Dragons and Earls and Peaches, Oh My

I have some Earl Grey Decaf from Twinings brewing for ice tea, as well as some Dragon Well Green from Rishi Tea.  I haven't tried either one hot, so they will both be a new experience for me.  I don't think I've met a Dragon Well I didn't like, although the same cannot be said for the Earl.  Some of them simply have no flavor or they are gunked up with other flavors.  I really do like to keep my tea on the relatively straight and narrow.  I don't usually do decaf either, but we are having company who would prefer it, so I am being kind.  I used 16 teabags for a 3 quart pitcher.  I hope it's not too much, but then, it is teabags.  I don't usually do teabags, either, but it was a gift, so I thought I ought to use it.  I could have emptied the bags, but I am too lazy in this heat.

This morning was pleasant, so the cats and I tidied the flower beds, which have rioted.  I gathered some basil for supper's pesto and lots of lavender got hung to dry for tea and just smelling nice.  Some of my lavender is quite pretty, but doesn't have much scent.  Some has a rather nasty scent and I am going to put it elsewhere.

The Earl Grey is quite nice.  It's a tad heavy, but the bergamot comes out quite nicely and the tea itself is a very pleasant gentle "afternoon" type.  Sadly, the Dragonwell does not shine as ice tea.  It is muddy and sullen, although it is a beautiful straw color.  Something tells me if I want it iced, I should hot brew it first.  I wound up mixing it with lemonade and then it was okay.

My sister-in-law sent me a recipe for a peach cobbler that is so easy and good, it is my new go-to for fruit I need to use up.  I used nectarines which weren't as ripe as I thought, so I put a little orange flower water on them.  I have found that it, of course, perfumes the fruit that isn't quite ripe, but also seems to bring them more fully into their flavors.  If you live in an area with a Middle Eastern population, this should be easy to access.  If not, I know you can get it on the internet.  Just remember a small amount goes a very long way.  I also think another peach wouldn't hurt.  If you try it, the batter will be far more liquid than you expect, but it works just fine, don't worry.

The url for the recipe is www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Fresh-Peach-Cobbler

One thing I really like about tea, it is a constant journey of technique and flavor, history and culture.  I like new and different things and with tea, I feel I'll never get to the end of them.  Cooking is like that as well.  Sometimes it is wonderful and sometimes, like twice this week, it goes out to feed the critters.

Look at all those lovely shadows and light, playing over the stone walls.  This picture makes me feel cool, which is most welcome right now.

As Captain Jean-Luc Pickard Would Say

Tea, Earl Grey, Hot.  Since I am living in the 21st century instead of his, I have had to use a tea pot, water and tea leaves, instead of a replicator, although the tea was sent by Think Geek.  The dry tea has a heavy bergamot aroma, that I tend to associate with Russian blends.  There are some blue flower petals and what appears to be orange peel.  Bergamot is an oil made from the rind of  bergamot oranges, once grown in Asia, now, for the tea market, pretty much grown in Southern Italy.  I brewed the tea for 3.33 minutes with boiling water.

As it brewed the aroma was much, much lighter than I expected, almost lemony.  The liqueur was a fairly light amber.  I'm not sure about the taste.  There is definitely something more than the usual bergamot to it.  It remind's me of St. Isaac's Blend, which has orange, lemon and grapefruit in it.  There is a small hint of flowers.  I don't really think this is what I would call Earl Grey, but I like it and find it quite refreshing.  I think it would make an excellent ice tea.

 Lest I get too excited about the snow being gone, Ma Nature gave us 8  inches last night.  Today we had something like freezing rain after almost a full day of sun, glorious sun.  However, on the green side, there are a few leaves of a day lily poking up.

This is a narrow side street in Sorrento, Italy.  The little tree in a pot in the center is a lemon tree.  they are all over the streets, even growing up through restaurants.

Rishi Tea for Me

One of the really good teas I got to try at World Tea East was Rishi Tea's Earl Grey.  The aroma was spectacular.  It was perfume wafting on the wind, it was sweet, citrussy, everything you want an Earl Grey to be.  The taste was the same, with just a hint of something like chamomile.  This is easily the best Earl Grey I've ever had.  And that is going some.  So I tried their Earl Grey Green.  Another winner.  The aroma was the same, though underlaid with green-ness.  The EG taste was not as strong, so that the green tea came through as well.  Every bit as good, maybe even a bit better as it was all more subtle.  Since I was on a roll, I tried some Long Jing Dragonwell.  It was so good, I was almost speechless.  I love Dragonwell and most of what I've had has been excellent, but I think this was in the "most excellent" category.

There are many awards for teas.  The Grandaddy of them are the awards from the Tea Association of North America but our own Association ofTea Bloggers has begun to recognize the ones we particularly like.

TheTea Bloggers Choice Awards for 2012 :

Unblended/Unflavored Black : Teavivre Yunnan Dian Hong Golden Tip
Blended/Flavored Black: Harney and Sons Earl Grey Supreme
Unblended/Unflavored Green: Den's Tea Gyokuro Kin
Blended/Flavored Green: Aiya Tea Matcha Infused Sencha
Unblended/Unflavored Oolong: Teavivre Jin Xuan Milk Oolong
Blended/Flavored Oolong: Naivetea Lychee Oolong
Unblended/Unflavored White: Rishi-Silver Needle Premium
Blended/Flavored White: Art of Tea Coconut Creme White Tea
Unblended/Unflavored Puerh: Rishi Ancient Puerh Classic
Blended/Flavored Puerh: Stash Black Forest Cake Puerh
Herb Blend: David's Tea Chocolate Rocket
Single Herb: David's Tea Spearmint

Some of the Tea Bloggers will be at the Coffee and Tea Festival in Atlantic City Nov 3-4 and wil be judging teas and tea accessories there.  Tickets are $20 and the first 1500 people will be getting goody bags.  For more information, go to www.CoffeeandTeaFestival.com  and www.teabloggers.com


It is a cold, sort of ugly day today, but I am warm and the woods are lovely - all peachy apricot from the sugar maples.  The ground is golden from the Pine tree needle drop and lots of small birds are at the feeders.  It is going to be abit of a race among the trees on the hills for the greenest ones to turn color before the others lose their leaves.  A nice long colorful fall, just my cup of tea.

Lady Londonderry Comes To Tea With Earl Grey

Today is a very special day for me.  It is my birthday, but it is really special because I am alive to celebrate it!  Today is my 5 year cancer survivor's day!  All of you who are survivors or know survivors, raise your cups with me in a grand salute to life!  "To Life, to Life, L'Chaim:  L'Chaim, L'Chaim, to Life," to quote Tevya in A Fiddler on the Roof.  It is wonderful to be alive, to see and smell and taste and feel all the things that make up my life.  Thank you, Father for this time.

Part of my celebration, is, of course, tea.  I am trying something new that comes highly recommended by a tea friend, Marise, from Montreal, Quebec.  It is from Davids Tea and in English it is The Garden of Earl Grey.  It has strawberries along with the bergamot and some blue and yellow flower petals - quite lovely.  It smells very nice, too, with both the strawberries and the citrus of the bergamot front and center!  For me, it is like a cross between Lady Londonderry and the Earl.  I brewed it a bit too long - about 5.5 minutes, so there's a bit of an edge to it, but I put some milk in it and voila! that tamed it.  It really is a very good tea and would be quite perfect with scones and jam, cookies, birthday cake, lots of lovely things.

An old covered bridge in my family's hometown of Darstetten, Bern, Switzerland.

It is sunny and the perfect temperature today.  I am giving my friends the rest of my basil.  I just can't bear to do anymore with it.  It has been wonderfu, though and my freezer is stuffed and ready to produce summer in winter now.

The fall squashes are appearing.  Last night I mixed a delicata with an acorn, added a little butter and oh my, what wonderful stuff; sweet, spicey, almost a touch of lemon, but I had added nothing.  I had some plain Earl Grey with supper and the two were just perfect together.  I saw some of the huge hubbards and remember how my grandmother "peeled" them by dropping them on the sidewalk until they broke enough to fit the pieces in the oven.  She did a lot of creative things

The Earl Goes Cherry Picking

I am realizing how much I enjoy early morning and late evening light.  In the morning, the woods in back are lit with gold backed by dark green and black.  Just before sundown it is the reverse, with the tracery of black trees against the gold and bright green behind them.  It is always interesting to watch the morning fog dissipate and that which seemed almost spectral become solid and spring into the day.

This has led me to think of other things I've grown to appreciate and one of these, which gives me great pleasure is our afternoon tea time.  It is so satisfying to my senses to take a quiet break in the day with my husband.  We have a small treat, share a pot of tea, and just relax.  Then there is the tea.  It is a never ending parade of aromas and tastes, much loved by one such as I who so enjoys the new and different.  I love to read about tea cultures in other countries.  Sometimes they seem quite alien to me, but we are all bound together by our love for tea.  But I regard alien as good, variety and difference is what makes the world interesting.  Can you imagine what it would be like to only have 1 tree, 1 flower, 1 animal, 1 style of person?  Booooring!

I am trying another Earl Grey today.  This one comes from the Japanese company, Lupicia.  The tea base is Keemun, which comes from China.  Bergamot is Italian, so I am getting quite the international tour today.  When I opened the packet, there was the lovely flower/citrus aroma, along with an unmistakable hint of cherry.  I thought I was imagining it, but it is still there through the brewing and on into the taste.  It's faint, but it does add a nice fillip to the bergamot, which is more on the flowery side this time.  I brewed this for only 3 minutes, per suggestions and the bergamot is pretty strong.  But it is all very tasty and I quite like it.

I noticed just yesterday that there are swathes of color through the trees on the hills behind us.  I want to call it gold, but it is closer to tan.  We've not seen many geese this summer, but now they are appearing, great flocks of them, heading south.  Usually there is enough water around here that they hang around, but this year our ponds are pretty dried up, enough so the water lilies never bloomed but only curled up their leaves and turned brown.  The barn swallows, which decorated the telephone wires have quietly left as well and I've not seen a hummingbird for a week.

Fall is a quiet time, sometimes a time for reflection, some sadness that summer is ending and soon we'll have to hunker down for winter.  I am so hoping for snow - we had so little last year, that I am ready for big snows.  My tomatoes all have late blight, but this year I don't mind, as I am sick of them.  I know, bad attitude, but there it is.  I am ready for apples and have apple sauce cooking, the wonderful aroma is filling the house.

Have Some Pie, Leave The Tea

A perfect day for tea - cool and rainy.  I am so happy to see this weather.  My only difficulty is choosing a tea.  If only all my decisions were so hard - between 2 good things!  Hmm, I have some Adagio Earl Grey Lavender.  It has what it says plus orange peels, vanilla, blue cornflowers and creme flavoring.  Hmm, too bad I made it before I read it, as I am now predisposed to not like it.  It is pretty with the blue and lavender flowers and the bits of orange peel.  It does smell very odd however, like the bergamot and orange peel are fighting each other.  The lavender seems to have gotten lost.

However, the real test is the taste, which I am eagerly (?!) awaiting.  I can't say I care for the smell of the brewed tea.   Well, here goes - first sip - orange peel and chemicals.  But I press on for your sakes, dear readers.  My tongue is feeling like a bunch of little tiny needles are poking it and all I can still taste is orange peel and fake vanilla.  I put some cream in it and that has helped, but after about 1/3 of my cup, I have to say I think it it is horrible and the Earl will definitely not be leaving his calling card here!   I am going to make myself some of that lovely unknown Assam.  Himself says he doesn't mind it and "It's interesting".  He will have my share.

I found a really good recipe that would be a lovely savory for a tea.  It makes use of some of those tomatoes that are flooding our gardens.  It came from a small Upstate New York garden magazine I can't remember the name of.  It is delicious!  I got rave reviews when I served it.

Fresh Tomato Pie  
Oven at 400 degrees.

Core and slice about 4-5 medium to large ripe tomatoes, drain on several layers of paper towels for 15-20 minutes or more.

Make a pie crust for a 9" pie, prick it and bake for about 8 minutes  (until a bit dry and pale tan).

Turn the oven down to 350 when you take it out.

Spread the crust with 2 Tablespoons of Dijon mustard.

Layer the tomatoes in the crust, sprinkling only with  pepper.

Mix  3/4 cup of mayonnaise mixed with 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, spread on top of the tomatoes.

Bake about 1/2-3/4 hour.  You probably will need to cover the top with foil for the last half.
Cool and serve at room temperature.

Note: It called for 8 ounces of grated cheddar cheese under the mayo mix, but I thought that was too much, so I left it out.  This way is more delicate and it is very pretty when you slice it.  plus, you can make it the day before, if you are using a crust that resists sogginess, or you can brush the crust with beaten egg white before you put it in the oven.  Actually, I think the mustard also serves that function.


My lavender bed really took off this summer.  I am so pleased, because it is a brand-new bed and this was a tough summer.  I got a few flowers, which are drying, but just this week the plants were big enough to give off the lovely, heady scent of lavender as we go by.  Next summer, with the lavender, alyssum, day lilies, and roses, our noses will be in heaven.  I try to plant as many scented flowers and herbs as I can, so there is something nice wafting around the garden all season.

A golden High Gothic Altar panel in the Liebfraukirche (Dear or Beloved Lady's Church) along the Rhine in Germany.  I do like Gothic in all it's soaring pointiness.

Changes, Changes

Summer is ending.  While I don't look forward to the gray of winter, I am so tired of unrelenting heat, drought and sun.  The annuals are giving up, there are huge flocks of birds wheeling in the air, the deer are beginning to get brown.  Change is in the air.  The light is different, having a more golden cast and the sun is going down noticeably sooner.  Nights are cool and we can open all the windows and gulp in the refreshing air and breezes.  It's even supposed to rain this week.  It will be lovely to have brooks again.

Tea wise, this means a return to more pots of tea, rather than pitchers.  I saved so many teas for ice tea this year that I didn't get through them all, in spite of the inspiration of so much heat and the need for a cooling quaff.

I happened to be in one of our larger grocery stores and was really impressed by how great a variety of tea they had, including a section of organics and good quality bottled tea.  They didn't have much in the way of loose tea except some Twinings  and one other brand.  I couldn't really expect that, given the town they are in.  Upstate towns are not generally on the cutting edge, although that seems to be changing.

Today I am going to work in the garden and then I shall have a pot of tea and admire my autumn clematis, which is just coming in to sweet scented white bloom.  It didn't grow too well this year - too hot and dry - the gardener's mantra for the summer, but what there is is quite lovely.

Later - As I was out having tea and sniffing the air, a mama turkey and her poult came by and Bert the brave kitty tried to stalk it.  He was ignored.  Then a small herd of about 8-10 deer came out of the back woods, headed for the front woods.  There were 3 of this year's fawns - quite grown, but still in redcoats and 5-7 adults, all dressed in brown.  The young ones did not know what to do about the turkeys, but the birds just cocked a royal snook and went on.

My tea was Earl Gray from Steven Smith.  I have been hearing a lot about him lately, so I was eager to try the tea.  The aroma was wonderful a really luscious bergamot, juicy, flowery, sweet, but not a bit cloying.   Sadly, the flavor did not live up to it.  It was somewhat flat and not nearly strong enough.  The problem maybe it was a teabag and my cup was large.  However, I have another one and I will try it in a smaller cup.

IT'S RAINING - a lovely, slow soaking rain!  Thank you, Lord.

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

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.

The Earl of Grey

I do love Earl Grey teas and I am always disappointed when they don't live up to their potential.  The Earl of Grey, which I got from The Tea Spot sadly falls into that category, for me.  It is a pretty tea , black, with an attractive sprinkle of flower petals.  The aroma is heavily citrus, almost like what is considered a "Russian" interpretation of the Earl.  So far, so good.

I brewed it up for about 4 minutes with boiling water and was rewarded with a much softer scent, veering towards the creamy.  Now I am feeling a trifle confused, but I press on, my curiosity piqued about what this will taste like.

This is actually a sweet tea, the sweetness coming from the addition of licorice root and vanilla.  Hmm.  It almost tastes like creamsicles - you know- those frozen sweets on a stick composed of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet or perhaps an Orange Julius drink.  It is quite tasty and I kind of like it, but to me, it is not Earl Grey.  Sorry, Tea Spot.  Having said that, I am sure that many will like it.

I think I am getting very tired of flavored teas.  The vast majority of them I do not like, as I can taste chemicals or they are too sweet, or taste like berries.  What I do really like is TEA.  The pure leaf.  Of course there are exceptions.  For me that includes some flowers, like jasmine or rose and some flavors in the citrus line, like Earl Grey or the one black currant I have found, blended by Tea Forte.  I think I will go back to those for a while.

We are going out for dinner on Christmas day.  We've never done that before but our local gang, those without family around, decided to get together and further decided that cooking and cleanup were low priorities.  I am really looking forward to it.

Those lovely arches are the porch of a monastary church in the German hills.

For all of you for whom this is a celebratory time, have a wonderful, happy time and don't let the inevitable stresses get to you.

By the way, a few days ago, I said we were approaching the winter equinox.  It is not, it is the winter solstice, which is today, the shortest day of the year.  Hooray, hooray, it is all uphill from here!

The Earl Visits Turkey

Doesn't that look inviting; a bit mysterious, beckoning one to an adventure.  My cousin always told her kids they were having an adventure when she was lost.

Today, high up in a poison ivy covered tree I spotted a bunch of white morning glories - lovely against the red of the ivy.  The golden rod is fading, but the purple, blue  and white asters are starring the fields.  It is raining again and will off and on for the next three days, so we are under a flood watch.  Please God, no, we are barely out from under this one.  Today we got an enormous load of free new boots and shoes at the aid station.  They are so needed, as people's footwear is  practically being eaten by the mud and muck.

We have gone to many countries on this tea journey, but only once to Turkey.  Today, however, we are going there again, and the Earl of Grey is there as well.  From the top, the English label reads Tomurcuk, Earl Grey Tea Caykur.  The tea is produced in the Eastern Black Sea region with no pesticides or chemical additives and had 0.6% natural bergamot essence added.  The rest is in Turkish.  The dry leaves are small, a couple grades up from CTC, quite dark and with a delicate scent of bergamot. 

I brewed the tea with boiling water for 3.5 minutes, using a tespoon per cup.  The tea has a strong earthy aroma balanced with a delicate scent of bergamot.  It primarily tastes like the tea I had at my favorite Turkish restaurant, although the bergamot adds a very nice lightness of citrus, which in my opinion, it needs.  I've never been too sure I liked the restaurant tea, but this one, I really like.  You can get it from http://www.amazon.com/ if you want to try it.  It's not too expensive.  I bought some other Turkish teas as well, so you'll be hearing about them.  The plain ones, I may try with some of the Austin Sugar Works sugars, for the little addition of flavor.

The Earl is Receiving

Believe it or not, but these are the pillars of a parking garage in Sorrento,
Italy.


Yesterday's Coconut Black Tea was really good iced. Sweetener nicely brings out the flavor, so here's another one for your summer tea line up.

Today the air feels as heavy as lead and as invasive as Bishop's weed. All the plants and trees are motionless. It may rain. It would certainly be a relief to this heaviness.

I ordered some Aged Earl Grey from Numi Teas, as well as a sampler. These folks are truly generous. I not only got my teas, but 3 samples of an organic granola bar from Nature's Path, a fruit bar from Pure Organics and chocolate animal crackers from Barbara's Organics. I have to say they were all excellent and would make a nice nosh with your tea. The tea is a hearty organic Assam that was aged for several weeks with "real organic Bergamot". No flavorings here. The leaves are small and broken, a combination of brown and black with some nice golden buds. It smells delightful in the package and while it is brewing for 3.5 minutes. The infusion is heavy and solid, quite dark and aromatic of both tea and bergamot. It has a great smooth, definitive Earl Grey taste, which really pleases me, as so many Earls I have had in the past year or so smell wonderful and taste like nothing. My one complaint is that 3.5 minutes is too long. Next time I need to do three as the Assam was getting a bit tannic. And that is my fault, not theirs.


I just finished putting away my spice haul, which made me itch to make something different. I think I will marinate some chicken in yogurt and Greek spices and then see what I'll do. Nice Greek salad with feta cheese. Hurry sundown!

Samovar Sample

Bacharach, Germany on a spring day.

Another gray and grizzly day. I so want to get out and garden, but I am afraid of drowning or at the very least, being mired in mud up to my ankles. Enough rain already. The perennials are very slowly moving towards growth, but, of course, the dandelions are forging ahead. When I was "at home" one whole hillside was covered with them and we all thought it was beautiful, the bright green overlain with the bright yellow.


The farmer's pond is finally free of ice and I noticed several ducks and the ubiquitous Canada geese all sailing along on it. The cats have started catching mice and snakes and the blue birds have returned. Our trees in the woods behind, are still pretty gray, although there is one sugar maple that is turning pink with buds.


Speaking of gray, I have yet another Earl Grey to sample. This one is from Samovar Teas. Upon opening the packet, I was nearly overwhelmed by the strong scent of bergamot. Phew! The dry leaves are smallish, mostly black with some brown. I brewed it up for 3.5 minutes with boiling water, using a 6 cup pot for the sample. The aroma was much gentled by this time. The brew is quite dark and very citrussy and quite pleasant, although I found it to be on the sharp side. I added some cream to it and that rounded out its edges, making it a very nice cup, indeed.

A note of caution - if you order samples from Samovar, do not use one sampler for 1 cup, it is enough for 5-6. I wrote them about this and they said they are working to change their labels.

Have any of you heard of Tea Talk Magazine? It is an English publication, probably not available here. However, it is on line at http://www.teatalkmagazine.co.uk/. There is a lot of information about tea rooms, tea, tea customs, all sorts of things. Check it out, it's interesting.

Not A Forte of the Earl

I love this style of steeple.

I happened to be in Walmart and saw they have a selection of largish teacup and teapot planters. I have not yet sorted out all my garden ware from when we moved, so I was not tempted. I also didn't like them, which is the real reason I wasn't tempted. I am more into a mix of classic and my own version of tacky, as anyone can see who visits my house.

We just got rid of a love seat and got a new chair, so we have been spending the morning hauling furniture around. We're not done yet, but I am desperate for a cup of tea.

I decided to try more of the Tea Forte I was given, since I have had such good luck with it. I am having Earl Grey, which I love and I am always ready to try a new one. It is still that box of teabags and the bag is quite full. there isn't a lot of scent dry, but that is not surprising. However, there's not much scent wet, either. And, not too much taste, to boot. In fact, it seems like a cross between black currant and Lipton's, with the barest hint of citrus. It won't make me run right out and buy some loose.

Another note about Japanese Teas - any tea that is currently in a store or your pantry is perfectly safe, as it was here long before the radiation problem. Quite probably that will go for this year's crop as well. If you are worried, go to the New York Times website and look for their map of radiation. Most Japanese tea is grown west and south west and a bit north of Tokyo, on the big island. The reactor is on the large northern island. The same is true of Japanese restaurants. Almost all of their ingredients are purchased here, especially the ingredients in sushi or they have been here from before the reactor problem, so it is perfectly safe to eat in them.

However, we need to mention that Teavana had a voluntary recall of its peppermint tea, as there was a slight possibility that it was contaminated with salmonella. They are to be commended for doing this and if you have any you bought recently, please take it back or throw it out. It should be emphasized that no one has fallen ill from the tea.

Earl Grey Times Two

Keepers of the keys?

It was sooooooo beautiful this morning - sun shining on the 4 more inches of snow we got in the night. It was still stuck on each branch and the sides of the trees, so it was delightful.


I've had such a good week at our local "Sal's Boutique" aka Salvation Army aka Local Mission Store. I got a really pretty tea pot with a ring of roses around it's fat middle, a gorgeous Italian plate and a covered vegetable dish that almost matches my grand mother's rose strewn china. I always have to go for the "almost matches" as I have never seen it anywhere, but that's ok. Roses are roses.

Today I mixed two teas I like - both Upton's - Lavender Earl Grey and Earl Grey Blue Flower. Wow, I really like this combo! The bergamot seems perfectly balanced, strong, but not over-whelming, aromatic, but not perfumey. Just right. Plus, the two tea bases merged to give a deep solid cup that is very, very satisfying. I might just make up a can of this stuff, I am so happy about it.

Tea party - the real tea party - people unite. We must take back our name and stand up for civility in life. There is so much anger and hate-filled rhetoric floating through the air, it's wonder we aren't all dead. We really can't go on this way. We need to recapture politeness and ways of speaking which make a point without nastiness. It really doesn't matter where you are politically, religiously or any other way, being civil in all we do and say has to help, even if it is only a small way. There are lots of ways to express anger without going over the top. I should know, I am quck to anger and have had to learn how to say so without blasting the universe.
So, raise a cup with me!

Picking Berries With the Earl

It started out so beautifully today, with so much sun. Now it is November grey. It is better than yesterday when it rained so hard, we could hardly see and then we had sleet and finally, snow. Fortunately, I managed to be inside for all the very worst of it - good errand planning. Ha Ha.

The rivers and creeks, of which we have an overabundant share, are just roaring. But it is nice and warm inside and I have a tea that matches the picture, having pink raspberries and blue flower petals in it. It is Culinary Tea's Earl Grey Raspberry Tea. Amazing - I can remember when there was Earl Grey and then a foray into Earl Grey Decaf and now, you can hardly name all the varieties of them.

This one smells just like its name, Earl Grey with raspberries. It is a black tea and the pieces varied from about 1/2 inch to a good bit of dust. I don't know if that was from the journey here or if it was not the best quality tea. I brewed it my usual 3.5 minutes at boiling and the scent of raspberries and bergamot did a kind of a dosey-do, first one was forward and then the other. Very nice. The brew was a fairly light amber, which I was a bit surprised by, as I had made it on the strong side. Sadly, the tea itself did not live up to its aroma. It kind of tasted the way good mulch smells. Neither of us cared for it. Neither the Earl nor the raspberries could really be tasted.

Ya know, I've not had very good luck at all with flavored Earl Grey. Some I can tell are good, just not to my taste. Some are not so good, period. Maybe I should take a hint!

The Elusive Earl

More ancient frescoes. I believe this and the one from last week are both
from St. Peter's Church in Bacharach, Germany.

Our weather is keeping us alert. Today started out warm and sunny, then got very cold, poured down rain and then threw in some humongous hail to make sure we were on our toes. Now it is sunny and warm again. The cats informed us that this was certainly not acceptable. The geraniums in front are looking very sad from the beating they received.

Those kind folks at Boston Tea Company sent me more free samples to try! The first one up is Earl Grey Citrus. Earl Grey is one of my all time favorites. and I was eager to try this. It is a mix of Assam tea from India, bergamot, blue flower petals and orange peel bits, making it on the pretty side. The leaves are dark and small, which means they are probably chopped, as Assam plants have very large leaves.

The scent in the packet was wonderful, very strong, sharp bergamot with an almost equally hefty citrus aroma. Wow, I thought, what am I getting myself in for, here? I brewed it up with a heaping teaspoon per cup, for 31/2 minutes with boiling water. As it brewed, all the bergamot and citrus went away! Oh no! However, the Assam smelt wonderful, clean and clear and fresh.
When I finally sipped some, there was no bergamot taste, but a very nice citrus one, very muted. The tea base was excellent, however. Phoo, I was hoping for more.

I have begun to wonder if the bergamot that tea makers have available to them is of lesser quality than it used to be. If you've been reading this for a while, you know I've been trying a lot of them and my most constant complaint is the lack of flavor. Great smell, but not much in the cup. If it were only one or two, well, everyone has an off day, but instead it is only a few who have the flavor.

This weekend a group of friends is getting together to celebrate birthdays and share life stories. The birthday folk get 10 minutes and 10 pictures to convey their life. Yikes, I've lived too long, how can I squeeze it all in?

This is the heading over the oldest organ in Stephansdom, the Cathedral in
Vienna. The Cathedral is so large that it holds 7 thousand people for the
Christmas Eve mass!

I am getting to the end of my stash of Boston Tea Company Tea. Only a few more to go. One of them is a nice little package of Bentley's Oriental Treasure Green Tea and 6 clover honey "spoons". They look like spoons, but are more like honey lollipops. The tea was bagged and there were only six. I brewed them up at 180 degrees for 2.5 minutes. There wasn't a whole lot of smell and sadly, there wasn't a lot of taste. Using the honey spoon brought out a floral taste, but I'm not sure how much of that was the honey and not the tea.


A different sort of tea bag tea from Boston was their Earl Grey, which contained a blend of Chinese and Indian tea, along with the Bergamot that makes the Earl, the Earl. Right out of the packet, it smelled really nice - a delightful floral bergamot. I brewed it for about 3 minutes and was very pleased. I think it was an excellent balance of decent tea and flavoring.





I read a small book I bought a while ago and would like to recommend it. It is Tea Time Journeys by Gail Greco, part of the Little B&B Cookbook Series. It is a small book but it is filled with fairly easy to make treats from a number of Bed and Breakfast houses. From Rose Petal Scones to Sundried Tomato Pate the food looked like lovely stuff to try for your next tea party. A longer while ago a number of people I worked with went to B&B sites for recipes and I have to say that the food was really good, creative and quick. If people will only be with you for one meal, you definitely want to wow them. I found that number of these recipes in the book had a good wow factor. Happy cooking. By the way, if you are looking for the books or cook books, a good source is http://www.alibris.com/. Lots of them are pretty cheap, too.

No Earl in Assam

We associate the High Renaissance with flying buttresses -
the external supports that enabled people to build tall walls .
These buttresses are much more ancient and serve the same
purpose. If you compare a picture of Notre Dame in Paris to
this, you will see the similarities.

I thought I would be flying with today's choice of tea, an Earl Grey from the Assam Tea Company: Classic Bergamot, made from tippy black tea and organic oil of bergamot. It smelled so wonderful when I opened the packet. It was a very rich citrussy, perfumed bergamot with a great understory of very fresh tea. The leaves were quite dark, with an abundance of tips, on the small side. I brewed for 3 minutes, using boiling water and while it was brewing the bergamot scent faded quite a bit, as often happens.

The liquor was a lovely deep reddish amber and still smelled very fresh. The first several sips, I couldn't discern the bergamot, but gradually I could, in the back of my mouth, very faintly, sad to say. The tea is a good Assam, malty and rich, but I could not say this is really an Earl Grey. I added some cream and this did bring out the bergamot, but not enough to suit my taste. I still prefer several of Upton's.

Yay, New Tea Shops

Ballenberg - this magnificent altar is in the tiniest church imaginable. I don't think you could fit 20 people in it. It is splendid. The church makes you want to put it in your pocket and take it home.


I've hardly had time to do anything fun or drink any new tea the past few days. We've speeded up packing and taking stuff to our new house, plus all the rigamarole to accept an offer, get the house inspected, all the work things related to moving.


We were in our new town today and decided to check out the coffee and tea shop and it is pretty darn good. They offer Harney's sachets and blends from a local tea store across the street. The blends change weekly and this week's did not appeal, so I had Harney's Earl Grey. It was a pleasant surprise. Very smooth, very well blended, with an obviously good base tea. I really enjoyed it. They also had homemade raspberry scones – my favorites and that was also delicious. Coffee man found a dark brew he liked, so we were all pleased. Next time I am going to check out the tea shop and see what they have to offer. I would've today but when we finished our drinks, it was raining and the umbrellas were, of course, elsewhere.


I just got a new Harney's catalog, so I may have to break my rule and get some of their Earl Grey. But I really want some of Upton's, too and maybe I had better just wait until we move, like I swore I would. The other awful temptation is that yard sales have started up already and there may be teapots there, calling my name, not to mention other tea paraphernalia.