Monday, June 6, 2011

I Just Can't Bear It

There won't be any pictures until I can use my own computer, which will hopefully be Wednesday. The whole thing had to be taken off and reinstalled, which means that I need to re-install all my personal software as well. Not a happy camper.

The @#$%^*&*bear came back and made another mess with the bird feeders and suet. Then it was rude enough to poop in my yard. Usually it only comes once in spring and maybe once in the fall, just before hibernation. How did we get to be so lucky. Maybe the tornado upset it. I sure hope none of the squirrels got that strong!

Oh dear, I overcame all my taboos about vanilla in tea and tried some of Samovar's Vanilla Blossoming. I wish I hadn't. It smelled very, very strongly of vanilla and tasted very, very strongly of chemical vanilla. I hated it, my husband, who would use vanilla as aftershave if he could, loved it. Go figure.

However, I did have a pleasant experience with Life in Teacup's Red Tea Dan Cong. Dry, it had a sharp winey smell and huge, tightly twisted black leaves. As it brewed the aroma was some combination of Asian market, Chinese restaurant, Chinatown streets and incense. The flavor was just as nuanced and just as hard to pin down, some sort of cross between a heavy roasted Oolong and a mild Keemun. I drank 3 cups of it because I liked it and I wanted to pin down the flavor, but I couldn't.

I do like tea that is so intriguing.

The new Upton's catalogue has arrived and Miss Greedy Eyes here wants one of everything. But I satisfied myself with just the newest arrivals until this year's Keemuns and Yunnans come in.

1 comment:

Alex Zorach said...

I can imagine that a bear would be more stressful to deal with than smaller animals like racoons and squirrels. At least it just comes by once or twice.

I also enjoyed Life in Teacup's Dan Cong.

I find it interesting when teas have aromas that remind me of Asian markets and places in Chinatown. It happens fairly often...I wonder if it's because of associations in my head, or similarities in aroma which somehow stem from cultural selection for certain aromas...I suspect it's probably a bit of both!