Let's Lift A Cup To The Spring Peepers!

Today is a lovely spring day, sun shining, birds singing and Ta Da! the peepers are peeping.  They started very faintly last Thursday and they are not yet at full crescendo, but they are getting there.  They are a full month later than last year.  Do you know what peepers are?  They are a very small male frog that makes a lot of noise trying to attract a mate.  They are rated on their "singing" ability.  I wish them luck.  This will last about 2 weeks.  It is a definitive sign of spring and an indication that we have healthy wetlands here.

Noise wise, this is supposed to be the year for the 17 year cicadas to emerge, find a mate and then go underground again.  I know they are well thought of in Chinese culture, but I hate them.  They are totally ugly and make a terrible noise, far louder and harsher than the peepers.  Fortunately, they will not last long, either, but while they are here, being outside will be a trial.

Guess what?  Since I was in the hospital for 2.5 days I did some research on the availability and quality of tea.  Don't, unless your taste buds have died, bother drinking it.  It is for sure, tea bags, and I think they are saved from WWII.  The water is luke warm and if you are really lucky, it will be served in a cup that still tastes like coffee.  The coffee, while marginal, is a much better bet.  The best, of course, should you be so stuck, is to have a visitor bring you in the good stuff,  made with loose leaves and the right temperature of water.  If not, don't say I didn't warn you should you decide to opt for tea.

Speaking of loose leaves, I know some people think that insisting on them is snobbish.   My  feeling is why waste your money on something that's not good when for less money, you can have the best?  I have drunk a lot of tea, and I have time and again found that loose leaf is better and cheaper  (next time you buy tea bags, pay attention to how many ounces you have and then compare that to $10 for 4 ounces of good tea).  I do admit to using tea bags when lazy, but they are PG Tips which I think are quite decent for tea bags.  Typhoo are another that are decent, as well.  The only kind of tea bag tea that I really think is okay is herbal and I confess to a love of lemon herbals.  So I guess I am a tea snob.  And proud of it.  I have no shame in this regard.

I have a gut infection, so I will not be drinking much tea - only herbals and nothing I have not reviewed before.  I may yak about other stuff, however.  You can't really silence someone as opinionated as me.  I am also plowing my way through a book about tea and I may comment on that.

This is the very lovely ceiling of a church near the Rhine, in Germany, between Koln and Frankfurt.

This and that with the Earl

Thursday

I was reading Sip Locally blog yesterday. They mentioned how much packaging and bits of string you would save by using loose tea. I suddenly remembered clearing things out after my Swiss grandmother died. On the shelf in the big storage cupboard was a box labeled "pieces of string too small to save". That's exactly was it was - all these bitty pieces of string. We had a really good laugh and put them out in the Spring for the birds' nests.

I'm not really sure how much we save ecologically by doing loose tea. I always put my teabags in the compost pile anyway. The staple, if there is one, adds a bit of iron and the tea and paper degrade pretty quickly. However, in the manufacturing, there would be great savings, so I guess that is definitely another one for the good tea, if you're keeping score.

Hit another Chinese buffet today. The tea was just Chinese Restaurant tea - that blend that they all serve. Pleasant and drinkable, but nothing outstanding.

At home I had Devonshire Earl Grey from Upton's - http://www.uptontea.com/. This is their newest Earl Grey and I must say, I like it. It is quality Ceylon tea, with of course, bergamot, bu then they add either lemon oil or lemon peel. It gives the tea more body and a deeper scent and taste, but isn't really distinguishable all on it's own. Love those added dimensions that don't overwhelm!