A Little Bit of This...

Everywhere, the mountains.

I am not reviewing tea today, as we are having unexpected company and I want to clean up what I can and make them food, so I'll just share some bits of information, mostly about tea, with you. Have a pleasant Memorial Day and do remember what it is about. I wish there were a better answer to conflict than war so we would not need to remember so many dead and damaged young men and women. I am thankful for our freedom, but I am appalled at the cost.


I don't remember where I heard about this, but it works. If you are making tea in the microwave – surely NOT one of us, (LOL ) put a plastic spoon in the cup with it. This enables bubbles to flow up the spoon instead of exploding your tea all over the micro and therefore making a mess and negating the calming effects of tea. Some of us do occasionally make tea this way, especially on bleary mornings, but I'm not naming them.


I happened to be awake this morning as the sun was getting up and the world was changing from gray half-tones to color. What really fascinated me was the ground mist, which seemed to rise as the strip of pink on the horizon widened. While there was no sun, there was no mist and once the sun was up for a while, it went away. I am sure there is a scientific explanation for this, but I just appreciated it.


For those of you who like Tea Gschwendner, they are opening a new retail store in Rockefeller Center in New York City. It will be opening the end of June in the Channel Gardens, near the ice skating rink. The company says it will be their “flagship” store. Oh gee, another reason to visit the Big Apple.


The World Tea Expo is happening in Las Vegas in just 2 weeks. If you go to www.worldteaexpo.com you will be able to preview a number of new products. I was pleased to see that Ajiri Tea, which I reviewed a while back, won the top honor for best packaging. Since all their profits go to educate orphans, this is really a boost for them. Their tea's not bad either. Someday I hope to get to this exciting event. It certainly would've been a good break from moving.

Early or Late, it's Spring

More of those snazzy swords. The schloss museum had armor from the same period [around 1500] in another room and man, they were short people! The swords must have been 2 feet taller. I guess they would have been used on horse back.


I'm back in business. I got a filter that works and uses my old filter pods. I tried it last night with some decaf Red Rose and wasn't too thrilled – it's the teabags, I think, although as a pot, not a cup, it's not too awful.


Today, however, I am trying Life in Teacup's Frosty Spring Yunnan Roast Green, that was picked in January of this year. The dry leaves are very pretty, a mix of almost black, green and pale tan. Most of them are quite large and they smell like cut alfalfa that has just begun to dry or maybe somewhat dry lawn grass. The brewing leaves almost immediately sink to the bottom of the pot and very slowly unfurl. The scent is kind of odd, smelling very vegetal, but also meaty and the liquid is a very attractive pale green, with a slight lemon tinge. I did two infusions, both about 2 minutes at about 175. The second is darker and more yellow, and the leaves are all unfurled. I should have read the directions on the site, as I used too cool water for too long. So I'll do it tomorrow or Monday the way Gingko recommends.


In spite of that, I find this to be a pleasant tea. I can't pinpoint its taste, as it seems to change with every sip. It seems like a hearty tea, in spite of its delicate color. As it cools, it smells a tad flowery, although it is vegetal all the way. Now, which veggie? I am leaning toward roasted asparagus, but I'm not sure.


The second infusion is much lighter in taste, but also clearer. It just tastes of fresh green spring. I think I prefer it. Whatever, the next infusions, done “correctly”, will be the real test.

I was really pleased by the teas I ordered from Life in Teacup. For one, you can order in small amounts of 1 or 2 ounces. Secondly, they are not too expensive. They come in those handy metallic resealable pouches and lastly, but not leastly, she sent a number of free samples. You might want to check it out at www.lifeinteacup.com

Tea Taster Woes

Lake Thun, by Schloss Spiez.


Phoo and double phoo! I finally really tasted the water here and it's not very good. So I was on the lookout for a water filter to go on the faucet. I saw one on sale, cheap, that uses the same filter pack as my old one. Great, now I'm really in business! Until I tried to put the thing on. Easy directions, easy to do, BUT... It doesn't work and after getting thoroughly soaked twice and mildly sprayed 3 times I bunged it back in the package, to be returned. There is a reason it was cheap, I should've known.


No tea today other than the Chinese restaurant tea, which is only so-so. I don't understand how a restaurant can care about its food but not its tea, especially since tea is so very Chinese.


I was thinking some more about the whole issue of organic vs. non-organic and the earth. We lived for several years in southern York County, PA, which has some of the best farm land in the country. One old farmer there had us look at the difference in height between the edges of fields and the fields them selves – often as much as 3 feet. He said a lot of that had happened in his lifetime, as the earth lost its tilth due to greedy farm practices which took too much out of the soil without putting enough back in. He credited this to lack of crop rotation, overuse of fertilizers and pesticides, all of which threw off the natural rhythm of the earth. He said he was guilty too, as he mostly raised hogs and potatoes for potato chips, which meant just one kind of potato.

Icey White

Gosh, I really got carried away with the flowers, didn't I?


This morning we were treated to the sight of a doe and 2 almost-grown fawns, practicing fence jumping. Bert the brave was watching them from the window and wasn't sure if he should be afraid or not. There are lots of birds, including some blue birds, which I haven't seen in quite a while as they are not town birds. We understand it is very common to see black bear so one must be careful not to get between a mama and her cubs, as mama bears can be vicious if they perceive a threat to their young.


Last evening we were sitting on the porch, watching the shadows lengthen and the evening fall. I was reminded of many such evenings with my Gramma 'Duffee, the green tea drinker. When the work was done and evening approached, we'd put the porch chairs on the lawn and watch the shadows crawl across the hills, waiting for that last bit of glorious sunset, talking desultorily of this and that. She lived on a hillside above the Schoharie valley in Upstate New York. Perhaps that is where I acquired my love of hills. It certainly is one of the ways I learned to love tea, as she and I often shared a cup of gunpowder or Lipton's green, loose leaf.


Since we moved to a new house, I felt it was appropriate to buy a new teapot. Any excuse, right? I found one at www.servv.com that I had had my eye on and it was on sale! It is a white Foo Dog or Lion Dog and totally cute. Perhaps I should say fierce, as they are traditionally the sacred guardians of Buddhist temples. The pot was made in Nepal and came packed in Nepalese newspapers. I can't read them, but I enjoyed the photos. Of course, I had to buy some tea there as well. A sampler of 4 Himalayan teas – black ones flavored with cinnamon, mint, ginger and lemon. I also ordered some from Gingko at Life in Teacup and plan to get some Indigo Dreams from Madam Potts when she returns from her Paris fling.


Our local grocery has lots of tea. One that caught my eye was Inko's White Tea, billed as 100% natural white iced tea, unsweetened, of course. It cost $1.79 for a 16 oz bottle, which was glass, I was glad to see. It is a very pale gold. The only additional ingredient is citric acid. It's pretty good, tasting vaguely of apricots, strawberry and pineapple, with the faintest whiff of smokiness. The tastes don't seem to be there all at once, but kind of dosey-do in and out. In the interests of thoroughness, I added some sugar to the last of it and that seemed to bring out pineapple the most. All in all, I think it's a good brew.

Irish Breakfast in the Afternoon

More flowers from Schloss Spiez.

We have done the dread deed and we are officially in residence in our new home. So tired! However, it is immensely refreshing to listen to the night creatures and watch the sun begin to filter through the tall pines in the early morning. If I could just find more than 2 teacups and my dinner plates, I'd be a happier camper.

Perhaps later today I will find some tea to review, as well.

I did and I am having some Twining's Irish Breakfast. It's pretty plain. I brewed it at boiling for 2.5 minutes as it is pretty close to fannings grade. It's hearty and tastes pretty good. For me it would, fittingly enough, be a morning tea - one I wouldn't have to think about at all, just drink it down and wait to be conscious. Since that seems to be my afternoon state these days, it is an excellent choice.

Schloss (castle) Spiez - these swords are about 5 feet long - as tall or taller than men were at the time of their use. If you go to Switzerland, this is a great place to visit. The various rooms are arranged from different periods in the Schloss's life, from about 900 up to about the 1850's.


I was waiting for my tea to cool enough to drink and went over to Adagio's site. I came across their Tea Class www.teaclass.com . There are 34 FREE lessons, for beginning, intermediate and advanced tea persons. I have only looked at a few, but I thought it offered some very good information. And the price is right!


I found another tea to review. This is from the Assam Tea Company and is labeled Organic Large Namsang from the Rani Tea Estate, Autumn 2008, Batch 121. For an Assam, these are indeed large leaves. They are a very dark color, with some lighter brownish ones. The dry tea smells of some sort of deep, dark wine, with a corn silk touch to it. I personally did not like the smell of the brewing tea, but I think that is me. It smelled basically like the dry, but for some reason, it didn't set well. The tea liquor itself was very nice. Soft comes to mind, if that can describe tea. It seems to be well-rounded and lacking in astringency. It's not an exciting tea, just a pleasant, straight-forward Assam.

This is my last post for a week or so. It is time to shut down the computer, pack it up, move it, un pack it, wait for the cable guy and then we'll be in business again. Probably next Sat., May 22 or soon thereafter. Have a great week, drink some great teas and if you are so inclined, pray for a great move!

In the Sweet, Sweet Summer

Another Swiss mountain, near Interlaken.

I was again looking through my teas and came across a sample from Gingko at Life In Teacup, Taiwan Sweet Summer Oolong. Great name, and for once, it is sunny and almost warm. I brewed it at almost boiling, with a bit over a teaspoon for my cup, for about 2 minutes. The leaves were tightly furled, so I rinsed them off for a few seconds. For some reason, Oolongs tend to do better if you add this step. The scent of the brewing tea reminded me of summer long ago - the smell of hot rubber - a good one to me, it brings back those wonderful, endless days. That, however, was fleeting and the main scent was that of orchid or osmanthus with a hearty understory of vegetal. The liquor was a lovely medium lemon orange color. Once again, Gingko has gotten some good tea. The taste is delightful, thick, lingering, slightly sweet, floral, very fresh. I am sure this will be a summer standby, once I move and start ordering teas again. It is so appealing I can picture myself on the back porch, listening to the birds, first thing in the morning.



It is interesting that Alex should comment on yesterday's post about another new "tea bag". I have to say I agree with him. I grew up on a farm, in the days before organic vs non-organic and I think on the whole we were organic. It was cheap, it worked and our animals , fields and gardens flourished. My grandfather and father were founding members of the Cooperative Extension and I have records of their experiments growing crops under many conditions. We have also spent a number of years in farming communities and can attest to the advisability of sustainable practices. The land simply does better and improves, rather than getting worn out.

We have seen the overuse of chemicals and it truly is a scourge on the land. It is also a scourge to us. It is no secret that there are more and more problems with breathing illnesses and behavioral illnesses that can be traced to widespread chemical ingestion. Forensically, scientists are discovering that bodies take longer to decay, due to the ingestion of preservatives. Ick, why hang around?

I am not 100% organic. If I am mad enough at the beetles, I may spray them and I don't always buy organic. But I have had many gardens that were wrested from heavy nasty clay soil and within three years they had wonderful tilth and fertility. How many of you can boast a small marigold the size of a bushel basket? I admit, I was surprised and give all the credit to horse manure. If I care about my food, I need to care about the people who produce it and try to make sure that neither them nor their children are exposed to too many chemicals.