Autumnal Teas

Ah yes, summer is fading and fall is coming in.  The night insects are different, louder and more insistent.  Crickets  are making a lot of noise and soon, I expect one or two to come in.  The huge yellow striped garden spiders, the Black and Yellow Argiope, are weaving their nets over everything.  They are harmless unless seriously threatened and quite beautiful.  Ragweed and golden rod are more heavily blooming than I remember seeing.  Not good for those allergic to ragweed, like my poor husband.  Some poor unfortunates are also allergic to golden rod, which is very rare, so they are suffering a double whammy.

I guess it is time to think of fall teas.  I am not a fan of flavored teas, but I know many of you are.  Harney's has African Autumn, a blend of Rooibos, Cranberry and Orange.  They also have Cranberry Autumn and Boston Teas.  If you prefer spicier offerings, they have Cinnamon Spice and Indian Spice.  The only one I have had is Cranberry Autumn and I thought it was very good.

Simpson and Vail has a really nice one, Nutcracker, with chocolate, mint, cinnamon, cranberries and orange.  Good enough to eat?  Here's one that sounds like it - Pumpkin Pie Black Tea.  I really prefer my pie on the side, with some cheddar or ice cream.  If cranberries are your thing, you're in luck here, as they have 4 or 5 teas with cranberries in them.  To go with, there are a lot of scones, cookies and spreads with an autumn theme.

Celestial Seasonings has come out with Sweet Harvest Pumpkin, in addition to it's Christmas teas.  Gingerbread Spice is one that would be tasty now if  you prefer  no caffeine.  You can buy these on line if you are afraid of not catching them in the grocery stores,  I know their shelf life is really short as the holidays get closer.  Just go to their site - www.celestialseasonings.com and order.

Personally, what I am waiting for are the autumnal Darjeelings to arrive, as they are my favorites.  They are somewhat heartier than the earlier ones and I like them.   The autumnal Oolongs from Taiwan are teas I've not tried and I am intending to do that this year.

What are some of the autumnal teas you like?

Some more early masonry, these from a monastery garden and probably several hundred years older than the High Gothic of the last blog.  Simple is also beautiful.

A Pearl of a Tea

We had company this weekend and took them to our newest favorite Thai restaurant.  They had a selection of about 12 teas, all from Harney's.  I had their Jasmine Pearl.  It came as a teabag with the ubiquitous pot of not too hot water, which is fine for greens.  It had a lovely aroma and tasted very good as well.  There was a good balance of the jasmine flavor and aroma, with that of a pleasant green tea.  I wondered how this would hold its own with the spicy Thai food, but it held its own very pleasantly and complimented the food quite nicely.  Altogether a very nice surprise.

We also took in one of summer's joys - the wonderful farmers' market in Ithaca, NY.  This is reminiscent of European markets, with all sorts of produce, wonderful baked goods, potters, clothiers, wine makers, crafts men and women, plant sellers and cider and cheese makers.  Set at the Southern tip of Cayuga Lake, it is quite a fun outing.

It has finally cooled off a bit and we are MOST thankful.  I was beginning to feel like a wrung out dish rag.

A wonderful old doorway in the summer palace of the Hapsburgs in Vienna, Austria.

Conventions With Tea

We have been hosting a three day crow convention.  There seemed to be discussions on territory and food supply and classes for the youngsters in feather care, recognizing good carrion,  and the avoidance of cars.  I believe there was also a lengthy seminar on nest building and one on making and using tools. 

Between their momentous discussions, the early morning drumming of the woodpeckers, the dawn chorus of the other birds, and the vocalizations of approximately 370 trillion peepers, it gets pretty noisy out here in the quiet countryside.  But I don't mind, our own small ecosystem seems to be working well enough, and for that I am glad.  If the peepers are peeping, it means the bog is still pretty healthy.

Nevertheless, it is all enough to drive me to drink - tea, that is - Harney & Sons Pussimbing Autumnal Darjeeling.  Darjeeling has a three season pluck - first flush, second flush and autumn.  First flush you almost need to treat like a green, I've found.  Of the 3, most of the time I prefer the heartier autumnals.  This one has a nice mix of brown and gold dry leaves, with a floral and wine-like scent.  I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water, which is generally my starting point for new teas.  It brews up to a medium amber and has a hearty roasted aroma.  It has a hearty flavor as well, kind of nutty and woodsy, but it's not really anything special.  Just okay tea.  Did you know there is a Darjeeling tea estate named Okayti?  I am sure it does not mean the same in whichever of the several hundred Indian languages spoken there, especially since the Hindi word for tea is chai.

The Amalfi Coast.  If I were rich I would live there in the winter and early spring, living the rest of the time in Switzerland.  Since I am not, I will just live here.

Alex Zorach was right, now that the ginger I planted has the hang of growing, it is pushing out leaves like crazy.  Of course, we have had those rare Northeastern items, sun and warmth, which helps.

Oooh, Oolong

Another view from Grandpa's porch

I just got my latest issue of "Tea Time" magazine, with its reminder of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas to come.  Not to mention Kwanzaa and many other holidays in the next 2 months.  The one thing that struck me was their mention of Harney and Sons carrying Kosher teas.  I don't know what one must do to make tea Kosher, do you?  If so, please tell me.

Harney & Sons just happens to be the purveyor of today's tea, Da Hong Pao, an Oolong from Wuyi, China.  It is part of the Steepster Select group for October.  (I haven't reported on September's batch, as I got behind due to the flood and my eye.)  The heavily twisted dark brown to black leaves smell like one of the "heavier" wine barrels, maybe a dark sherry, but there is that somewhat characteristic orchid aroma around the edges.  Following directions, I brewed it for 4 minutes with boiling water.  Unusual, I know.  The resulting liquor is quite a light brown and guess what - smells like orchids, with a charred aged whiskey/wine barrel kick to it.  The Harney site says it has been oxidized about 40%.  It tastes just fine; soft, smooth, with the orchid and roasty/toasty flavors mingling just right.  Tastes like "more". This particular selection comes from the "3 famous trees" of Chinese legend.  Which I don't know, but will try to find out.

This month has also been Breast Cancer Awareness month and Harney's has tea for it. Jane's Garden Tea, is a blend of roses and green tea.  Some of the cost for each order of this tea goes to a fund they established as a memorial to Jane Lloyd, who worked for them before her untimely death from cancer.  The Boston Tea Company also has a Tea Leaves For Life sampler , part of which proceeds go for cancer research.

It's always nice to be able to get more than your money's worth, isn't it?

Cranberry Saturday

That vague moutain peak in the distance is Vesuvius. The water
is Naples Bay.

News from the bird world. Most of the woodpecker young have gotten eating and flying down pretty well. Stopping, short hops, and good aim are still on the to-do list. They use their wings in amazing ways to kind of grasp the pole the suet feeder is on so they don't fall off or slide down it.


Yesterday morning my neighbor saw a mama black bear and three! cubs cross the road and go into the woods on the other side. I wish I had seen them and I am glad to know I am not crazy when I think we have been "beared". It is unusual for a bear to have more than two cubs.


Today I am having some of the tea I got on vacation. This one is a special blend called Dunbar Tea, from the shop of the same name in Sandwich, MA. It was blended by Harney's and consists of black tea, cranberry and essence of almond. This is not the same as their Cranberry Autumn, which has orange and other things in it. The mostly black leaves have a soft sheen and smell very fruity. I could not distinguish the almond, but it may be there, rounding off the edges of the sharp cranberry. I brewed it for the usual 3.5 minutes with boiling water, about a teaspoon per cup. As soon as the water hit the tea, the aroma of almond came out and persisted, giving a very pleasant floral note to the fruit.

This is a rather sweet tea all on its own, so you sweetener adders best check it out before doing so. When it is quite hot, the almond is to the fore. As it cools, the cranberry comes more into play. The almond really does take the sharp edge that carnberries have and softens it remarkably well. Adding milk is not tasty. For myself, I think this would make an excellent ice tea, but it is not one I would like very often hot. That is just me, as I am not a fan of fruit and sweet in my tea. Having said that, I think this is a well-made, well-balanced tea.

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.

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.

What the bag lady drank

I want my own mountain! Probably not gonna happen, though.

I am still a [tea]bag lady today. I tried two quite different offerings from my stash, Harney's Winter White Earl Gray and Mighty Leaf's Chocolate Mint Truffle.

The Chocolate Mint Truffle is really an herbal tisane, made of rooibos, chocolate nibs, and mint. It comes in a cellophane individually wrapped cotton teabag and is brewed with boiling water for 5 minutes. It smells and tastes just like its name. Very, very tasty. I liked it plain, but it has enough strength you could add some cream and sugar if you wanted to. It would make a great after dinner drink or something nice for your kids after school.


Harney's offering is another story, as this is a real tea, made from the camellia sinensis plant. It is bergamot blended with Chinese Mutan tea. I did not find it to be so much a bergamot scent and flavor as a gentle lemon. I tried, but I could not really get the taste of the white tea. Bergamot can be tricky. I bought some of this quite a while ago and I wasn't really impressed then either. However, for those of you who really like very mild teas, this may be for you.

I belong to a number of different tea groups. In one of them I came across an offer from Suffuse Teas, USA. They are a South African manufacturer of Rooisbos teas. They offered me some to try and they just arrived yesterday, so you will soon be hearing about them. In fact, you'll be hearing about a lot of different teas, as I have received a number of samples from several companies. Lots of fun to look forward to!

Chinese Flowers with an Irish Twist

So efficient to have your garage one with your house. We're still in Durlach, Germany, from which my many greats grandfather emigrated in 1755. It is fascinating to me to see houses and churches and business buildings that he once saw.

Goodness, my husband may actually be backing into a finer discernment of tea. I was the designated beverage person this am and I decided to do a straightforward, no holds barred Irish Breakfast from Bewley's. This, as you may remember from my review of it on September 16, 2009, is what I just said, a get-you-going-in-the-morning tea. Frank wondered what it was, and said it “tasted peculiar.” I told him and he said “oh, it's just tea tea.” Which is our definition of something okay, but definitely not special. I don't think I'll tell him he's becoming a connoisseur.

Harney and Sons Tea. I haven't had any of theirs in quite a while. However, I ran across one of their “tagalong” tins, which is a small round tin to hold 5 or 6 sachets. It had their Chinese Flower Sachets in it which I bought a while ago, so I decided to try it. I am glad I did. This is another very pretty tea and Harney's sachets are nice and big to give the tea room to expand. The tea is a Chinese green, with blue, yellow and pink flowers and some citrus added. Citrus is the one fruit I like in my tea. The tea has a very nice floral scent and as it brewed, it gave off a hint of that citrussy smell. It brewed up to a pale amber. I couldn't really identify any one flavor, but it all worked together very, very well to produce a delicate floral cup sparked with lemon.

Brigitte's Blend in a Giant Cup and Saucer

Now this would be the way to see a beautiful city, quietly, gently.

I have another new toy! Sent to me by Adagio Teas. It is their “Giant Cup and Saucer.” A very accurate name, as it is indeed huge. I think it is made from that now famous borosilicate glass. It holds about 12-14 ounces of tea, comes with a stainless steel infuser and a lid the fits over the infuser perfectly, going on to very neatly flip over and hold the infuser when you are done brewing. I love it! The infuser, filled with the tiniest holes, to hold the tiniest leaves, fills and empties perfectly and quickly, with no mess. I was skeptical about the cup, however, as it is quite wide across the top and I thought my tea would very quickly get cold. Not so! It kept it hotter, longer, than my usual mugs do. I have to buy one for my husband as well.
I didn't use an Adagio tea to try this out – bad me. Instead, I was trying a sample I bought from Harney's, Brigitte's blend. This is named for Mike Harney's wife, Brigitte and echoes the breakfast teas of her birth country, France. The tea is made up of mostly tiny leaves, predominately a soft brown with some silvery touches.. It smells very fresh with a good whiff of chocolate. It is a rich blend of Ceylon and Assam. I think it is a very well done blend as nothing really sticks out, it has a very slight chocolate taste, is very mellow and bright, and is almost sweet, but not quite. They did a good job with this one and it would be a really enjoyable drink for either breakfast or afternoon, preferably in the shadow of Notre Dame de Paris or on the “Boule Miche.”

"On the 1oth day of snowing, my true love gave to me, a very hot pot of tea" If you think you're sick of this, think of me!

Elaine's Blend

One of the many samples I bought from Harney’s this fall was Elaine’s Blend. This tea was created by and sold in honor of Elaine Cogan, “one of the early founders of the modern tea revolution.” One of the things I like about smallish or family companies are these little tidbits they include about their teas. It is a black tea blend, but I don’t know which ones.


The dry leaf had no discernible scent and the leaves were, of course, a mix of greenish, black with touches of gold. The wet leaves gave off a pleasant tea scent with a whiff of leather. They were very mixed, with some appearing chopped and some small whole ones. The tea tasted of very pleasant cooked vegetable with a hint of old, sun-warmed wood. It was a pleasant tea, but not exceptional. I may get more, however, as there are lots of times when all you want is a pleasant cup that doesn't require anything from you.

My husband and I have been trying to brew tea a different way, We got this brand new 4 cup drip coffee maker and decided to do tea in it. We tried some huge ice tea bags – even he thought it was awful. We tried some smaller ones. He thought it was passable, I was polite. We tried some of that enormous, overbought stash of CTC tea from the Indian market. Almost okay, for morning tea, for someone else doing it reluctantly, on a not very good day anyway, on a remote hill in Turkestan, on.... Well, you get the picture. I am all for scouring it out and using it for coffee. He wants to try some more. Dear Friends, do not try this at home. Even so, we are still married.

Bits of news: I read a number of tea blogs every day and I just saw the cutest tea pots ever, from a very serious tea merchant – the Imperial Tea Court. Scoot over there and check out their blog and the pots. Http://cameliasinensisblog.blogspot.com My favorites are the lucky mice, although I wouldn't turn down the other two. I also was reading the UK Tea Council blog and they said that 98% of people use milk in their tea, but only 30% use sugar. I wonder if that is true in the US as well.

Russian Country

Sometimes I take little trips around the web to see what I can see about
tea. I was on the PG Tips site and found a very funny video ad. Their
site is http://www.pgtips.co.uk/ . On the left, click on Playtime to get to the video. I hope you will find it amusing, if not hilarious, as I did.

I also happened upon a site for women called Bella Online. The tea portion is http://tea.bellaonline.com/ There are a number of discussion topics for tea, as well as a host of other information ranging from sewing to auto repair. I believe it is a fairly new site

On to the drinking of tea - Today's adventure is Harney and Sons Russian Country. As I opened the packet, there was a very strong smoky smell, that wonderful characteristic Lapsang Souchong blast. The leaves were quite small and, of course, black. I brewed it for a standard 3.5 minutes in boiling water. The scent of the brew had morphed into something like that of the tang of horse harness. The liquor was a fairly dark amber and at first tasted like licorice, of all things. As it cooled, more of the smokiness came out and even more so with the addition of a bit of milk. However, I didn't feel this really was a particularly good tea. There was a lack of clarity in taste and smell and otherwise, it was on the blah side.

Some news, Hao Ya "B"

Thursday:

Yesterday's tea - Six Summits from Teavana, has me confused. I was wandering around Steepster http://www.steepster.com/ and found a few people talking about this as if it had raspberries in it, which mine did not. Nor did I get a berry flavor from the tea. However, when I went to the website for Teavana, there it was, full of raspberries. When I got mine, there were none, nor did they say it was flavored. I have contacted them about this and am waiting for a reply.

By the way, if you are looking to try a new tea, go check out Steepster and see what others are saying about them.

Bits of News:

Twinings is introducing Green Mint Tea to India. In the past few years they have introduced several teas there, including a health and wellness line and Assam! What was the saying about "Coals to Newcastle"?
Chariteas is opening a new shop in Sandy, OR. Read about this interesting place on their blog http://chariteas.blogspot.com/. The owner wants to use her shop to build community.

The weather in India has finally improved, and so has tea production - The autumnal pluck is up by about 9% over last year. We'll see how the flavor is after a year of odd weather.

Today's tea for tasting is Harney's Hao Ya "B". It is a China black from the spring, said to be stronger than English Breakfast, not as intense as the "A". The dry leaves are very small, very black with bits of brown to liven things. It smells smokey, winy, tobacco-y, with a hint of tanned leather. I brewed this at 3, 4, and 5 min at about 212. The tea smells incredibly fresh, and is a lovely dark amber when brewed. The leaves are tiny because they were chopped. The liquor itself tastes earthy, tannic, mushroomy at 3 minutes, with a hint of dark chocolate. As brew time goes up, so does the tannin and the mushrooms start to ferment - I don't like the later brews - my husband, of course, loves it. I like it better with milk in it and as it cools. I am undecided about it, on the whole. I think I will try it again with less leaf and see how it goes.

Palms and Bread

I'm not sure if these are palm trees, but they will have to do. Why palms?
Because my tea for today is the Palm Court Blend from Harney Teas.
The Palm Court is one of the places to have tea in NYC. It is at the Plaza Hotel and is, indeed, very ritzy. This tea was blended for them. Think of Cary Grant, Hugh Grant as a tea date.
When I opened the package the tea had a very pleasant winey tobaccoey scent. The leaves were, of course, mixed, from small to large. I brewed it for 3.5 minutes at 212. Sadly, the taste of the tea , while quite good, was not any sort of a stand out. Pleasant, but bland. The second cup was a bit more definitive, but still on the bland side. Somehow I can see it at a very snazzy place, where the emphasis is not on what you are drinking but on seeing and being seen, so a "background tea" would be just the thing.
I was reading the T Ching blog today www.tching.com and there was a nice article about pairing bread and tea. I am lucky enough to have friends from many parts of the world and it is always amazing to me how something as simple as water, flour and yeast can be so different in so many places. Just the simple addition of corn to the mix makes for an even headier variety. We had some friends from Guatemala staying with us and Maria tried to teach me to make corn tortillas. When we finished and had a stack for lunch, it was obvious whose was whose. Hers were all perfectly round and all the same size. Mine were the intermittent frills in the stack. But I could see that one could learn to do this and homemade tortillas are absolutely wonderful. I won't go into the many sorts of Indian bread there are, but they are all delicious, and good Italian bread.... And I am not even hungry!
The photo is of a very tiny round church in Forio, Ischia, Italy. If there were 50 people in it, it would feel very crowded.

Labor day picnic time

Today is Labor Day. It is also the day of our community picnic,
with firehose fights, a parade - my neighbor's grandmother, 97, is one of the marshalls. There is a chicken barbeque put on by all the churches, antique cars and tractors and fun stuff for the kids, the best of which is a chance to win a gold fish, a very highly sought prize and almost any kid wins one - guaranteed. It's a great day, with really good fireworks to top it all off. Tomorrow we will all rest from our labors and Wed. will be back to school.
Today I am having Harney's "Tippy Yunnan" to start the day. It has that typical Yunnan smell - woodsy, leathery, spicy, warm and a lovely golden brown liquor. There are lots of tips, so many it is almost more golden than brown. The tea itself is all you could ask for in a tippy Yunnan, with the taste echoing the smell. There's a slight touch of astringency to kind of grab you a little. At $7 for a 4 oz tin, it is a real bargain. You can get a sample for just $2.

Back when the Victorians would ask if you preferred China or India tea I wonder what they were offering - does anyone know? Was it Darjeeling or Keemun? Assam or Yunnan? A black and a green?

The picture in the corner is of an altar dating from 800 AD found in the cellar of the church in Meieringen, Switzerland, a few years ago. The church people were slowly excavating it and a sister altar from 1100. It is amazing in that you can walk right up to it and touch it, it's not behind plexiglass, there's no charge to wander around. It is beautiful in its strength and simplicity.

There will be no more tea tasting this afternoon. After a trip to the picnic we both reek of barbeque smoke, and so does the house, as this is a small town and our windows were open. Oh well, it was fun, the little kids were all having a great time, I got to watch some dog agility trials and pet some beautiful animals, eat barbeque and visit with my neighbors, a pleasant official end to summer.