Breakfast Tea in the Afternoon

The Bishop's throne in Ravenna. I hope he had a cushion! All those designs you see, everything except the glass, is inlaid marble, 1,000 years old and still in good shape.

Today cannot make up its mind to be cloudy or sunny or both at once. A nice day, however, with big puffy clouds and not too hot or humid, so I can dare to have hot tea.

Thanks to the good folks at the Boston Tea Company (from New Jersey!) I have lots more samples to try. Today's is their English Breakfast, a mix of Indian and China teas. The dry leaves are long and skinny and mostly quite black, although there is some brown in there. Altogether they almost look midnight blue. The aroma is winey and dark smelling - a sure sign of some Keemun in there. As it was brewing, it smelled so fresh, with the addition of a corn silk scent.

The tea brews up after 3.5 minutes, with boiling water, into a fairly light amber, almost a pumpkin color. The tea tastes as good as it smells. There is the deep winey taste of the Keemun and the lighter notes of either a late Darjeeling or a Nilgiri. To me, it seems somewhat light for an English Breakfast, but that's ok. The directions say to brew it 4-5 minutes, but I chickened out. It is a tasty tea and would suit for either breakfast or afternoon. i had it both with cream and without and I don't think it makes much difference.

Check out these two items currently on the Sereni(tea) and Puri(tea) blog from June 25, 2010 http://theteaemporium.wordpress.com/ They have just got to be seen, so hop on over there. I think the hangers are cute, but I am also not enamored of the cigarettea.

I don't know if any of you are rhubarb fans, but I am. Sometimes when I am making a sauce on top of the stove, it sticks and burns way too soon and I have to pitch it. I have discovered that it cooks beautifully in the micro! With minimum amounts of water, too. On a similar note, if you like to make applebutter or thick applesauce, do it in the oven just before you clean it. Almost no stirring and you can basically just forget about it for long periods.

Oh, woe is I!!! I have no more PG Tips tea bags. Whatever shall I do on brain dead mornings?