Up A Tree With Darjeeling

That's Vesuvius in the distance, dribbling a bit of smoke and haze.


We had our share of excitement this morning. A very nice beagle came visiting. Sadly, he thought our 2 youngest kitties were game and proceeded to tree them. As you can imagine, this was not appreciated by us and we chased him away. The kits didn't much like it either. However, they quickly came down and inside, please, please!

Yesterday I had a hard time picking an ice tea, but I read on another tea blog that Darjeeling is good iced. So I picked Arya Estate Second Flush Darjeeling from Thunderbolt, which I had purchased earlier this year. I reviewed this Mar. 28 and when I brewed it carefully, it was a delightful tea. I used about 9 teaspoons in about 1 1/2 quarts of water. I was going to brew it for about 5 hours, but it stretched into 7.

When I filtered out the leaves and tried it, I was quite pleased. It was a touch floral, with some astringency, and I could swear there was a tiny bit of smokiness, with some citrus notes. There was no bitterness nor too much tannin, just an all around good tea. My husband would consider it weak, but I, who like my tea strong, did not find that to be true.

I tried it with a bit of lemon juice and later, with a bit of orange and I must say, it was very tasty all three ways. You're on your own with sugar, I just can't stand sugar in my tea.

We are all waiting on tippy-toes for rain. The weatherman keeps promising, but there hasn't been more than a little action. I am hoping we'll get one of those really active thundershowers. I love to watch the lightening.

A Summer Paradise

More old stone work. All of my pictures are from a trip we took to see
the places our grandparents and more remote ancestors had come from.
We went to Switzerland, Germany and Italy and then spent a week in Vienna with a friend of ours.

Boston Tea Company graced me with a number of samples, as you know and yesterday's was no winner. Today's is one I reviewed as a hot tea. It is called Pineapple Paradise and this time I made it as an ice tea by the cold brew method. I used about 5 teaspoons to about a quart of water and let it sit in the fridge for about 5 hours. It is so good. Pineapple and berry and a hint of lemon. It really hits the spot on another hot day.

The base tea is a Japanese green Sencha and it is a very pretty mix, with bits of pineapple and attractive blue and pink flowers. Next time I may make it in a big glass pitcher and leave the leaves and fruit in until I pour each glass, as it maintains its good looks. It is a very nice pale green. I may also try adding a bit of fresh pineapple if I can find a nice ripe one. Doing ice tea in the fridge is a real cinch and the tea is clearer, plus it is easier to control how strong you might want it. My whole perspective on ice tea is undergoing a radical shift from just Lipton's Cold Brew, because "it's just ice tea", to discovering a whole 'nother world of really good stuff. Of course there have been some that were awful, like iced Lapsang Souchong, but I wouldn't have known if I didn't try, right?

Cherries and Strawberries

Moving on to Ravenna, Italy. I really loved all the
old stone work.

It is almost too hot to be borne again today. It's very dry and we have no shade. In the house it is almost ok, but who wants to be inside forever. I know I am not alone in this, my cousin said it is 102 degrees just north of Washington, DC. If it weren't for flowers and veggies, I would really rather just skip summer, at least the heat part.

In spite of that, I am tasting tea today. It is another sample given to me by the Boston Tea Company, Strawberry Fields. It seems like an appropriately summer drink. This tea is made from Premium Ceylon tea, “with the succulent taste of sweet strawberries.” The leaves are pretty small and very dark, with pieces of dried strawberries. The dry scent has a berry smell, but to me it is the scent of my dad's cherry tobacco. As it brews, however, that disappears and the scent of strawberries comes out somewhat. For once, I brewed it the recommended 4 minutes. Although the leaves are chopped, they are in quite large pieces, which gives me hope for the taste, even though I worry about how long I brewed it. I used boiling water and the standard 1 teaspoon per 6 ounces of water.


Well, I wish I could be more positive, but I can't. It really doesn't taste like sweet strawberries. The taste is very muddled and really reminds me far more of sweet tobacco. I am going to do another cup at 3 minutes and see if it helps. This time I also used less tea, about 1 ½ teaspoons for about 16 ounces of water for about 3 minutes. There are a couple of differences – it smelled better, but still not strawberry; it tasted better, but not enough to make me want to buy it.

Having said that I will shock you all and say I think this would've been better with some sort of natural strawberry flavoring, in spite of the fact I usually turn my nose up at them. I think the real problem with this tea is the dried strawberries, which simply haven't the same taste as fresh ones. And I confess that I have never had a dried strawberry that I liked. Those of you who do like them may like this tea, also.

On a somewhat different track, I had some Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate, with a touch of sea salt, as a treat today. It really is done very well and the small amount of sea salt really off sets the chocolate. Yum. As I had some of the tea left, I tried them together – very nice! Tasted like really good chocolate covered cherries. Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that. I first learned about having sweet and salt together when we lived in York County, PA. You always got pretzels with your ice cream and I found the two really brought out each others taste. Try it and see.

Tea with Monsieur Hediard

Way back in October I reviewed Hediard's Hediard Blend as a hot tea and found it to be pleasant, but not great. Today I made it as an ice tea – 8 teaspoons to almost 2 quarts of water. This is definitely where it shines. All the citrus, bergamot and orange, come out and it is a very nice, refreshing ice tea. I personally like it plain, but that's me. If you have tried it hot and weren't impressed, I urge you to make it iced, I think you'll like it a lot more.


I did try blending tea with the cat litter and I found it did not do much for odor. The company I mentioned that sells green tea cat litter must do more processing beyond stirring, as I did. The cats looked at me as if I were nuts, but then, catly disdain is not uncommon.


I just got an issue of the magazine “Tea in Texas”. I thought I ought to keep up with our Southern tea people. In the magazine, I found 2 items of note. The first is that the combined Tea Associations of Canada and the US are sponsoring the 1st Annual North American Tea Conference in Niagara Falls, Canada. It will be held in September and delegates from all over the world are expected to attend. The emphasis will be on the Specialty Tea market. It sounded like it is aimed at everyone in the tea business, not just tea drinkers.


The second piece of news is that Rishi Tea is launching a new tea concentrate, Masala Chai, in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute. If you remember, Dr. Goodall has done extensive work with African gorillas, as well as other animals, and sponsors an environmental and humanitarian youth program. The tea, and all its ingredients are organic and Fair Trade. The base tea comes from ancient tree forests in Yunnan, China. I've not had any Rishi Tea, but I know they generally have a good reputation. If you buy the tea, a portion of the profits will go to the Institute.

Christmas in July

A pretty corner garden.


Open the door and let the cool wind in, it's Christmas in July! No, I am not going against all my principles and starting the Christmas season early. But I want to talk about some Christmas teas I purchased from Adagio so you won't do what I did – purchase them so late in the season, they are only good for Valentine's Day. If you get samples, get them early, so you can order what you like in larger sizes.

Here, then, the ones I've been sampling. The first is Gingerbread and that is exactly what it is. From the first whiff out of the tin to the last bit from the pot, it is gingerbread. A very mild and not too sweet confection, with pieces of what looks like dried ginger in it. I brewed it at 1 teaspoon for 3.5 minutes in almost boiling water. I think maybe an added half teaspoon would've been more to my taste. I also thought a bit of cream and sugar made it better and I also liked it with a bit of honey. A nice tea for an afternoon with cookies, either making or eating them.


However that was not the case with Candy Cane. Upon opening the can there was a faint whiff of something like a candy store – a generic kind of sweet. Oh well, said I, must be they got the peppermint tamed. I brewed it as they said – for 5 minutes with boiling water. Surprisingly it was quite mild – not what I expected from black tea. Sadly, the flavor was also mild – so mild I wasn't sure what it was. It did taste vaguely of candy with the merest hint of peppermint, but that's it. Much too undefined for my taste.


Pumpkin Spice is another one that is definitely what it says. The dry tea smells pretty vaguely of it, the brewing tea, very strongly spicy, with perhaps too much clove. I only brewed it for 4.5 minutes, but that was too long. I would drop back to 3.5 next time. The taste of the tea is nowhere near as strong as the smell, but to my mind, the spice overwhelms the pumpkin. It is also not at all sweet. Cream enhanced this tea immeasurably, as did sugar and I would recommend it if you add them. If not, it's not that good.


Another great holiday flavor is Cranberry, often canned as sauce, sometimes made fresh to go with our baked meats, or veggies, if that is your preference. Dried, the tea had a sweet berry smell that came out even more as it brewed. After 4.5 minutes with boiling water, there was a cranberry taste, somewhat sweet, with the characteristic dryness that is part of it. Milk made it taste awful! I am not sure the base tea was the best either for the blend or on its own.


The last one I tried is Chestnut and I have to say, if you like graham crackers, you will probably like this. It really smells just like them and the taste is close to those childhood favorites as well. I have not had too many tastings of the chestnut – roasted at Christmas and as a sweet puree in crepes, so I'm not sure I can really judge this, but it did not remind me of either of those . Again, I did it for 4.5 minutes with boiling water. Surprisingly, the addition of milk made this taste much more like chestnuts. So much so that it no longer reminded me of graham crackers.


So there you have it, one prejudiced woman's take on one company's Christmas offerings. I think Adagio has another holiday tea, but I forget which it is, as I only bought the ones I thought I might like. I think it had clove as the prominent spice, which is not my favorite in tea. I tried all these in the late winter/early spring, so they didn't hang around and get stale. I've been waiting and waiting for July to finally arrive so I could blog them for you.

Here Kitty, Kitty, Come Get Your Tea

Just a peaceful river in a small town.


I think this falls in the category of “now I've heard everything”, but I am not sure. There is a company selling cat litter made from wood shavings and, are you ready?, Green tea. In a way, it makes sense, as tea is very odor absorbent. I think I may try it, with the litter I do have and some tea that is too old. Check it out at http://www.petproductadvisor.com/store/mc/green-tea-leaves-clumping-cat-litter.aspx


One of the things I love about summer is the farmers market. It is really wonderful to be able to buy good local produce in the morning and go home and make something with it, Yesterday I made a sour cherry pie. I love sour cherries! Lots of work, but oh, the taste. And chard to make a veggie tart, fresh green beans, sweet little beets, yum. Almost as good as your own garden, which we didn't plant due to the move.


Today's tea is an old favorite, iced. Queen Catherine's Blend, from Harney's. I've reviewed it before as a hot tea, and I have to say it makes a very nice ice tea, with a little bit of True Orange in it. It is named in honor of Queen Catherine of Barganza who is credited with popularizing tea in England.

We went to a new Japanese Buffet in Binghamton today, as a reward for finally! Cleaning out everything from our old house. Ick! It was a great reward, as the food was quite good and they had an excellent Oolong for tea. A very dark roast, it almost looked like a black tea in the cup. It was a good sturdy tea, well able to stand up to the deeper and spicier foods of the buffet. Much of the food was Chinese, rather than Japanese, but it was good anyway. Next time we go, if it is less busy, I am going to try and find out what kind of tea we were served. I might even remember the actual name of the place!

Blackcaps and green tea

A tiny church in the German hinterlands - snazzy pulpit, though.

We were at our old house today and picked the black raspberries we planted last year - so tasty. I hated leaving them behind. We have started so many gardens over the year and seen few of them come to any sort of maturity. I don't know if I have the heart to do much here.


Aura Tea sent me some samples a bit ago and I am trying another one today. It is a green tea from Formosa – much more well known for its Oolongs. It is called Sanxia Biluchun, the last part of which I think means Green Snail Spring. The instructions say to use 2 teaspoons to ¼ cup water at 175degrees. I know that sounds odd – it did to me also, but the leaves are huge; long, twisted, dark green. I brewed it for about 2 minutes the first time. The dry tea has a slight vegetal scent. As the tea brews, the aroma is almost overpoweringly cooked beet greens mixed with asparagus, not pleasant and I wondered if I would have to hold my nose to drink it! However, the tea with the leaves removed was much more pleasant to the nose and the taste was ok, too. It really did not appeal to me, as there was too much of the cooked veggie taste, the first time around. The second time, it was somewhat bitter to add to the fun and I liked it even less.

I am not much of a green tea drinker and those I do like tend to be floral or only somewhat vegetal, so I cannot tell if this just wasn't a top-notch tea or if I brewed it incorrectly or just plain ole me.