Oh Bother

Oh Bother! As a certain rotund, honey loving bear would say. Oh Bother indeed. It is raining again. The standing water has standing water on it and every inch of ground squishes. The cats rub their cold wet fur on us, muttering under their breath about being forced out the door, the umbrellas never dry out and I think moss is growing on my clothes. Thank God for goldfinches and daffodils whose brightness doesn't fade. On the plus side, we can now play Pooh Sticks in the ditch in front of the house. As a certin rotund honey loving bear might do.

Or, since I am not a bear, I might just have a nice cup of tea. I received a beautiful sample of Organic Uji Superior Matcha from Aura Teas in my last order, just enough for a nice bowlful. Matcha is powdered bright green tea that is made from the same plants as the carefully tended ones that produce Gyokuro, a fine Japanese tea. Matcha is used in their tea ceremony, although lesser grades are used in cooking, as in green tea ice cream or cookies. The ceremonial matcha can be very expensive.

I brewed this with water that was only about 130 degrees, whipping it up into as much of a froth as I could without proper utensils. You do not brew it, really. You add the water, beat it up and drink. It is very brothy and vegetal, fresh and Spring-like. I really like Matcha and this was excellent, comforting, pleasant, conveying peacefulness. At some point I may have to invest in some utensils for its proper brewing.

Out in the Provinces

The new organ in Stephansdom, the Vienna cathedral.

Good morning all. It is a beautiful day today, with 50+ temperatures, sunny skies, naughty squirrels and flowers blooming. The colts foot is among them. It was named that way because the leaves reminded early folk of the hoofprint of colts. It is either the first or among the first of wild flowers to bloom. We've also seen some early tulips and daffodils. Hooray!

I am back among the Keemuns today, with the Tea Trekker's Keemun Congou. This is an organic tea, from Anhui Province in China, the home of Keemusn. The leaves are tiny, very black and have a smokey, winey, woodsy aroma. As it brewed there was more an aroma of cornsilk. The liquor was a very dark amber. The tea had a very full mouth feel and to me, tasted primarily of roasted corn. I think I brewed it too long, as it was beginning to get tannic. All the tes were brewed for 3.5 minutes with boiling water.

The next is Upton's ZK22 from Hubei Province, China - Keemun Ji Hong. Purists say this is not really Keemun as it doesn't come from Anhui Province. I would agree, it should be called Keemun style. I am in favor of foods being labeled according to their origin and others known as XXXtype or XXXstyle. I'm all for individuality in these cases. The dry leaves are a bit bigger , black mixxed with a bit of brown. They give off an odor of wet wood or wet hay, with some tobacco mixed in, altogether a very pleasant aroma. This carried through to the brewing scent. However, it doesn't really make it into the tea liquor, which just tastes like wet wood, while at the same time it is lightlysmokey. It's okay, but nothing to get excited about, although it is better cooler.

The last of the Keemuns I believe I have reviewed before. It is from Aura Teas and is their Organic Keemun, from Wuyan, Jianxi, China. It has the largest leaves and the greatest amount of brown ones. This one has an earthy, woody aroma. It brewed up the lightest amber and reminded me of my great-uncle John's cabin - a mix of earth, flowers, things aging gently in the sun. It is again a rather plain tea, with almost a citrus edge to it.

On the whole, I would rank these three near the bottom of the 7 Keemun chart, whereas the other four I've had in the past week would all rank at the top and I'm not at all sure where I would place them. You might have a very different reaction to all of them.

A Tea for International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day. Celebrate, bearing in mind that we, as well as our sisters around the world are seeing our rights eroding or about to erode. Stand up and be counted! Noone is really free until we all are free.

I was trying to figure out how many seasons of the year we really have. Summer is pretty straightforward unless it is like the one when it was 42 the end of July. Then there's Fall, but Indian summer may or may not come in there. We're okay as we slide into winter until January (February this year) when there is the January thaw. Sometime the end of February, beginning of March we have "False Spring" which segues into "pot-hole road rage" season when you hope to make it to real spring with all your tires and both axles. There can be several of these. Finally it is Spring! But then there is Mud Season and every shoe and boot we own is caked with the stuff. It finally dries out and we think we can relax but wait, there is False summer - those 90 degree days in April that ensure you only have daffodils and other pretty flowers for one swiftly done day. Finally, after all that, is Summer. You count them, I'm tired.

To celebrate Women's Day and rising temperatures, I have having some Formosa Hsinchu Baihao Oolong, aka Oriental Beauty. This comes from Aura Teas. The dry leaves don't have a lot of scent, but as the first minute long infusion brews, a distinct lemon or lime rises from the pale old gold colored cup. This very refreshing tea tastes of a fresh green salad with citrus juice poured over it. Yum!

By the second infusion, the leaves were still only partially unfurled. They are huge and a pretty brown. The tea this time tasted more of fresh salad, but with only a little citrus. I could hardly wait for the third and I was very nicely rewarded. By now the liquor was a medium and very floral smelling, to me, it was like pansies, whose scent I love. The tea had a wonderful sweet, delicate floral taste and sadly, I had to stop, but it was wonderful while it lasted.

I am officially now a happy tea camper - my order for Black Currant Loose Leaf Tea has arrived from Tea Forte and very nice it is and they were good about packaging, even

A Fine Formosan

A peek at the Mediterranean.


Alex Zorach kindly told me that Tea Forte does sell loose leaf tea, so I trotted right on over and got some black current. Thanks Alex. Much better than all that extra packaging. It is amazing how much less garbage you have if you recycle and compost. One puny bag. A lot better than 3 or 4. And it's really a no-brainer. It's like contributing to the food bank. If you buy one or two extras every week, it is painless to give to those less fortunate. Having worked in several, I can say that the vast majority of folk who come truly need. There are always scammers, but you get to know them.





I have been having such a good run with tea, so many of the ones I am trying are just plain good. Today's is another one from Aura Teas http://www.aurateas.com/ - make sure you get that "s" in there. It is Formosa Alishan Oolong, obviously a cousin of the one I had a few days ago from them. It smells like good green earth in the packet and is very dark for an Oolong, looking as though it were heavily compressed. At 170 degrees for about 2 minutes, it brewed up into a light amber, with a distinct green taste, softened by what seemed to me to be pineapple. Very tasty. The second wash, again for 2 minutes, shifted away from such heavy green to an orchid scent and flavor. Just as good as the first cup, but different. It's always so interesting to see these changes from one lot of tea.





I have been seeing more and more ads in mainline magazines for tea and articles about how good for you it is. I hope it encourages more people to drink tea, just for the taste and experience of it. I also hope it encourages people to try loose leaf tea and not just tea bags.

Maples and Frogs and Orchids, Oh My

An Italian port, Sorrento

I should have saved yesterday's picture for today, the grays in the picture would match today's sky color. But I don't really care as nature has begun the wild swings of temperature and weather that say very very early Spring is here. Bertie is already trying to find frogs in the ditch. I wish him well, as I am sure they are well buried in the mud under the 18 inches of snow.

Very soon the maple syrup folks will be festooning the trees with buckets and lines and the boiling down of sap to make that wonderous sweet confection. We are fortunate that we live where it is produced. In fact, friends of ours make it and have won countless awards for the excellence of their product. You can find them at http://www.bakersmaple.com/ It is never cheap, as it takes boiling down, day and night, 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. After the sappers are done, then they turn to making maple sugar, maple candy, maple-covered nuts and other yummy sweets.

Today we are turning to Aura Teas for our daily cup. It is Formosa Alishan Jinxuan Oolong. Some of the best Oolongs in the world come from Formosa. Dry these leaves have a sweet, orchid like smell. They look as though someone sort of pleated them and then twisted them into a ball shaped pellet. I brewed up my whole sample in a large gaiwan, with water cooled a bit from boiling. I then quickly rinsed the leaves to awaken them. The first infusion, of a minute was a delicate pale yellow, smelling and tasting of orchids and hay. The second was darker in color and more of the orchid came out. The third was definitely an orchid flavor, with the hay back again. It was smoother and rounder tasting than the other two. I am sure if I had continued I could have gotten about 3 more infusions fom the leaves, which did not fully unfurl until the third. They are fairly large - a bud and 1 or 2 leaves, with the leaves having little delicate bug bits along the sides. The tea plant gives off an enzyme in reaction to this, which results in the lovely orchid aroma and taste. In this case, we can say Hooray for bugs!

Keemun in the Sun

Look what pretty stuff you can do with plaster.

Oh my, I have gotten behind in my tea tasting. I haven't been home a lot to do much. Today is another gorgeous day - bright blue sky, sunshine, cool but not awful. What more could we want? We'll get it for sure. one day last week was 48!!!!!! and then zipped down to 24. Sunday when we left early so my husband could preach at a church an hour away, it was snowing, the roads were miserable, and I, being the driver, was NOT happy. We got there okay, but my fingers needed to be pried from the steering wheel. When it was time to come home, it was a different world. This week is supposed to be above freezing - the January thaw in February.

I got a small order from Aura Teas and today I am going to try their Organic Keemun, which hails from Wuyan in Jianxi Province, China. The dry leaves are good and black, with almost a sheen on them. They smell wonderfully outdoorsy, like hay drying in the sun, with a bit of earth scent, as well. I didn't follow directions, as I am not at all patient today and can't bear the thought of multiple infusions. So, I just did my usual 1 teaspoon, 3.5 minutes, boiling water bit.

While it was brewing, it gave off a wonderful aroma of fresh wash on the line, dark chocolate and damp earth. The chocolate and earth come through in the cup and linger in your mouth in a very tasty, satisfying and calming way. It is just fine plain, a bit of cream seems to bring out a bit more of the chocolate. Altogether a fine cup of Keemun.

We have a small herd of about 6-11 deer who parade through our yards. The other day I counted 25! Too many for this small area. They were hopping about, running, jumping for no reason except what looked like sheer joy.

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.

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.

A Honey of a Tea

A bench on the church porch in Darstetten. The Swiss are a very tidy people and you'd best be tidy, too, or they will remind you.

I have wanted to be more fair to green and Oolong teas in my reviews, but I just am not in the mood. So here we are with another black tea. This is from Aura Teas, in Vancouver, Canada. If you ever have the chance, this is a beautiful place to visit and you certainly can get good teas there. The tea is Formosa Natural Wuhe Honey Black. And is it a honey!

The dry leaves are very black,and quite twisted. Dry it smells like honey graham crackers or granola, with a floral/ripe fruit overlay. This continues all the way through into the cup, for 3 infusions worth! Powerful stuff. This tea is sooooo smooth and rich tasting. You won't need sugar with it as it is sweet enough on its own. I didn't even use a drop of cream. A dark rich brown, the flavor really mimics the scent and tastes of honey, graham crackers, roasted barley. Very rich, and all this is after only 2 minutes of steeping.

The second steep was 2.5 minutes and as I said, the aroma just kept going. The color was a bit more on the red side and there was a bit of a brioche bread taste to it, along with the honey tastes. I decided I might as well try for a third, so I brewed this next cup for about 3 minutes, using only about half the water. Definitely paler and it has lost a lot of nuances, but that wonderful honey taste is still there. Since this is $8 an ounce, it is nice to know you can get 3 infusions out of it, or the equivalent of 3 ounces of tea for $8, which is pretty cheap for high quality tea.

Something I often do is blend the 3 infusions together, which I did and it is just lovely, heavy, dark, sweet, smooth as silk. I would recommend you drink this as hot as you can, in small cups. As it cools, it seems to lose some of its magic.

This tea comes from Hualien, on the eastern side of the island of Taiwan, up against the central ridge of mountains. It is a new tea, that is raised and processed like Bai Hao [Oriental Beauty] Oolong. That means that the tiny green leaf cicada bugs, attack the leaves, forcing the plant to produce a protective enzyme, which gives the tea its particular flavor. The tea is raised without pesticides and organically.

Fall, Glorious Fall!

Pretty fancy church pews, but they don't look too comfy.

What a grand fall day! One of those really perfect ones where it is sunny and warmish, the trees are bright, the sky is a deep blue and you feel quite wonderfully alive.

We had a wonderful Indian meal last night, but there is a slight problem - lots of leftovers - I got a little carried away! Guess we'll have to have more people over to eat them.

Aura Teas does it again! http://www.aurateas.com/ Today's offering is their Organic Chamong Black Tea FTGFOP1, which hails from Chamong, Rungbang Valley, India, which is in Darjeeling, in the North North West part of India, east of Delhi. The altitude there is from 3,500 to almost 7,000 feet. All those letters after the name are clues to what you are getting , teawise. In this case, Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe . The one may refer to either the first picking or best grade.

This is a tea that dry is almost too good smelling and looking to brew. The small twisted leaves are a mix of shades of brown and tan with some silvery gray to spark it. The smell is wonderful - it reminds me of the heavy aroma of a green plant I can't remember the name of, with a heady mix of dark chocolate. Another sniff is chocolate with the aroma of forest floor. I brewed it the standard 1 teaspoon, 8 0z, three minutes and while it was brewing, it smelled woody with hints of jasmine and chocolate. It is a very smooth tea with a full body. There are indeed wood tones, with chocolate and floral. One of the best Darjeelings I've had in a while.

If you like to can peaches and you like ginger, can them with slices of ginger or candied ginger - about 5-6 per quart. If you get yours at the grocery store, pour off the juice and boil it up with the ginger, add the peaches and simmer for about a minute. Very tasty. They make a nice filling for a plain cake, perhaps with a few drops of almond flavoring.

I Say Keemun, You Say Qi Men

Nice bit of Gothic soaring.

The hills are finally beginning to color more, but as we've not yet had frost, it's not too impressive - one of those falls that kind of limps along, so that you see trees here and there that are brilliant, but no masses of super-color.

My friend D has decided to raise Italian Volpinos - Google them, they are super gorgeous. On both her and her pup's maiden trip to the show ring - with no preparation, the divine Miss G took 16 ribbons! Including something like 12 firsts. Way to go Giovanna! D didn't trip or do anything to detract from her dog, either!

I have been on a Keemun kick lately. I do love the stuff and I ordered a bunch of it from different sources. Today's comes from Aura Teas, one of my favorite companies and this is their Organic Keemun Black. I love the tins it comes in. This particular tea comes from Wuyan, Jianxi, China. It is also known as Qi Men Hong Cha, Qi Hong or Prince Tea. It is only picked in the Spring and Summer and then only the first 2 leaves and the end bud. The processed tea is a shiny black, consisting of tightly rolled leaves. I also love having all this information.

This particular Keemun's dry leaves are not so smokey as others I have had, there is more of the characteristic deep wine, with a sweet scent. I didn't quite follow directions, as I had an impatient husband waiting, but I brewed it fairly close to 1 teaspoon per 4 ounces of 203 degree water for 2 minutes and a second brew with an additional 20 seconds [really closer to 30].
Yum, a lovely sweet and floral aroma that carries over into the taste, but there is still that underlying weight of some wine. This first infusion is very smooth. The second infusion reminds me at first of dried corn with a hint of a green autumnal taste. It is also very smooth. I like them both with milk, as there is yet another taste sensation. An excellent tea for a cool Fall day!
This is not the best Keemun I've had this year, but I would rank it up with the top three.

One of the ceremonial robes of Hapsburg Royalty in the State Museum in
Vienna.



I was reading one of the many tea blogs I like to keep up with and on
http://splashofmilk.wordpress.com/ there are pictures of a couple of interesting new tea things - a yellow submarine tea infuser - always appropriate to use when listening to the Beatles - and some bracelets made from tea cups, which are very pretty. You will need to scroll down a few entries to see them, but they are worth a quick look-see.



I was also reading Tea and Coffee magazine this am. There is an article in there about sustainable coffee manufacture, from farmers to vendors shelves. It was quite interesting, as I know the tea industry is also working in that direction - that of caring for the land and the growers well-being. I have to applaud this movement, as I care about what I eat and drink and about the people who produce it. I have noticed that organic tea is a little more expensive - generally about $1 more per quarter pound. That comes out to about 1 1/2 cents a cup. Not nearly enough to make a fuss about. If you are already paying a higher price for top quality tea, another dollar is not nearly too much. Organic does not necessarily mean the end product is better, you still need to taste and discover for yourself what you think is best.



I got an order from Aura Teas earlier this week and they kindly sent me 4 samples to try. They are generous samples - enough for about 3-4 cups of tea. Today I am trying their Formosa Nostalgia Dong Ding. A few days ago I tried one from Life in Teacup. I cannot really compare them as this one I decided to infuse for 2 minutes. I used nearly boiling water and the whole sample, which was a bit over a teaspoon per cup. The tea is smallish rolled green balls, with a stem, as is supposedly typical of this tea. It is a high mountain tea, sometimes also known as Tong Ting. I first washed it for a few seconds and then drained it, which is much facilitated by using one of those nifty pots that drains from the bottom when you place it on a cup. Several teashops carry them such as Teavana and others.

The tea brewed up to a lovely golden color, smelling of roasted orchids, with a sturdy green underpinning. It smelled so good that I almost wanted to just do that. The leaves unfurled to be about 2 or more inches and there were anywhere from 2-4 per stem, which is where the Nostalgia comes in as this is an old style of this Oolong. What was surprising was how quickly they unfurled, less than a minute. But on to the taste. At first, there was a strong roasted one, but as the tea passed over my tongue it became floral - very interesting. Then there were hints of nuttiness and greenness and a little bit of astringency. Towards the end of the cup it acquired something of a roast veggie scent and taste.

The second cup, which I brewed for about 3 minutes, is a pale gold and smells distinctly nutty, but still has a very nice orchid overlay. While something of a pale shadow of its former self, the nuttiness really comes out, with the floral and astringent parts as the tail end of each sip. As it cools, more floral scent comes out and the nutty taste becomes more orchid-like.

It is so fascinating to me to have cups of tea give up so many tastes and nuances and how much they can change, even in one sip, let alone a cup or two or three. It is what keeps me wanting to try more and more new teas as well as appreciating the old. Sometimes you just want a "cuppa", one that doesn't require thought or seeking to identify an aroma or flavor. Both are equally worthwhile. One may appeal to one person or both to the same person, depending on mood or circumstance. Tea is wonderful in that it accommodates every bit of that spectrum. Hooray for tea!!

Champagne for Elevenses

This, my friends, is a cactus, growing 2 stories high in the Town of Forio,
Ischia Island, Italy. I was impressed. My grand-father-in-law was a
goatherd in the country near here.



Today has been a special day. We went to our Bible study, with some of
the best people in the world and decided to celebrate the sale of our house with some champagne and blueberry buckle. Communion comes in many forms and we all had much to thank God for - house closings, new homes, recovery from strokes, outstanding music, laughter, shared joys and pains, a place where you can share doubts and fears and be loved not just for your good points, but your bad ones as well and find healing and company for the journey. We all need these places of love and shelter and I hope each of you has one.



We then went to the farmers market and found some beautiful fruits and veggies. Then I made tea - the last of the samples I have from Aura Teas. I would love to tell you the exact name, but I set the small packet down and now I can't find it. It is a Formosa Oolong and it is medium roasted. The leaves are quite large and dark. Dry, they don't smell like a lot, but once the water hit them - heaven in a cup, what a sweet, sweet scent, underscored by a roasted note. I used just enough to cover the bottom of a smallish mug and used water at about 195 degrees for about 45 seconds. The taste is wonderful; to me, that is, as I especially like the floral end of the Oolongs. It just fills my mouth up and lingers on my tongue. The second wash was greener looking than the pale gold of the first. It still smelled wonderful and was still sweet, but it was beginning to go towards a more green taste that was still superb.

Believe me, as soon as I find the packet, I'll tell you the name - it is too good to miss. Be careful if you look for this company on the web - there is another new company with nearly the same name. The correct address is http://www.aurateas.com/ Make sure you get that "s" in at the end of tea.

I decided to share the good day with the fur people and gave each of them their own pile of catnip. Oh purrrrrblissssss!

Raspberries and Green Tea

I love stonework. It is amazing to me that 1,000 years ago this was
built and it is still standing, still in excellent shape.


I received a sample of Formosa Sanxia Longjing tea from Aura Teas. This is the Formosan [Taiwan] take on the familiar China green tea, Dragonwell. It is what is known as a “fried tea”. That means it is dry-
fried in a cylinder or wok to stop oxidation or to partially dehydrate the leaves. One can only imagine the skill it takes to get this right and not burn it!
The dry leaves are very long and a deep green. They have a sweet scent, mixed with something that says “Christmas tree” to me. I infused this 3 times at about 180 degrees, for 50, 60 and 70 seconds. The first left the leaves slightly unfurled and tasted a little sweet, a little vegetal. The second infusion the leaves were more open and the taste had shifted to a more vegetal side of the scale. The third seemed the most hearty of all. I poured the three infusions together and the result was an almost asparagus like taste, with a much heartier body. I didn't feel it delivered much on the sweet floral, fruity taste that Aura said it should have, so I was disappointed. It also seemed to be a much lighter version of Dragonwell than I've had before. I am no expert on green teas, so feel free to really disagree.


Speaking of green teas, while I was at one of our local stores I found some instant tea packets.. They were for iced green tea with lime. They are made by the Gourmet Village company, from Canada. All you do is mix them up and voila! Green tea with lime to pour over ice. So I did. Well... it took me right back to Daily Vacation Bible School, sitting on the church steps, singing “John Jacob Jinkleheimer Schmidt” and eating graham crackers and drinking Lime Koolaid. Which,as you have guessed, is just what it tasted like, only the Koolaid was prettier. At least I won't have to worry about buying any more.


Another ice tea I made recently was also a flop. I like hot Dammann Freres Framboise [raspberry] tea. As far as I am concerned, it's the only one that really tastes like raspberries. It is light and flavorful, and this highly rated French company does its usual good job. However, as an ice tea it seems very heavy and the black tea base seems to drag down the raspberry. All together it isn't very nice. On a positive note, it is time to pick raspberries, yummmmmmmm.

Isn't it amazing how different teas can be whether they are hot or iced? Part of the ongoing journey of discovery in tea land.

Blackcaps and green tea

A tiny church in the German hinterlands - snazzy pulpit, though.

We were at our old house today and picked the black raspberries we planted last year - so tasty. I hated leaving them behind. We have started so many gardens over the year and seen few of them come to any sort of maturity. I don't know if I have the heart to do much here.


Aura Tea sent me some samples a bit ago and I am trying another one today. It is a green tea from Formosa – much more well known for its Oolongs. It is called Sanxia Biluchun, the last part of which I think means Green Snail Spring. The instructions say to use 2 teaspoons to ¼ cup water at 175degrees. I know that sounds odd – it did to me also, but the leaves are huge; long, twisted, dark green. I brewed it for about 2 minutes the first time. The dry tea has a slight vegetal scent. As the tea brews, the aroma is almost overpoweringly cooked beet greens mixed with asparagus, not pleasant and I wondered if I would have to hold my nose to drink it! However, the tea with the leaves removed was much more pleasant to the nose and the taste was ok, too. It really did not appeal to me, as there was too much of the cooked veggie taste, the first time around. The second time, it was somewhat bitter to add to the fun and I liked it even less.

I am not much of a green tea drinker and those I do like tend to be floral or only somewhat vegetal, so I cannot tell if this just wasn't a top-notch tea or if I brewed it incorrectly or just plain ole me.

Samples and Surprises

Two items that may be of interest to you:

The first is that Tea Chat is sponsoring some sample tastings and discussions on it's forum. You might want to go on over to www.teachat.com scroll down to Tea and Teaware and click on New! OTTI. It's too late to sign up for the first 3 rounds, but you can join Tea Chat - it's free and no one contacts you - so you can sign up for future samplings.

Samples abound at many tea merchants. The latest one I heard of seems to be a really good deal. It is at www.englishteastore.com In the search box put in tea sampler. You will want English favorites. You get 5 teabags of 5-6 different teas for $5.79. They have others. Aura Teas also has several sample packages. These are a great way to see what you like, without a large outlay of funds.

Round Three of the Castleton Estate Tea from Silver Leaf Tea. I made really strong ice tea with it and lo and behold! I found some flavor. It is very nice this way. I used about 1/2 cup to my 1.5 quart pitcher and put it in the frig for about 6 hours. It came out a very pretty pale pumpkin, with a pleasant floral/slightly grape, slightly smokey taste. I am glad I found a use for it other than mulch.

A Very Good Day

Another Swiss view!

What a super-duper day! Not one but 5 really good things – perfect weather, warm and sunny but NOT hot and muggy; honoring a beloved friend; fresh local peas!; fresh local strawberries!! and someone else to cook supper. Oops, no 6 things. I got some samples from Aura Teas yesterday and one is on tap for today [as soon as I convert ccs to ounces and centigrade to Fahrenheit].


The second is really the best. Our friend Richard is a poet and a good one. He has been trying to get published, with no success. Another friend arranged for Richard's wife to spirit out her favorite poems and had them edited into a book, complete with preface, bio and ISBN number. Our group read his poems aloud and wished him very well on his birthday. He was speechless and very nearly in tears with JOY.

There are roadside markers, monuments and parks dedicated to war, but now there is a whole book born out of love. Truly a cause for celebration.


I am a big fan of buying as much stuff as locally as possible, so I frequent the local farmer's market. It is such a real treat to have good veggies and fruit. It tastes better, too. Today I taste tested 2 strawberries – one from California and one locally. The local one was softer, sweeter, richer. California wasn't bad, but it was nowhere near as good. An added bonus was the berries came from a farm that was wiped out in the big flood 4 years ago. I am glad they are back in business.


On to the tea, the reason for all this! I really earned it as I made muffins and bread and shelled a “mess of peas” for supper. This lovely Aura Tea is Formosa, Hsinchu, Baihao Oolong, Choice. I used 2 teaspoons to ¼ cup water – 120 cc, as the leaves were quite big, at 185 degrees for about 2 minutes. The loose leaves are quite dark and long, thin from being rolled, with a few more almost ball shaped. The first cup had a floral scent, with a very noticeable sharpness and almost a black currant smell. It brewed up a pleasant yellow tan. The taste was floral, but also nutty. It was very rounded but with some piquancy. The aftertaste was fruity. It was a real treat.


The second cup was about the same color, but the scent was much softer with almost a hazelnut edge, without the black currant. Unusually for an oolong, the second cup didn't strike me as being better than the first. It was much plainer, without many nuances. However, the aftertaste seemed to linger more and was, if anything, more pleasant. Aura Tea does it again! I really am a big fan of them, as I have not yet had any poor tea. Some I didn't care for, but that is just taste, not quality.

An Oolong Aura

One of the interesting people in Berne on market day. As the woman turns a crank, all sorts of things move and make noise, some of which is music.


The nice folks at Aura Teas sent me some samples a while ago and I had the last one today. It is Formosan Bai Hao, aka Oriental Beauty. It is one of the more deeply roasted Oolongs and has a good bit of caffeine when compared to others. This is another pretty tea with longish twisted dark leaves with some tips. It smelled somewhat floral, but that was elusive. What really surprised me was the definite whiff of cinnamon I caught in the dry leaves. I brewed the whole sample, about 3 teaspoons, in a small ceramic pot I generally keep for Oolongs. The water was about 190 degrees and it brewed for about 2.5 minutes. This is all very “aboutish” as I was brewing black tea for my husband at the same time. The liquor was a pretty, soft yellow.


I was again surprised by the Bai Hao as it was not nearly as floral tasting as I expected. There was more of a “straight tea” taste to it, with hints of floral. It seemed to be thick in my mouth and the taste lingered in the back of my throat. It was soft and fresh and very, very pleasant. I am putting it on my “after I move” list for purchase. However, I noticed on their web site they have a large selection of Bai Haos and I may have to try them all. What a hardship. I have always had good tea from Aura, some of it really exquisite.

This tea supposedly received the English name of Oriental Beauty when Queen Elizabeth II called it that upon tasting it. Don't know it it's true, but it's a nice story.

Three For Tea

Another gorgeous old organ, 300 years old and still playing beauti-
fully. This was my many greats-grandfather's church in Durlach and we worshipped here one Sun day. It is amazing to worship, walk, eat in the places where someone you are related to lived nearly 300 years ago. But let us move on to this century and some tea!


Another sunny day, another group of Aura Tea samples, Ti Guan Yins, #1, #2 and #3 Green. Please note, these are all considered green teas, not the more usual TGY Oolong. I thought I would do these all together, as, judging by their names, they are somewhat similar. They are all pretty teas, made up of small tightly wound green balls. I brewed them all at about 185 degrees for 2 minutes.

Number 1 smelled wonderful, with a nice floral scent overlaying a solid but pleasant vegetal base. The liquor was a pretty pale gold and I did 2 infusions, the second a little longer than the first. The tea was light, but smooth, with that vegetal base and lovely floral taste. The second infusion was more of a green citrussy taste, quite different from the first, but every bit as good.

Number two was a disappointment. First of all it smelled very heavily vegetal, with no floral at all. A bit like baked asparagus, with something like a Japanese green tea taste, which I am not fond of. It was also a pretty yellow and I hoped the taste would be an improvement. Sadly, it was not to be, as it tasted more and more like an almost seaweed Japanese green with too much dried weed or something or veggie. I don't know if this reflects the quality of the tea or just my personal preference. Probably the latter.

By the time I got to #3 I was a bit leery, but I needn't have been. This has the most floral scent of all, as well as the most floral taste. I don't think it was as nuanced as #1, but it would be a real toss-up for me to try and choose between them, although I think #1 has an edge because it is somewhat more complex. The second infusion was somewhat lighter, but with a bit more flavor, if that makes sense. The two infusions together were very good.

I got my order from Tony Gebely's new company, Chicago Tea Garden. It came in 2 days and was packaged very nicely indeed, with shrink wrap over the canisters, a picture of the tea on the front and cards telling you not only how to brew the tea, but having a space on the back for “Tasting Notes”. High marks for all of that. I am “tea-ed out” for the day, so tasting will have to wait until tomorrow.

Honey in Mud Season

The Catholic Church in Durlach. I love churches, as you may have guessed. Notice the green leaves!


Ah yes, another sign that Spring is coming, at least for us in the Northeast – Mud Season! This is between winter and spring, when the frozen ground begins to thaw and we all wear boots, sometimes with 5 pounds of mud caked on the bottom. But the creeks are beginning to flow and soon we will hear the peepers calling to their potential mates. It's worth the extra work, the extra pounds to haul around, to know that soon there will be peepers and skunk cabbage and pussy willows.


Aura Teas has kindly sent a number of people some samples of their teas. This one is Formosa Natural Wuhe Honey Black. It is from the Hualien area of that island, on the west side of the Central Mountain Range, looking toward the Pacific ocean. It is said to be the most beautiful area of Taiwan (Formosa). This tea is grown without pesticides and is therefore attacked by the same bug that causes other tea plants to produce an enzyme that eventually gives us Bai Hao or Oriental Beauty Tea ( another on my long list of favorites.) This enzyme causes the leaves to be sweeter. Good bugs, keep up your work.

I have never had black tea from Formosa, so I was really looking forward to this. It is indeed black, with twisted leaves and a few brown ones for color. I brewed a teaspoon and a half with water just below boiling for 2 minutes. It smelled of burnt sugar, or crème brulee with some dried corn silk edges. The leaves were not done unfurling, so I moved them to another cup for a second steep. The tea is a nice dark amber and very very smooth, quite unlike many black teas. There is no smokiness to it, but a deep comforting brown taste with a delicate honeyed overlay. A very,very nice tea, good for any time of day. The second cup was not as deep, but it was a tad sweeter and you could see the tiny bug bites on the edges of the leaves, which shows their authenticity. This tea was one of the “Top Ten Teas of Formosa” in 2007. Worthy of that honor, in my opinion.