Fairy Tea

This has been a busy week of potting up things which I can't yet plant outside, deciding where to put them, getting caught up on a whole bunch of things, including trying to decide which teas to keep, give away or dump. So far, I have 2 of the latter - much too old and no longer at all tasty. I do have a pile of giveaways, so some time in the next month or so, I'll let you all know.


Yorkshire Tea Company, makers of Yorkshire Gold and other fine teas has a project to save parts of the rainforest. They are doing this by selling tea cosies on ebay and using the proceeds to purchase rain forest lands. This is a fine opportunity to get presents for your loved ones or yourself and contribute to a worthwhile endeavor. The details can be found on their website http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/ . If nothing else, it is a fun site.


I've read several articles on the web recently indicating that 3 cups of tea a day is good for our hearts. It contains a chemical that tends to widen our blood vessels, thereby lowering our blood pressure. I can't say yes or no to that, but I certainly drink that much tea every day.

Today I had time to try 3 lovely teas from Life in Teacup http://www.lifeinteacup.com/. I thought I would get ahead a bit as I don't seem to be able to manage trying new teas often enough to suit me. The first has a great name - Orchid Fairy Twig Green Tea. I love it. and it is indeed suited to fairies, with the short, twiggy, silvery green leaves. As you might expect, it smells something like orchids. This tea is rare in the USA, as the harvest each year, from wild trees, is quite small. It somes from Jiangchi Province in Wuyuan. The style is Chao Qing, that is, it is stir fried to kill enzymes


I brewed it up for about 2 minutes at about 175 degrees and the orchid aroma persisted. It was a very pale gold and the taste was so mild, I couldn't identify it. I brewed it again for 2.5 minutes and it was slightly more gold and there was a bit more taste - vegetal overlain with orchid. Very delicate, but very tasty. A third wash for the same time yielded a bit more floral taste. I really could not put my finger on the taste, only that it was exquisite and lingered in my mouth for quite a while. The leaves were fully unfurled and so pretty and delicate - mostly on the tiny side, suitable for fairy tea.

Correction - Gorreana Tea is grown on the island of Sao Miguel off the coast of Portugal. I did order some and will fill you in when it arrives.