Here Come the Keemuns

Aaah, mountains!


Sunshine again! If this keeps up, we from the Great Northeast won't be able to complain nearly as much. Ah, but we are saved - snow tonight and tomorrow. I may complain, but I love the swing of the seasons. I love the rain, the snow, the colors of spring and fall, even the gray and white or sepia of winter. I just like it enlivened with sun.





In keeping with the Lunar New Year, I have 2 Chinese teas to compare today. They are both from Life in Teacup. The first is Superior Grade Keemun. The leaves are small, almost broken and pretty much brown. They smell very fresh, without much in the way of nuance. The brewing tea releases more of a winey scent. In the cup there is a very pleasant earthy wineyness, but it is somewhat subdued.





The second tea is Keemun Mao Feng and its superiority was evident as soon as the packet was opened. The leaves were mostly black, long and twisted. There was a deep scent of red wine barrel and a rich oaky undertone. The tea brewed up to a surprisingly light color, but not the taste, which was rich and full, deep and earthy, with the wine right along in there. Wonderful.





I have to say if I had only had the Superior, I would have thought I had a very nice cup of Keemun. However, tasting the second made me realize what I was missing. I do love Keemun. And to think I used to think it was awful stuff. But then, there were many teas I didn't like and have since grown to at least appreciate, if not downright love, while others have fallen by the way.

More on Today's Tea

I decided to try the Organic Golden Monkey Black Tea with some cream and it's a whole new world. Even rounder than it was, with a subtle dark cherry flavor to it. It is somehow sweeter and more spice comes through. What a great trip!

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! to all who are celebrating the Asian Lunar New Year. May you have joy, peace, prosperity and every other good thing!

May the doors you open lead to wonderful things for you.

We are celebrating here because the sun is shining and the sky is blue. The pines are brilliant etched against the azure sky and it's not even too cold.

Any day is a good day when you get new teas to try from a new-to-you company. I had heard so may good things about The PuriTea Company I had to order. They were having a sale on make your own tea samplers, so I did. My order came very quickly and they even sent 3 free samples. Wow.

I was going to discuss a couple of different Keemuns I have been drinking, but decided to go with another Chinese tea to celebrate the New Year. This one is from Aura Teas and is Organic Golden Monkey Black Tea. It is one of Wuyi Yen tea, [grown in spaces between mountain rocks], from the Wuyi area of Fujian Province, and is considered one of China's finest. It is a mix of black and brown leaves, heavily curled. It is processed by hand in the spring. It will yield up to 3 infusions. In the container the aroma is a fine mix of floral, sweet and a deep deep spice and wine bottom note. I did the first infusion for 2 .5 minutes and the second for 3.

The tea in the cup has a smooth, sweet, deep woodsy, spicey scent and the liquor is very, very dark. I can hardly wait to drink this! Usually I like cream in my black tea, but this is so fine, I can't do it. The tea almost feels creamy, it has such a rich body. There are so many taste sensations it is hard to sort them. It is sweet, with an almost honey flavor, then a bit earthy, then there's an elusive woodsiness, a little touch of acid to make your mouth feel juicy, along with oak. It is a wonderful tea. It is such a kick when there is so much going on in a tea.

Aura teas can be seen at http://www.aurateas.com/ They have always been very nice to deal with.

The Rabbit is Coming

In spite of the ground hog's prediction, I don't think this is for us
just yet. That's Punxsatawny Phil, who supposedly predicted an
early Spring.


Once again the weather mavens have gotten it wrong. No big deal, maybe 3 " with some ice on top - just enough to support the ravening squirrels, but not enough to support me. The cats are quite funny on it, as they have gotten used to having to hop over or plow through the snow and they look so confused walking on top. It was up to 48 about 2 hours ago and now it is 32 with a lot of wind and snow/ice/rain. The trees in the spinney are blowing every which way and look like they are doing some sort of mad dance.





Chinese, really Asian, New Year begins tomorrow. This is the year of the rabbit. I shall make some Shanghai soup and have spring rolls and perhaps a stir fry or maybe pot stickers to celebrate. And, Chinese tea, of course. Keemun, because that is my favorite. However, to get in the mood, I am having another green tea today.





Harney and Sons has always had quality tea and their Chinese Flower is no exception. I have one of their tag-a-long tins someone gave me, with 5 pyramidal sachets in it. Each is enough for a 12 ounce mug. The dry tea is a mix of Chinese green teas, accompanied by three flowers and some citrus. Citrus what is not clear. The dry scent is quite lemony. I brewed it for about 3.5 minutes and found it to be very tasty, almost exclusively citrus. This would be a good tea for those wanting to gently edge their way into green tea. Having said that, I have to wonder how it would help, as there is no taste of the tea, so you wouldn't really be experiencing it.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Austria

I was reflecting a bit on yesterday's movie and I realized how lonely it must be to be king or queen - who could you trust as a friend? There would be so much you couldn't say and there would always be the worry that someone would want to use you for power, personal glory, etc. However, in the movie, the king and his speech therapist did become friends. The power of love and caring!





Carrying on with my green teas I am having Golden Moon's Organic Green. When I opened the packet, my first thought was "spicey sausage". Okay, one of us is a tad strange here. The leaves were kind of mixed, whether intentionally or from transit, I don't know. They brewed up into a pale brownish green, more attractive than it sounds, with a clean fresh vegetal scent, still with a bit of spice, but no sausage. This was an extremely mild tea, with a fresh grass flavor and the barest hint of spice. For me, it doesn't have enough flavor or interest to buy again, but it's certainly in the okay category.





As has been expected, we have gotten about 4 inches of snow, perhaps more. You can't see out of two sides of the porch, as the screens are clogged with it. It stops and starts and we all are watching the weather radar to see when the next lot , along with freezing rain, will arrive. Friends have wondered what we would do in bad weather, since we live out of town. Me, if the driving is bad, I stay home, unless it is a genuine emergency. We just make sure we have water and we're set. If you have grown up in the country, you are always prepared in terms of food and water. Sometimes I think we are a bit over-prepared in the food department, but we won't examine that too closely.





A lot of tea companies are having sales. You might want to cruise the web and see who has a good deal on something you like. Valentine's Day is coming and I am sure there are all sorts of romantic things available. We are having a really nice dinner at home, with some wonderful tea from Mariage Freres - Wedding Imperial, which I reviewed a while ago.

Long Live the King

Bacharach, Germany



We just got back from seeing a very special movie - "The King's Speech". It was so well done, with many tender moments, many of joy, many of pain. I thought all the actors did a superb job. I would really highly recommend it. The director wanted to do this about 25 years ago, but the Queen Mum asked him to wait until after her death, as she didn't think she could go through such awful pain again.





When I was tidying my tea drawer, I realized I have an awful lot of green teas that I need to report one, so for the next few days, that is just what I am going to do. I chose Ito En's Dragonwell for today. I got this from from friend Stephanie way out in Washington. This is one of the "Famous Teas" of China, a list of the top 10. Except it isn't really as there are about 15-20 that are on the list, many of them changing places as to whether they are on it or not. This one, however, seems to make the list all the time. It comes from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, plucked in the spring and panfired in a wok..








I brewed the Dragonwell for about 2 minutes, with water about 180 degrees. The dry leaves smelled a bit like stone fruits and asparagus, but over all there was what I can only describe as a winter smell, with something of a metallic edge to it. As it brewed there was a scent of floral, along with the winter smell - a herald of spring? The tea tasted somewhat grassy, somewhat of asparagus, somewhat of citrus. Altogether a light, warming brew, carrying with it hints of spring weather. Much needed, as we appear to be in for some snow and freezing rain.

By the way, Ito En is considered to be an excellent source of good green teas.

Chocolate Mint or Mint Chocolate

An Austrian farmstead.



Ah, more snow. It is so quiet, I can hear the snow falling and the cats running in it. They are chasing themselves up and down trees and all around the yard. It is quite pretty, with all the branches and pine needles outlined in white. However, it is supposed to go to -11 tonight, so if I want to walk, I had best go soon. I finally bought myself a ski mask so I can face the wind without pain. It is a pretty bright pink, but it still looks kind of freaky. I guess I have seen too many pictures of bad guys in ski masks.











I am really on a chocolate kick with my teas, as the one I am having today is Decaf Chocolate Mint Black from The Tea Table. The ingredients are decaf black tea, peppermint, chocolate pieces and natural flavoring. My Canadian friend Elizbeth sent this to me. As I opened the packet, the mint was the first scent out of it, with chocolate a very distant second. This continued to be the case as it brewed and in the cup as well. I used extra tea, but the cup was still weak and peppermint was the predominant flavor, although the chocolate was trying hard to make its presence felt. Peppermint is so hard to use well, as it can be overpowering. I think with less mint, this would've been better.







Oh sigh, I just used up the last of one of my favorite teas from Aura Teas - Formosa Natural Wuhe Honey Black. It really has a honey flavor on top of its lovely blackness and you can get at least two and sometimes three infusions from it, even if you make it in a big pot. I did a much fuller review back on Oct 25, if you want to read it.