Bring Back The White Gloves!

Years ago, no lady went to tea without white gloves and a hat.  There were articles written about how to deal with taking tea and wearing gloves.  If you had finger foods, you took at least one off, but it was generally acceptable to leave them on if all you had was tea.  But there were many gradations of glove etiquette.  I' m glad I wasn't around then, I probably would've made many a grievous error and become a social pariah.

I bring this up because I had company for tea today and when I looked at my oh-so-grubby hands and nails, I wished for gloves.  I am a gardener and whenever the weather has cooperated in the last few weeks, I have been grubbing around in the dirt.  This week has been especially dirty, as I was getting ready for the Master Gardener Plant Sale,  and then helping get all the plants tidied and labeled and helping out at the sale.  We made mega bucks this year, which is very nice, as it funds all our programs for kids, new gardeners and poor folk.  But I sure could have used gloves this afternoon.

We had ice tea, as it is quite warm.  I made 2 kinds, One was Williamson's English Breakfast, which was your typical ice tea.  It was brisk, strong and very nice.  Fortunately my guest drank that one.  The other was Red Blossom Tea Company's Jing Xuan, a Formosa Ali Shan Oolong.  Now I love Ali Shan Oolong, but this was not nice.  I must have used too much tea, for one thing and for 2 things, the leaves never did unfurl in the tea sock in the fridge.  The floral component was just about overwhelming, instead of being lovely and delicate.  Next time I think I will do the tea by the hot water method and see how it works.

Yesterday we had a big dog fox strolling through the yard.  He was the size of a gray fox, and was mostly gray, but his head and chest were red.  He and his family live under my neighbor's shed, but this is the first time I had seen him.

The courtyard of the Hapsburg summer palace.  If one were invited here to tea, one would definitely not only wear gloves, but get a manicure, a pedicure, a new hat, new shoes.....You get the idea.

Tea, Tomatoes and Critters

I am having one of Siam Tee's Oolongs today. It is Chaa Nang Ngam - DMS Beauty Oolong.  The leaves are tightly wrapped in little balls.  The packet has a dusty floral smell, with a hint of sharp library paste.  I love the packets these come in - vacuum shrunk metallic, with a lovely picture on the front.  This one is basically pink with a pretty woman on the front.

First, I rinsed it for a few seconds and then brewed it about a minute - not too impressive, yet.  A nice floral aroma, and a somewhat slight floral taste.  The leaves are barley unfurled.

Second wash, the aroma has shifted to a tart, almost unpleasant one, reminiscent of black currants.  About 3/4ths of the leaves are unfurled.  There is a somewhat sharp flavor as well. I let this second infusion go too long.  I'll try again tomorrow when I will have more time.  I am sorry I tried this today, as I am not patient.  I really didn't give it a good test.

There are more signs of Spring - my heart rejoices with each and every one.  The tiny white flowers of rock cress are blooming and in the woods, the small oven bird is calling in a very loud voice, "teacher, teacher, teacher".  The woods below us are really flaunting the red of new buds and hooray, a lot of bulbs are poking up their heads, especially the little scilla, which are real favorites of mine.  Sadly, the less attractive features are here as well, including a front yard barely above the water line and those pesky deer, who are getting redder by the day,  eating my day lily leaves.  I put this really noxious spray on them and perhaps it will help.

The birds are multiplying like crazy, today there were all our woodpeckers, the goldfinches, a cardinal, the grackles, blue birds, a white breasted nuthatch, a tufted titmouse and a huge! crow.The squirrels are out running around.  I feed them peanuts, but there is one golden eared one who absolutely has to raid the bird feeder.  He is not high on my popularity list.

Last night I went to a really interesting demo on grafting tomatoes.  It's really quite easy and the success rate is high.  The grafted ones are more disease resistant, produce more fruit over a longer period of time.  I have two itty bitty ones and we'll see how they do.  I was surprised to be told that any day it is over 50 I should put them out.  We'll see about that as well.  Oh, I am just so HAPPY that spring is coming on.

One Brief Shining Moment

That is indeed what we had early this morning.  We had our first snow - all 1 inch of it!  As the sun was coming up, the trees around the bog were caught in the rising mist, all splendid, shining silver. Then the clouds, consumed with jealousy, hid it all and forced their gray selves upon us.  But we live for those momemts.

And... we comfort ourselves with tea, which can be another shining moment.  Today seems like an Oolong day and I am having Jung Xuan from Alishan, Taiwan via the Red Blossom Tea Company.  This is one of those little-balls-with-a-tail Oolongs that are such fun to watch unfurl.  In the packet, it smells like fresh hay or cut lawn, with a lovely hint of jasmine/orchid/gardenia coming out if you inhale deeply.

I brewed it for 3 minutes with water about 200 degrees.  The resulting liquid is a soft yellow-green, with that great floral aroma.  It has a light, fresh taste, with a lovely floral accompaniment.  On the whole it is very like almost every Ali Shan, I've tried.  I would rate it about in the middle of that pack.  Very pleasant, but not outstanding.

The day has had other lovley bits in it.  I saw three hawks - a harrier, a red-shouldered and a red tail in various places on my travels.  The best, only seen now that the leaves are gone was several!! oriole nests.  I am thrilled, as I wondered if we would ever see any more.  They used to nest in elms, usually over a stream, but the elms are gone.  Now, many of them nest over roads, which perhaps, seem like streams to them.  I had 3 of these gorgeous birds at the feeders this summer.

Speaking of which, Cornell U. has a program called Project Feeder Watch where you can keep track of birds in your yard and report them to a data collection site.  You can also find out which birds are where and the most common ones.  Just google Project Feeder Watch and read all about it.  A good thing to do with your tea.

Marlena and the Tea of Siam

My friend Tommy the Toadman sent me some lovely tea in an exchange.  It is from the Siam Tee Shop, www.siam-tee.de.  The name is quite long, DMS Oolong Nr. 12 Jin Xuan Blue Pearls.  It comes from North Thailand.  The original plants were from the Ali Shan region of Taiwan and found a home similar enough in Thailand to settle in and produce some good teas.  Thailand has not been a big contender in the tea market, but if this tea is typical, they are small but mighty!

The small hand-rolled balls of tea are indeed vaguely blueish in color and give off a faint grassy, herbal aroma.  I brewed it for 2 minutes, after rinsing it.  At first, I just thought it smelled grassy and maybe a bit floral and then there seemed to be some depth to it.  It is mostly orchid tasting, with a few sharp points to keep the interest going.  It seems to be an alluring tea, one that keeps drawing you back when you think you're done.

The unfurled leaves were smaller than I expected, even on the second brew, when they were completely unrolled.  The orchid scent is much stronger this time.  It also carries a sweet note that wasn't there before, perhaps a touch of sugar cookie.  The taste is quite different, however.  There are now metallic hints around the orchid note, but only sometimes.  Other sips are pure floral.  Definitely a tea that keeps you going back for more!

Thanks, Tommy

Ya know, I can see why blue jays have such a bad rep.  There are a few here I would like to throw to Siberia - always with the loudmouth!  It's the young ones, probably trying to make their mark on the world.  They can't seem to distinguish between the dangerous cats - Bert and Ernie and the ones who couldn't possibly stir themselves to attack.  But I might!   If Sarah and Andy do wake up, they just look at them and go back to sleep.

An Imperial robe of the Hapsburgs.  Being an emperor might have its perks, but can you imagine having to wear something coated with gold and jewels - hot and heavy and you couldn't twitch or scratch.

Tea, Beautiful Tea

Oh lucky me, another nice tea to chat about.  This is Adagio's Huang Jin (yellow flowers) Bolero.  This definitely calls to mind a very mixed bag of images, from the mountains of China to the heat of Spain, from the quiet of the tea fields to the opera.

The dry leaves are almost crinkled into balls and give off a gentle hayfield aroma, mixed with some floral.  The suggested brewing is for boiling water for 5 minutes.  I pretty much trust Adagio, so I do it.  It works!, even though this is a bit unusual for Oolong and not what you should do if you are going for multiple steeps.  The aroma has moved more into the often characteristic orchid smell, along with a bit of fruit. The tea is sweet and mild, with a floral/fruit taste.  There is also an unmistakable greenness to it, along with a hit of mineral.  Altogether very fine.

I finally got smart and decided to buy the squirrels peanuts.  Otherwise I would spend my life chasing them away from the bird feeders.  I put them and things for the ground feeders down near the squirrels' trees and it seems to work.  Even the turkey is happy.

We have pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks!  They are such beautiful birds.  As usual, the female is quite drab, but lovely in her own way, having a multitude of browns and speckles.  There are many sparrows and I am having a hard time distinguishing them all, as they don't sit still in good enough poses.  The fur persons seem to have given up bird chasing for mice and voles.  I am happy with that.  The little downies are beginning to look a bit raggedy.  Parenthood is a lot of work!  Sometimes they just sit on the suet, apparently having a breather.  I wonder if the male is a bit of a cross, as he seems to have a lot of touches of yellow on his head, wings, tail and body.  Hmm.  If you are interested in birds, the Cornell site www.allaboutbirds.org  is a great one

An old coaching inn that was moved to Ballenberg museum.  The stables were in the building to the left. Ballenberg is trying to save as many historic Swiss buildings as they can.  The museum is divided into the regions of the country.  We only got to see the Bernese Alpine region, where my grandparents came from.  The house my grandfather grew up in was built in 1572, but remains in the village it was in, now converted into apartments.

No Lime in My Coconut

Oh yum, coconut muffins with Golden Moon's Coconut Pouchong Tea.  A regular gilding of the lily, as it were.  This is a flavored tea, with crinkly brown/black leaves smelling distinctly wonderful of very toasted coconut.  The suggestions are for 2 teaspoons of tea per cup, 180 degree water for 4 minutes.  It smells super as it is brewing and I so hope the flavor lives up to the pre-brew razz ma tazz.

Well, this one can razzle dazzle all it wants, it's a success.  Very tasty.  The surprisingly pale green liquor is loaded with a gentle, sweet coconut that partners very well with  the light floral of the Oolong.  There doesn't seem to be any chemical taste, which I abhor, so I would give this high ratings for a flavored tea.  It has more body than I would have expected.  It strikes me as very rich, so I think something along the lines of a fruit salad  - mostly citrus, I think - would be a better pairing than my muffins- definitely too much of a good thing.  A sprinkle of coconut wouldn't hurt, however.

A very interesting altar in the tiniest of churches.  The pews you see are all there are.  This is in the Ballenberg Museum in Switzerland - a huge outdoor museum filled with old buildings,  heritage animals, restaurants serving  traditional foods, outdoor games, working breweries and bake shops and people to explain it all.  Very much a working museum, like Williamsburg.  We spent a day there and perhaps covered about 1/5th of it.  I loved it!

Today has been good - sunny, warm enough, cool enough, so I planted a bunch of herbs and perennials.  I got a little smarter this year and bought small plants so  we wouldn't get hernias hauling all that gravel to make adequate holes - 3" of top soil over limitless gravel.

Oh dear, the starlings have discovered my largesse.  They are one bird I really don't appreciate and keep telling the fur persons to eat them, but so far, I have had no luck.  Our lone turkey is back.  He is very skittish and often runs away, with a funny high pitched kak-kak-kak.  The whipporwills are beginning to call a lot in the evening and sometimes between them, the owls and the frogs, it can be quite noisy.  But it's a nice noise, soothing as I sit on the porch for a last cup of tea, usually an herbal.

An Oolong Mystery

Another store in town has gotten on the tea wagon!  They had teas from Stash and Davidson's.  I got some of the latter to try for today, Mountain Copper Oolong.  They come in a nifty folded pasteboard holder which serves as a handle for the teabag within and each folder has the tea brewing instructions on it.  The folder is also a handy bag rea.  I am leaving it bagged, but the dry tea is clearly leaves, not dust.  It is also organic and the tea bag ia made from a perferated paper.  I brewed it for three minutes with water under the boil, following directions.

The liquor is an attractive old copper color and smells like a fairly typical non-floral Oolong, with spicey overtones.  I probably shouldn't say that, since there are so many varieties of Oolong.  However, I have found that many teas, such as Yunnan, Keemun, Oolong, and Assam have scents distinctive to their class, within a fair range.  If you've been drinking tea for a while, don't you find this to be true?

The flavor of this tea is different and I can't quite put my finger on it.  It is not floral and it isn't like one of thos that taste to me as though it were left in the oven too long.  It's not really light, nor is it heavy and its effect on my tongue is fleeting.  It definitely fits in the Oolong class, but I can't nail down the flavor at all.


We have sun and blue sky today and that makes me happy.  It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood and half the population was out for a walk, with their dogs and cats.  The deer were grazing in a far pasture and the geese were flying overhead.  A very good day.

Another holiday memory to share.  My mother did not like chocolate covered cherries and one Christmas I gave them to her, thinking that if I liked them, of course, she would.  She thanked me profusely, but didn't eat them.  Eventually my father clued me in.  However, since we both loved them we always gave her a box every Christmas and she very nicely always gave them to us.

We had another gift tradition.  There was a box that had once held elastic stockings.  Ugly box, very ugly.  Somehow, it got to be the family joke and every year someone would get a gag present in it.  It traveled the country, being passed from one part of the family to another, getting uglier and  shabbier every year.  We couldn't wait until the round of Christmas phone calls began to see who got stuck with it.

Spring In My Cup

One of my favorite places - a monastery in Sorrento, Italy.  The pillars are all reclaimed from other monasteries that closed, some are quite ancient.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in every way.  Some good friends called and wanted to play hooky - of course we would join them.  Downtown Owego was having a "Grand Reopening" of all the stores that are able to and there were sales and music and jugglers, cats and dogs all prettified and the streets crowded with shoppers, not repair trucks.  The shop keepers looked worn, but happy to be functional again and people, including me, were buying presents and other stuff.  It is wonderful to have our town coming back.  There were also a raft of benefits for various churches, the theater, etc. who still need renovation.  The sun shone on a happy day. I noticed in our very local paper, that the Briar Patch, home of some very nice teas, has also re-opened, sadly not here, but she is open and for that, I am thankful

Speaking of tea, Tea Sommelier Cynthia Gold has received a top award from the organization of Women Chefs and Resterauteurs for "Women Who Inspire"  Cynthia has written a cookbook using tea, developed a tea program at one of Boston's big hotels and teaches about tea extensively at culinary schools and conferences.  She was thrilled to receive this award, which usually goes to women in the wine industry.  She feels this is a recognition that tea has come of age in the food and drink world, receiving the recognition we know it deserves.  I am impressed and excited and I hope you are, too.

Alex Zorach has made major changes to his website over at http://ratetea.net/.  You might want to go over there and check it out.  This is a really good site and if you haven't checked it out, go and read up on your favorite teas.

Oops - I described yesterday's tea as green, but it really is an Oolong.  I shouldn't make assumptions.

On tap for today is Serendipitea's Forever Spring Oolong.  These tightly wrapped little green pellets give off an orchid aroma, crossed with a whiff of white kindergarten paste, so I know right away this will be a comforting tea. lol  It is from the Song Bo region of  Nantou, Taiwan, where it is harvested on a nearly year-round basis.  I brewed it with water about 190 degrees for about 2 minutes.  As it brews a more lilac aroma comes out.  This is one of those teas you should use a glass container to brew in - it really is fun to watch these little pebbles stretch and unfold into long stems and leaves.  You find yourself unable tobelieve such big leaves could ever be rolled into such tiny-ness.

The liqueur is a very pretty pale yellow green and after 2 minutes the leaves are not yet fully unfurled.  Oh gosh, I'll have to do a second brew!  The first is a lovely delicate sip, but no clear flavors discovered yet.  I think I will let it cool a bit.  Hmm, that is worth it.  It is subtle tea, honey like with a bit of an astringency, like you might get from eating fresh pineapple.  I think there is definitely some lilac flavor there as well.  The orchid seems to have disappeared.  It is one of those teas that keeps beckoning you onward, to have more and more, as each sip seems to be a bit different from the last.

The second cup has brewed for 2.5 minutes and is a pure, clear, light green, with a faint orchid scent, combined with a plain steamy one, which I can't describe.  There might also bee the barest hint of rose on the far edges.  It is a subtler, more orchid rendition of the first cup, and like it, it calls you onward to have more and more.  So I am going to leave you all and go indulge myself.  If you would like to, go to http://www.serendipitea.com/ and get some, it's worth it.

Celebrations

I couldn't find my poppy pictures, so I am just showing this Italian church's roof brace.

I've been reading about various Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations on various tea blogs and thought I would add something about our family's cemetery visits.  We lived in NYS so there was no Spanish or Mexican influences, but as children we cheerfully visited cemeteries for Memorial Day or funerals.   We always visited every single relative or old friend and my great-grandmother or grandmother would tell us kids how they were related, who they were named for, stories of their lives and times so we would remember them.  Many years later, I notice that we, in our turn, are telling our children and grands about Gramma and Grandpa Geores, Aunt Ettie, Gram Turnbull, Uncle Art and all the rest of the clan.  I think this is part of the reason I have never been afraid of death - there are all those loved ones and characters there, waiting for me, with stories to tell.

Now that the downed trees are gone and the tree men with them, the deer are back, all set to once again eat up the birdseed.  They look so sweet and innocent with their big ears and dainty feet, but there is evil in their hearts when it comes to black oil sunflower seed.

I've been back to the eye doctor and have only 1 more week of looking at my toes half the day!  Hooray and hooray!  He is very pleased with its healing and I am pleased to be able to see around the bubble that is holding up my retina.  I had best have a celebratory cup of tea, don't you think?  Being in a remembering mood, I am going to use the poppy china, which I got to remind me of the poppies along the railroads in Italy, as well as their enormous fields of bright red, wild poppies.

I am having the puriTea's Oriental Beauty or Bai Hao Oolong.  My  introduction to this tea, several years ago was so spectacularly good that it has been a favorite ever since.  The dry tea is quite pretty, with leaves touched with silver and gold along the edges and a scattering of gold buds.  It has a slightly sweet, somewhat woodsy scent.  As it brews for 3 minutes with water about 190, it gives off a lemony aroma, almost a tea rose, with the woodsiness.  The brew is a fairly dark yellow brown.  I've not been doing multiple infusions with any teas lately - when you only have a half-hour of upright time, it is too time consuming.  But I will get back to it.

Oh yes, this is a nice tea.  It tastes like lemon-kissed roses with perhaps some rose stem thrown in to ground it,  something in the woodsy end at any rate.  I can imagine this with some Indian dishes, especially their rice pudding or some of the milder curries.  I think it would go well with most tea sandwiches or desserts and probably with Mediterranean dishes as well.  Hmm, I would imagine it would compliment white chocolate, too.  We can't leave out chocolate, can we.

Oriental Beauty is a case for environmentally sound tea culture.  It is a lowly bug which gives it its characteristic taste.  The bugs (a form of leaf hopper) bites the leaves, the leaves produce an enzyme to thwart the bugs and we all benefit from the tea.  Pretty cool, huh?

Up in the Mountains

Here we are, in yesterday's church, looking at the organ.

I am home today and doing some neglected chores, as well as bringing in the plants for the winter.  It is quite cool and while we've not had frost yet, things like basil and tomatoes are done for the year.  One of the hibiscus is blooming its peachy little heart out, as are some begonias, so we get some color.

I am actually  trying a new tea today. World Market offered me some tea a beautiful in-cup infuser to try, so I am  It is a Mountain Wulong, from Hubei, China.  The cup is ceramic, holds about 12 ounces and is a very pretty red with dragon like birds and stylized flowers on it, giving a Chinese feel.  The ceramic infuser inset is rimmed with the same pattern, as is the cover. 

Back to the tea, which is organic and Fair Trade.  I used about 2.5 teaspoons in 185 degree water for 3 minutes.  The long, twisted dry leaves are quite an attractive mix of black, gray and silver.  They smell very distinctly grassy with a big dose of cooked winter squash and spinach.  I am thinking - is this really a floral Oolong?  Not to worry, once it is brewed, it is definitely floral, with a hint of tobacco.  The leaves are quite large and fully unfurled.

The tea is floral, with a bit of a woody taste and at the end,some sort of sweet fruit, maybe peach or apricot.  It is not particularly delicate and sometimes there seems to be a hint of lime in the aroma.  A very pleasant experience.  Thanks, World Market.

I am home tomorrow as well, so I hope to try another tea or two then.

Testing the Waters

More bits of the 800AD church.

Aaah, a cool day. It is not even supposed to hit 80. My kind of summer day. I know I am in the minority, but there you have it. Morning was further enhanced by seeing a doe with her fawn, who is pretty well-grown by now, but still spotted. I have temporarily foiled them by tying plastic bags to my new plantings, which blow in the breeze and scare them. Putting up fencing is one of our next projects.

If you like reading tea blogs and wonder what ones are on line, go on over to http://www.teapages.blogspot.com/ . Katrina has a long list of them, just above her blog writing. She also has a book coming out this fall.

I have heard of mixing wine and tea and have had some myself, but tea and beer is a new one. The Stone Brewing Company from California has worked with some Japanese companies to produce Green Tea IPA (India Pale Ale). All proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross to support aid efforts of victims of the earthquake/tsunami. I am not much of a beer drinker, so I won't be reviewing this, but it is a nationally distributed company, so if one of you would like to do a guest blog about it, let me know and we'll arrange it.

Calling all West Coast tea people! There will be a tea festival in Los Angeles August 13-14, sponsored by the Japanese American Museum. For more information, go to http://www.teafestivalla.com/ .

Speaking of festivals, there just was one in Bratislava, Slovakia. Michal writes about it in http://poetryintea.blogspot.com/ . Lots of nice pictures, too.

I have 3 successful ice teas sitting in my fridge at the moment - Tie GuanYin from Dream About Tea, Hajua Sessa Assam from American Tea Room and that lovely Yunnan from Upton Tea I reviewed earlier this week, which is the least tasty - the cold seems to have eliminated the spice and sweetness.

My tea today is an experiment. If you remember, I had a very unhappy tea experience on vacation, trying to use bottled water for my tea. Today I got 2 kinds of water from the grocery store, Fiji, which was recommended in a tea magazine and Poland Spring, which is readily available everywhere in the Northeast. I am using Culinary Teas Lady Londonderry for the experimental tea, as I like it a lot and know what it tastes like. I brought both waters to a boil and brewed the tea for 3 minutes.

Wow, what a difference in color. The Poland Spring (PS) was a nice bright amber. The Fiji, a very dark brown, almost black. The taste was also heavy and dark and had a bit of tannin, it actually didn't taste much like Lady L, but was pretty flat - more like a not so hot teabag. The PS tea was lighter and more nuanced, much more true to the taste and aroma of this particular tea. I am going to try some others, just to make sure, but if PS works across the board, it will definitely be my tea traveling water. It is also much cheaper, which is an added plus. This was a blind test, so I wouldn't know which was which.

Crafts and Crafty Things and Oh Yes,Tea

Ah, the Ravenna Church. Can't remember which one at the moment, but
I loved it. Strong and beautiful and over 1,000 years old.

It is a gorgeous day - cooler, sunny, low humidity, perfect! Yesterday, when I got in my car, the car's thermometer said 106 degrees. Good grief, that is tooooooo much!

I saw a really cute idea for those of you who like to do crafts. It is a wreath made from teabag covers - those interesting individual wrappers. Pictures and instructions can be found at http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/2010/03/kojotutorial-tea-tea-tea-kitchen-wreath.html . It looks to be quite simple and it would make a nice gift for a tea friend.

Ticolino Tea has a clever idea for a tea infuser. It is called a tea stick, comes pre-filled with tea and you just stick it in your cup of water, stir around for 2-3 minutes and Voila! a cup of tea. They look like metalisized carboard with holes in them. Go to http://www.ticolino.net/ and click on "shop on line" to see the full line.


I usually never buy bottled teas, but every now and then, in the interest of blog topics, I do. The one I tried is Black Tea Drink, from the Tung-I company. I should've read the label - sugar is the second ingredient. It includes barley and perhaps that is what gave it such an odd taste. It was also so sweet, my teeth threatened to fall out in protest. After about 3 sips, down the drain it went. I have no idea what sort of tea it was, the sugar totally obliterated it.

I shall have some hot tea this afternoon and report on that.

Life In Teacup specializes in Chinese and Taiwanese tea. Today I am trying one of the latter, Dong Ding (sometimes called Tong Ting) Oolong Traditional Medium Roast. I used boiling water to first rinse and relax these tight little balls, with a piece of stem. You can go to Gingko site to see a picture. Their dry scent was green, floral and straw. I infused them 3 times, but for a lot longer than recommended - 1, 1.5 and 2 minutes. Gingko says if you do shorter times, you get many more infusion. The first tasted kind of straw like.


The second began to smell a bit like osmanthus, with a hint of summer squash. This came out in the taste as well, mixed with dry grass and some greenness. The third infusion was very pale and had little scent or taste, it was much more vegetal than the others. I expected this to have more of a roasted character and I am just as glad it didn't - heavy roasts are not my thing. I think next time I have this I am going to try doing it for only a few seconds at a time, with more tea. I have so much to learn about both Oolong and green teas. Well, really, all of them. I need one of those T shirts - (So many teas, so little time).

It's Almond Blossom Time

Amalfi from the Cathedral steps.


Oh me aching back and grubby fingernails. I have been putting in perennials this week and my body is a bit unhappy - all those muscles I didn't know I wasn't using. I also don't wear gloves unless it is to handle something prickery or nasty. They just bug me. I like to feel the soil.

This is the last garden I am starting - we've moved so much I've rarely gotten to see them come into any sort of matruity. It's very hard to constantly leave behind carefully selected plants or plants your friends have given you.




Hmm, all of a sudden we really have some green up here. Both understory and trees are leafing out. Hooray!




Today's tea I got in a swap with my new tea friend, Rene, from California. It is from the Bamboo Tea House and is their organic Almond Blossom Oolong. It smells wonderful and has slivers of almond in it. I brewed it up with water at about 205 for 2 minutes. Now it smells nutty and roasty, as this is a more heavily oxidized Oolong. It tastes nutty and dark, with just the barest, barest hint of almond blossom. It is tasty, but I think the scent and flavor would work much better with a lighter roast.
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Not much action at the bird feeders today. Ernie is under a bush, pretending to be a groundcover, but they aren't fooled. Some have given him a good scolding, too. YesterdayI saw the first hummingbird. They are so amazing, with their ability to fly backwards and make right angles in flight. They don't even weigh an ounce and come up here all the way from South America!

First 2011 Oolongs Are Here

The first of the new teas has arrived! Hou De Asian Art and Fine Teas has gotten the first 2001 Early Spring Oolongs from Nantou, Taiwan and if you go to their website www.houdeasianart.com you will find it on their home page. This is indeed early. They are an excellent source of very good teas and work very hard to please their customers. They also carry an extensive line of Pu-erh teas and some beautiful artworks.

A Bit of Wine, a Bit of Oolong

Speaking of vineyards, here are some German ones, much like the ones I once picked in to earn money for college - steep! Was it only Sunday we had a blizzard? Here it is Sunday again and we have had torrential rain and flooding. Of course, our front yard - where I want to plant!!!! still looks like Siberia, but I am encouraged by nesting sparrows, in spite of the fact that the ground in back is so soggy that the bird feeder fell over. My friend Lee is going to make me a bird feeder holder that is embedded in concrete encased in a tire and adjustable so I can get the seed above the deer's reach. And when the bears raid it in the early spring, it will just tip over instead of getting all bent. Bertie Baby, our orange Fluffernutter cat with the magnificent tail, is out in the ditch - which is running- bottoms up, tail waving in the breeze, mouth open, just in case there really is a frog there and I have been lying to him about when they'll appear. Oh well, keeps him out of trouble. Last weekend we all went for a short hop on the Cayuga Wine Trail, and tasted some truly lovely wines at the King Ferry Winery, two of which were some super Chardonnays. Today I thought I would compare The Briar Patch's Chardonnay Oolong and see if it smells and tastes anything like the wines I bought. I first rinsed the leaves with almost boiling water and then infused them for about 3 minutes. What do you know, it smells like Chardonnay and tastes like it, too. A lovely, fruity, grapey experience, but underneath is a very pleasant floral/fruity Oolong. A very nice blend. The Briar Patch is one of our local tea spots in Owego, NY, and can be reached online at http://www.owegobriarpatch.com/ Her prices are quite reasonable and you can buy in small quantities.

Going Wild with Oolong

Blogger thingy won't do paragraphs again

"I knew a crooked man, who lived in a crooked little house on a crooked little street" in Bacharach, Germany. The house, still in use, was built in 1368.

Our friends left early yesterday in hopes of beating the bad wether. I was going to write and tell you how early Spring was well and truly here, with rain and a lot of open ground and water in the low places. Suddenly it started to snow! It snowed. it snowed all day and it snowed all night. This morning it was not snowing, but we could not open our front door. I think there is about 18" of new snow. However, the alder twigs are turning tan and the willow twigs are turning yellow, so Spring is definitely marching forward. The pileated wood pecker (of Woody Woodpecker fame) is drumming in the woods and the mourning doves are courting, so what is a little snow?

The reports from both the Darjeeling tea fields and the Chinese is that the weather is just right for this year's crop, so barring unforseen bad wether, they are excited that this year's tea will be plentiful and good - something to truly look forward to.

There is an excellent article/interview with Nigel Mellican about sustainability over at http://.chadao.blogspot.com/ . Nigel is one one of the "tea greats" with wide, wide experience in all phases of tea, fromplant to pot. it is well worth reading.

For something shorter and "funner", go over to www.techtea.tv/tea-facts-infographic for a poster-type graphic of lots and lots of tea facts. It's a really neat idea and again, worth checking out.

For you contest mavens, Bigelow tea is having a contest until March 15th. Top prize is a $200 gift certificate for their products and there are several $75 certificates as well. just go to http://www.bigelowtea.com/ and follow directions. May we all win!

At last, the Royal Couple of the Year (Will and Kate) are now available for your persoal afternoon tea! See them at http://www.stephcupoftea.blogspot.com/ Invite them to your next tea party.

Now, let's see, which tea goes with a blizzard? Ah, yes, Wild Oolong from Life in Teacup, for the wild weather. I first washed the leaves for a few seconds with water off the boil and then brewed my first cup for about 1 minute. The leaves are a fairly bright green and the brew smells of orchids with a hint of mint. This is a new one for me with Oolongs. The liquor is a pale green-gold. The taste is a very soft floral with a great accent of Spring!!!! green.

The second infusion was about 1.5 minutes and the scent had shifted around to more predominately green with floral overtones. The taste was still floral and green. The third infusion once again had more a floral aspect with a more blended accent of the green tones. On the whole, the tea just said "refreshing, refreshing!" It made my mouth feel as though it needed more and made me feel awake and alert. All this from what is really a pretty delicate cup.

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!

Tea and Gardens in the Snow

It is astonishingly beautiful here this morning. We had about 5" inches of snow last night and almost all of it has stuck to the branches of every plant. It is so thick I can't really see very far into any of our woods and spinneys. The sky is that really brilliant dark blue we rarely get in the winter, the sun is out and it is gorgeous! Definitely a day for an appreciative walk.

First, let's have tea. I have read much about (Big) Red Robe Oolong tea and finally decided I had better try some, as it sounded so tasty. I got some in my sampler I bought from the puriTea. The leaves are a reddish black, a mix of spirals and chunks. My first impression is it smelled like the good brown bits from homemade mac and cheese, with a bit of smoke. It brewed up to a medium amber with a kind of raisiny, floral, charred wood scent, which followed right along into the taste, which was sweet, floral and the tiniest bit smokey.

The second infusion was a bit lighter, more floral, not a bit smokey, but had more of a raisin character to it. Not sweet in the usual sense of the word, but carrying that impression. It is quite complex and as it cools it becomes somewhat peachy tasting. I found it to be every bit as interesting cold as it was hot.

This tea is also known as Da Hung Pao, "the Emperor of Tea" and comes from the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian Provnce, China. The trees are over 400 years old. One of the charming myths about these trees is that a Ming Dynasty emperor's mother was ill and a tea made from them cured her. To honor and protect the trees, the emperor sent his imperial red robes to put over them.

For those of you who are Kusmi Tea fans, they have opened a NYC store. It is located at 1037 Third Ave., near 61st Street. I now have a huge list of NYC tea shops and vendors I want to visit next time I can go there.

I am going to hop over to India to review a tea I don't want to forget. It is from Teas Etc and simply named Nilgiri. If you remember, Nilgiri is named for its origin in the "Blue Mountains " of very southern India. The leaves are small and a mix of black and brown. They give off a very pleasant prune smell, which sits well with me, as I love prunes. As it brewed the scent shifted to a baked fruit and fresh outdoor aroma. The tea was definitely no disappointment. It was light and toasty and fruity and sweet. Yum.

This made me think ahead to gardens. When we first began to garden in earnest we were faced with brick-building red clay. What to do? We had read about no-weed, deep mulched gardens put forth by Ruth Stout [sister of mystery writer, Rex, author of the Nero Wolf series] and tried it, never looking back. By the third year we had deep, wonderful soil. The trick is to mulch the soil about 1 foot thick with hay and just add to it every year. We did our potatoes by laying them on the ground and covering them with hay. We'd shove the hay aside to make rows. Yes, there were a few problems. The main one was slugs, which we dealt with by going out in the evening and salting them. Considering the damage they did, we were absolutely heartless. And we had wonderful crops that we did not have to weed nor water. One garden we did have to rake clear for the ground to warm up, but that was minor.

When we were making new flower beds, we were a bit more discreet. In the fall we would lay down a thick layer of wet newspaper and cover it with a "prettier" mulch. By Spring we would've killed the grass and started the process of soil improvement. You see, not only am I a lazy tea lady, I am a lazy gardener.

Sweet Rosy O'Grey

Old Swiss Architecture, showing the house on the right connected to the
barn on the left. Very handy in an area of great cold and snow.

Speaking of which, we had snow yesterday, while the sun was out and it was raining. Of course, it didn't stick, but it was an interesting weather phenomenon, especially since it was only in one small area.

Earl Grey is often mixed with other flavors and there has been a lot of experimentation with it. The newest, to me, is Teas Etc.'s Rosy Earl Grey, from a lot I bought this summer. They describe it as jasmine green tea, black tea, flavors and pink roses. As you can imagine, this is a very pretty tea. It also has an almost overwhelming scent of very sharp bergamot. Oh oh, I hoped this was not what it would taste like. As it brewed, the smell softened considerably and I hoped the taste would, as well. I love Earl Grey, but you can have too much of a good thing.

The proof is always the taste and this one excelled. It was a very nicely balanced cup of rose enhanced Earl Grey that was smooth and full. I couldn't detect any jasmine in the brew. You could taste the tea base and while a bit bland, you need to remember it's the over all blend , not just the base. If the base tea is too far forward, there would be no point to the blend. For myself, I would prefer to make it a bit stronger than a level spoon full and perhaps only brew it for 3.5 minutes instead of the recommended 4. I chilled some of this and it is very good chilled, as the roses come out a little more. I didn't add either cream or sugar, so you will have to experiment with that on your own.

If you are an Oolong lover and would like to learn about them, http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/ has a lot of information on its site. Click on Wulong tea information. Oolong, Wulong and Wu Long are all the same tea.


Here is a little ditty that has been running through my head for far too long:

I eat my peas with honey,
I've done it all my life,
It makes my peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on my knife!

Oh, Happy Day

An ancient carved pulpit, about 10 feet above the floor of the
church in St Goar, Germany, an old Rhine River port. It is just past what once was the treacherous waters of the Lorelei Rocks. Sailors making it through this passage would burn offerings or give money to some pagan diety for safe passage. St. Goar, an Irish missionery, thought the church might prosper and so, he established a mission here. Today, going through the Lorelei by boat mostly involves the captain playing an awful recording of the famous song, to which everyone sings along. Tacky, but fun.

It's always a good day when the tea is good. We went to lunch at what is becoming our favorite local Asian buffet, the Buffet Star on Old Vestal Road in Binghamton, NY. The tea today was really good. A very dark roast Oolong, with a lovely smokey scent and taste that really went very well with the food. I still haven't been able to find anyone there who speaks enough English to tell me the brand.

Later we had a very nice Upton's Keemun sample from last year, which I already reviewed. It has been so cool that a sturdy black tea is very appealing.

The deer are beginning to form herds and the yearling bucks are beginning to get horns, along with their winter coat, which is mostly a drab tan. A few of the younger ones still have summer's red, but it won't be for long. All three of the fawns have pretty much lost their spots. they come to graze in our backyard and on the edges of our road, so we can see all the changes they go through. They are beautiful animals, but I don't feel very kindly towards them when they eat my flower buds.