Keeping Cool

More Swiss flowers - at Spiez Castle on Lake Thun.


Are y'all hot enough today? We're expecting temperatures in the upper 90's and maybe hitting 100. I am very thankful for air conditioning. For once, even the cats think it is a "cool" idea. What are you doing to keep cool? One trick I learned, when I was in NYC in my first job, was to take cold baths. As cold as you could stand them. Now I might amend that to cool baths. Drink lots of liquids.


It is very easy to get dehydrated in such hot weather and one way you can tell if that is beginning to happen is to pinch up the skin on the back of your hand. If it goes back quickly, you're fine. If it goes slowly, drink a large glass of water (or ice tea).


Speaking of tea I was trying some Mark T. Wendell's Russian Caravan. It smelled good in the tin, slightly smokey, slightly sweet. It was very dark and seemed to be a very mixed bag of leaves and dust. Because of the dust, I only brewed it for 3 minutes, using 1 teaspoon per cup.


It was not a success, it was far too strong and not very tasty. Adding cream didn't improve it. However, I rebrewed the leaves and turned the whole thing into ice tea. It is still too strong and I like strong tea! I can see I have to play with this one - I'll let you know the results. I have to say I am disappointed, as I have had others of their teas and they have been quite good, especially the Hu Kwa, their marvelous Lapsang Souchong.


Did you know that Teavana is offering its stock for sale? At about $15 a share, some of you may want to invest in this tea company that is apparently doing quite well.

Kitchen TLC at http://www.kitchentlc.com/ has a wonderful selection of tea infused products - jams and jellies, scones, chocolate. How can a tea person go wrong? From what I can see on their site, their prices are reasonable. They even have a black bear creamy jasmine. Do you suppose if I set some out for the bears, they would leave my suet alone? Maybe I should get some.


Another company that has wonderful jams and jellies is Marmalady's Tea at http://www.marmaladys.com/. She has a nice selection of books, aprons, apron patterns and tea cosy patterns as well.

Experiments

A brand new house in Switzerland. You can tell because the wood is so light.

By the end of yesterday, I really needed a cup of tea, so I brewed up some of Simpson and Vail's Bolivian Black, Large Leaf. I had forgotten how very nice it is, strong, floral, astringent. I was so glad I had it. And it makes a refreshing ice tea as well, which I had for lunch today. I reviewed this more fully on Nov 29, 2009.

Today I decided to try 2 teas using the cold brew method. The first is Teas Etc. Orange U Slim, a dark Chinese Oolong with pieces of orange and orange essence. The dark I assume refers to the Oolong being one that has oxidized quite a bit. Oolongs vary in oxidation from about 10% to 80%. This one definitely appears to be on the upper end of the scale. The two times I have tried it it has not been a winner, so this is absolutely it or into the mulch pile for sure.

The second is one of my favorites, Hu Kwa, a Lapsang Souchong from Mark T. Wendell. That means it is a smoked tea, getting much of its flavor from the smoke of smoldering pine branches. People either generally hate it or love it. I am in the latter category. To date, it is the best one I have had. I have not heard of anyone trying this as an ice tea, but I thought, why not? If you had this as ice tea, please tell me about it in the comments.

Well, the great experiment was a total bomb. Orange U Slim was its usual tasteless self and the Hu Kwa was just plain awful. Mulch pile for the first and back to hot tea status for the second.

I am in no way connected with the PUR water filter people, but I have to say I like their newest on- faucet-filter. It goes on easily, although you may need to use 2 washers to make the connection solid, it swivels back under the faucet so it is out of the way and it makes a big difference in the taste of your water. I found that for my amount of use – two pots of tea a day, pot of coffee for Himself, a filter lasts about 4 months. They are available at most big box hardware stores, as are the filters. Go for the slightly more expensive ones – the cheapies are just that – cheap.

Tea and Critters

Sorry about the run-on paragraphs, the blogger thingy is misbe-
having again.

Check out the Swiss flag!

Finally, I have had some time to retry the Silver Leaf Tea Company's Castleton Estate First Flush. This time I used water that was about 175 and brewed it for about 3.5 minutes. Aha, this time there is a nice fruity taste, with some muscatel [grape to us] along with it. However, the taste really is very faint. I am going to try again with more tea and see, but I am about ready to give up on it and perhaps just use it to cut some overly strong Lapsang Souchong I have.

Speaking of which I am remembering that Lapsang was one of the first "real" teas I ever had and immediately fell in love with it. When we were first married, it was our common winter tea. That's amazing to me, as it is such a strong tea that it really falls into the love it or hate it category, few people seem to be wishy washy about it. Hu Kwa is my favorite, but I appreciate some of Upton's as well. I find that as long as it is sealed well, it keeps for quite a while, too. I have some I have had for 2 1/2 years that is still lovely.

Well, I must say we have wildlife. Our doe with the week-old fawn just crossed the road in front of our house, there are owls hooting in the woods and I think I have heard a ruffed grouse drumming. Best of all, I have seen Baltimore Orioles in two different areas near us, yet far enough apart that I don't think it's the same one. It has been years since I have seen them and I am really excited to hope they may be making a comeback in this area. Our old neighbors in Greene have a nesting pair in their yard this year! Taking time to have tea on the back porch enables me to really appreciate these wonderful creatures around us.