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.

Another Sort of Yellow

I saw two gorgeous trees yesterday.One was a very large Japanese Maple that was a tapestry of bright red, orange and gold. The wind was blowing, so it was constantly shifting in its pattern, almost like watered silk. The other was some kind of oak that was the most stunning yellow I think I've ever seen, especially in an oak, as they often just get brown. The hills are really full of color, but it is muted because it hasn't been really cold over a period of time - only 2 minor frosts.

Today I am trying my first yellow tea. It is from Thunderbolt Teas, which specializes in teas from Darjeeling, India. Yellow teas are rare and particularly if they originate outside of China. This one comes form the Goomtee Estate. Yellow teas are green teas that have been oxidized a bit to rid them of the sometimes overwhelming vegetal scent and taste, they are sort of a sub- category of greens and need to be treated as such.

When I opened the sample Benoy kindly sent me with my order I noticed right away how fresh the large leaves looked, a greenish brown shot through with yellow. They smelled kind of floral, kind of vegetal, I couldn't really make up my mind. I brewed it at about 180 degrees for a minute and then a second time for 1.5 minutes. The first infusion was an old gold color and was still giving off the floral/vegetal scent. That was also the taste. For a short, cool infusion, the tea had a very thick mouth feel and a lingering hint of sweetness. The second infusion was very pale gold and the vegetal taste had pretty much disappeared, as had the thickness. It was very delicate.

I liked this tea, but I think I will stick to the greens I like, as the cost is more in line with my budget. I am grateful I had the opportunity to try it, however. I think I'll give the rest of the sample to a friend who is tiring of his green teas and see what he thinks.

Up A Tree With Darjeeling

That's Vesuvius in the distance, dribbling a bit of smoke and haze.


We had our share of excitement this morning. A very nice beagle came visiting. Sadly, he thought our 2 youngest kitties were game and proceeded to tree them. As you can imagine, this was not appreciated by us and we chased him away. The kits didn't much like it either. However, they quickly came down and inside, please, please!

Yesterday I had a hard time picking an ice tea, but I read on another tea blog that Darjeeling is good iced. So I picked Arya Estate Second Flush Darjeeling from Thunderbolt, which I had purchased earlier this year. I reviewed this Mar. 28 and when I brewed it carefully, it was a delightful tea. I used about 9 teaspoons in about 1 1/2 quarts of water. I was going to brew it for about 5 hours, but it stretched into 7.

When I filtered out the leaves and tried it, I was quite pleased. It was a touch floral, with some astringency, and I could swear there was a tiny bit of smokiness, with some citrus notes. There was no bitterness nor too much tannin, just an all around good tea. My husband would consider it weak, but I, who like my tea strong, did not find that to be true.

I tried it with a bit of lemon juice and later, with a bit of orange and I must say, it was very tasty all three ways. You're on your own with sugar, I just can't stand sugar in my tea.

We are all waiting on tippy-toes for rain. The weatherman keeps promising, but there hasn't been more than a little action. I am hoping we'll get one of those really active thundershowers. I love to watch the lightening.

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

Thunderbolt Reprise

Oh, to be in the sun, under a tall palm tree! It is cold and miserable
here, perfect weather for staying inside with tea.


Today I am trying Thunderbolt Tea's 2nd Flush Arya Estate SFTGFOP1 for the second time. The last time, the beginning of February, I think I over brewed it and it tasted mostly like tomato soup. This time I was very careful to reduce the water temperature to 200 degrees and the brewing time to 2.5 minutes. I was rewarded with a lovely cup of tea that was slightly woodsy but somewhat floral as well and altogether a very nice cup of tea.


While I was about it, I thought I might as well try another of the teas I purchased from Thunderbolt, another 2nd flush but from the Goomtee Estate in the Muscatel Valley. This is another pretty tea, with many shades of brown and some ivory buds in it. The dry tea smells of fresh corn and also a woodsy and nutty aroma mixed in. I brewed it the same as the Arya Estate and was again rewarded with a wonderful cup of tea. It was a very dark amber with a primarily that same woods and nuts as a base flavor, but a great grapiness in the back of my mouth. I love how good teas have so many scents and tastes. It really is fascinating to me how in one cup there are so many sensations.

Differnt Strokes for Tea and Folks

These 90 foot tall windows are in a church in Germany. During WWII they were buried, in order to save them. I am glad they did, as they are magnificent.

I came across two new-to-me teas recently. One is Indian, from Kashmir. It is a green tea flavored with saffron, cinnamon, cardamom and sometimes scented with Kashmiri roses. It is then sweetened with sugar or honey and served with crushed nuts. It is called Kah weh. It sounds wonderful, but I was unable to find a source for it. Guess I will have to go to Kashmir. I only mention it because most people feel it was the British who brought tea to India, but the Kashmiris say this has been traditional for hundreds of years.

While this tea sounds delightful, the other one I heard of did not. It is a blend by 52 Teas and is Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup black tea. Somehow, I just cannot wrap my head around that. I've had several chocolate teas, some of which have been excellent. For me this crosses a food line I don't want to cross. How about you? Would you want to try it?

I am disappointed by the Darjeelings I've had this year – with a few notable exceptions (see previous blogs). And I am again today. I am trying another of the Thunderbolt Teas I ordered – Second flush Goomtee FTGFOP1, Muscatel Valley. It is quite pretty, with a mix of black, brown, tan and gold leaves and buds. It smells very fresh and slightly of chocolate, green veggies and grass. As it brews at 205 degrees for about 3 minutes it continues to smell very fresh, with some nice earthiness. However, to me it just doesn't have anything like a characteristic Darjeeling taste and there is no grapiness to it. There is a bit of a hint of mint and fruit, however. And, as it cooled, a medium amount of a nice floral came to the fore. It is quite tannic, which leads me to believe that I overbrewed it Again! I think I have to take my own advice and play with all these Darjeelings until I do a better job of brewing them.

While there are "standards" for brewing tea, which I and many others have discussed, they really are only guidelines. We need to start there, such as boiling water, 3-5 minutes for black tea, but we need to adjust the time and temperature for the particular tea we are brewing. My experience with many of this year's second flush Darjeelings is they need to be treated more like a green, with a lower temp and shorter brew. I am going to start experimenting and I'll let you know the results.

Tomato Soup for Tea?

A beautifully worked gold covered prayer book from the Palace museum in Vienna.


What a great day – so far it has been all sunshine! And we had some super news! We've been accepted into a program for retired Presbyterian pastors to receive free housing until we die or can no longer live independently! We are so excited we hardly know what to do with ourselves, at least in part because we surely don't want to think about all the work involved in moving yet again. The house will be a new 2 bedroom, 2 bath home and we've seen some of the others that were recently built and they are very nice indeed.


Well that certainly needs a super cup of tea to celebrate, doesn't it? I decided to break into my stash of Thunderbolt Darjeelings I recently purchased and have some Arya Estate second flush SFTGFOP1. The tea is quite pretty, a mix of black brown and gold. It smells of really good tomato soup, with a hint of tobacco and wood shavings. As it is brewing I caught a strong whiff of old-fashioned molasses cookies. Can't wait for the taste with all this going on. Sadly, this is where it all came to a crashing halt. It tastes like tomato soup! Two whole cups of tomato soup! Well, phooey, I had really been looking forward to this as generally, Arya Estate has good to excellent tea. My husband said it tasted like I brewed it too long. I thought maybe my taste buds are off due to all the meds poured into me lately. So I will leave it for now with a big question mark and come back to it later.

Back to the Blog!

Hello Tea Friends

I am back, but for a while it will be about 3 days a week. The anesthesia seems to have fried some of my brain circuits. Otherwise, I am doing well, almost no pain at all, just much too slow for someone used to zooming around, both mentally and physically.

One of the things I really like about tea is that it so many things all at once - comforting, warming, cooling, homey, exotic. Today I was storing my order from Thunderbolt Teas and I just felt exotic. All those strange little packages from half a world away, conjuring up elephants and tigers, oh my. And the neat rows of tea bushes, with women in beautiful, graceful saris, chattering away in an unknown dialect. It's warm there, too, as I look out on the falling snow and rather bleak landscape. I guess I had best have some tea. My brain is not yet up for too much thought on tea, so I won't have this lovely Darjeeling yet, but I will have something to conjure up those lovely gardens.

I don't usually buy decaf tea, but I got some in a tea swap and it sounded good, so I had some Celestial Seasonings Decaf Indian Spice Chai. It smelled lovely in the bag and certainly looked good. I have a new Panasonic hot pot, so I brewed it at 208 for about 5 minutes, I think. I got distracted, so who really knows. It has a very pleasant mild spice scent and I think the mix of spices is right on target, with nothing standing out, except for a bit more of a mildly heavy bottom note I wasn't sure of. There was a sense of chocolate, but no pepper. I found it to be nicely warming all the way down. I may actually have to buy some of this. I often mix my own spices and tea for chai, but this would be so convenient and I know I can get it right here in the village.

We have not one, but 3 little shops that carry teas. One has a small loose leaf and Celestial Seasonings selection, one has Republic of Tea and the other has PG Tips, so I am fixed for tea bags. The Library often has odd tea selections for our book group, so I can practically never leave home without some being handy.

Snow in Darjeeling?

I have to say, if you get bored in a Gothic church in Vienna, you really have to work at it, there is so much to see.

It is very cold in Darjeeling, so cold that Benoy Thapa, the owner of Thunderbolt Tea, thinks it may snow! However, it is not snowing here and the sun is out, and I am going to have a cup of Thunderbolt's Arya Estate Emerald, a second flush green tea. A lot of Darjeeling estates are getting into green teas and this is one. The dry tea is so pretty – huge long wiry green, white and tan leaves and buds, smelling of a meadow. I brewed it at about 180 degrees with about 2 teaspoons of tea because the leaves were so large. I also brewed it for about 4 minutes, because every time I tasted it before then it didn't taste “done”. As it brewed there was a lovely delicate floral scent given off, but it was not particularly sweet. There was also some dried herb mixed in the full scent package. The liquor was a really pretty yellow, with a faint tinge of brown.

This is definitely not a Chinese or Japanese green tea, so do not expect anything like them. This must be judged on its own merits. The brewed tea is very delicate and at first it seems as though you are drinking hot water. However, as it cools to the warm side of hot, the flavors begin to come out, somewhat floral, a hint of almond, a hint of sweet. I think you could easily do multiple short infusions of this tea, with water about 160 degrees and be quite happy. I will try that another day. I also think just a tiny bit of lemon would add to it. This is a very nice, very special tea. For someone wanting to try green teas, this would be a good one.

In this month's issue of Tea Time Magazine there are some really cute pewter teabag holders, made by Tin Woodsman Pewter. They are available on http://www.amazon.com/ and would certainly make neat Valentine's Day gifts.

The case of the strange but wonderful Darjeeling

Yesterday I tried some Autumnal Flush Risheet Darjeeling SFTGFOP1 Wiry 09 from Thunderbolt Teas, one of the samples Benoy kindly sent with my order. The dry wiry leaves are a pretty brown with bits of gold buds and green leaves scattered throughout. The scent reminds me of Cracker Jacks, roasted corn and fresh tomatoes just starting to cook, all scents I really like. I brewed up about a teaspoon with boiling water for 3.5 minutes. The brewing tea smelled even more of roasted corn and was a kind of dull yellowy brown. I have to say that it also tasted mostly of roasted corn and was not to my taste. It did not seem to have any of the fruitiness I would have expected from an autumnal flush. Very disappointing. But wait!
Today I tried the Risheet again, using water from a different kettle and a different teapot. It is wonderful. Still with a roasted edge, but very grapey, with a prettier color. It is still a mild, gentle black, just right for those who don't like the heavier or more assertive blacks.

This all brings up the importance of water. Tea is 99% water and if your water is weird, your tea will be, too. I am not sure what caused the very great differences in these two cups of tea but here are the facts: the tea was from the same sample; the water was straight from the tap through the filter I always use; day 1 was from my new Panasonic water boiler in my Adagio Giant cup and saucer; day two was with the water boiled in my old electric teakettle in my Teavana Perfect teamaker. I am going to experiment some more. I don't think it was all the problem of the water boiler, as I had made a cup of Devonshire Earl Grey from Upton's with it yesterday as well and it was superb. And today I had a Ceylon I felt so-so about before and it is much better than the last time when I used water from the electric kettle. Maybe Darjeelings are pickier about their water or their pots. I'll keep you posted. Maybe it is just the innate perversity of matter.

Day 13 of snow, early this am. But now there is SUN!