Tea, Cookies and Gardens

Last night a group of us Master Gardeners went to visit one of our colleagues gardens.  It was beautiful - and huge!  The man keeping it all is 81.  Far more than I do even now.  One of the very nice treats was a pound cake with pineapple sage.  The sage had been stewed in simple syrup and then the syrup poured over the cake.  Very, very nice.  We decided the heat brought out the flavor.  So, next time, I will try it in my tea again, only I will brew it by the hot water method.  Apparently you need to bruise it and use quite a bit.  The woman who made it says she makes it a lot with lemon verbena, which doesn't take nearly as much.

It is over 90 all last week, so this tea princess was drinking a lot of ice tea and not going out much.  We tried to let out the cats one morning, but they put their noses out and then gave us one of those looks as they scooted back inside.  If it is too hot for them, it is definitely too hot for me.

Today, however, is our reward for survival, it is only 70, there's a breeze and we had rain - can't get much better than that.  I am having hot tea to celebrate.  I know, I know, hot tea is supposedly to make you cooler, but I don't think so.  So my hot tea for today's cool weather is from the tea trekker: 2011 late spring pluck High Himalaya Hand-Rolled Tips from Nepal.  It's a really beautiful mix of black, grey-green and beige for the tips.  It smells like hay, old wood and a touch of dried tobacco with the merest whiff of smoke.

The light amber brew is quite a surprise, taste-wise.  It truly reminds me of lemon sugar cookies.  It has a slight hint of citrus, with a biscuit-ty, cookie taste.  There's also some hazelnut and something like old wood, warmed in the sun in it.  Altogether, it is one of the best teas I've had.

The waysides are so pretty right now, with the gold and brown of brown-eyed susans, the yellow of trefoil, white from Queen Ann's lace and blue from chicory, all backed by dark green bushes with bright red berries.
The water lily pond near us is bursting with their beautiful white flowers.  I am especially thrilled to see them as last year it was so hot and dry they just curled up brown and ugly.  Did you know you can grow Queen Ann's lace from seed in your garden?  Looks a bit like the wild ones on steroids.

In my garden, the day lilies are blooming their hearts out.  I have one that is a mild orange sherbet color that is not just double, it is quadruple, with little dark flecks, like pepper in it.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  It is near a dark red and they really set each other off.  I really love day lilies and just drool over the catalog from Oakes.  Sadly, the deer also like them, so I have to keep spraying around the garden to keep them off.  A friend showed me how to get them to leave - give a loud deep cough and off they go - it sounds like the "Danger!" signal they give each other.

How's this for an altar screen?  I am very taken with it.  But then, I was very taken with the whole church, which is in Germany and dedicated to Mary.  It is a very feminine building, with it's color stone, pink and white ceiling and tall, graceful arches and windows.  Next time I 'll show you some pictures of the very simple country church my ancestors attended.

Trekking Along

Oh yes, Autumn is definitely here.  I went out for the mail and there it was, that first whiff of dying vegetation, ripe acorns and wild asters!  Summer simply smells differntly.  Our days may be hot, but the nights are cool and getting cooler - perfect for good sleeping.  Today, however, is quite cool, perfect for tea, for long walks, for garden clean-up.

My tea is from the tea trekker, Jingdong Wuliang Golden Threads from Yunnan Province, China.  It is a fluffy tea, with long thin twisted leaves and an ample amount of golden bud.  It has a fine aroma of hay, silage and a whiff of citrus.  I brewed it about 200 degrees for nearly 5 minutes.  As it was brewing, the scent shifted somewhat into leather and chestnut, with touches of the other.  This is a very dark amber tea, shading towards old gold at the edges.  It seems to evoke a definitrly autumnal mood

The taste is on the autumnal side as well, with some chestnut and hay, but there is some acorn and oak wine barrel there as well.  A tiny bit of cream serves to round it out, if you are so inclined, but I am very happy with it straight.

I have brought all my plants in except one.  Most are not happy with temperatures in the 30's and I don't feel like doing the old move them in, move them out dance as temperatures and sunlight fluctuate.  The hibiscus are in bud, with some red, apricot and deep red flowers already blooming.  They are such rewarding plants - feed them, water them and your flowers are bountiful and beautiful.

I bought myself the Kindle that was on sale quite cheaply and have discovered a huge list of books on tea, many of them very inexpensive.  Oh dear, time to crank up the old will or perhaps I should say, won't power.

Tea With the Tots

Ah, the fledglings are coming to the feeders.  The young blue jays, who have gray tummies instead of the white of their parents are all clustered on the seed feeder, watching their parents cling to the suet feeders.  A young female hairy is trying to figure out how to eat and hold on at the same time.  She hasn't quite caught on that she needs to move down the suet feeder a bit to reach the suet, so she is trying to stretch her neck too far, with no result.  In the pine tree, a young blackbird is trying to convince its parent to feed it, while the parent eats a juicy morsel in front of it.  Growing up is tough.

We went to see the movie about the Marigold Hotel.  It is funny, sad, sweet, colorful, and a testimony to life.  There is also a charming scene about tea with Judy Dench.  I would urge you to go out and see it.  You'll be glad you did.

Another Tea Trekker Tea.  I have discovered that I slowly have inched up the quantity of tea I was using, in search of more taste, while I was unhappy with the filter I was using.  Now I am making it too strong and it is less pleasant.  Today I was more careful with my Yunnan 4 year old Wild Arbor Tea.  The leaves are huge and a beautiful mix of mostly black with some gold and brown.  It smells of cherries and new school notebooks with a touch of wine.  I brewed it for 4 minutes and was rewarded with a rich scent of nuts or bran and cooking oatmeal.  The taste was equally rich and smooth with all the nuts and oatmeal and bran in it.  It has a nice thick mouth feel.  I tried it with milk and it really wasn't very good at all, so don't bother.

Doesn't that shade look inviting?  It is the porch of the chapel for my grandmother's church in Meieringen, Switzerland.

Filtered Happiness

I am once again an official "Happy Camper".  For some reason, PUR water filters will no longer stay on my water faucet.  So, I thought I would try Brita filter pitchers.  I thought they made my tea seem flat and somehow all tasting the same.  Then I discovered that PUR makes filter pitchers, also and now my teas again taste wonderful!  Happy tea, happy me.

Today I was waiting in the grocery line and spotted this tea party idea in a magazine:  when you are offering tea, offer a basket of edible flowers and herb stalks that people can choose to add to their teas, such as roses, nasturtiums, violas, pansies, thyme, mint, borage, and some of the others I've discussed before.  Probably best at a somewhat informal affair.  You could also add a few slices of ripe fruit or berries for folks to choose from..

Today I am having the first of my newly purchased Tea Trekker teas - Longevity Keemun, an organic black tea from Anhui Province, China.  In the packet it smells of fresh hay, but hay that has absorbed the aroma of wine barrels.  The leaves are a pretty mixed black, grey, brown and are somewhat long and twisted.  I used a heaping teaspoon per cup and water a bit under the boil, brewing it for 4 minutes.  It gave off a lovely aroma of dried corn/fresh wash, under girded with the wine barrel hay of the dry leaf.

This is a heavy, solid tea, going well with our fleeting coolness after a storm.  There is wine and dried corn, almost a heavily roasted taste.  Then it seems to soften and lighten, giving only fleeting hints of such things.  An intriguing tea!

This lovely church, Karl's Kirche, is in Vienna, one of the world's best cities.

From the Silk Road to the Southern Tier

Hi - we're back from the Berkshire Mountains.  Glad to be home, but with some lovely memories.  I can highly recommend Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.  Incredibly good, with music from the various cultures along the way.  The Silk Road was, for hundreds of years, the main trade route between China and Russia, Turkey and points west.  Huge camel caravans would leave China loaded with tea, silk and other goods and arrive anywhere from a year to 18 months later in eastern Russia.  A similar tea came to be known as Russian Caravan, although I am sure what we drink today by that name is much more refined - less camel and not as much smokey campfire. 


We also had the opportunity to view an exhibit of Chinese wares and a tomb from the Silk Road era, on exhibit in the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA.  Some of the grave objects were exquisite - a thousand years later.    One was a charming bull, complete with long curving horns.  It's hard to imagine that much time for such things to survive.   


We had lovely food, but not much tea, except for a good cup of what is often called "Chinese  Restaurant Tea" in the Spicey Dragon in Pittsfield.  It was quite good, and the food was superb.  Well, the appetizers, which is all we ate, were wonderful, all 5 of them.     


However, I did go to the Tea Trekker's new store in Northampton, MA.  It is small but mighty in its tea selection.  I bought many teas and had a nice chat with Mary Lou Heiss, who is a lovely warm person, so knowledgeable about tea.  She gave me a sample of her favorite tea, a most wonderful smelling Oolong.  You will be hearing about these soon.      


The cats welcomed us home with the usual pathos and/or disregard.  "No one fed me, no one petted me, I was a prisoner for 7 days, how could you do this to me!"  Meow, meow, meow!   Only my sweet Ernie was glad to see me and followed my every step, waiting for the opportunity to cuddle.                                                                                                         

News With Tea

Beauty can be found in many shapes.

Contest Lovers -Teavana is having a contest for those who like to blend their own tea. Create the best summer blend to win new Teavana iced teas and accessories. Go to www.teavana.com/contest for details.

Over at http://www.teatable.com/ there is a new blog article about the mechanics of taste from the seminar they had at the World Tea Expo in June. They are also having a sale on teas for ice tea.

I discovered an interesting site http://tea4two.blog.co.uk/ . It is primarily a British site, but often carries US news as well. It has tea and tea shop reviews and recipes too.

The Tea Trekker has just announced that Korean green teas have arrived in their shop. They have 2 kinds available. These are the folks who wrote that excellent book The Story of Tea, a Cultural History and Drinking Guide, plus 3 others, all top notch. Their teas are excellent as well. http://www.teatrekker.com/

At the moment, however, I am going to turn to Upton Teas ZK95 China Keemun Mao Feng Imperial. What an aroma the dry leaves have, strong, mellow, roasted, like curing tobacco, with a slight floral edge. I did 1 teaspoon for 4 minutes and the scent shifted somewhat to an earthy, roasty, vegetable one. Sadly, for me I didn't think this had much of a Keemun taste, it seemed like it had been over-roasted. I was so busy being disappointed I didn't really taste it for itself, but I didn't like it. I shall have to try again and see what it's like without expectations, if i can manage it.

That Was the Week That Was

Well, here I am again. My computer is still unwell, but I can use my husband's, as we finally got it back. I have been tea tasting in spite of how nuts it is around here. We all have a small freak out when the wind blows hard and stare at the sky, hoping this is just normal, The sound of power saws has been going on for days and it seems the more that is cleared, the more damage is revealed. But we all were truly fortunate in this freak occurrence. No one injured and fairly minor damage.




To add to the fun, I thought some quiet perennial planting would ease my mind. I forgot we have only3 inches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!of so-called topsoil over gravel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next bit of unsettlement was the vacation we were planning starting the end of the month got moved up to six days from today. I am so unready. I guess I will need it by the time I am there. I have certainly needed tea!

So, on to some tea. One of the teas I have had recently was from the Tea Trekker - it is Wuyi Da Hong Pao Black. from Fujian Province, China. The black and brown leaves smelled something like an old candy with a bit of sharpness added. Maybe close to pineapple. I used a large teaspoon brewed at 212 for 3.5 minutes. As it brewed the aroma shifted to something earthy, sharp and metallic, like a hot iron woodstove. The flavor was nutty and yes, earthy, with a bit of astringency and some cocoa sprinkled over it. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not, but didn't have anymore to taste. I added a bit of cream at the end and you shouldn't, it did nothing for it.

Hopefully I will be able to write some more before vacation - if nothing else happens. I have comforted myself with baking bread and biscuits. Ta for now

The Golden Buds of Yunnan

In Amalfi,Italy, in the cathedral, workmen discovered ol columns under the
external skin of the building, believed to come from Roman times.


I tried to write yesterday, but due to a severe storm the night before my computer was just totally wacko. We had no phone, either. As I drove around on some errands I could see where many small creeks had flooded badly, including one that ran down the dirt road next to us, making a mess for a long distance.


The river is running very,very high and fast, with a lot of mud and debris. It has gone over the lower and middle banks and in some places has crossed the 3rd and final bank. We are hoping it doesn't go much higher. The farmers are tearing their hair out because they are way behind Spring plowing and planting.


The heat of our two days in the 70's has finally put some green on the trees and shrubs and we definitely are seeing the spring flowers coming along. Of course, up here on the hill, we are lagging behind, but ever so faintly there is some green out my window. Our ground is so saturated that our bird feeders fell over and their holes are filled to the brim with water.

I did wake up in time to see the Royal Wedding. Very nice. Now they must begin the task of learning to live together.


Today I am having Tea Trekker's 2009 PreQing Ming Yunnan Jumbo Golden Buds. Say that 6 times very fast. The dry leaves, well buds, are a lovely gold, with a small bit of brown, really almost nothing. The scent is at once sweet, spicey and sharp, recognizably Yunnan, but also different. I used about 1 Tablespoon per cup and brewed it for 3.5 minutes with water just under the boil. There is still a sharp aroma, almost unpleasant, but not really, with touches of cocoa and nut in it. It was at first, a cloudy pale gold, from the bud dust, which quickly became a dark amber. It seems to have a fairly thin body. It tastes a bit like hazelnuts mixed in with the more usual Yunnan taste. I can't decide if I like it or not. As it cooled, I decided I made it a little too strong and if I made it a bit weaker I'd appreciate it more. So I did and I found it to be much better.

Out in the Provinces

The new organ in Stephansdom, the Vienna cathedral.

Good morning all. It is a beautiful day today, with 50+ temperatures, sunny skies, naughty squirrels and flowers blooming. The colts foot is among them. It was named that way because the leaves reminded early folk of the hoofprint of colts. It is either the first or among the first of wild flowers to bloom. We've also seen some early tulips and daffodils. Hooray!

I am back among the Keemuns today, with the Tea Trekker's Keemun Congou. This is an organic tea, from Anhui Province in China, the home of Keemusn. The leaves are tiny, very black and have a smokey, winey, woodsy aroma. As it brewed there was more an aroma of cornsilk. The liquor was a very dark amber. The tea had a very full mouth feel and to me, tasted primarily of roasted corn. I think I brewed it too long, as it was beginning to get tannic. All the tes were brewed for 3.5 minutes with boiling water.

The next is Upton's ZK22 from Hubei Province, China - Keemun Ji Hong. Purists say this is not really Keemun as it doesn't come from Anhui Province. I would agree, it should be called Keemun style. I am in favor of foods being labeled according to their origin and others known as XXXtype or XXXstyle. I'm all for individuality in these cases. The dry leaves are a bit bigger , black mixxed with a bit of brown. They give off an odor of wet wood or wet hay, with some tobacco mixed in, altogether a very pleasant aroma. This carried through to the brewing scent. However, it doesn't really make it into the tea liquor, which just tastes like wet wood, while at the same time it is lightlysmokey. It's okay, but nothing to get excited about, although it is better cooler.

The last of the Keemuns I believe I have reviewed before. It is from Aura Teas and is their Organic Keemun, from Wuyan, Jianxi, China. It has the largest leaves and the greatest amount of brown ones. This one has an earthy, woody aroma. It brewed up the lightest amber and reminded me of my great-uncle John's cabin - a mix of earth, flowers, things aging gently in the sun. It is again a rather plain tea, with almost a citrus edge to it.

On the whole, I would rank these three near the bottom of the 7 Keemun chart, whereas the other four I've had in the past week would all rank at the top and I'm not at all sure where I would place them. You might have a very different reaction to all of them.

Keep Those Keemun Coming

How's that for a bit of Gothic tracery, complete with a saint on a pillar?

Blimey, but the birds are all a-twitter this morning, as are the peepers. I guess they are desperate for mates. The "bully boys" - grackles, blue jays, starlings - have been at the feeder, but the little birds just keep plugging away.

The deer are just too tame. Yesterday morning I chased them away from the bird feeders 6 times in the space of about 30 minutes. The feeders are only about 15 feet from the house, so you can see what I mean.

I am regularly hearing a pileated woodpecker and I am hoping that I will see one this year. A few trees are beginning to get reddish twigs and some have a few buds. It is supposed to be quite warm this week, so maybe we'll actually see some flowers and leaf buds. My church's daffodils will bloom this week for sure.

I am doing two more Keemuns today. I did do a scond wash on Tea Trekkers Keemun Mao Feng, but I don't know how long it brewed yesterday, as I got distracted. Maybe as long as 10 minutes. It didn't hurt it, as it was just so soft and smooth, really delicious. So, even though TT are a bit expensive, if you can get a good second brewing, the cost is really halved.

Today I am brewing up Tea Trekker's Keemun HaoYa 'A'. The leaves are tiny, black, mixed with some borwn. They have a faint wine smell. It brews up to a dark amber after 3.5 minutes and gives of an aroma that is somewhat earthy, somewhat fruity and floral. The taste is a earthy and with a bit of briskness, maybe something bisquity. It is a robust tea, suitable for mornings, but ones when you are awake enough to appreciate it.

The second offering is Upton's ZK15, China Keemun Hen Ru. Dry, it is floral and woody smelling at the same time. As it brews it gives off a floral and wet wood aroma, along with that of corn. The taste is also somewhat woody and while, okay, that's about as far as I could go with it.


On our walk today, we saw several neighbors' crocus blloming. It is so good to see flowers again.

Keemun to the Left of Me, Qimen to the Right of Me

An ancient house of the winemakers guild in Bacharach Germany

It's almost warm today and the weathermen say we will have a bit of sun. I sure hope so, it's been on the gloomy side around here. I have gotten a number of plants by mail in the assumptions we are ready to plant them. Hardly. I don't think the frost is out of the ground. So today I will be potting them up and will begin the great Spring Porch Shuffle. Plants out in the am, in before dark. By real planting time, I will be very sick of them all. Such is gardening. The rest of the shipped bits were only roots and they can go in the fridge.

I discovered I have 7-8 different Keemun or Qimen samples, so for the next several days I will be comparing groups. Or maybe just reporting, as they are all different. I brewed them all for 4 minutes with water about 205 degrees. They all come from Anhui Province, China

First up is Upton's ZK20 Keemun FOP, meaning Flowery Orange Pekoe, which in turn means it came from large leaves. Four minutes was a bit too long, as it has tannic edges, my standard 3.5 would have been better. The dry leaves were quite small, very black and smelled strongly of old barn wood, very rich. As it brewed the tea became very dark, with a smooth earthy aroma with a hint of cocoa. The tea is smooth, with the very very barest trace of smoke, maybe a touch of spice - one of the warm ones, like nutmeg. In spite of the tannic edge, it leaves an almost sweet finish in your mouth.

Next is Tea Trekker's Keemun Mao Feng Premium, an organic tea. The leaves are long and wirey, tightly held. The dry aroma is winey, and woody. After brewing, it was clear that not all had unfurled, so I will do a second wash. By now there was what I can only describe as a corn and wet bracken scent, maybe a cultured earthiness? This tea is considerably lighter in color and much sweeter with some real cocoa hints , although I might describe it as Nestle's Quick, that ubiquitous childhood chocolate milk maker. I loved it, so that is by no means a put down. There were still some elements of corn to it. It is very smooth and leaves your mouth wanting more.

I would not want to have to choose between these two, but I am a little more weighted towards the latter, for what that's worth.

Tomorrow I will do Upton's Keemun Hen Ru and tea trekker's Keemun Hao Ya 'A'.

Peep, Peep, Peep

I wonder where this knight traveled - notice the monkey crouched at his feet. There aren't many monkeys in Germany.

Spring has had such a stop and start mentality this year. Just a small example - last night, for the first time, I heard the peepers calling for a mate - today it is snowing. If you don't know, peepers are tiny brown or green frogs that raise a racket competing for mates by calling for them. They are one of the true signs of early Spring

We went to get maple syrup from our friends, the Bakers. This is a good year for sap, as already they have 1,600 gallons done and the season is not over yet. Last year they only had 800 altogether.

Supercat Ernie very nearly caught one of the marauding squirrels, missing him by about 6 inches. If he had been a little more decisive, chomp - one less squirrel.


This is a great month, as the early teas are beginning to arrive. You might want to check with your preferred tea merchants to see what is coming in with them. Some of the Pre Qing Ming (before the Spring rains) are due the end of this week. Even some of the lovely Yunnan buds are due the middle of the month. Prices should be fairly decent, as China has had good weather in its tea-growing areas.

I have some tea I just got from the Tea Trekker that is last year's Yunnan Golden Tips, Dian Hong. Now remember last year, a lot of Yunnan had weather problems, so it is different from this years. The dry leaves were a surprise, as they were smaller and greener than I am used to seeing in Yunnans. However, they did have a characteristic smell. The aroma of the brewing tea was very soft and smelled of old wood, with a touch of spice. The brewed cup was quite different from the Yunnans that I have had, in that it almost tasted like those plain English biscuits. There was the barest hint of any spice, but a bit of nuttiness. Altogether it was a very gentle, soothing cup. I am really eager to see what this years will taste like.