Autumnal Teas

Ah yes, summer is fading and fall is coming in.  The night insects are different, louder and more insistent.  Crickets  are making a lot of noise and soon, I expect one or two to come in.  The huge yellow striped garden spiders, the Black and Yellow Argiope, are weaving their nets over everything.  They are harmless unless seriously threatened and quite beautiful.  Ragweed and golden rod are more heavily blooming than I remember seeing.  Not good for those allergic to ragweed, like my poor husband.  Some poor unfortunates are also allergic to golden rod, which is very rare, so they are suffering a double whammy.

I guess it is time to think of fall teas.  I am not a fan of flavored teas, but I know many of you are.  Harney's has African Autumn, a blend of Rooibos, Cranberry and Orange.  They also have Cranberry Autumn and Boston Teas.  If you prefer spicier offerings, they have Cinnamon Spice and Indian Spice.  The only one I have had is Cranberry Autumn and I thought it was very good.

Simpson and Vail has a really nice one, Nutcracker, with chocolate, mint, cinnamon, cranberries and orange.  Good enough to eat?  Here's one that sounds like it - Pumpkin Pie Black Tea.  I really prefer my pie on the side, with some cheddar or ice cream.  If cranberries are your thing, you're in luck here, as they have 4 or 5 teas with cranberries in them.  To go with, there are a lot of scones, cookies and spreads with an autumn theme.

Celestial Seasonings has come out with Sweet Harvest Pumpkin, in addition to it's Christmas teas.  Gingerbread Spice is one that would be tasty now if  you prefer  no caffeine.  You can buy these on line if you are afraid of not catching them in the grocery stores,  I know their shelf life is really short as the holidays get closer.  Just go to their site - www.celestialseasonings.com and order.

Personally, what I am waiting for are the autumnal Darjeelings to arrive, as they are my favorites.  They are somewhat heartier than the earlier ones and I like them.   The autumnal Oolongs from Taiwan are teas I've not tried and I am intending to do that this year.

What are some of the autumnal teas you like?

Some more early masonry, these from a monastery garden and probably several hundred years older than the High Gothic of the last blog.  Simple is also beautiful.

Burlap Dancing Tea

It is foggy this morning.  In fact, it has been foggy almost many mornings this month.  Supposedly, weather lore has it that the number of foggy mornings in August is the number of snow storms you'll have in the winter. Actually, I just got an email from someone who really keeps track and it's only been 12.  The first winter we were here, that was right on target.  Last year we didn't have much fog and almost no snow.  We'll see how this coming winter is.  We really could use the snow, our ground is very dry.  I am hoping for a beautiful winter as we are going to have a brown fall.  Many of the trees are losing their leaves already and they're just brown - too little rain. We haven't had a really pretty fall in quite a while.

Tea wise, that means I can look forward to some cozy afternoons with a good book and a great pot of tea by my side.  Choosing one will be the problem, as there are so many I like.  As I continue to try different teas to review, my favorites list keeps changing.  It also gets altered by how my favorite tea turned out this year, given the weather in its garden.  I'm not too taken with this year's Yunnans, for instance and the Keemuns seem to be lacking a certain burgundian spark.

Today I am having an Assam - Queen Namsang from Simpson & Vail.  It is last year's harvest from the autumn, and comes from the Rani Estate, all of 157 feet above sea level.  It is organic.  The dry leaves are very black and quite small.  They give off a faint, almost apricot aroma..  I brewed it for 3 minutes with boiling water.

We often think of green tea as dancing as it brews, but I must say, this black is practically doing a jig!  It is really fascinating to watch tea leaves unfurl.

The brewing tea smells a bit like burlap, of all things!  But wait, there's also an aroma of maple/honey candy.  Hmm.  One thing I like about tea is that once you think you have all the scents down pat, along comes a new combination.  That happens with the taste as well.  I can't quite pin this one down.  It is something like sarsaparilla, something like little kids white paste with a trace of nut and a bit of sweet.  I put a bit of cream in it and it rounds out the flavor amazingly and brings out the sweetness.  A good, everyday tea, but nothing really special.

Isn't that a cool tree?  Reminds me vaguely of the flattish tops of tea bushes, ready for plucking.  Shorter than this, of course.

Aah, Summer

For lunch today we had what could be considered the quintessential summer meal - corn on the cob, fried green tomatoes with buttermilk dressing, cucumber salad, raspberries and ice tea.  All seasonal, all from either our CSA or the Farmers' Market.  Well, the tea came from Uptons - ZK95, China Keemun Mao Feng Imperial. I made it on the light side and I must say, it is a delightful ice tea soft and winey, with a bit of floral..

In the same publication as yesterday, Delicious Living, I found a recipe for Chai Iced Tea Pops.  I modified the recipe some:


Simmer 8 chai tea bags or the equivalent tea and spices from your own recipe, with 1 cup coconut milk and 2 cups of water for 10 minutes, strain, add sugar to taste, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  let cool for about 30 minutes and pour into pop molds, freeze about 3 hours.  You could also just use regular milk, it would be good either way.


Pop molds are in the grocery store, department store, craft store, almost every place and they are inexpensive - under $10 for 6 -8 of them.


Did you know the ancient Greeks had poetry, art, and architecture Olympics at the same time as the sports Olympics?     Remember the old concept, "sound body, sound mind"?  Greek concept.  In 1912 someone reinstated the poetry part in that year's Olympics.  It lasted until 1952.  It was discontinued mostly because the poetry was so awful.  NPR is having a poetry Olympics. We'll see if the poets are any better or should just fade away.


This morning I saw what looked like a deer family of poppa, momma and fawn, with gorgeous reddish brown coats and spots still on the fawn.  They are beautiful creatures, but I wish they would stick to woodland flowers and shrubs.


The wildflowers are early this year - the wild asters are already beginning to bloom and the purple loosestrife is running riot.  The chicory and Queen Ann's lace is having a superb year, with deep color on the chicory and more lace than usual.


My new lavender is blooming.  Not enough to do much with so I think I will just gather it and put the dried flower heads in with some Early Grey tea.  I first had this with some from Simpson and Vail Tea and I really like the combination.  I am hoping that next year I have a huge amount, both for tea and sleep pillows and all sorts of things

How's this for a casket?  Ravenna, Italy

Tea Among the Beautiful

Today has been a day of visual and olfactory wonders.  It began with the utter stillness of the river mirroring the soft greens and silvers and whites of middle spring.  It was beautifully disturbed by a lone oarsman, sculling his way downriver, the sun glinting off his head.  There was pink honeysuckle blooming by the road side and further in,  wild dogwood was tracing its whiteness through the barely covered branches.  Then there were the lilacs, lovely purple and white pannicles scenting the air.  At home ours are still budding.  I can't wait for them to bloom, but meanwhile I am content with some white clover sweetening the morning and smiling at the lollipops of dandelion fuzz waiting to scatter.  A lovely morning.

My tea is quite nice, also, being Upton's China Pre Ching-Ming Golden Pekoe.  I use 2-3 teaspoons of these long slender buds/leaves per cup, meanwhile admiring the gold dust and the sweet, somewhat spicy, somewhat tobaccoey aroma .  I brew it boldly for 5 minutes with boiling water and I am rewarded with a lovely cup that is woodsy, sweet, delicate but strong.  It is smooth and delicious.  It goes very nicely either plain or with some milk.

This afternoon I had some Simpson and Vail's Rose-Kissed Jasmine.  This is one of my all time favorite green teas.  The jasmine is good quality and the rose kisses with it remind me of my favorite shrub, the Mock Orange, which will bloom soon.  It has always been wonderful, in my opinion.

I planted a strawberry tower this afternoon and decided where I want to plant my new daylilies and peonies.  Some of the former are fragrant.  One is a spider type.  That will go on the other side of the walk from the yellow spider I got last year.  It is a huge flower and really shines when it blooms.  I also got some cranesbill geraniums and some yellow creeping plant to go under the black leafed one I got last year.  I added two new colors to my miniature German bearded iris - NOT to be confused with miniature iris - a totally different plant.  Now all I really need are some Caesar's Brother iris and I am all set.  Well, the lavender for the new bed and the rose for its middle - Bright Corsair.

Mother's Day is coming, so I thought I would show you how one church in Forio, Ischia Island, Italy, decorated for their celebration of the day.  The statues have real hair.  This is the church with the pyramidal baptismal font I pictured a few days ago. We visited many churches in Forio, as that is the township Frank's grandfather came from.

Oh, M'Lord!

M'Lord, Earl Grey seems to be getting shier and shier and hardly ever shows up in my cup in his best form.  Perhaps he is getting old and frail.  Like so many of the Earl Greys I've tried over the past 2-3 years, Simpson and Vail's Organic Darjeeling Earl Grey just cannot be seated in the House of Lords.

When I opened the packet, there was a faint sweet whiff of a lemon/floral fragrence to the small green, balck and brown leaves.  I brewed it for 3 minutes with boiling water and there appeared a very, very, very faint whiff of bergamot.  The brewed tea was the same, but it was also very bland.  I brewed a cup with more tea, no better luck.  I brewed more tea for a longer time and that was too long so it was much too astringent.  Then I ran out of my sample.  Usually S&V does their Earl Grey blends very well, but this was not a success.

This is the interior of yeaterday's church.  The cross and the baptismal font hanging on the wall to the right of the altar are original to the building, although personally I think the cross is a lot older and the font is from a later, more fussy period than the 1600's.  Not that it matters.  The new font is on the left and matches the altar.  It is such a thrill to be in the same place and in the same building where my ancester lived 260 years ago.  The great ongoingness of life.


I was having a cup of Keemun yesterday when I realized it was lunch time, so we had some leftover curry - what a lovely aroma that is.  I tried the 2 together and was very pleasantly surprised.  The Keemun was so sweet and the curry had an added piquancy.  Deelish!  The curry mix is my own blend from 2 brands of Garam Masala and Curry powder from my favorite Indian store.  Otherwise I mix it myself.  I can't tell you the names, I generally find the brand, in Hindi or some other language and then find the right color.  Sounds weird, but it works, especially with the gram masala, which has a wide range of color.  The one I like is kind of a greyish sandy color.

Up Up and Away!

Yes, we certainly are journeying far up into the Himalayas of Nepal for our tea today.  Simpson and Vail was kind enough to import some for us from the Ilam estate, simply call Nepal Ilam.  It is listed as a black tea, but like many of its "neighboring" teas from Darjeeling, it looks more greenish, with pale brown, gray and green chopped leaves.  There isn't a great deal of scent in my sample.  Often there isn't until it begins to brew.

I brewed it for 3 minutes, with boiling water.  There is now that good fresh, invigorating aroma of tea.  The liquor is a palish gold/tan.  At first I thought it was just a very bland tea, but then I noticed it had some sort of citrus lingering around the edges, more towards an orange than anything.  It's not sharp, nor is it yet sweet.  It's pleasant, but I think I need to drink more to give it a fair trial.

It is hard for me to reconcile my picture of the Himalayas, gathered from many a mountain climbing book, with somethng as domestic as a tea estate.  But I keep going to Google Earth and looking and sure enough, there they are.  Not quite up at the summits, of course.

In the very tidy town of Durlach, Germany, a very small front
garden

It's Good To Be Green

St. Goar's Church on the Rhine River in Germany.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, not too cold, beautiful blue sky, nice breeze.  The geese are grazing in the meadow and one of my squirrels has returned.  They can be a pain, but they're cute and I am happy to see his return.

It is enhanced by the fact that I have found a flavored green tea I like.  It is Simpson & Vail's Emerald Green Earl Grey, made from a Chinese Sencha.  The dry leaves are a flat and silky mixed green, with a light floral scent of bergamot.  I brew them for 2 minutes with water at 180 degrees.  They unfold to large leaves and stems and leave a very bright soft green liquor, pleasantly smelling of both tea and bergamot!  Actually,  I got to smell the tea before the citrus.  That is amazing.  It is so hard to get bergamot right on, but Simpson & Vail did it.

The tea is pretty wonderful to drink, also.  There is the fresh spring greeniness of grass, with the softest overlay of the floral/citrus bergamot.  Very, very well done.  I put some in the fridge to see how I would like it iced.  It certainly is pretty enough and would go with a lot of summer foods and a lot of tea party fare of the more delicate sort.  Hot, it would be lovely with sugar cookies or lemon cookies or pound cake.  Better stop, I am making myself hungry and we have none of those in the cuppboard.

Oh yes, this is nice iced.  More bergamot comes out and some of the Sencha is lost.  I think I would just go for using it cold, without ice or hot.

Java is Not Always Coffee

All you skiers who are anticipating snowfall - in Switzerland, if you go high enough, you can still ski in May!

Aah, Cyber Monday.  Check out your favorite tea venders, most of whom are having some good sales of 15-25% off, some with free shipping, as well.

We had a lovely holiday weekend.  Guests on Thanksgiving brought wine and desserts and lots of fun conversation.  Last night we invited our neighbors for a "Leftover Party" where we combined our leftovers or "made-overs" for a nice meal and again, some good conversation.  We still have leftovers, however.  I guess we'll have turkey quesadillas tonight.

No tea leftovers, however, as no one drank tea!  I have some new samples from Simpson & Vail and so, I am having Java Malabar Plantation.  The leaves are small and mainly dark brown.  There didn't seem to be much scent. I brewed a teaspoon for about 3.5 minutes with boiling water.  It gave off a very malty aroma with something like a coconut edge to it.

The brewed tea somehow tasted of wood, but there was a fruitiness there as well.  The maltiness must come from the fact that the teas grown in Indonesia are from the same type of tea plant that grows in Assam.  It is grown on the island of Java, at 4900 feet, in volcanic soil, all of which go into its flavor.

I liked it better with some cream, as more fruit came out, maybe pineapple.

Autumn in the Early Spring

A church in Sorrento, Italy.


I can hear a lot of new birds in the woods and the red-bellied woodpecker finally has at least a girlfriend, if not a mate. It is supposed to rain all day and all night and where all that water will go is a mystery, as there are no ditches and the streams and rivers are full and the ground is frozen. We are only in "those d******n potholes" season and not yet into mud.







I made a discovery - if your cup is very full, you can't really smell the fragrance of your tea - it dissipates too quickly in the air. I really like the relatively tall and thin Chinese scent cups - they kind of look like a small juice glass. They do capture the aroma.







I had another interesting tea. This is Arya Clonal Exclusive Autumnal Flush '09 from Darjeeling, India via Thunderbolt Tea. Generally one thinks of Autumnal Flush teas as having a fairly high dose of muscatel grape aroma and taste. Not this one. First of all, it smelled like peanuts, yes, peanuts. I never had a tea smell like that. The brewed tea, as you might expect had a full, rounded nutty, toasty taste. Definitely different, but delightful.









I decided to clean out my teas, giving away or composting the ones I either don't like or are too old. That should take a while. I found some Bolivian Long Leaf from Simpson and Vail, which I reviewed last on Nov. 29, 2009. Then I said it was floral, astringent, vegetal. This time around, with a different year's tea, I found it to be mostly malty and tasting definitely of walnuts. It is earthy, but has a sweet edge that is very tasty and smooths out any roughness you might get from the walnuts and earth. It is always interesting to me to see how tea changes from year to year, even though I want my Prince of Wales to forever be unchanged. I guess I expect blends to be the same but tea from particular place I want to reflect that harvest's conditions.

Vietnamese Tea Table

Still in Ballenberg museum. We only visited the buildings from
the Kanton Bern, where my family came from, and it took most of
a day. That was about 1/8 of the total structures and it felt like we only skimmed the surface.

Today is a beautiful day, with lots of sunshine, although it got off to a grim gray start. We went for a walk and the sideshow of Bert and Ernie followed along, racing up and down trees, playing "kill your brother" and finally, being carried, as befits a prince. We are such suckers.

I have generally liked Simpson and Vail teas. I think they were the second merchant, after Upton's, that I bought tea from. One of the things i have liked about them is their willingness to try teas from countries that are just getting into the better tea market, like Bolivia and Vietnam.
Today's tea comes from Vietnam and is simply called Vietnam Black. I think I told you a while back about an article I read about Vietnamese tea growers. Most are very small, sometimes just a backyard. Often the leaves are processed at home, using an old industrial clothes drier. Sometimes there are cooperatives that process the tea. This is all done primarily in the north, where the mountains are.

I like the service I get from this company and I especially like the fact that the bags for the tea are bio-degradeable. I can use them as brown matter in my compost pile.


Dry, the leaves are smallish and twisted, definitely black. They smell faintly medicinal. As they brew, they give up an amber liquid that smells somewhat malty, a little sweet. I followed S&V's recommendation of 3 minutes with boiling water. They also said this is a tea that would blend well with others. Kind of like the good kid in kindergarten. This something of a gentle tea, having both malty and nutty notes. I think I can detect a little spice and maybe a high note of citrus here and there. It's not really exceptional, but it is pleasant and I could see how it would easily blend with other black teas.

Don't forget the tea giveaway mentioned yesterday.

Spicy Rosie

This very large bell was won by the Abbuhl family in Darstetten,
Switzerland in a singing contest. The red and white badge above the buckle is the town symbol, a castle with two towers.

It has been very interesting to watch the seasons move through their paces. I have been especially fascinated by the light. From my computer I view a short mowed area, backed by spindly trees followed by a swampy area that gives way to a hill. In summer, almost all of that is equally lit, but as fall has progressed, both in the morning and evening the yard and first rank of trees are in shadow, back lit first by the intense yellow of golden rod and then by the red-gold of the trees on the hill.





It has been equally fun to watch the light in the meadow and trees across the road. Now that fall has come, the sun no longer comes up in the eastern window, but shines through the meadow, back lighting the spinney. In the evening the sun goes down, leaving layers of light in great stripes behind these trees. The sad part is the sun barely clears the tops of the trees, except for a few hours in the middle of the day. However, my apricot/red trees are glowing, even when it is gray. There are enough trees that the wind in them causes a great rustling, which is a peaceful sound.





We are supposed to have a "dusting" of snow today. Now that, my friends, is really pushing it!
I think perhaps I had best have some tea to counteract it! Sometimes it is hard to choose, as I have a whole drawer full, claiming my attention. Aha, Kashmir Rose from Simpson and Vail. I reviewed this once before, but I suspect it was old, as it had little flavor. I purchased this in the summer, so I know it's fresh.





It smells wonderful, the note of lemon from cardamom and the rose from Rose Congou, a Chinese tea. I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water and that super aroma filled the kitchen. In tasting it, my first impression is the cardamom, but that fades into rose, with the solidity of the black tea underlying it. Nice plain or with cream and sweetener. You really should have some sugar cookies, too, but alas, I have none.





Last night I made a really good mushroom soup and as I did I thought what a super starter to a tea party it could be. I had about a pound of regular mushies and some baby bellas, along with 2 kinds of dried that were just hanging around. I sauteed them, in butter and olive oil, added some flour, cooked that a while, then whizzed it in the blender. I added it to some boiling chicken broth and beef broth- about half and half and simmered it for about half an hour, adding a good fat pinch of nutmeg, a little thyme and off the stove, about 1/2 cup of cream. It is so good. Using more than 1 kind of mushie gives it extra flavor. Oh yes, salt and pepper to taste. As a starter I would serve it with thin toast or something equally crunchy.

No Earl for Tea

A gold crucifixion scene from the Vienna State Museum




Ho boy, when it rains, it pours [and pours and pours]. The cats gave up on the outdoors and have decided this is a good day for a nap. I decided to make soup and maybe bake something - it is definitely a kitchen day.



And a good day for a cup of tea. I'm having Lavender Earl Grey from Teas Etc. It smells of very smooth lavender, with a piquant edge - I assume from the bergamot. I cannot smell either the tea base or the bergamot. The tea is almost gray with lavender buds. I brewed the usual 3.5 minutes with boiling water, It continued with the floral aroma, but I could catch some tea. Taste wise, this was a very pleasant lavender tea. Quite straightforward. However, the Earl did not come to tea with me and I was sorely disappointed in him.



Simpson and Vail still wins in the lavender Earl Grey department, with its Victorian EG.

Birthday Party!

I love the half timbering on these houses. I love the fact they've been there for 400 years.

I got my new license today - good for 8 years. It should be - it cost enough. I even look good. Most of the time I either look crazy or like some criminal. I don't know why that is, but it seems to happen to most people.

Tonight there is a birthday party at our house for 4 of us friends who are celebrating this month. There will be at least 2 cakes and of course, tea! I am letting people choose their own, as most are not much into tea or only drink herbal or decaf. I made a maraschino cherry nut pond cake ans I think there will also be a pineapple upside down one as well. These two are my husband's favorites, so he's in heaven.

However, this afternoon I had some tea from Simpson and Vail, Kenya Milima Estate Black. Dry there wasn't a lot of scent and the leaves were tiny. At first I thought they were the little CTC ones, but after they brewed I could see they were just chopped. I used heaping spoonfuls and I was only going to brew it for 2 minutes, but got distracted, so it went for about 3.5. Oh oh, I thought, but I was pleasantly surprised, as the tea was almost sweet and definitely mild and pleasant. It smelled almost of chocolate, with a very deep dark cherry edge. None of that came out in the taste, sadly, but this would definitely make a nice afternoon tea.

Cold Wind, Warm Tea

Remains of a fresco on an archway in a German church. I am glad they
are working to preserve their heritage, these things should not be com-
pletely lost.

It is quite chilly today, with a cold wind blowing. When I looked up at the hills above us, I noticed how many of the trees are beginning to turn. It's too early, too fast!

Ah well, I will comfort myself with going to a warm country for a visit via my teacup. Thanks to Simpson and Vail I will go to the Kertasarie Tea Estate on Java. Java is the largest island in the Indonesian archipelago, home of the capitol of Jakarta and center of the old Dutch East Indies. The soil is volcanic and they use Javanese, Sumatran and China varietals of Camellia sinensis for their teas.

This particular tea is composed of small, very black leaves, with a number of twigs present. It has a wonderful dry scent of licorice and grilled veggies, which continues through the brewing process. I used boiling water for about 31/2 minutes and the tea was quite a dark reddish brown. Taste-wise, It was very close to a Ceylon. although it was not a bit malty, it had more of a roasted edge to it. I think it would have been better if I had brewed it for another minute. I also felt more of the taste cam out as it cooled. It is a pleasant tea, but not an exciting one.

Mock Orange Never Had It So Good

1,000 year old mosaic floor. I wish my floors would look this good for so long.

Oh my, I am drinking the nicest ice tea. It is Simpson & Vail's Rose Kissed Jasmine. It is one of my favorite hot teas and now it will be one of the all time favorite ice teas. I cold-brewed it overnight in the fridge. Before I even got it in there the water was turning a pretty green, with lots of pink rosebuds floating in it. It tastes exactly like what it says it is, jasmine green tea, with an overlay of rose. However, altogether, to me, it takes like the old-fashioned shrub, Philadelpheus, smells. A perfect summer drink. Since we are all sweltering from the extended heat, we need lots of really good ice teas. Next time I do this, I think I will cut down on the brew time - this went for about 12 hours and is a tiny bit tannic. I think doing it in the morning for the afternoon or evening would be better

One of the things I often mention is what a particular tea smells like, both dry leaves and as it is brewing. I find this adds more dimension to the tea, as a stand alone scent and as part of the taste. It's not enough to just pass the container under my nose, I really stick it in as far as I can can without inhaling the leaves. For one thing, it keeps out other scents and for another, my warm breath releases more of the tea scent. Try it the next time you have tea.

You lucky folks in the Chicago area will soon be able to buy Adagio Teas from an actual store. it is to be located at 27 West Jefferson Ave. in Napierville, IL One of their aims is to be able to interact more with customers and encourage experimentation, such as customers blending their own tea. That is something I would like to do. I tend to be too heavy-handed, so my home blends haven't been great successes. There is a book I have had my eye on however -Tea For You : Blending Custom Teas to Savor and Share by Tracy Sloan. I probably will get it and see what I come up with.

Especially for Me

Part of the Sonnenberg. There are 2 palaces facing each other
across this garden. Guests stayed in one and the royal family in the other. In the far distance is Stephansdom, St. Stephen's cathedral.


Oh boy, did I need a tea break this morning. I woke up just fine, but by 11 I was practically asleep. I still had a Simpson and Vail black tea sample, so I got it right out. This one is their Special Blend, a signature blend of theirs. It is made from Ceylon and Indian teas and is primarily twisted black leaves with some gold and some stems. I brewed it with about 1 teaspoon for 3.5 minutes with boiling water.


I brewed t a bit too long as it was beginning to get tannic, but it was still very nice. As it brewed it gave off an oaky, nutty scent, very fresh. It was much milder in the cup than I expected, even given the extra brewing time. It had kind of a creamy texture and a tiny bit of floral. It really reminded me of a very nice Breakfast tea and I could see making this one of my wake-up blends.
This is not a great tea, but it is a very good one of its class. I wouldn't have to think about its nuances or anything like that, just enjoy drinking it. I liked it best with some half and half. I have to have black tea in the am. Green or Oolong doesn't make it for me. In the afternoon, especially if I am only having tea, I like the others. Or even if I have a cookie or scone.

I made the tea very strong, so I decided to do a second wash of the leaves for 3 minutes. My husband said it was weak, but quite good. Normally black tea doesn't do second infusions, but I guess I was so exuberant with the first lot, there was enough left for another.

S&V does the Earl

Ballenberg Museum, Mountain Cottage.


What a gorgeous day. The hills are almost as colorful now as they are in the fall. There is the yellow green of the birches, the pink of the maples and redbuds, the white of the shadblows, the deeper green of evergreens. Then there is the understory with the acid green of skunk cabbage – really quite beautiful, the yellow dandelions and the blue of gill-over-the-ground, plus the blues and whites of other tiny flowers I don't know and the deeper blue of the first violets. Lovely fresh scents of daffodils and hyacinth and the first grass cuttings. We won't mention pollen or allergies, will we?


I still have Simpson and Vail samples to taste – I didn't realize I had bought so many. I love Earl Gray tea and I am always looking for a new one. Today's is Earl Gray Extra and when I opened the package I wondered what I had done to myself with this one, it is so strong. It almost smells like pine tree cleanser and I wondered if I really wanted to drink it. However, as it brewed, the scent moderated a good bit, although it remained very strong and sharp. I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water. It is a beautiful bright red-orange color. The taste was a pleasant surprise. While it was a bit on the sharp side, over all it is quite mellow and pleasant, especially with my usual splash of milk in it. The tea was nothing extraordinary. Not bad by any means, but if you are looking for a top-notch tea, this is a middle of the road selection. I'm not sure if one really looks for superb tea in an Earl Gray, anyway. This was good, but Upton's still has my heart in the Earl Gray department.


We accepted the offer on our house and our new one is now officially ready to move into, so packing will now be speeded up and all sorts of list-making will have to begin! We still need to get rid of stuff – ick – decisions. It is a good thing that lots of tea is quite small in the over-all scheme of things.

Let's Hear it for the Red, White and Blue

The Aar river in Switzerland. If you kinda squint, there is a cow in the
left middle. I think the snow-covered mountain is the Monch, aka the Monk. The Aar, by the way is a favorite of crossword puzzlemakers, for filling in those awkward spaces.


Another day, another Simpson and Vail tea. They can be found at www.svtea.com This one is called Patriot's blend and it is a mix of their American Breakfast Blend (Indian and Formosan) with the addition of raspberry and coconut pieces and some blue cornflowers thrown in to make a red, white and blue statement. The dry tea is, of course, quite attractive, with small leaves. It doesn't have much scent, other than fresh tea. I brewed it up for 3.5 minutes with boiling water and that had little scent, as well, although I thought I smelled a bit of cinnamon. It is a medium amber brew and it tastes like... tea, with a slight fruitiness. For me, it was kind of bland, because I used too little. That was yesterday and today I used more and it was much better. It is not a nuanced tea, but it is a pleasant everyday tea. It is milder than I really like for black tea and I am sure it would be ideal for those who like those.

Hot again today. Phoo, I want real spring.

A Journey to Java, a Time for Silence and Celebration

Along the Rhine River in Germany, with a castle, of course.

The pussy willows have come out with those furry little catkins and there are a few forsythia beginning to bloom ! Hooray. My daffodils are about 6 inches tall and I can see the flower buds. Maybe 2 weeks and we'll have flowers. The iris I planted last fall have finally decided to poke through and the lavender has started to grow. So good to see growing things and smell the earth.

I have mostly been in a black tea mood of late and only great acts of will have enabled me to try other teas. Today I will continue with the dark side, as I found a bunch of Simpson and Vail black teas tucked away. Today's is from Java, which is part of the Indonesian island chain, from the Kertasarie Estate. The dry leaves are pretty small, black, with a few browns to liven it a bit. The dry smells like tea, with a scent of aged wood, kind of oaky, maybe. As it brews there is also a floral aroma, with a nutty and malty edge. It brews up to about a medium amber, which surprised me, as I expected it to be much darker. I really like the taste, but I can't quite pin it down. There is some nice astringency, the slightest hint of lemon and kind of an oaky wine finish to it, without being grapey in the least. It is like some Ceylons, but I think it is lighter and brighter, somehow, if that makes any sense to you. Any way, it is a very pleasant tea and one I would recommend.

On a less happy note, I just bought a bunch of Twinings Prince of Wales tea, the standard by which I measure all other Princes. I had a cup this morning and it tasted nothing like I expected! Oh woe. It may just be me, so I will have more, but I was sadly disconcerted. Especially since I bought 3 tins worth. You don't suppose my palate may have grown past it? That would be nice, but I'd hate to lose my Prince, even for sentiment's sake. I'll keep you posted.

I will not be writing again until the Monday after Easter, as I take time for silence, to remember the suffering of my Lord and to celebrate His day of Reurrection! Let the earth be glad and the heavens ring with praise and thanksgiving!

A Himalayan Discovery

Wouldn't you love to peek over that old wall? I like the idea of a private courtyard, as I am pretty much of an introvert and like my home to be cosy, even outside.


I came across some more tea I had purchased but hadn't gotten around to trying – I love all these discoveries – it's like getting birthday presents. Today's find was some Simpson and Vail Himalayan Blend. I really like a lot of S&V's teas. This one is an very attractive tea, with dark green, black, gray, brown and pale tan leaves. I brewed a large teaspoon – almost 2 at boiling for 3.5 minutes. It brewed up to a nice dark amber with a very satisfying, deep nutty aroma. The wet leaves maintained their pretty mix of colors. What a nice taste, a very full, deep rich one with a deep chestnut base and, maybe a bit of malt and dry leaves running through it. Quite brisk and it does well with cream. I tasted my husband's and I thought the sweetener in his masked the taste, or changed it too much for my liking. This would be a good breakfast tea or one to have with either sweets or savories. I really liked it. It might be a good one for those friends who are thinking of making the switch from coffee to tea. It's hearty, but not smokey. Just a good straight forward black, but richer and deeper than many.


Tea prices may again rise quite a bit this year. Unusual snow storms in some of China's tea growing regions have damaged new leaves and buds, some quite severely, as the first flush is ready to be picked. There are pictures of the tea bushes covered with about 4 inches of snow and the new leaves are brown and frozen, instead of a nice, lively green. In some of Darjeeling there has not been enough rain over the winter and the evening Spring rains are sparse. These are the only 2 regions I've read about, but you will remember that Taiwan was hit badly by a typhoon several months ago and many tea gardens suffered greatly. All this will affect the price of our tea. More, it affects all the farmers and workers and many will be hurt economically. On a positive note, I heard from Benoy Thapa at Thunderbolt Teas that he has gotten some good First Flush Darjeeling in and it is on sale. Check him out at www.thunderbolttea.com