Tucked away in the lush forests and rich farmlands of the South Carolina islands, the only tea plantation in America has made its home. Following a fourteen year ownership by locals Mack Flemming and William Hall, the Bigelow family purchased the plantation back in 2003 and immediately began renovations. Their goal was not to change what was there, but to create a more efficient production system that still remained true to the age-old process of tea-making and also to preserve a great piece of American history. Located just thirty five minutes from Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms, the plantation offers visitors the chance, not only to see the grounds, but to go inside the production building, watching the process from start to finish. From May to October, visitors might get the chance to see another item thoroughly unique to the plantation. A giant tea gatherer, lovingly nicknamed “The Green Giant”, is a hybrid cotton picker and corn thresher, created for the sole purpose of gathering the top 10 - 15 days growth of new tea. It can be seen traveling slowly up and down each row of tea leaves, collecting the top buds and storing them for later transporation to the factory.
After exploring the fields and watching the process of tea creation, there’s a chance that you might run in to Mr. William Barclay Hall, a third generation tea taster who bought the plantation in 1987 and stayed on as partner to assist the Bigelow family in keeping the quality consistent with what he, and the rest of South Carolina’s loyal tea drinkers, have become accustomed.
On our visit, we were given the chance to accompany Mr. Hall into the fields, where he expounded on the process of tea production and the tenacity with which you have to supervise the harvesting and production. He told us the famous story of how tea came to be, when, over 5,000 years ago, a camellia leaf (the tea leaves on the plantation are known as camellia sinensis) fell into the Emperor of China’s boiling water. The emperor was so enraptured with the taste, he declared his water should always be prepared that way. An almost fanatical light seemed to come into Mr. Hall’s eyes as he told the story, plucking a perfect tea bud while he spoke. He reiterated the difficulty in maintaining the perfect cup of tea. “The tea is perfect on the farm and ruined in the factory” He said, laughing a little but we all knew how seriously he took his job. His firm supervision of the process was worth it as we took sips of tea made from the first finished tea leaves of the day. The aroma of the freshly dried leaves was amazing and the taste was beyond anything you’d get in a tin from Tetleys. The tea was naturally a little sweet with a touch of nuttiness to it. After a few cups at a picnic table under the sprawling oaks overlooking the tea fields, we declared ourselves hooked.
The beauty and peace of the Charleston Tea Plantation is worth the drive in itself, but the beautiful, quality taste of the tea and the graciousness of the hosts at the farm more than make up for the short, scenic drive. Should you be looking for something to do off island, this is by far your best choice. The chance to see a one of a kind plantation, unique to our country and located less than an hour from the islands is an opportunity that should not be missed.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
JB's Smokeshack is right on 'que
From the road, the building looked closed. A large white sign with a pink-nosed pig indicated that we were parked in front of JB’s Smokeshack and a homemade wooden sign in the window read “open”, but I still had my doubts. Restaurants like this can go one of two ways; either the food is awful that they’re about to fold, so the company decided not to put any money into redecorating or the food was so good, that the business felt no need to bring in more customers by over decorating the front. Any worries that JB’s was the first of the two quickly dissipated when the first waft of smoky barbeque hit my nostrils. Mouth watering, I and my restaurant hunting companion practically ran through the sighing screen door to meet our meaty fate; the world-renown masterpiece barbeque of JB’s Smokeshack.
The first indication that we were in for a treat should have been the company’s motto painted across the sign in the parking lot, repeated again in another hand painted sign tacked to the side of the building, “The flavor’s in the meat, the sauce is on the side”. However, it took me until I actually saw JB himself cutting a block of cheddar into a bowl of steaming elbow macaroni to realize that this was a barbeque shack a cut or two above the rest.
The layout of JB’s is typical for any barbeque restaurant below the Mason Dixon line; square tables with plastic red gingham tablecloths, Styrofoam buffet plates and utensils, well-loved chairs and extra handfuls of napkins readily available at each seating. The whole building probably seats around 35 people and it’s almost always pretty full. The buffet table across the far wall was steaming with fresh food when we arrived, but only momentarily, because the second a new batch of fresh macaroni and cheese or JB’s signature BBQ beans hit the steamer, they were gone in a whirlwind of flashing serving spoons and plates.
In the six years since JB’s Smokeshack opened, the menu has never changed, and for good reason. JB has perfected his slow cooked hickory smoked pork, using slow-cooking 100 pound smokers that could stop a man in his tracks from fifty yards away. His chicken might possibly be the best I’ve ever tasted. Juicy, delicately crisped skin rubbed with a “secret” blend of well-balanced spices and slow cooked over apple wood so that every bite was like sinking into sweet, smoky bliss.
As for side dishes, JB’s decided when they opened that none of their local vegetables or homemade dishes would be fried and they have stuck to that principle ever since. Instead of French fries and fried okra, JB’s serves their family recipes for chunky potato salad, okra gumbo, butter beans, sweet potatoes, black eyed beans and collard greens, as well as a Chef’s Choice, which changes every day. For desserts, their banana pudding with chunks of banana and still-crispy vanilla wafer was excellent, but the real show stopper was the tray of “Pluff Mud” pudding. As a kid, I would make pluff mud pudding (we called it “dirt cake”) by wrapping a bag of Oreo cookies several times over in a trash bag, stick it under the back wheel of my dad’s car and rolling over it again and again until the Oreos were pulverized into a mound of crumbs that looked suspiciously like Miracle Gro. We would then layer it between folds of vanilla custard and lace the occasional gummy worm into the lower part of the bowl, finishing it off with a final layer of Oreo “dirt” and a fake flower growing out of the center. Although JB’s prepares the dessert in a much more sanitary fashion, the treat brought back many memories and tasted just as good, if not better, than I remembered it.
On top of trying to keep up with the restaurant, JB and his son Billy, with the help of their business partners and wives, Diane and Melissa, also run a hefty catering business. With enough smokers to handle over 700 pounds of meat at one time, the crew at the Smokeshack has yet to cater to face the challenge of having more people than barbeque. “The most amount of people we ever served was at Charleston’s Air Force Base and that was only 400 people,” said Billy as he closed the lid on a whole hog he had been smoking for more than a day. “In fact, we actually have more capacity now than we did for that event.”
If you need any other recommendations as to the quality of JB’s barbeque, look no further than the walls of his restaurant. In frames across the back wall are all of the Smokeshack’s awards, including 2nd place in the 2005 Ladson Prestigious Palmetto Pig Pickin’, 2nd place for Brisket at Boone Hall, 3rd place for Whole Hog at the 2007 SEWE Wildlife Festival and 5th and 9th place for brisket and chicken respectively at the Hickory, NC, Greater Hickory Smoke Barbecue Competition and Festival.
Barbeque fans who have sought out JB’s and people that the Smokeshack has catered to include country music greats Billy Dean, Aaron Tippin, Keith Anderson and Rebecca Lynn Howard, as well as a guestbook that includes signatures from Aaron Lines and Eric Clapton. In fact, the Smokeshack on John’s Island became so popular that JB and Diane opened another JB’s in Goose Creek. The new restaurant has an expanded menu that includes fried food and hamburgers, as well as live bluegrass from Yeehaw Junction every first and third Friday of the month. Run by Billy and Melissa, the restaurant that was once a hobby for JB has become a formidable player in the world of southern barbeque. In fact, don’t be surprised to see his smoked ribs and succulent smoked ‘que skimming by in their competition-grade catering bus, on their way to serve celebrities and gourmands alike in competitions and private parties all across the southeast.
JB’s Smokeshack
3406 Maybank Highway
John’s Island, SC
557-0426
Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 11am - 8:30pm
521 Redbank Road
Goose Creek, SC
572-3311
Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 11am - 8:30pm
Printable catering menus and further information on JB’s Smokeshack is available on their website at www.jbssmokeshack.com.
The first indication that we were in for a treat should have been the company’s motto painted across the sign in the parking lot, repeated again in another hand painted sign tacked to the side of the building, “The flavor’s in the meat, the sauce is on the side”. However, it took me until I actually saw JB himself cutting a block of cheddar into a bowl of steaming elbow macaroni to realize that this was a barbeque shack a cut or two above the rest.
The layout of JB’s is typical for any barbeque restaurant below the Mason Dixon line; square tables with plastic red gingham tablecloths, Styrofoam buffet plates and utensils, well-loved chairs and extra handfuls of napkins readily available at each seating. The whole building probably seats around 35 people and it’s almost always pretty full. The buffet table across the far wall was steaming with fresh food when we arrived, but only momentarily, because the second a new batch of fresh macaroni and cheese or JB’s signature BBQ beans hit the steamer, they were gone in a whirlwind of flashing serving spoons and plates.
In the six years since JB’s Smokeshack opened, the menu has never changed, and for good reason. JB has perfected his slow cooked hickory smoked pork, using slow-cooking 100 pound smokers that could stop a man in his tracks from fifty yards away. His chicken might possibly be the best I’ve ever tasted. Juicy, delicately crisped skin rubbed with a “secret” blend of well-balanced spices and slow cooked over apple wood so that every bite was like sinking into sweet, smoky bliss.
As for side dishes, JB’s decided when they opened that none of their local vegetables or homemade dishes would be fried and they have stuck to that principle ever since. Instead of French fries and fried okra, JB’s serves their family recipes for chunky potato salad, okra gumbo, butter beans, sweet potatoes, black eyed beans and collard greens, as well as a Chef’s Choice, which changes every day. For desserts, their banana pudding with chunks of banana and still-crispy vanilla wafer was excellent, but the real show stopper was the tray of “Pluff Mud” pudding. As a kid, I would make pluff mud pudding (we called it “dirt cake”) by wrapping a bag of Oreo cookies several times over in a trash bag, stick it under the back wheel of my dad’s car and rolling over it again and again until the Oreos were pulverized into a mound of crumbs that looked suspiciously like Miracle Gro. We would then layer it between folds of vanilla custard and lace the occasional gummy worm into the lower part of the bowl, finishing it off with a final layer of Oreo “dirt” and a fake flower growing out of the center. Although JB’s prepares the dessert in a much more sanitary fashion, the treat brought back many memories and tasted just as good, if not better, than I remembered it.
On top of trying to keep up with the restaurant, JB and his son Billy, with the help of their business partners and wives, Diane and Melissa, also run a hefty catering business. With enough smokers to handle over 700 pounds of meat at one time, the crew at the Smokeshack has yet to cater to face the challenge of having more people than barbeque. “The most amount of people we ever served was at Charleston’s Air Force Base and that was only 400 people,” said Billy as he closed the lid on a whole hog he had been smoking for more than a day. “In fact, we actually have more capacity now than we did for that event.”
If you need any other recommendations as to the quality of JB’s barbeque, look no further than the walls of his restaurant. In frames across the back wall are all of the Smokeshack’s awards, including 2nd place in the 2005 Ladson Prestigious Palmetto Pig Pickin’, 2nd place for Brisket at Boone Hall, 3rd place for Whole Hog at the 2007 SEWE Wildlife Festival and 5th and 9th place for brisket and chicken respectively at the Hickory, NC, Greater Hickory Smoke Barbecue Competition and Festival.
Barbeque fans who have sought out JB’s and people that the Smokeshack has catered to include country music greats Billy Dean, Aaron Tippin, Keith Anderson and Rebecca Lynn Howard, as well as a guestbook that includes signatures from Aaron Lines and Eric Clapton. In fact, the Smokeshack on John’s Island became so popular that JB and Diane opened another JB’s in Goose Creek. The new restaurant has an expanded menu that includes fried food and hamburgers, as well as live bluegrass from Yeehaw Junction every first and third Friday of the month. Run by Billy and Melissa, the restaurant that was once a hobby for JB has become a formidable player in the world of southern barbeque. In fact, don’t be surprised to see his smoked ribs and succulent smoked ‘que skimming by in their competition-grade catering bus, on their way to serve celebrities and gourmands alike in competitions and private parties all across the southeast.
JB’s Smokeshack
3406 Maybank Highway
John’s Island, SC
557-0426
Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 11am - 8:30pm
521 Redbank Road
Goose Creek, SC
572-3311
Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 11am - 8:30pm
Printable catering menus and further information on JB’s Smokeshack is available on their website at www.jbssmokeshack.com.
Welcome to Charleston Food Talk!
There's not much more I need to do in terms of describing this site that hasn't already been done in the title; this is a place for foodies from all over to talk about anything they've found around Charleston that tantilizes their tastebuds or sours their stomachs. My background is mainly in cheese, so I'd love to answer any questions or start any discussions pertaining cheese and it's elaborate history. I also write for two barrier island newspapers, the Island Eye News and the Island Connection, and will be posting reviews on hidden restaurant finds, new restaurant openings and food pictures whenever I get a chance. If you hear of a new restaurant or have visited one that left you full and happy, let us know! Respectively, if you try a new beer (thank goodness for Pop the Cap!), wine, whisky or any tasty beverage, feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks and welcome to Charleston Food Talk!
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