My New Kentucky Home

A while ago I told you Bruce Richardson had been named the Tea Master for the Boston Tea Party Museum. His company, Elmwood Inn Fine Teas has blended a new tea for this - American Revolutionery War Boston Tea Party.  However, today I am having their Kentucky Blend that I got in a tea swap.  The dry leaves are small and mostly black.  It's a small sample and doesn't smell like much, which is about right for small samples.  It is composed of teas from Yunnan and Anhui Provinces, China.  I brewed it for about 3.5 minutes with boiling water.

The resulting liquer is very dark, with a somewhat golden cast around the dges.  It has a wonderfully fresh, woodsy, nutty aroma.  Taste wise, it is definitely walnut to me, with a bit of floral and some fresh spring woods to add to the mix.  I think there's a trace of lemon bisquit in the back as well.  I do love complex teas, they keep you intrigued.  But I also like simple teas, especially if I need a boost and don't want to think about my tea very much, just enjoy it.

Aren't these houses painted prettily?  Sorrento, Italy.  Sadly, it is only in the tourist areas.  Most of the rest of the town has really ugly slabs of apartment buildings.  Actually, almost anywhere there was much WWII bombing is like that.  There was not the reconstruction money that Germany, for example, had access to.

In just 2 days, the understory of the woods near the river has begun to green, the willows have shifted to new green, the cottonwoods are fluffing out the ends of their branches and the oaks are doing their spring leaf drop.  The hills are pale green and red and yellow,  topped with broad strips of still gray trees.  We're mostly in that strip.  Since yesterday our berry bushes have gone from "yeah, there's buds there" to tiny leaves.  It's supposed to be very warm all week, but I am sure we'll have cold again, so I am only doing the most minimal stuff in the garden.  When it is cool again, I'll plant my peas - in containers - I got some real short ones that are supposed to be good for that.  We'll see.