Breakfat in Bed with Darjeeling

Another cold, nasty day. Nasty means the sun is not shining and the
damp goes right through your body to your bones. I really am not
ready for this. We get little enough sun in the winter, we'd at least like it in the fall.

Yesterday I tried Liberteas "Breakfast in Bed" blend. A combination of black tea, vanilla, rose petals, and cinnamon. Especially cinnamon. That was definitely the scent upon opening the container. I didn't catch any of the rose or vanilla, except for a somewhat sweet scent that just teased around the edges. The brew was also heavily cinnamon scented, again with an elusive sweet wafting through. The tea itself didn't taste like much of anything. I threw it out and brewed another pot and while there was a more strong taste of cinnamon, there wasn't much else. I have to confess I really didn't like it and didn't finish it. This was a real disappointment, as the other Liberteas I have tried I have been very impressed with.

Today's trial was Adagio's Darjeeling #2. I usually buy single garden Darjeelings, but I thought I would give it a try as it had very high ratings. I am glad I did. The dry leaves were huge - I had trouble getting them out of the can. They were a lovely dark twisted brown with some white tips. I actually followed directions and brewed it for 5 min at 212. The leaves were so big I didn't think that any less would allow them to unfurl. They smelled almost perfumed - not exactly floral, but I am not sure just what. There was a definite hint of lime and then some floral overlaying a very clean earth/woods smell. The taste didn't disappoint, either. My first sip filled my mouth with a lovely floral taste, with the lime and woods following after. As it cooled, more of the depth of earth came out, still with the overlay of perhaps lime flowers. At the end there was just a touch of astringency to add some piquancy. A very nice tea and one worth getting again.

The photo above is the Meiringen Church, which has perfect acoustics - something to do with the length of the church in relationship to the height and angle of the barrel vaulting and the number and circumference of the support pillars. One of these days I will show you the interior. There has been a church on this spot from before 800 AD.