A New Experience

The altar from the old church.

Today I had a new tea experience. Sadly, not a pleasant one. My tea tasted like chlorine! Since I had just had a cup of perfectly fine tea, I can only say it is the tea. It is Highland Blend from the Edinburgh Tea and Coffee Company. The dry leaves are clearly CTC or fannings bits and smell very ordinary, with a rough edge. The directions say to brew for 4 minutes and add milk. So I did. The resulting brew was dark as midnight and smelt harsh and strong, which is just what the taste was, although softened by the addition of some half 'n half. It took me back to the summer spent in Great Britiain and all the tea I drank there. However, as the tea cooled it tasted more and more like chlorine. Not a pleasant aftertaste. I guess the mulch pile wins this one.

Have you seen the new Finum Control Pots? Mark T. Wendell at http://www.marktwendell.com/ has them, complete with visual directions. I would like to try one, but I don't think I need another tea pot. And if I do, I have my eye on one from a potter at the farmers market.

One of my cousins is a geology professor at a university and her newest course is "As the World Turns: society and sustainability in a time of great change" She and I occasionally talk about this in regards to tea, where it is becoming and issue. I feel it should have been for far longer, as we need to keep in mind that the world is a small place and we need to learn to really care for it and each other quickly, before it is too late. Tea workers produce something we enjoy, we should see to it they are cared for and support them in their struggles.

In line with that, did you know that Teatulia Teas http://www.teatulia.com/ is a single garden organic tea selling directly to markets? It comes from Northern Bangladesh, north of Assam and close to the Himalayas. They offer about 9 different teas, from herbals through blacks. I am going to try some, so watch for reviews.

I See the Heather Bloomin"

Now that's a lovely sight - flowers in mid-winter, wonderful on an ugly day. Actually it is the
picture closest to heather that I happen to have .

I'm doing that because my tea today, which comes from the Edinburgh Tea and Coffee Company is Heather Tea, a blend of African and Assam tea with a lot of dried heather blossoms. Heather is a beautiful sight in full bloom and I have often had a plant or two, just to keep in touch with that side of my family heritage. My husband often teases me about being a "mutt", but every army in Africa, the Middle East and Europe marched through southern Italy. I mean, how many blond, blue-eyed southern Italians do you know who also have a red beard? A touch Norse perhaps? Descended from Eric the Red?

Back to the tea. It is very pretty in the can, with all those flowers and smells just very faintly flowery. Mostly it is just very fresh tea. I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water and I must say, it is a hearty color. There is still that faint flowery scent, with just a touch of citrus. The taste is very "British" or should I say "Scottish"? A nice full, Assam/ African taste, somewhat milder than most, again with the citrus/flower teasers. It takes milk well, but I don't do sugar, so I don't know how that will affect it.

I made a very nice Asian style soup last night that I will probably use as a first course for Christmas. It is about half and half chicken and beef broth, about 1 quart total, with a lot of chopped ginger and a good slug of garlic. One thinly sliced onion that was cut in half, a handful of thin sliced shitake mushrooms, two julienned carrots, 3 inches of julienned daikon radish, some practically embryonic bok choy and left over shredded pork. Cook until the veggies are done. Add soy sauce or mirin to taste. Or both. For Christmas, I won't put any meat in it. If the veggies were a bit smaller, I might use it for a tea party. It takes only as long as you need to cut up the veggies and have them cook, maybe 30 minutes, if you're a medium speed cutter. If you can't find baby bok choy at an Asian market, use spinach or julienned pea pods.

I'm sorry I can't give more specific directions, but unless something is new or a particularly good recipe, that is mostly how I cook. It's a bit risky, but then I feel very smart when something really works.