Nepal and the Blacksmith

Just another pretty street.



A while ago I reviewed Blacksmith Blend from the Tea Smith and couldn't identify the flavors. Well, here I am, many cups later, and I still can't. However, it is a good sturdy black, strong, but not overwhelming and quite smooth. You try some and tell me what you think.


On a very different note, today I was trying, finally, some of Andrews and Dunham Damn Fine Tea, the Nepal from their first offering. This is such an attractive tea – a gorgeous combination of white buds with shades of green and brown leaves. It smells good, too, with a combination of chalk and cocoa with a good whiff of hay. I tried to brew it for 3 minutes at 212, but somehow wound up doing it for 4 and I think the tea suffered from it, as it would up a bit on the tannic side.


The brewed tea had that wonderful fresh scent of laundry blowing in the wind that I associate with really good, fresh tea. It was a very pretty light golden amber. This tea, not surprisingly reminded me of a first flush Darjeeling, shading over into a second flush. It is a light tea, without a lot of nuances, but it tastes just fine. I don't think it is as worthy of the hype or the price it has gotten, but it is good. It also comes in a nifty tin. I don't know if it is still available, as A&D has come out with their fourth lot of special teas. Check them out at http://damnfinetea.com/

Not Ginger-Peachy

It is a good thing we celebrated the sun yesterday, because it is gone for a few days, with snow to replace it. However, in this monastery, on that day, the sun was with us.

Ginger, peaches, tea, how can you go wrong? Sadly, I will tell you. True to my campaign to broaden my horizons I bought some Ginger Peach Tea from The Tea Smith. As soon as I opened it I knew I was in trouble. There was that familiar “chemical” smell I hate underlying the peach and ginger. You might not notice it, I did. The leaves were all quite small, a mix of brown and black, with pieces of what I think was peach in them. I brewed it for 4 minutes at 212. It brews up to an attractive darkish red brown. The smell has shifted to a gentle ginger with peach overtones. However, there's only the merest hint of either ginger or peach in the plain tea and the tea itself is nothing great. However, with the addition of some sugar, the peach comes out quite a bit and there is a small bite of ginger, if not much taste. For one who really dislikes sugar in their tea, that was too much for what I got out of the cup. If you like your tea sweet, you might like this one, as it did taste fine with the sugar, just not for me.

On a brighter note, I just got the monthly newsletter from the tea lady over at http://www.bellaonline.com/. It was mostly an article about “the Original T-bag Designs”. This is a South African company that was started in about 2000 to help poverty stricken South African women to get out of their dire straights. They use used teabags which they dry, press and paint to make beautiful articles to sell. They are now a 125 person collective which has enabled some women to buy their own homes. You can go to http://www.originaltbagdesigns.com/ to order some of their merchandise or to one of the many retail stores listed to see them first hand. Their goods are beautifully done, one of a kind and make wonderful gifts or something unique for yourself. There is also an address in New Jersey where you can send your used teabags, minus the tea, of course.

Keep an eye open for – My Favorite Cup – a ½ hour TV show about coffee and tea, due to begin airing March 1 on Colours TV [channels 9407 and 9396 on Dish networks] and Capitol Broadcasting Company [primarily in the South] The first broadcast is all about tea. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what it will be like, but since I am neither Southern nor have Dish TV, I may have to wait a while. If any of you see it, please share with me!

Christmas kicks with the Blacksmith's Blend

Tonight is the official kick-off of the Christmas season in our small town. It begins with caroling, the lighting of our tree on the green, a concert by all our church choirs and, of course Santa. He's having breakfast tomorrow at our church. There are special events and concerts all weekend.

The Tea Smith does it again! Makes a good tea, that is. It's called Blacksmith's Blend and the leaves are black and the brew is dark, but...It's not heavy or malty or bitter or smokey or any of those things you sometimes say about really black teas. In fact, it is delicious and it's driving me nuts because I can't pin down either the flavor or scent of the brewed tea. The dry stuff was pretty easy – rich, dark, leather, wood, tobacco. The liquor was not as black as I expected. I think there was a hint of some green herb, maybe clover or hay, but I just couldn't get it. Oh gee, must be I'll have to drink lots more so I can. What a hardship! This is good stuff.

Did you know that you are a tassophile? Bet you don't even know what that is. It's a person who is really into tea. It is interesting that the 3 languages I am most familiar with all have a similar word for cup – French is tasse, Italian is tazza and Spanish is taza. So, if some snobby person asks you your profession, tell them you are a tassophile, smile enigmatically and sashay away. Snicker! Tea hee!
Some 1,800 professional chefs have declared that in 2010 menus will be carrying a lot more local and sustainable foods and beverages. They also said that specialty tea drinks – mostly iced – will be making a strong showing. Tea is not local, but more of it is becoming sustainable. That basically means caring for the land, the plants and the people who raise and process the tea. That has to be a good move forward.. We live in an ever increasingly small world.
The kittens are very funny today. Ernie is sitting on the back of a chair crying because he can't reach the light cord to play with it and Bert is doing his carousel ride imitation – head back, tail flying, paws in a gallop mode – all while sound asleep.

South of the Border

I was beginning to feel in a bit of a rut with the folks I buy my tea from, so I decided to branch out a bit. I saw The Tea Smith advertised, so I thought I would check him out, as I had also seen some good reviews of his teas. I found some I really wanted to try, so here we go! The first is South of the Border Chocolate Tea. It has chili pepper in it! And it is so good. When I opened the package, all I could smell was deep rich chocolate, with a whiff of cherry – a bit like those chocolate covered cherries we always got Mother for Christmas. The small leaves were black and there were small bits of red pepper. The scent continued through the 3.5 minute brew with boiling water.

My husband loved it! I tasted some of his with the milk and sweetener and it was fine. Far too sweet for me, so I had mine plain. For some strange reason I kept wanting to put a bit of salt in it, so I did – just the tiniest shake and it really brought out the flavor even more. It is very chocolatey, with the tiniest of bites – really more a bit of warmth. It certainly doesn't taste like chili, nor do you need to be afraid of it being spicy. There was not much taste or smell of tea. As it cooled, it seemed to get sweeter, more sweet than I am happy with, so I would be one to drink it quickly. However, I did think about making an ice cream soda with it. Definitely a keeper.

Tea must be becoming more mainstream I think, if the ads and articles I see for it are any indication. A fairly new magazine, Mary Jane's Farm had not 1 but 2 full pages ads for tea companies. Family Circle in July of this year [I just read it] headed its “Health” section with a very brief mini-article on the healthy aspects of daily tea drinking, which can reduce the threat of having a stroke. I am really hoping that more and more people will grow to love tea, either for health or just because it tastes great and opens a whole multifaceted world for us. It is a constant source of wonder to me that one species of plant can produce so much variety.

By the way, that misty mountain in the photo is Vesuvius.