Bedraggled Summer

Have you noticed that summer is beginning to wear out? The trees are no longer bright green, but are coated with the presage of orange and yellow and crimson to come. The first acorn drop has happened, the golden rod and wild purple asters are blooming. It makes me a little sad. And a little mad - I haven't caught up to August yet - I haven't finished Spring planting! I haven't gotten my fall crop of beans in! Sheesh, this is too much, I'm not ready for it. But nature marches on. It's one of those truly lovely days - bright sun, reasonable temperature, even a nice breeze. Perfect Tea-On-The-Porch weather. However, someone is here with a really, really, really noisy machine who is dealing with the stumps left from the trees that fell 2 years ago. I am sure the mowers will appreciate it and maybe I will, when it's quiet. The cats are most annoyed. We've been doing lunches for a local Habitat for Humanity. What wonderful people they are to give hours and hours of work to help someone into a home of their own. The future home owners put in a lot of sweat equity as well. I haven't had opportunity for afternoon tea in a while, so I am so happy to be able to sit down and have it today. It's another balck one from Upton's - Yunnan FOP Select. The leaves are chopped up fairly small, but even so, the suggestion is for 4-5 minutes of brewing. Dry, they have a strong tobacco/wine aroma, very pleasant. The 4.5 minute brewed tea is a lovely, fairly light amber, more yellow than red. There is still a faint tobacco aroma and the taste is a quiet but assertive tobacco/wine, with just a hint of astringency at the end.

Have I Got A Recipe For You!

Let's see, there's chai, chocolate and Snickerdoodle Cookies.  Now, roll that all into 1 cookie and you have yourself a very tasty treat.  I came across the recipe in Taste of Home Magazine and I thought I would try it.  If you like those 3 things, this is for you.  They are sooo good and they would be wonderful for a fall tea.  In fact, since today feels like fall, it's a good time to have them.  Katie Wollgast from Missouri sent the recipe in.

Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles  oven 350

Combine 2 1/2 cups sugar,1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ginger, 1 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp allspice and 1/4 tsp white pepper.  Mix well.
Set aside 1/2 cup of the mix in  a small bowl.
Add 1 cup of soft butter to the rest and beat until soft and fluffy.  Beat in 2 eggs and 2 tsp. vanilla.
Whisk together 2 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, 2 tsp. Cream of Tartar, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt.  Slowly beat into the butter/sugar mix.
Make 1 1/2 inch balls and roll in reserved sugar mix, flatten slightly.  Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are firm.

I remember snickerdoodles from child hood.  I always loved them.

I am having them with a Nilgiri OP tea from the Craigmore Estate in India, via Upton Tea.  The suggestions are 1+ teaspoons per cup for 3 minutes.  This is quite a pleasant tea.  It has that nice fresh scent of good tea.  It is very plain, but sometimes, plain is good, especially with something like those Snickerdoodles.  It does have a tiny bite at the end to keep it interesting.

It's been a very cool August, which I love, but my tomatoes are pouting.  Our first ones were not very good.  They are cherry tomatoes, but they're kind of mealy and flavorless.  They are the stars of "Some Like it Hot"
We went to another Farmers market yesterday and came with such lovely stuff, not the least of which is almost local peaches, local tomatoes, potatoes, and plums.  Oh Happy Day.  On the way we saw some hawks soaring on updrafts and a bald eagle.

The sad thing was the occasion of saying goodbye to dear friends we are unlikely to see again.  I thought my heart would break in two to do it.  Our group gave them a good send off, but I will so miss them.  I am comforted by knowing they will be close to their children who are giving them such wonderful, loving care.

Corn and Tomatoes

There is nothing like a trip to the farmers' market, even our little tiny one.  The sight and smell of all those lovely veggies and fruit, the satisfying pull on your shoulders as you carry your bounty to the car, can't beat it.  Then, off home, to have the first corn and tomatoes of the season for lunch, ending with a freshly made icebox blueberry pie.  So simple, so good.

I got a book from the library when it was so hot - Icebox  Pies by Lauren Chattman.  It came out in 2002, so it's probably not in bookstores, but Amazon and Kindle have it.  I could have made a crust, but I didn't.  I can't say the store bought ones are super, but at least I don't have to turn on the oven, and it's very nice to be able to quickly make something, stick it in the icebox and then eat it.

It's cool enough for hot tea again today.  Upton's this time, a very simple tea - China Black, Flowery Orange Pekoe.  The dry leaves are a pleasant mix of brown and black, finely cut, and smell like a very nice, almost flowery, good quality pipe tobacco.  I brewed it for 4 minutes.  The brewing aroma was rich and fresh, with a hint of dark cherry, again with some pipe tobacco.  The liqueur is fairly dark.  The flavor is a fairly standard dark tea, but there are hints of sweetness - the cherry?, a little hint of metallic, maybe a bit of toast.  I tried it with some cream as well, which brought out all of that.  In fact, I think it is better with some cream, more interesting..

There is an entire family of blue jays lined up on the feeder pole by my window, giving me the evil eye - no suet.  Ah well, you're very greedy and must wait until tomorrow.  Today, Monday and Wednesday are evil vet days.  Two of the critters accept their fate, two are horrendous. Sarah is because she is afraid and Bertie is because someone is daring to interfere in his life.  They are so embarrassing.  Fortunately, our vet is the nicest man in the world and is very understanding.

There, this is a much simpler, small country church in the village of Oberhof, Germany, where some of my ancestors came from, just as I promised.  I really like both styles of church, for different reasons.  They are both beautiful

Raising Babies and Having Tea

It's a great time of transition in our backyard bird world.  The fledglings are learning to feed themselves.  It did not go too well in the grackle family.  Much screaming and yelling and wide open mouths, but no one seemed to catch on to instructions and Adult Grackle flew off in disgust, babies right behind, crying still.  It all went much better with the hairy woodpeckers and although there was still screaming from the rather frowsty looking baby, he did catch on to poking the suet and then swallowing.  The baby grosbeaks seem to be the best at learning quickly.  None of them are too good at accurate landings quite yet.

The blue jays are just disgusted that so many others are at the feeders and are quite short-tempered about it, especially when the smaller birds stick up for themselves. Too bad, they are great bullies and I don't feel sorry for them.

I am waiting for coconut pineapple scones to come out of the oven.  I used fresh pineapple, so I am eager to see how it works.  I used dried pineapple before and it wasn't even really noticeable.  They smell divine and I am afraid I will drool on the computer keys.

The wait has been worth it.  Really, really tasty.  I made them with coconut milk as well as the two fruits.  They were a bit too crumbly, but I'll work on that.  To add to the tropical theme, I had some of Upton's Mango Flavored Tea.  This actually tastes like both mango and black tea and went very nicely with the scones.  It was iced, as it has continued to be hot.  However, we have finally had some rain.  I may go dance it, I am so glad to see it.

It's so hot today, I thought a "cool" picture would help.  Shade and rocks are cool, right?  This is Ravenna, Italy, home of beautiful,ancient buildings and mosaics.

At Tea With Vietnam

I put an order in to Upton's Teas because they had so many new ones to try.  This particular one is from Vietnam, a black tea, Shan Tuyet,  which means Mountain Tea, and comes from ancient trees in the Northern Highlands, rather than in the Mekong Delta region.  Most Vietnamese tea is grown and processed by small farmers, who often use old laundry driers to cure their tea.

The dry tea has an odd aroma that I can't put my finger on.  It is smokey, woodsy, earthy, mushroomy, but it isn't, if you can understand that.  It is black with some golden tan tips included. The suggested brewing is 5 minutes with boiling water, so I do.  The brewed tea throws in maybe roasted or grilled green beans or grilled summer squash.  See why I can't put my finger on it?

The brewed tea is a yellowed amber and tastes a bit like a Lapsang Souchong.  But it also tastes of tree bark and the vegetables, with a hint of chocolate in the back.  It has a good clean feel, with a short lingering time, which is where the chocolate hint comes in. However, this is not a tea for sweets.  This is a hearty breakfast or roast beef accompaniment.  I, who always put milk in my black tea, didn't.  I don't think it would go.  I will probably try some when my cup is almost gone.  At first I didn't like the tea, but by the bottom of the cup, I was a convert.  This quite good and intriguing.

The entance to the Hapsburg Place in the middle of Vienna

Snails For Tea

Today's tea is Upton's "Season's Pick" Yunnan ZY07  Black Snail.  When I opened the packet, I was greeted with a winey, moist earth aroma, with an understory of tangy floral.  Already I am intrigued.  The little tightly rolled almost balls of greenish black tea resemble the "snail" Oolongs, but are not as carefully and tightly rolled.  They seem a good transition into Spring teas, and the smell is intriguing.

I brewed the tea for 4 1/2 minutes, with boiling water.  The result is a very dark liqueur and even with the extended time, many of the fairly large leaves have not unfurled, so I brewed them again, this time for 51/2 minutes.  We'll see how it is.  As it brewed, the first lot smelled wonderfully fresh, still with that sweet undertone.  The tea is a tad sweet, tasting somewhat spicey and nutty and of wet bark in the spring.  It takes milk really well, which rounded off some of the tannic edges.  Four minutes and a little less tea would have made this ideal.  The second wash is nowhere near as good as the first, but it will water plants just fine.

The Season's Pick teas are ones that Upton's packages for retail.  Bigger packages mean a somewhat lower price.  This one for which I would gladly pay full price.

Today is Maundy Thursday in the Western Christian world.  It is part of Holy Week, the time from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem through his "trial", crucifixtion and resurrection, celebrated on Easter day.  This will be my last post until Monday, as I spend much of this time in prayer, meditation and worship.  I hope that all of you will have a blessed and meaningful Easter and that you will also experience your own resurrection and re-birth.

This is the main altar in the Hapsburg Chapel in Vienna, Austria

Make It So

What Ho, Star Trek and Earl Grey tea fans!  There is a company that sells Captain Pickard's favorite beverage and it has good reviews.  It is Think Geek, www.thinkgeek.com  and the tea is.....Tea, Earl Grey, Hot.  I ordered some to try and will report for duty when it arrives in my ready room.  They also have a number of rather odd, but interesting things there.

As a result, I am finding myself wanting some Earl Grey.  But, there is not a scrap, not even a tea bag of it to be found.  Oh,Woe is I.  I am consoling my self with Upton's Finest Russian Caravan,TB70, a blend of teas from India, China and Formosa.  Unlike many others, there is no smokiness to this tea, which is supposed to emulate the scent of all those campfires on the way from China to Russian in the old days.  No "odour de camel sweat", either, for which I am quite happy.  Instead, the dry tan, grey and black leaves smell mostly of corn silage in the silo, which to this farm chick, was always a pleasant aroma.

I brewed the tea for 4 minutes, with boiling water.  It smells like a pleasantly damp woods with some green hints and some roasted corn hints.  The liqueur is a pleasant amber and does indeed taste roasty and woodsy, with a bit of spice and a long, smooth finish.  It does well with a bit of milk in it as well.  A very nice drink on a wet, cold, gloomy day.

I want this for my front door!

Flowers Are My Tea

Wow!  It only took 3days from order to delivery from Upton's.  Pretty snazzy.  Of course, I am having their Nepal Tea Flowers BH84 first, it intrigues me.  That's what's in the packet, dried flowers.  They were once white, now brown,  having been sun-dried..  No surprise there.  I'd say having the aroma of camellias, but having never smelled one, I can't.  Sweet and flowery will have to do.  While not listed as organic, they were produced without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  Instructions say to brew with 212 degree water for 8! minutes.  So I do.

What a surprise!  I expected a flowery taste and I got something rather different.  I am finding it hard to describe.  Closer to mild Bancha, perhaps, but with some sweetness, maybe a little caramel, with a tiny not quite sour kick at the end.  Intriguing.  But wait, as I breathe into the cup, there is that unmistakable, sweet flowery aroma, it's a lovely scent.  If I breathe and drink just right, I can catch it in the taste.  I really am intrigued by this and I must say I like it.

We are having a typical New York February day.  Gloooooooooooooomy.  A little snow, a little sleet, a little of just about everything except sun!   This morning at church, a bunch of us decided that it is our right as Northerners to bitch about the weather, so we did.  However, on the cheery side, at 6 pm it is still light enough to see, the maple sap is running like crazy, and we have crossed into the time when the overall average temperatures are rising.

I planted herbs to have in the house.  It struck me as on the dumb side to have so may south facing windows and not raise them and then fuss because I am using dried.  The thyme and chives are finally up, but I managed to kill the marigolds a-borning.  Sage is still languishing.  If it doesn't work, I will buy plants  in the spring and remember to keep them for inside.

This is a church garden in Germany.  That lovely rock is a fountain.  It is surrounded by cloisters  filled with lovely old bits from an earlierearlier church.  The style of this one is fairly high Gothis, but I can't remember when that was.  Early, anyway.

Aah, Summer

For lunch today we had what could be considered the quintessential summer meal - corn on the cob, fried green tomatoes with buttermilk dressing, cucumber salad, raspberries and ice tea.  All seasonal, all from either our CSA or the Farmers' Market.  Well, the tea came from Uptons - ZK95, China Keemun Mao Feng Imperial. I made it on the light side and I must say, it is a delightful ice tea soft and winey, with a bit of floral..

In the same publication as yesterday, Delicious Living, I found a recipe for Chai Iced Tea Pops.  I modified the recipe some:


Simmer 8 chai tea bags or the equivalent tea and spices from your own recipe, with 1 cup coconut milk and 2 cups of water for 10 minutes, strain, add sugar to taste, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  let cool for about 30 minutes and pour into pop molds, freeze about 3 hours.  You could also just use regular milk, it would be good either way.


Pop molds are in the grocery store, department store, craft store, almost every place and they are inexpensive - under $10 for 6 -8 of them.


Did you know the ancient Greeks had poetry, art, and architecture Olympics at the same time as the sports Olympics?     Remember the old concept, "sound body, sound mind"?  Greek concept.  In 1912 someone reinstated the poetry part in that year's Olympics.  It lasted until 1952.  It was discontinued mostly because the poetry was so awful.  NPR is having a poetry Olympics. We'll see if the poets are any better or should just fade away.


This morning I saw what looked like a deer family of poppa, momma and fawn, with gorgeous reddish brown coats and spots still on the fawn.  They are beautiful creatures, but I wish they would stick to woodland flowers and shrubs.


The wildflowers are early this year - the wild asters are already beginning to bloom and the purple loosestrife is running riot.  The chicory and Queen Ann's lace is having a superb year, with deep color on the chicory and more lace than usual.


My new lavender is blooming.  Not enough to do much with so I think I will just gather it and put the dried flower heads in with some Early Grey tea.  I first had this with some from Simpson and Vail Tea and I really like the combination.  I am hoping that next year I have a huge amount, both for tea and sleep pillows and all sorts of things

How's this for a casket?  Ravenna, Italy

Happy Mother's Day

A Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas.  Love your children extravagantly and let them go into the big world, knowing you did your best.  I learned that with our kids - that my parents did their best, for who they were and I did my best for who I was.  Not perfect and not always wonderful and maybe, at times, not my best.  But we all learned to forgive each other and go on.  Love covers so much that isn't perfect.

It's a good day for having some celebratory tea.  I am having another of Upton's teas.  It is Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe China Yunnan, ZY40.  I haven't ever seen one with the Golden etc. designation, as that is usually Indian or Ceylon teas.  They consider it the best of the commonly available grades.

 I am making it in one of my two new Mother's Day teapots.  This one is pottery from a local potter and is shades of blue and purple.  I am in love with it's colors.  I hope to buy some matching cups.  The other is Sheffield silver.  That is, an English silverplate over copper.

The dry tea has a mild, sweet aroma.  I am brewing it with water just off the boil, for 4 minutes.  The tea is a light yellow-amber, still with a mild sweet smell.  It is indeed a mild tea, a bit on the brisk side, with some of the characteristic Yunnan taste, with just the barest hint of spice.  It would be an easy introduction to this type of tea for those who might be hesitant to think outside the bag.  It is not at all astringent and goes nicely with cream.  I would not hesitate to serve it at a tea party.

The wild phlox and the buttercups are blooming!  Our woods are such lovely greens - I was beginning to despair of their ever being anything but gray.  I finally got all the bird feeders up and have been rewarded with a myriad of songs and tweets.  The woods are filled with them and with the sounds of so many, many woodpeckers, drumming away.  One is so fast and low, it sounds just like a cat purring.  The catbirds are crying, too and I am often running to see what's up.  Just a bird.  Our lone turkey is moving further afield and getting closer to the big flock - I hope he finds them.

Terraced vineyards just outside of the town of Forio, Ischia Island, Italy

Of Tea and Churches

Mother's Day is coming soon.  Are any of you doing something special  for a mother in your life?  All my mothers and grandmothers have gone on and the one I kind of adopted is far away, so all I am doing is sending cards.  However, when I go see her later on, we are gong to tea at one of our favorite places - Thyme for Tea in Lansdale, PA.  They have a great assortment of teas and their food is wonderful.  They also have a very nice little gift shop.  I am in hopes they will have a violet sprinkled tea pot, as I have cups, but no pot.

Today is perfect for a hot cuppa.  It is gloomy and cold and I am going crazy trying to make my house as kitty fur and clutter-free as possible.  My cousins are going to visit and they are allergic to the little darlings.  So, of course, we all know they will climb all over them, they who have raised ignoring people to a fine art.

I'm taking tea with Upton's again.  It is TD60, Premium Darjeeling Blend.  I brewed it for 3.5 minutes with boiling water.  The dry leaves are definitely a blend, with black, brown, green leaves and some stems here and there.  There really wasn't much scent other than "tea".  As it brewed, however, there was that fresh-wash-on-the-line aroma, coupled with a bit of toast and muscatel.  At first I thought this gentle tea tasted a bit like bamboo with a hint of green, then there was some sort of wet wood/vegetation taste.  It is a pleasant tea, light and suitable for afternoons, but it isn't anything special and I don't know that I would label it premium.  But then, quite a while ago, I seemed to have lost my taste for Darjeeling, unless it is superb.

Yet another Italian church, filled with inlaid marble, this one is also on Ischia Island.  This is more to my taste, as it is less fussy.  The little church I attended as a child was plainer than plain, with huge clear glass windows, the better to watch birds during boring sermons.  It had a long shed behind, for stabling horses, a holdover from years ago and now filled with the junk such structures seem to acquire.  To this day, when an institution fires up its gas ovens or burners, the smell returns me immediately to the church suppers held in the basement.  It was a good time and place.

Uptons Does It Again

I do love Uptons Tea Imports.  You get good service, they let you know when a tea you are interested in comes in,  you can sample anything, there's an immense selection and they have some wonderful teas.  How can I go wrong?  Their Panyang (Panyong) China Congou is a case in point.    It is an excellent tea.

The dry leaves are quite small, well twisted and a mix of black and brown.  They smell like grass, new hay, old wood and have just the tiniest bit of spice sprinkled over.  I brewed them for 4 minutes, using boilung water.  The resulting tea was a very, very dark amber.  It smelled very fresh, with a clean earth aroma.

The  tea was really excellent, a bit earthy, with some walnut and biscuit and yes, a bit of spice.  There was a little acerbic kick at the end.  This was fine with milk, which round out the flavors a bit and added something of a caramel edge.

A baptismal font in Forio, Ischia, Italy.  It makes me think of some pyramidal candy I had when I was a kid.

Oh, I am in trouble.  The nurseries are opening with all those beautiful plants!  Oh woe, they call to me, wrapping a siren song of beautiful gardens around my head and I am led straight to where they are waiting, shining in the sun.  Then, clunk, I remember my terrible soil.  But I still over did it, with peopnies and daylillies and wild geraniums and oh yes, that lovely little yellow plant and there's one of those varigated iris and oooh, frilled pansies.  Oh my aching back and bank account!  Some of us never learn.

Spring is Sprung, No Grass is Riz, But I Know Where the Birdies is!

I saw snowdrops blooming today!  And the "dawn chorus" of birds isdefinitely swelling.  My neighbor is planting peas tomorrow - he has real soil and the air temperatures have been in the 50s and 60s.  I am going to try some "Tom Thumb" peas in one of my containers, we have quite literally 3 inches of topsoil over gravel and I will try to plant perennials, but I am not doing a full fledged garden..  I guess we are having an early spring.

I got some Yunnans from Upton's and today's is their ZY47 China Yunnan Imperial Gen Ben Shi.  It is billed as a "classic" Yunnan.  The dry leaves are very crinkled, mostly black, with some gold buds.  It has a deep, nutty, woodsy smell, with a bit of roasted eggplant thrown in.  I brewed it for 5 minutes with boiling water, which yielded a very dark brown brew, which again smelled wonderfully nutty and toasty.

The tea has some spice in it, as well as the nuts and toasted/roastedness.  There is also a definite vegetal edge - almost an autumnal edge to it.  It is hearty, but delicate, you really have to close your eyes and concentrate on the subtle nuances.  This is a little difficult to do, as it is a very smooth tea.   It is only when I held the tea in my mouth for a bit that I noticed there was also a bit of astringency - just enough to be piquant.  An altogether very nice tea indeed.

My cousins are coming for a few days and I need to really scrub my house - one is quite allergic to cats and we have 4 of the little darlings.  Wouldn't you know that the kitties who never sleep in the guest room, have all gone in there to sleep all this week?  Cats, who can figure?

A very old church in Ravenna, Italy, which has the most creative parking I have ever seen.  If there is a space, no matter how small, use it and climb out the roof.  If not, park in the sidewalk.  Our hotel room, including the nightstands and all the doors was beautiful pink veined marble.  No window screens, but NO bugs.  Why are we so blessed with bugs?

Scones Of My Heart

I think I made the best scones of my life today.  Lime, ginger, coconut.  I'll give you the regular recipe first and then what I did.  The original is from Sacramental Magic in a Small-town Cafe by Brother Peter Reinhart

Sal's Scones

Set your oven for 350 degrees

Mix the following together:

3 3/4 cups flour (the recipe calls for 3 cups, which is cake batter, this works)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 cup currants

Melt 1/2 pound butter - 2 sticks or 1 stick and 1/2 cup mild oil

Mix the butter with
 1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lemon juice from the lemon you zested
 Stir into the dry ingredients quickly and pat out into a big circle about 2 inches high.  Mark it for 12 scones or
pat it out and cut into circles.

Bake for about 25 minutes  You can beat up one egg and brush it on the top if you wish.

These always come out really well, no matter what I add.

My changes.  I used the zest and juice from 3 limes, about 1/4 more sugar, about 1 cup of coconut and 1 of dried pineapple, instead of currants.  I mixed the zest, coconut and pineapple in with the dry.  I use freeze dried buttermilk, which also goes in the dry and then water for the liquid.  I put the lime juice in the measuring cup first and added enough water to make 1 1/4 cups.  The extra sugar was to compensate for unsweetened coconut and the extra tartness of the lime.

These are so exceptional, I had to share them.  Next time, I may use coconut milk for the liquid, still with the powdered buttermilk.  Last time I made dried fig and orange, which my husband thought were to die for.

In case you can't tell, I like to experiment.  They are going very nicely with some Yunnan Special Grade from Upton's.

Another german river town

A Banana In My Tea

Today can't decide if it should be sunny or cloudy.  Sadly, I think the clouds are winning.  However, I have the perfect antidote - tea!  Mine is from Upton's, their T151, Formosa Black Keemun.  I'll bet those Anhui farmers don't approve as they consider theirs to be the only authentic one.  The smallish dark leaves of this Keemun smell like - you'll never guess - bananas!  I had to sniff several times to make sure, but there it was.  Very strange.  However, as it brewed for 5 minutes with boiling water, it shifted very sharply away from fruit and down into very very darkly earthy.  None of this is the Keemun I am used to.

Howsomever, by the time it hit my cup it was very pleasant, still earthy, but moderately so, with well-rounded edges that finished off with a nice, old oaken barrel edge.  The entire experience was definitely new to me, with none of the wineiness or slight smokey character that generally denotes a Keemun.  Tea is so wonderfully itself, always ready to surprise and delight.

I got a funny cartoon in the mail.  A bunch of socks were in group therapy for lost socks.  Well, I need one for lost glue.  I have bought 3 things of Gorilla Glue in a year and had to go buy another one today.  This, after a great deal of effort to put tool and fix it things in ONE and only one place.  That has nothing to do with tea, as you might imagine.  It may one of these days, as I have far too much of it and I need to do another clear out.  Always put to good use for compost or helping clover seeds take hold in the lawn.

The potted ginger root report:  for several days there has been a bump on the top of the soil and today the first small green shoot has appeared.  Hooray!  Lots of nice ginger later this year for tea and goodies.

A very typical Swiss chalet.  This is probably one of the older ones, made from wood.  The new ones are made from concrete made to look like wood, because of the fear of fire in the mountains.  There aren't a lot of bodies of water available for fires.

Winter Warm

Winter, what does that word conjure up for you?  Coming into the warm after being in the cold.  Growing up on the farm, it was a warm cow barn, new calves, molasses on the feed, and sneaking a little bit for myself from the barrel. It was a slow time, time to dream, time to fix what you didn't have time to fix in the summer or fall, the aroma of silage in the silos.  The light was different then, too, with a gentle golden pinkness towards the end of a day.

Winter was also harsh, walking a mile to the bus stop, digging out after a storm, trying to keep the ice out of the ditches.  Even fun was cold and often wet with sledding and ice skating to do.  But there was always  the knowledge of warmth waiting for us; warmth, hearty food, cats and dogs on laps and feet, the heat from the big black wood-burning stove, something warm to drink, generally  chamomile tea, gathered in the summer and carrying with it the scent of warm July days.

It is winter and I am warm.  There is tea to drink, which warms from the inside out.  There are still cats to warm my lap.  Life is good.

Today's tea is from one of my favorite companies, Upton Tea Imports.  It is ZY64 - China Yunnan, Select Dao Ming.  The dry leaves are long and twisted, brown and black with golden buds.  They give off a kind of woodland aroma, laced with spice.  The dark brown brewed tea smells more of roasted acorns or squash.  This organic tea has a lot of body to it, so it feels like it is more than just colored water.  As it cools only a little, more spice is apparent in the aroma.  The taste has a floral edge to it.  I tried it with milk and I think I liked it better.  It seemed to have zoomed into a freshness stratosphere.  Very interesting.  I brewed it for 4 minutes with boiling water.  I am a big Yunnan fan and this is one I will get more of, as it is quite different from the usual.

We're still in Durlach, Germany, as you can tell from the yellow sign on the right.  This is not a perspective problem with curving lines, the houses and street are following the inside curve of the ancient city walls.  Hopefully I will be able to find a picture of the outside curves of the walls.

Celebrate!

Darstten Village 

Joy to the World,
The Lord has come!

The season of Advent has begun, the joyous waiting for the celebration of the birth of Christ.


What tea shall I celebrate this with? I don’t like most of the holiday teas because they have too much clove in them, although Stash does a nice one that tastes like those chewy peppermints. Upton’s ZK55 wins for today. It comes from Sichuan Province, Zao Bei Jian Congou. The small black leaves look nothing like the picture in the on-line catalog, which are quite long and twisted - perhaps a shipping issue.  They are black, however, and give off a sharp, winey smell, almost like a Keemun.


I brewed it up for 4 minutes with boiling water. The liquor is a dark, golden amber, with an almost malty smell. Indeed, the first sip reminded me of an Assam. However, there was much more going on here and the further I went in my cup, the more intrigued I was. There was the edginess of dark chocolate, followed by butter brickle and caramel, with a hint of an oak finish. Good grief, I sound like one of the snooty wine tasters, or snooty tea tasters. Well, that is what it tastes like to me. When I added milk it seemed to settle into something reminding me very much of good, homemade butterscotch pudding.

The sun is heading towards sundown and the lovely light is turning the bog trees a misty gold. It is kind of an enchanted moment, with the slim darkness of pitch pines before it.

The nature beat:

I saw a forsythia in bloom today, perhaps in celebration of this time of year? I wish, but it really is because our weather is so peculiar, the poor thing is confused. It was over 60 today - about 25 degrees warmer than it should be at this time of year. We are enjoying it, but we are concerned about the plants and animals.

We were visited by a very lazy bear - it only ate one suet holder, but left a very rank smell behind - even the bears are confused. - They should all be tucked up in their dens, hibernating until spring.

I also saw a flock of Canada geese taking a nap in the sun. There were about 30 of them, with 4 “watch geese” at compass points, alertly viewing the surrounding scene.

Tea,Tulips and Panda Poop

My Swiss grandmother's church on a rainy day.

Ya know, people think tea folk are weird for paying $40-50 a pound for good tea. That’s about 240 cups of tea. Really good coffee is at least $15 and that’s only 60 cups. Do the math. And then there are K cups. Unless you got a good deal, it is 75 cents to $1.00 per cup. That's the equivalent of $60 a pound.

However, I just heard about this odd tea in the Nov 25 issue of The Week magazine. A Chinese entrepreneur is going to make tea from panda poop, claiming it will have more antioxidants than green tea, with “a mature nutty taste and a very distinctive aroma.” I bet it will. Supposedly this will retail for about $3,400 a pound. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a review of it here.

The world’s most expensive coffee, Kopi Luwak, hails from Indonesia, and passes through the Asian Palm Civet's digestive track. The civet looks like a golden rat and feeds pretty exclusively on coffee beans. It sells for about $600 a lb. or $50 a cup in some exclusive restaurants. [Civet kitty/rat poop]

People can be very silly. Not this this is new. During the height of Tulip Mania, in the mid 1600s fortunes could be made and lost over one tulip bulb, which could equal the sum of a craftsman’s yearly income.

Let us turn to more prosaic pursuits, a cup of easily purchased tea.  I just ordered a huge bunch of samples from Upton's.  This one is TB30, Kensington Blend, made from Assam, Ceylon and Keemun tea.  The varied brown and black leaves are about 1/2 inch long and give off a very nice malty, woodsy aroma, with a hint of smoke.  I brewed it for about 4.5 minutes - maybe a bit too long.    It is a pleasant dark amber, smelling very much of the Assam, which I assume is its main component.  Uptons says it is a bit lighter than their River Shannon blend and that it is best with milk.  It is a breakfast tea, which I would heartily agree with.  Unless, of course, you are really dragging in the afternoon,

By itself, it tastes, to me, like acorns or what bottled essence of crisp-fall-day might taste like.  It is a bit astringent and certainly strong.  I like my tea with milk, so it is no hardship to have it that way.  I must say the milk mellows it considerably.  I do think this would be ideal for breakfast, standing up well to hearty dishes.  It might be good with a hearty lunch as well.  It is going just fine with a gorgeous fall day.

Hooray For Darjeeling

The scissor cutter's art

Some good news from Darjeeling:  The European Union, and hence, the World Trade Organization, has granted Darjeeling status as a Protected Geographical Indication or PGI.  This will put an end to fraudulent claims from tea growers in other areas.  This is much the same issue that has plagued food and wine producers, with  companies from other areas riding on the coattails of highly regarded and well known commodities, while not having the same quality, or just being different.  I am personally all for this.  I want my Swiss cheese to be from Switzerland ( yes, Virginia, there IS a difference), my French champagne to be from its home.  The final product, in wine, cheese and tea is a result of specific factors related to the concept of terroir, the minerals in the soil, the components of the air, the amount of rainfall or cloud cover etc. - all those infinitesimal things that produce that specific food or wine or tea from that area.  This PGI protects and enhances and encourages the reputation of growers and producers.

I know this is something that can be argued on either side.  I have nothing against Iowa Swiss cheese, as long as it is labelled Swiss type, for instance.  For what it is, it is very good.  But it is not Emmentaler or Gruyere.  Similarly, I don't want tea from Rwanda labelled Darjeeling.  It gives people the wrong impression, especially if the quality is poor.  We have few enough orthodox tea producers and I think we need to support them, lest we lose them.  So I say "Hooray for PGI and Darjeeling"

Which leads me right into today's tea, an Upton's Darjeeling, TM52, Kangra SFTGFOP1 from the Wah Estate in Darjeeling, India.  This is a first flush from this spring.  The smallish leaves are a mix sliding from green into brown and smell of fruit peels - maybe lemon - and drying vegetation with some orchid in there for good measure.  The suggested brew time is 3 minutes with boiling water, but I have done that before with a first flush and it's been awful, so I decided to do 2.5 minutes at about 190. 

Lucky me, I was rewarded with a very nice cup, with the aroma of an orchid Oolong, along with a green, vegetative scent.  The tea did indeed taste like one of the orchid Oolongs - a natural flavor, not something added.  It was smooth and flowery, with an undergirding of Springy greenness and a touch of astringency to perk it up.  I would really recommend that if you are brewing first flushes that you treat them more like greens and Oolongs and not like sturdier blacks.  It's been my experience that they are almost always much better that way

My Lovely Yunnan



Swiss valley and Mountains

 Ta Da!  I am back to tasting tea!  I've been longing for some new tea and finally feel like I have enough brain to give it the proper attention.

I was down in Owego this morning and while outwardly, much has returned to normal there are still many closed stores, a lot of stuff on the street sides to be taken away and lots of repair trucks of all sorts.

I got today's tea from Upton's before the flood.  It is their ZY84, Yunnan Rare Grade.  It has a lovely aroma in the packet, like fresh hay with a spicey twist.  The leaves are gold and green and brown, with lots of buds.

I brewed if for about 4 minutes and 15 seconds.  It gave off a complex aroma of roasted sweet corn, cocoa and earth.  The liquor is a nice bright brown.  The tea is somewhat sweet and slides down as smooth as silk.  It is hard to describe, as there are elements of spice and cocoa, but it seems as though there are other nuances as well, but they disappear before I can put a name to them.  I think I will just enjoy it.  It's not the absolute best I've had, I can only afford that once in a while, but it is a pleasant everyday Yunnan.