A side altar in the great cathedral of Vienna, Stephansdom.Really, this is getting to be a bit much! We have 8! - 8! inches of snow and more coming. Guys, this is NOT flurries, this is just about a snowstorm! Our hope and consolation is the warming earth and air will melt it quickly. Meanwhile, I am going to the island nation of Sri Lanka and have some Ceylon tea, dreaming of sun and sand and blue oceans. (If it weren't so late in the year I'd say the white stuff was really beautiful, the way it has coated the trees.)
Specifically I am going to the Kenilworth Estate, for their Orange Pekoe (whole leaf) Ceylon, thanks to Upton Teas. The dry leaves are a pleasant mix of brown and black, kind of crinkles and twisted. I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water. As it brewed it smelled malty, with touches of grape and earth, may be a hint of pine,, maybe a little mustard,and fresh sun-dried wash. Really, the longer I sniff it, the more different scents seem to come out. The liquor is a medium amber and bubbles nicely around the edges of my cup. This is a good sturdy cup of tea, quite malty and nutty, hazelnut, perhaps. There is a touch of astringency, but that is ok, it offsets the other, to produce a more interesting flavor. There is a touch of grape, but no mustard. Probably just as well.
Tomorrow I am doing another tea tasting for friends, so I probably won't be blogging. We are doing a few flavored or scented teas - Lilac Bouquet, Snowflake on Green Lake, Jasmine Golden Yunnan, Mini Shu Puerh Tuocha and Hu-Kwa Lapsang Souchong. Quite a spread of tastes, eh?
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