Saturday, October 31, 2009

Bacon and the Iron Goddess of Mercy

I have got to tell you about this tea I heard Adagio has blended. It is bacon flavored! Amazing. I’m not sure I’m ready to try it, but maybe you would like it. I have had chocolate covered bacon and that is goo-ood, totally bad for you, I’m sure, but one piece a year can’t hurt, right? I was going to make some, but wisdom prevailed. I wonder if there is peanut butter tea, as I like peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. I think this better be a plain tea day.

By the time I felt like tea tasting I decided to try Ti Guan Yin for the last time. The previous 2 times I have had it, I thought it was pretty awful. Since then I have learned a little about Oolongs and brewing tea. I think the ones I had had too much tea, were brewed too long or just were poor teas. My latest has come from Dream About Tea, a shop I discussed before. I loved the last tea of theirs I tried. My only complaint about them is they send their tea in paper bags. Picky, Picky.
I have been fooling around with brewing Oolongs but decided to try the one I just read about – water just under the boil, 3 minutes. I rinsed it off first, though. The dry tea was loosely rolled, mostly green with some brown and blackish leaves. The dry scent was sweet, with a hint of green vegetable. The leaves very rapidly unfurled, giving off a nice floral scent. The taste was definitely floral with that underlying green to it. It also had a slight taste of wet wash. What can I say, when I was little I’d put anything in my mouth. The feel of the tea lasted and lasted, filling not only my mouth, but all the way to my stomach – very warming and comforting, somehow.
Perhaps the curse of the Oolongs has finally been broken and I can now go forward in enjoying this vast area of tea. At least I am beginning to not approach them with a shudder, but with anticipation. Also, so far I have discovered that if I dislike the smell of the dry tea, I probably will dislike the tea. That may not always be true.

1 comment:

Steph said...

Well, the bacon tea will be interesting for sure! I think it's amazing what an initial rinse will do for an oolong. Keep posting your reviews, please!