. Sprig of fresh aromatics like lemon balm or chocolate mint…. holy basil is also great.

    Coffee Cherry Tea (tea cut) we use in our espresso machine 

    Rooibos we use in our espresso machine

    Elder flowers we made our simple syrup with

    Last week Andrea was a guest teacher at Cook’s Emporium and co-taught a class on simple syrups. During the prep for the class we took a ton of photos of how we make our simple syrup for Little Woods, so we’ll be sharing the recipe for that here on the blog soon.

    Up next, our blends! Andrea knocked it out of the park with Oasis, debuting in our brick and mortar this afternoon.

    Until Next Time.