Oolong Oops!

Yet another view of the Ravenna Church. Notice the barred windows.
I wonder if this was used as a sanctuary in times of invasion?



The weather bureau has promised lots of rain this week. The road to Hades is paved with those promises. Today is smotheringly hot and humid.



I thought I would try a nice light Oolong. I still have a lot of samples from the Golden Moon Tea Sampler I bought a while ago and Orchid Temple Oolong from the Wuyi Mountains looked good. It is quite pretty tightly rolled balls, striped green and white. The directions said to brew it for 2-3 minutes at 212 degrees. So I did it for 2.5. I first rinsed it, which seems to be the thing to do with Oolongs. As it brewed it smelled very green and seaweedy, but with a nice overlay of orchid scent. The liquid was a pretty pale good.



I am afraid that is where praise ends, as it was just too seaweedy for me, with too little floral to redeem it. It was nasty and somewhat bitter, so I pitched it out. The second cup which I brewed less time was just as bad. Sad, as Golden Moon sells good teas.



Now I'll tell you what I think went wrong. My cup was too small for the amount of tea in the sample. The water could have been about 180-195 and the brewing time was too long. Partially the problem is theirs for giving probably incorrect instructions, part of the difficulty is mine for following them. By now I should be able to use more sense. But if I were new to tea and brewed it their way I would have a nasty cup of tea. The samples in this package are generally only enough for one mug, so I didn't think about it - I will be more careful with Oolong samples in the future.

Tea on a Summer Day

I guess you can tell I was quite taken with the stonework of this
church. As I was sitting in our new church this morning, looking at
the magnificent organ, I thought that people coming here from other countries would probably be just as impressed. We are as exotic to visitors as they are when we visit a foreign country.


It's another beautiful summer day, not too hot, not too humid, but I am aware that my neighbors' corn and hay fields are drying up and lawns aren't looking too green. Where there was enough clover seed in our new lawn, the grass is doing well, clover is a good nurse. It also smells wonderful. The sweetpepper bushes - Clethera - also are pouring out their sweet perfume.

Today's tea offering is another one from the Boston Tea Company - English Breakfast, "a blend of superior Indian and Chinese Black teas." It certainly started out weell. As soon as I opened the packet, I was greeted with a wonderful fresh smell akin to very good pipe tobacco, with some wine like scent, touched with a tiny bit of smoke and an even smaller whiff of black cherry.

The dry leaf was small, composed mostly of black ones with dark and light brown ones to accent it. The directions said to use boiling water for 4-6 minutes. Gulp, I am always afraid to push it too far, as I don't want it to be bitter, but I plunged ahead and did it for almost 5. I was rewarded with a really nice cup of tea. Pleasantly strong with a deep complex winey, malty flavor, with just that wee bit of smoke, probably from Keemun tea, which is usually the Chinese component. Probably an Assam added the malt. It is a substantial tea, but not at all heavy. As it is "English", it stood up very nicely to milk and sugar. My husband even noticed it was very good. It was perhaps, even better plain, as more nuances could be noticed.

Perfect Tea for a Perfect Day

Yet another view of the Ravenna Church. There are dozens of churches in Ravenna worth seeing. We only had time for this one
because we missed a train connection and we were on our way to meet a friend. Ravenna was once a busy seaport, which may be why the church is so fortress-like. It could also just be the age in
which it was built.

Today is a perfect summer day. Sun and clouds chase each other across the sky, the birds are singing, [although it really sounds more like a hawk nestling that needs to fly on his own and doesn't wantto]. There is a wonderful breeze and we have enough trees so that it sounds great. It is all so soothing that napping seems like the ideal occupation. But first, some tea.

The Boston Tea Company sent me a great packet of teas to review and this is one of theirs, Bentley's Earl Grey Green Tea. It is in bags and I asked for it as I had never had a green Earl Grey. The leaves are, of course, all chopped very small, but there is a very pleasant scent of bergamot, that ugly little orange that smells so sweet. I don't know what kind of tea it is as it doesn't say. I did NOT follow the directions, which said to use boiling water, which would have guaranteed a bad cup. Green teas just like water to be about 140 for Gyrokuro to about 180 for the sturdier greens. I used 180 for 2 minutes. It's been my experience that that seems to work for greens unless someone tells me different.

The liquor brewed up to a pleasant pale orange and maintained a soft scent of bergamot. Surprisingly, the tea did also, with a nice sweet undertone of the tea. There was also almost a sweet lavender in there as well. This a really nice tea, especially for tea bags. Just remember to brew it for less time, at a lower temperature. I am really happy to find this as there are times when going the pot route or even the loose tea quicky route is just too much, and a bag is just right.

Cold Refreshing Dreams

The Tomb of someone important.

This is National Afternoon Tea Week in England, so let's all raise a cup [or glass, if it's too hot] to our friends across the pond. In light of that, I have been perusing a book entitled "British English A to Zed". We are indeed, 2 countries separated by a common language. It is certainly less so than it was, but I am all for maintaining cultural and linguistic differences. It is what makes us unique and interesting. By the way, it does define afternoon tea as tea, that which one consumes about 4 o'clock, and High Tea as the equivalent of our supper.

Yesterday I made up a pitcher of Madam Potts's Indigo Dreams. I reviewed this a while ago as a hot tea and now I am having it as an ice tea. It is described by Madam P as a sensuous blend of "Jasmine Spiral Buds, Lavender, Jasmine Flowers and Violets." The hot tea tasted mostly of Jasmine, with lavender overtones. The ice tea is the reverse, Lavender with Jasmine highlights. The dry tea is quite pretty, with all the different variations of purple and the cold tea is as well, being a soft yellow. It is naturally a bit sweet and very clean tasting and refreshing. I do have a serious problem with it, however - it's all gone, oh woe.

I just got the summer catalogue from Upton's and in my mind I have spent hundreds of dollars. A lot of this year's teas have arrived and I want to try them all. To begin with, they say they have some Yunnans that are of the quality of a few years ago, so they are a definite, as that is my all time favorite. Then there are some said to be of good quality from Kenya and Nilgiri and, and, and. You see the dilemma.

I was reading another tea-bloggers article a while ago, about listing your ten favorite teas. I barely made it out of the blacks before I had more than 10, so I gave up. Each one I listed made me think of another one. It might be easier to list the ones I don't like. How about you? Can you limit yourself to just ten? If so, I admire your decisiveness.

No Earl in Assam

We associate the High Renaissance with flying buttresses -
the external supports that enabled people to build tall walls .
These buttresses are much more ancient and serve the same
purpose. If you compare a picture of Notre Dame in Paris to
this, you will see the similarities.

I thought I would be flying with today's choice of tea, an Earl Grey from the Assam Tea Company: Classic Bergamot, made from tippy black tea and organic oil of bergamot. It smelled so wonderful when I opened the packet. It was a very rich citrussy, perfumed bergamot with a great understory of very fresh tea. The leaves were quite dark, with an abundance of tips, on the small side. I brewed for 3 minutes, using boiling water and while it was brewing the bergamot scent faded quite a bit, as often happens.

The liquor was a lovely deep reddish amber and still smelled very fresh. The first several sips, I couldn't discern the bergamot, but gradually I could, in the back of my mouth, very faintly, sad to say. The tea is a good Assam, malty and rich, but I could not say this is really an Earl Grey. I added some cream and this did bring out the bergamot, but not enough to suit my taste. I still prefer several of Upton's.

From the Himilayas to Qiman

This is the exterior of the church with the mosaics and stone work.
Note how small the windows are and how the building conveys, at
least to me, great strength and solidity. Remember how old it is.


I finally am getting around to trying the tea I bought from SERRV a few months ago. This is billed as Himalayan Mountain tea or Ilam Black Tea with mint. I must say upon opening the package, I nearly threw it out. It did smell gently of mint, but it also smelled odd, sort of moldy, sort of something else I couldn't identify. The leaves were all chopped and varied from pale green to brown. As the tea brewed for 3 minutes, I thought it smelled more and more like a green tea – very vegetal. The liquor is a very light amber.


Well, I would hardly call this mint tea or black tea. What it is is either a very poorly processed tea or poorly stored tea. There is no mint flavor and the tea doesn't taste very good. I am sorry to give a really negative report, as SERRV helps many people to make a decent living. I buy many things from them, mostly as gifts, but it doesn't look like tea will be one of them.


On the other hand, I needed to fill out an order from Spices, Etc http://www.spicesetc.com/ and so I bought a sample of their Keemun Tea. It came in a standard spice bottle! In the jar, the tea smelled fresh, but that was about it. The leaves were small and black. I brewed it for 3.5 minutes in boiling water, a heaping spoon of the measure that came with my teapot. The liquor is a very nice straightforward amber. The tea tastes fresh, with a very small hint of smoke, some licorice or sarsaparilla taste, and a kind of woodsiness; lots of flavor action. Lest you think this is surely awful, it isn't, it's good. It just has a lot of nuances to keep your mouth busy trying to figure them all out. They work well together and I would say Spices Etc. did a good job.


It is the most gorgeous day today; blue sky, sun, warm but not outrageous, no humidity, birds singing, cats purring and a new book to read with my new tea. Life is good.

A quick bit of info - the Tea Review Blog www.teareviewblog.com is back! I find the bulk of their tea reviews are thoughtful, well written and cover a wide range of teas. It is worth your checking out.

Raspberries and Green Tea

I love stonework. It is amazing to me that 1,000 years ago this was
built and it is still standing, still in excellent shape.


I received a sample of Formosa Sanxia Longjing tea from Aura Teas. This is the Formosan [Taiwan] take on the familiar China green tea, Dragonwell. It is what is known as a “fried tea”. That means it is dry-
fried in a cylinder or wok to stop oxidation or to partially dehydrate the leaves. One can only imagine the skill it takes to get this right and not burn it!
The dry leaves are very long and a deep green. They have a sweet scent, mixed with something that says “Christmas tree” to me. I infused this 3 times at about 180 degrees, for 50, 60 and 70 seconds. The first left the leaves slightly unfurled and tasted a little sweet, a little vegetal. The second infusion the leaves were more open and the taste had shifted to a more vegetal side of the scale. The third seemed the most hearty of all. I poured the three infusions together and the result was an almost asparagus like taste, with a much heartier body. I didn't feel it delivered much on the sweet floral, fruity taste that Aura said it should have, so I was disappointed. It also seemed to be a much lighter version of Dragonwell than I've had before. I am no expert on green teas, so feel free to really disagree.


Speaking of green teas, while I was at one of our local stores I found some instant tea packets.. They were for iced green tea with lime. They are made by the Gourmet Village company, from Canada. All you do is mix them up and voila! Green tea with lime to pour over ice. So I did. Well... it took me right back to Daily Vacation Bible School, sitting on the church steps, singing “John Jacob Jinkleheimer Schmidt” and eating graham crackers and drinking Lime Koolaid. Which,as you have guessed, is just what it tasted like, only the Koolaid was prettier. At least I won't have to worry about buying any more.


Another ice tea I made recently was also a flop. I like hot Dammann Freres Framboise [raspberry] tea. As far as I am concerned, it's the only one that really tastes like raspberries. It is light and flavorful, and this highly rated French company does its usual good job. However, as an ice tea it seems very heavy and the black tea base seems to drag down the raspberry. All together it isn't very nice. On a positive note, it is time to pick raspberries, yummmmmmmm.

Isn't it amazing how different teas can be whether they are hot or iced? Part of the ongoing journey of discovery in tea land.