Up above the world so high

A mountainside on the Rhine. Not quite as high as the ones in Nepal, but a mountain. Mountains and hills make me happy.

Ah, Nepal. A country you don't think of often. Great high mountains, sherpas, snow and tea. What? Tea? Yup. In the foothills of those mountains, and Golden Moon has some in their sample pack I purchased earlier. It is very good. Very similar to a Darjeeling, which it is close to, but heavier somehow. This tea is called Nepalese Afternoon Tea. It is an organic black, which I appreciate. I brewed it for about 3 minutes just below boiling. It smells lovely, with a deep honey aroma, set off by sandalwood. I really liked this, it was so smooth. The tea tasted of honey and florals, with a heavy nectar like quality to it, although I wouldn't really call it sweet. It didn't feel like just water in your mouth. The pleasantness lasted quite a while, too. A definite keeper. On Dec. 13 I wrote about another Nepalese tea, which you may care to look up, just for comparison.

It is getting close to the end of one year and the beginning of another. No surprise there, it happens quite often. I always think the beginning of the year should be at a different time of seasons, like the beginning of school in September or the beginning of Spring. But here we are, anyway. I am looking forward to the real beginning of my year – when I plant the first seeds for the garden. This year we are using grow lights and I am excited to see how they will work for us. Our windows are too crowded with plants we brought in to use for seedlings. I am going to experiment with some herb seeds for the house first, before I do the veggies. A lot of catalogs have already arrived, so when our company leaves, I shall begin to dream in earnest. My only fear is certain four-footed ones of us either digging up or eating the seedlings.

Earlier I mentioned that I appreciate organic tea. I feel we should try to be as organic and fair trade as we can. It can be difficult. Organic is often more expensive and sometimes it doesn't look as pretty, but it is better for both land and people. My cousin, a dairy farmer near Utica, NY has recently gotten his organic certification and I know it is a long hard road, but he feels better about his care of his farm and his animals. I am not 100% organic, I confess. If there is a tea I really, really like, I will buy it. Certainly a lot I am sampling is not organic, but in my personal purchases, I try, just as I try to buy locally when it is possible.

We are having more company, so I won't be writing for a few days. Enjoy the New Year's festivities, stay as safe and as sane as you can be

Not Ginger-Peachy

It is a good thing we celebrated the sun yesterday, because it is gone for a few days, with snow to replace it. However, in this monastery, on that day, the sun was with us.

Ginger, peaches, tea, how can you go wrong? Sadly, I will tell you. True to my campaign to broaden my horizons I bought some Ginger Peach Tea from The Tea Smith. As soon as I opened it I knew I was in trouble. There was that familiar “chemical” smell I hate underlying the peach and ginger. You might not notice it, I did. The leaves were all quite small, a mix of brown and black, with pieces of what I think was peach in them. I brewed it for 4 minutes at 212. It brews up to an attractive darkish red brown. The smell has shifted to a gentle ginger with peach overtones. However, there's only the merest hint of either ginger or peach in the plain tea and the tea itself is nothing great. However, with the addition of some sugar, the peach comes out quite a bit and there is a small bite of ginger, if not much taste. For one who really dislikes sugar in their tea, that was too much for what I got out of the cup. If you like your tea sweet, you might like this one, as it did taste fine with the sugar, just not for me.

On a brighter note, I just got the monthly newsletter from the tea lady over at http://www.bellaonline.com/. It was mostly an article about “the Original T-bag Designs”. This is a South African company that was started in about 2000 to help poverty stricken South African women to get out of their dire straights. They use used teabags which they dry, press and paint to make beautiful articles to sell. They are now a 125 person collective which has enabled some women to buy their own homes. You can go to http://www.originaltbagdesigns.com/ to order some of their merchandise or to one of the many retail stores listed to see them first hand. Their goods are beautifully done, one of a kind and make wonderful gifts or something unique for yourself. There is also an address in New Jersey where you can send your used teabags, minus the tea, of course.

Keep an eye open for – My Favorite Cup – a ½ hour TV show about coffee and tea, due to begin airing March 1 on Colours TV [channels 9407 and 9396 on Dish networks] and Capitol Broadcasting Company [primarily in the South] The first broadcast is all about tea. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what it will be like, but since I am neither Southern nor have Dish TV, I may have to wait a while. If any of you see it, please share with me!

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy!

Since today is Sunday, I thought a pulpit shot would be good. And... wonder of wonders, the sun is out! When one lives in the great Northeast, one celebrates the sun after November 1st.



I am always up for trying a new Earl Grey. It is one of my forever favorites. I have a new one from the Tea Spot in Denver, the Earl of Grey. I am buying samples from merchants new to me as I felt I was in a rut. The dry tea is pretty - brownish leaves with some blue and gold petals and bits of citrus. It smells very strongly of citrus with some bergamot. I hope it is not another of those heavy “Russian-style” Earl Greys.

The tea brews up to a very dark red. The scent modifies to more of an Earl Grey with citrussy overtones. The taste is reminiscent of a crème Earl Grey, with a hint of vanilla and a sweet floral taste. That is, it has the taste of sweet, without being in anyway really sweet or cloying. Altogether a very nice tea, not at all heavy, medium delicate, I would say.


If you don't know, bergamot is a citrus fruit native to Asia but now coming mostly from southern Italy. It is more sour than a grapefruit, but less than a lemon. The oil from the peel has a lovely scent and aside from its use in tea, it is used in perfumery. It is not the same as the garden plant we refer to as bergamot, monarda or bee balm. They are completely different families.


Y'all know I have cats and must occasionally speak of them. Ernie loves this tea and had to have some in a saucer if I wanted some for myself and didn't want a mess. He and his brother Bert are currently fighting because Ernie was so crass as to interrupt Bert's toe-cleaning. One does not interrupt Bertie's baths or naps unless one wants a good nose scratch. This from the most determinedly ill-behaved kitten I've ever had!

Tea on a gray day

I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas Day.We did. Quiet, but very pleasant, enlivened by watching one of our favorite "Brit Coms", "The Vicar of Dibley". The high art of wackiness, as only the Brits can do. We don't generally have tea on Christmas as we have a long tradition of kaffee mit schlage, which is coffee with sweetened whipped cream. It is almost a meal in itself. However, by afternoon, I was ready for some plainish tea.

I chose some from Golden Moon, (such a good name for a company, makes you feel comfortable right off the bat.) I am digging into my sample box I got a week or so ago and I'm trying their Darjeeling, described as an exceptional single garden FTGFOP1S. I assume the S stands for Spring. It has a lovely floral scent and I brewed it the usual way. I may have over brewed it a tad, as it seemed astringent at first, but then that seemed to morph into that slight puckeriness you sometimes get from walnuts. There was a nice fruitiness to it, but I wouldn't really call it muscatel. I'm not sure it was as fresh as it could have been. It was a pleasant tea, but not really great. I think if something comes from a single garden, the company ought to tell you which one right away.

Did you get any nice tea goodies as gifts? I got 2 teapots - both alike. One I will return and get another one I've had my eye on.

Christmas Oolong

This is a very old creche scene in a very old church in Germany.

Our poor guest from South Africa will not be visiting as he had spent 2.5 days waiting in various airports only to have to return to Atlanta. For his next attempt, they called him 3 days earlier and said his flight was canceled! So I thought I might as well share some tea with you before the next lot of company arrives


Thanks to tea swaps I have been getting to try a number of Oolongs and I am finding myself enraptured by them. One of the ones I recently got was Summit Tea's Jin Xuan Golden Lily Oolong. This comes from the Fujian Province of China, which the company says yields a more robust and fuller bodied tea than it would from Taiwan. I don't know enough to tell and I don't have the Taiwanese version to compare it to. So it will just have to stand or fall on its own merits.


The dry leaves were small tightly rolled balls with the wonderful scent of a good baked custard or crème brulee. I rinsed it off with nearly boiling water and then let it steep for 2 minutes for the first infusion. The second was for 2.5 minutes with slightly cooler water. The brewing tea smelled of lilacs along with the custard. It tasted custardy and of vanilla and lilac. As it cooled it tasted more like baked vegetable, almost like asparagus. The second infusion was so mild there was almost no taste, just a very faint floral. Put together, the resulting combo didn't taste much different from the first. I may order a sample and try this some more, as it is intriguing.
With many Oolongs and with other teas with big leaves, I find you really have to play around with quantity to get the brew you like best. I brewed all I had, but I might have done differently if I had had more.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas blessings

EVER-FREE WORD

This Primal Word
is not cramped in tombs
or trapped in hoary creeds,
but moves untamed, free
to raise up prophets
from barren wombs.

This Living Word
shapes its own law,
forever saving
a fractious world
and preparing ways
untrod before.

This Loving Word
seeks a new-age Eve,
graces young Mary
with a task and Gift
the strong and proud
could not conceive.
© B.D. Prewer 1993

May the God who came as a baby grow in your hearts this season and in all the coming years. May your celebration of Christmas be rich in the things that matter most and may you find peace to share with those around you. Let there be peace so that all mothers and fathers everywhere can raise their children well, without fear and without war.

May Hanukkah have been blessed, Kwanzaa a time of rejoicing and all the other celebrations of this time of year be filled with special meaning for each of you.

Affectionately, Marlena

Yuzu Oolong in the snow

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Not that there is anything I can do about it. I love snow and I love having it cover up all my garden sins, but there is a big problem with it. Our poor guest, a young man from South Africa is stuck in Atlanta airport [aka the hub of the universe]. He got stuck in Charlotte Saturday due to the blizzard and now he is stuck again. He is most unhappy and so are we. In the meantime, I am going to review a delightful tea, whilst I drink another one – Simpson and Vail's China Keemun.

One of the samples I received in a tea swap was Naiveteas Yuzo Oolong. This is an Ali Shan Oolong from the high mountains of Taiwan infused with Pomolo peel (Yuzo). A pomolo is a citrus fruit native to South East Asia. They grow up to 4 pounds apiece with a very thick peel. The dry tea was relatively large balls with some golden strands and a very strong citrus scent, sharp almost. As it brewed, the citrus became less sharp with a floral overtone. I rinsed it first, with almost boiling water and then brewed it for 2 minutes. The first infusion tasted of a gentle citrus with vanilla and an understory of mild astringency, piquancy, really. There was also a bit of sweetness.

The second infusion of 2.5 minutes seemed to meld all the flavors even more, with the citrus note hanging in. As the tea cooled, the citrus and astringency were lost, with a lovely, almost heavy floral sweetness coming to the fore. Surprisingly, my husband, who is not an Oolong fan really liked this tea, especially when the first and second brews were mixed. I will buy some of this. I already like Ali Shan and this is a very nice variant.

Today's picture was taken off my computer's wallpaper offerings, as it is appropriate to the day.