Nilgiri Noon

It's a perfect day for tea.  It is either snowing, sleeting or raining, depending on which minute you happen to look out the window.  The cats have snagged all the warm spots and it is pretty gloomy, even with the lights on.

I am having some of Upton's Premium Quality BOP Nilgiri.  BOP stands for Broken Orange Pekoe., meaning a largish leaf that has been chopped.  Nilgiri is in the far southwest of India and means Blue Mountains.  Perhaps they have a blueish haze like our Blue Ridge Mountains.  Upton's recommends a 3 minute brew with boiling water.  The smallish, dry, black and brown  leaves give off an odor of old wood in the sun.  The brewing tea has that fresh wash aroma.

Taste wise, this is nothing special.  It just tastes like tea.  It is pleasant and very middle-of-the-road.  There is nothing wrong with that, as we can't spend all our time searching for each little nuance in every cup we drink, although that is also very pleasant and rewarding.  I would serve this to people who aren't adventurous and I think it would make a good tea for a tea party as it is so pleasant.  I think it would probably go well with almost anything you serve.  For myself, I am going to push the steep time to 31/2 minutes and see how that affects the taste.

Just part of the houses built into the ancient walls of Durlach, Germany.  They are from the 1500's, although they have undergone many transformations.  This is a town that dates things from before and after "The Fire", which was in 1698.  When I asked someone where old Durlach was, they told me most of it had been destroyed in the fire.  I thought 20-30 years ago, not over 300.  I took most of these picture because at least some of them would have been scenes my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather may have seen as a boy.  It's quite a juxtaposition as I sit here in my 18 month old house.