Bertie and the Dormouse

For those of you who might want to see the kittens - now fully grown -
that I keep talking about, this is the infamous and very naughty Bert.
Tomorrow I will put up Ernie.


One of my fellow writers has a blog called “Life in a Teacup”. It is a well-written, serious blog, seriously reviewing high quality teas. Unfortunately, every time I see the title all I can think of is the dormouse in Alice in Wonderland who was in the teapot and I keep imagining a little mouse with a nice nest in a teacup, being disturbed every day by someone pouring tea in his home. Too much time on my hands these days. Perhaps I had best have a cup of tea, since this is a tea blog and stop being silly.

Adagio's Anji Duet is a mix of green and white tea leaves that smell a bit like dusty quality paper. The leaves are very long, at least an inch, and some longer. It brews up a pale yellow and is quite delicate with a sweet grass flavor that lasts. As it cools, the taste becomes fuller and more rounded. I think if you made ice cubes from this tea and then made iced tea with them it would be excellent. I would recommend the tea cubes as this is a delicate tea that would not stand up to being diluted. It may be one of those with which you could do a cold brew, as well. It is very good hot, which is my preference. I am one of those people who doesn't much care what's in my ice tea as long as it's okay. A sad failing.

Looking for Gold Among The Yunnans

On the porch of the Amalfi Cathedral, looking at the hills, of which there
are more than you want to count.


Those of you who read this blog often know that one of my all-time favorite teas is Yunnan, preferably Yunnan Gold. I got some from Jing Tea in a tea swap and finally tried it. I brewed it as usual, although there may not have been quite enough for the size of my cup. I am not convinced it was all that fresh either, as the dry leaves did not have that characteristic “fresh wash on the line” smell I associate with Yunnans. It brewed up to a deep amber and the liquor did have some of the usual scent, but not much. It also had some of the typical taste, but it was very muted, almost bland, with not much earthiness or pepper. Again, there may have been too little for the size of my cup. Sadly, that's all there was. Maybe I'll order some when this year's stock arrives in the fall and give it another try.


A whole new rash of studies about the benefits of tea is making the rounds and I have to say, I really take them all with a grain of salt. I know tea is at least better for us than coffee and I am willing to agree that green tea may be the best of all. However, we need to read these studies with care. I suffered through a course in statistics in college and while I don't remember a whole lot, I remember enough to be able to tell if a study makes sense or is a lot of hooey.


So, what should you look for? If the study is trying to prove tea is a health benefit, you need to ask - “Who is doing it”? If it's a tea company or institute, forget it, they're already biased. How many people were in it? There was one making the rounds that only had 10 people – far too few. "Is what they are looking for measurable?" , not just based on how a subject feels. Along with that, is what they are trying to discover reasonable or silly? How long a time period does it cover? This can be tricky as some things happen right away. However, if a short – time period thing is only studied once, beware – there are lots of factors being left out. Again, who is doing it – are they published scientists or doctors? So, good luck in your sifting through studies, if that is what you're up to. I know there are many good holistic and alternative medicine folk out there and you need to ask the same questions of them, especially, are they credible in their field?

For now, I am just going to drink tea because I like it and it gives me a lot of pleasure.

In the Pink

I am on an Amalfi kick - much prettier there than it is here again today. Besides, if you are from Philadelphia and South, you need to see palm trees and blue sky. We had lunch just in back of the biggest palm tree, before we climbed the huge staircase up to the cathedral.


Tea Swaps are a great way to sample a bunch of teas without committing large amounts of cash to the project. It is truly astonishing how many different teas there are on the market. I just had one that is both new to me and new on the market. This is Red Leaf Tea's Pink Sonoma, one of their new wine-infused line.


When I brewed this cup in boiling water for about 3 minutes, I had no idea what it was. The dry tea didn't have a lot of scent and it pretty much looked like chopped grass, even though I later discovered it was white tea. As it brewed, it gave off a fruity, flowery, sharp scent I couldn't identify. That was how it tasted at first, also. In spite of its name, the liquor was not pink, but a soft clear yellow. As it cooled, however, it became sweeter and very grapey. It really was good! I let it cool completely , to see how it might be iced and I would definitely go for it, perhaps with some ice cubes made from the tea or brewed extra strong. I think it would make a very nice punch as well and would go nicely with a mild chicken salad with red grapes, or some of the milder sweets, like sugar cookies, angel cake or pound cake. The slight tartness of the tea would be a pleasant counterpoint.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful

This is a much better view than the one out my window, but it is in
Amalfi, Italy, not here, sigh.

I don't know how cold it was today but the fur brigade stuck their noses out and promptly turned around and stayed in. The wind is howling, there is snow blowing, a good day to be inside myself.
We had company for lunch and afterward decided to try a new tea I recently purchased from The Tea Spot. These are the folks with the interlocking, stacking tins, hurray! Today's offering is their New Moon Darjeeling, which is part of their organic line. Part of the purchase price of this tea goes to cancer research and wellness clinics. Lots of pluses here for The Tea Spot.


The tea is a quite attractive reddish brown with bits of tan and gold to liven it. Dry, it smells like a cross between tobacco and hay drying in the fields, very pleasant. As it brewed at just below boiling, 1 teaspoon per cup, for 3 minutes, there was also a whiff of floral. The brew was on the darkish side. I didn't particularly care for the tea plain, it was just kind of ho hum – kind of woody or too roasted tasting. Our guests had it with sugar and were not impressed either. I finally added some milk to mine and it made a world of difference. The tea became rounder and sweeter and I wound up having three cups. It is always amazing to me how the addition of milk, lemon or sugar can so completely change the taste of a cup of tea.


I came across an interesting site the other day. It is strictly for chai lovers and lists about 100 different types of chai and where to purchase them. You don't purchase them here, but are redirected to the appropriate merchant. If you're a chai lover check out http://www.chaibuyer.com/ .

Celebrating February

This is a very red month. Yesterday was Women's Heart Health Day and we were all supposed to wear red. Missed it, but we can all drink tea today to make up for it. Valentine's Day is also this month and I have some really pretty heart shaped plates I bought a while ago at a discount store. And some old, beautiful red glasses, so all I have to do is cook and make tea and I'm all set! Valentine's Day will be doing double duty this year as the 14th is also Chinese New Year. If you and your sweetie like Chinese food, you'll be ready to celebrate both, with Chinese tea as an accompaniment. Or you could be truly international and serve a Japanese green tea, like today's offering.

I know I have often complained about flavorings in tea, because I can frequently detect a chemical whiff that puts me off completely, but I may have found one that works. I have gotten involved in a tea swap and one of the teas I received was Necessiteas Lemon Raspberry. I actually liked it and couldn't detect any chemical. It was a Sencha [Japanese Green] with lemongrass, a nice big raspberry, and flavorings. I loved the feel of the Sencha leaves, slippery and silky on my fingers. I brewed it at about 175 for about 2 minutes. I was amazed at how large the leaves got, and how green they remained.
I was really pleased there was no fishy or seaweedy taste. That, unfortunately has been my experience so far with Japanese greens, so I have been reluctant to pursue them. Good thing I didn't know it was Sencha to start off. I was also a bit concerned about the abundance of lemon peel, because too much can be nasty and bitter. But I was well pleased by this tea. A very pleasant combination of mainly raspberry, but the lemon held its own and really complimented the other flavors. I may even buy this. I think I would serve this with some nice sugar cookies or meringues. I didn't have enough to try it, but I think this would be a really refreshing iced tea. It would make a nice ending to a Valentine's day meal.

Tomato Soup for Tea?

A beautifully worked gold covered prayer book from the Palace museum in Vienna.


What a great day – so far it has been all sunshine! And we had some super news! We've been accepted into a program for retired Presbyterian pastors to receive free housing until we die or can no longer live independently! We are so excited we hardly know what to do with ourselves, at least in part because we surely don't want to think about all the work involved in moving yet again. The house will be a new 2 bedroom, 2 bath home and we've seen some of the others that were recently built and they are very nice indeed.


Well that certainly needs a super cup of tea to celebrate, doesn't it? I decided to break into my stash of Thunderbolt Darjeelings I recently purchased and have some Arya Estate second flush SFTGFOP1. The tea is quite pretty, a mix of black brown and gold. It smells of really good tomato soup, with a hint of tobacco and wood shavings. As it is brewing I caught a strong whiff of old-fashioned molasses cookies. Can't wait for the taste with all this going on. Sadly, this is where it all came to a crashing halt. It tastes like tomato soup! Two whole cups of tomato soup! Well, phooey, I had really been looking forward to this as generally, Arya Estate has good to excellent tea. My husband said it tasted like I brewed it too long. I thought maybe my taste buds are off due to all the meds poured into me lately. So I will leave it for now with a big question mark and come back to it later.

Happy February

Happy February. It is Black History Month and today I would like to lift my cup of tea to the “Freedom Riders”, a group of about 12 black and white Americans who rode buses into the South and courageously rode and ate, sat and used bathrooms in all the wrong places, whites in the "black only" areas and blacks in the white areas and they did it together. They had no National Guard, no police, no sheriffs backing them up. Their suffering and brave acts began the breaking of the back of segregation. We all need to honor them and the brave men, women and children who gave bravely of themselves in this cause. None of us is free until we all are free.

Do you sometimes get wound up and can't relax? Everyone does. When this happens, “a nice cuppa tea and a sit down” can really help. Especially if the tea is an herbal tisane. I got a very pleasant one as a sample in an order from LiberTeas. It is called Meadow Nocturne, which immediately calls up an image of a flower studded meadow on a hill, just as evening is really beginning to come down. Relaxing already. This is a pretty tea, as most of Anne's are. It is chamomile with many blue, pink and yellow flower petals. It has a really pleasant fresh apple like flavor, with wonderful floral notes. Just the thing to make a pot of, sit down with some pleasant music, and relax, even if it is only 10 minutes. You'll feel better and so will those around you.

Another tisane that has many good things about it is mint. Mint cools you off, warms you up and does wonders for a troubled tummy. For some reason, I've been reading a lot of mint tea reviews lately. I guess mint is one of those all purpose herbs, tea wise, good both summer and winter. However, all I ever see included in tea is spearmint or peppermint. I have nothing against either, I like them both. But there is also chocolate mint, apple mint and my personal favorite orange mint, to name only a few others. All of these, as well as spearmint and peppermint are easy to grow. Keeping them from taking over is another matter. Buy a couple plants of ones you like, put them in an area that can be overrun with them and enjoy in hot or cold tea. No garden space? A biggish pot, [about 8 inches] some seeds, and a bit of sun and you are all set. Easy to grow, easy to use, minty fresh mint!