Not So Peachy Mango

The tomb of one of the Hapsburg kings. The figures are all life size.



Well, my friends, we had Indian leftovers with some other friends last night. All told, 10 people ate what I cooked for 3. I guess I did get carried away! Sure was good though, as was the converstion. It is nice to have friends that will eat leftovers.

It is another really gorgeous fall day, all red and gold and blue. I am tasting two teas today - sample teabags I got in an order. They are Mlesna Tea - Naurally the Best. http://www.mlesnateas.com/ . This is a Sri Lankan company, but, as you may know, all their teas go by the country's old name of Ceylon. It is an island off the most southern east coast of India. One is Peach apricot and the other is Mango. The peach apricot smells just like that, but the mango just smells sweet, with the barest hint of the fruit. I used boiling water and infused them about 2 minutes. I don't like to infuse teabags too long as I feel they get nasty quickly, as they are genrally made of very tiny bits of tea.





In the cup, the peach apricot has almost no outstanding flavor, merely a hint of what it is supposed to be. The mango doesn't taste like much of anything, but what there was, wasn't pleasant. I don't know if this is a problem with the tea itself or the packaging, as they were sent to me as is - in thin paper wrappings, so they have been exposed to air for a while. This doesn't do good things for any tea. This is not a good way to encourage people to try something new. They may have fared better in cellophane or a plastic bag in transit.






I made a discovery last night - I had no dessert, so I just made up a tray of what nuts, dried fruit and plain chocolate candy bars I had around. It was a great conclusion to the meal, as it was basically light, didn't clash with all those exotic tastes, and encouraged people to sit around and yak. We didn't get up from the table until 10 pm.

Fall, Glorious Fall!

Pretty fancy church pews, but they don't look too comfy.

What a grand fall day! One of those really perfect ones where it is sunny and warmish, the trees are bright, the sky is a deep blue and you feel quite wonderfully alive.

We had a wonderful Indian meal last night, but there is a slight problem - lots of leftovers - I got a little carried away! Guess we'll have to have more people over to eat them.

Aura Teas does it again! http://www.aurateas.com/ Today's offering is their Organic Chamong Black Tea FTGFOP1, which hails from Chamong, Rungbang Valley, India, which is in Darjeeling, in the North North West part of India, east of Delhi. The altitude there is from 3,500 to almost 7,000 feet. All those letters after the name are clues to what you are getting , teawise. In this case, Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe . The one may refer to either the first picking or best grade.

This is a tea that dry is almost too good smelling and looking to brew. The small twisted leaves are a mix of shades of brown and tan with some silvery gray to spark it. The smell is wonderful - it reminds me of the heavy aroma of a green plant I can't remember the name of, with a heady mix of dark chocolate. Another sniff is chocolate with the aroma of forest floor. I brewed it the standard 1 teaspoon, 8 0z, three minutes and while it was brewing, it smelled woody with hints of jasmine and chocolate. It is a very smooth tea with a full body. There are indeed wood tones, with chocolate and floral. One of the best Darjeelings I've had in a while.

If you like to can peaches and you like ginger, can them with slices of ginger or candied ginger - about 5-6 per quart. If you get yours at the grocery store, pour off the juice and boil it up with the ginger, add the peaches and simmer for about a minute. Very tasty. They make a nice filling for a plain cake, perhaps with a few drops of almond flavoring.

Sorry, Blogger thingy isn't doing doing paragraphs today.



Gothic abounds!



I saw a John Scheepers bulb catalogue yesterday and I am finally going to do what I have wanted to for ages - order me some amaryllis and paper white narcissi. I will get one named Amalfi for my husband and one named for butterflies that is a bit odd. And enough narcissi to make the house smell lovely.



No tea tasting today - I am making a big Indian feast and I only wanted old standbys. We're having chicken cooked with coconut and sweet spices, potatoes from the Mumbai region, spinach creamed with coconut milk and cashews, naan, a tomato and an orange raita, chutney and homemade mango ice cream, which I have to say is truly fantastic.



However, yesterday I did try some Green Tea Mints - fresh breath therapy! I believe the brand is Sen Cha and I think they came as a little gift in my order from T Bar Teas. They are cute little things, shaped like tea leaves and are made from organic green tea extract, jasmine, sweet fennel, tea tree oil, flavors, colors and Lo Han Guo, which I have not heard of. There are also some natural sweeteners. You can definitely taste the green tea and maybe the jasmine. They're a bit odd, to my taste and I don't know what they have done for my breath, but I do know both the Chinese and Japanese have used green tea for centuries to deal with bad breath. My mouth feels fresher, but there's no one around to breathe on at the moment.



Just a note - tea tree oil does not come from tea bushes - Camellia sinensis - it comes from Melaleuca alternifolia, which grows in Australia, not where most tea comes from.

I Say Keemun, You Say Qi Men

Nice bit of Gothic soaring.

The hills are finally beginning to color more, but as we've not yet had frost, it's not too impressive - one of those falls that kind of limps along, so that you see trees here and there that are brilliant, but no masses of super-color.

My friend D has decided to raise Italian Volpinos - Google them, they are super gorgeous. On both her and her pup's maiden trip to the show ring - with no preparation, the divine Miss G took 16 ribbons! Including something like 12 firsts. Way to go Giovanna! D didn't trip or do anything to detract from her dog, either!

I have been on a Keemun kick lately. I do love the stuff and I ordered a bunch of it from different sources. Today's comes from Aura Teas, one of my favorite companies and this is their Organic Keemun Black. I love the tins it comes in. This particular tea comes from Wuyan, Jianxi, China. It is also known as Qi Men Hong Cha, Qi Hong or Prince Tea. It is only picked in the Spring and Summer and then only the first 2 leaves and the end bud. The processed tea is a shiny black, consisting of tightly rolled leaves. I also love having all this information.

This particular Keemun's dry leaves are not so smokey as others I have had, there is more of the characteristic deep wine, with a sweet scent. I didn't quite follow directions, as I had an impatient husband waiting, but I brewed it fairly close to 1 teaspoon per 4 ounces of 203 degree water for 2 minutes and a second brew with an additional 20 seconds [really closer to 30].
Yum, a lovely sweet and floral aroma that carries over into the taste, but there is still that underlying weight of some wine. This first infusion is very smooth. The second infusion reminds me at first of dried corn with a hint of a green autumnal taste. It is also very smooth. I like them both with milk, as there is yet another taste sensation. An excellent tea for a cool Fall day!
This is not the best Keemun I've had this year, but I would rank it up with the top three.

Will You Have A or B?

A memorial in Vienna to the end of the plague.


Oh my, but I hate shopping. Especially if it is one of those trips where you wind up going to a dozen stores - well, 3 or 4 at least, to find something. The internet is much more my speed, most of the time. I am really glad there is so much good tea to be found there.


Just last Wednesday, I was talking about the difference between Keeman Hao Ya "A" and "B" or unlabled. Today I was tidying my tea tasting cupboard and found some of the "A" from Upton's - samples I purchased this fall. So, why not do a bit of comparing? This smells much more smokey than the other and more deeply woodsy. The leaves are about the same, small and very black. I brewed up a pot using 1 teaspoon per cup for 31/2 minutes. As it brews the smoke disappears to be replaced by a deep floral aroma, with some good earthy, woodsiness under it. This one doesn't need any extra spoonsful for the pot, it stands quite well on the usual amount.



The taste strikes me as quite earthy, with an almost sour kick to it. Not a bad sour, a good sour. I have to say that because it is not a citrus nor any sort of fruit. The smoke has disappeared. This is heavy tea, suitable for cool weather or breakfast or with a somewhat substantial meal. I tried it with cream and what a difference! The floral notes come out and it loses a lot of its heaviness. I am still leaning toward the "B" or unlabeled category - all unlabeled are "Bs", but this is really going to give them a run for their money. Once again, I am astonished by how many tastes there are in a cup of tea!

As I was listing labels I realized there are many types of Keemun. Hao Ya, Mao Feng, Heng Ru, Ji Hong, probably more. And I don't know the difference! Perhaps I had best find out. If I do, I will let you know. If you know, please put a note in the comment section and tell me.

OH ICK

I just read in The Darjeeling Tea News that a company in India is beginning to market an oil that keeps bugs off tea leaves. It somes from the same petroleum base that winds up as oil for your car. One more reason to go as organic as possible with my teas. I think they will be doing it first in Assam and later on, in Nilgiri. Dreadful news.

Ok, Ok, It's Fall

The Royal Hapsburg emblem - the double-headed eagle.

Okay, even I will admit it is Fall - the sun is low, and there is almost-frost on the grass in the morning. I love Fall, but I guess I am running ahead of myself as usual and anticipating the gray days, which I really hate. I should work at just living in and appreciating the moment - especially when so much of it is beautiful.

Towards that end, I am trying Boston Tea Company's Autumn Harvest. These kind folks have given me sooo many samples. This is really what is considered a tisane or herbal infusion, as the base is rooibos -"red bush" in Afrikaans, one of the many languages of South Africa, the country of origin. The closest pronunciation would be "roy-boo-s". Rooibos has been used for hundreds of years by native peoples but has only been really noticed in this country in the last 10 years. It makes a very good base for flavors, as it doesn't seem to compete with them. In this case, the flavor comes from lemongrass, dried apples cinnamon and rose hips, all of which not only taste good, but are good for you.


I used about double what was called for - 3 teaspoons per cup, as I know I like things on the strong side, and I brewed it at the upper limit - 8 minutes, using almost boiling water. This orange tea (yup, a Fall color, even) smelled wonderfully of cinnamon, with a slight zing, probably from the rose hips. As it brewed it smelled more like sweet baked cinnamon with apples. And that is just what it tasted like! Very soothing and definitely in the "comfort food" range. It created a warming and cosy atmosphere, something good to have when you are "tea-ed out" but want a warm drink, as there is no caffeine in it. I did not like it with cream and I don't think it would need sweetener, unless you really like sweet things, as the apple and cinnamon seem to do a good enough job in that department.