Geoffrey Norman

I have two job interviews today. I figured I should take a page out of my own blog (here: http://steepstories.com/2012/10/24/tea-pairing-with-job-hunting/) and not over caffeinate before interview #1. So, I went with a Western-style brew-up of this. Buttery, leafy, eerily soothing…I think I’m ready for the first one now.

deep breaths

Howdy everyone.

I am finally back up and running after several trials and errors with computer repair. Thanks to a whole slew of friends, this pseudo-writer is back in the proverbial e-saddle. Anyway…back to tea.

This was one I received in a care package from LiberTeas (bless her heart). It’s been awhile since I’ve had me some Assam, and this was an estate that was new to me. Also new to me, it wasn’t an estate with a really Klingon-sounding name. This one was Hazelbank…and that makes me giggle inappropriately for some reason.

This is about as Assam as you can get. It brewed dark copper at only a three minute steep. It’s characteristically bitter on the forefront and malty to the core. I think a few chest hairs poofed! into existence thanks to this. That and I was wide-eyed and alert.

So, good on ya, Hazelbank. giggle

It’s been a s**t day.

I had a second “interview” with a temp agency. I put that word in quotes because they brought me in long enough to say, “Oh, we don’t have anything you qualify for…yet.” Only with prettier words. One of these days, I’ll have a marketable skillset. Like, uh, sniper or something.

On the brightside, I received this beauty in the mail via the Canton Tea Club. It was another Arya “Jewel Tea”, which means I only have one left to mark off, "Huzzah!

The smell of the dry leaves was nothing too spectacular – woody, slightly malty, but no spicy muscatel goodness to speak of. Still a wonderful aroma, though. The leave palette was gorgeous, though.

I will totally confess that I accidentally over-brewed this. When I put the leaves to the steep, I was in the middle of trying to get my computer to work. (Seriously, it’s like defibrillating a homeless person.)So, it was more like a four-minute infusion than the recommended two-minutes.

Even then this turned out quite wonderfully. It reminded me of the Castleton Moonlight second flush mixed with an autumnal. Burly and oolongy. What a weird juxtaposition. I’m not sure if I like it better than the Arya Ruby, but it is still up there.

For more information, go here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/canton-tea-club-week-4-arya-diamond/

Where to start…

Oh yes.

Today was a far busier day than anticipated. I was up far too late the night before catching up on reruns of Once Upon a Time. (Seriously, that show’s amazing.) I mean to roust by 10AM, but that turned into more like…after noon. The final wake-up call was a literal call from my mother informing me of a job fair.

I did that, I applied for food stamps, I went to a work resource center. And I did all with little or no caffeine. I didn’t have my first cup of tea until the end of my poor-man errands – a meager teabagged Ceylon in a travel mug. (It was okay…but lukewarm by the time I got to it.)

When I came home, feeling like the poverty-stricken, out-of-work schmo that I was…I decided it was time for something highbrow. Ain’t nothing more highbrow than a Darjeeling white – let alone a Darj-white from Arya’s “jewel tea” collection. Lucky for me, it was perfect…and…

I felt like a raj.

If only for an afternoon.

In a sweater and khaki pants.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

Today is a day for mustering courage in applying for writing jobs…which requires more writing. There’s only one type of tea I turn to when I need a jolt, but not a “big” jolt – oolong. As if by serentipi"tea", my Canton Tea Club delivery arrived.

Granted, I’d already reviewed it and done a write up for this offering, but it was one I couldn’t help tearing open again. It was almost as perfect as her older sister. That and it was as tart and buttery as I remembered the first time.

If you would like to learn more (as well as see my personal history with Dan Congs), go here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/canton-tea-club-week-3-xing-ren-dan-cong/

In the meantime, I’ve got a rant about steampunk to write, and jobs to apply for.

Yay.

Update: The steampunk blog in question, if you want: http://www.lazyliteratus.com/1834

I should…uh…probably apply for jobs now.

I brewed a very indelicate pot of this in the late morning to get started on things. Perhaps a pot was too much. I was bouncing off the walls. But on the bright side, I did get several social media things done today. (Except a LinkedIn profile. Curse you, LinkedIn!) Still, quite productive regardless.

Oh yeah…taster notes.

Um…

I like it a lot.

There.

I love having a cup o’ perfect in the morning. I tore open the back..and smelled cocoa. I tasted it…and sipped cocoa. I’m just…floored by this. It was like a Yunnan Jin Cha and a Taiwanese Ruby 18 made sweet-sweet love and popped out a Himalayan lovechild.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

The Darjeeling kick continues. This time, I had my second 2012 from the Sungma estate. Loved their other first flush I had, and this one was almost just as great. It didn’t taste like an OP at all. It was so fresh-seeming, it came across more like a Darjeeling green tea than a black. Spicy as all heck, though, which I like from a good first flush.

I brewed a pot of this, and practically forgot about the last (over-)steep. It tasted like grapefruit. That’s okay, I like grapefruit. I liked this. Eh, ’nuff said. Good way to start (late) on a Saturday.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

Aaaand the Darjeeling binge continues, but this time with an offering courtesy of LibreTEAS. She passed on this little beauty in a care package, given my ravings for all things Giddapahar. After all, the estate was the first in Darjeeling I ever fell in lust over – thanks to their Musk. (That sentence does NOT sound right.)

This time it was a Darjeeling white! One of my favorite types of whites. This differed from the usual Darj fair because aromatically (at least dry) it smelled like a Bai Mu Dan – floral, grapy, and full-bodied.

On taste, it was even more compelling. It, honestly, tasted like a whiter version of their Giddapahar Musk, only not as perfect. It is a great tea from that estate but not the absolute best they’ve made. Still, for a late-night, last-minute, lighter-than-usual caffeine kick, it’s a tasty treat.

UPDATE And I just learned you can boil the BLEEP out of it, forget about it, and it will still turn out good. Hurray for steep negligence!

Weird…Steepster doesn’t seem to like the picture of this particular second flush Darjeeling. Oh well…(le shrug)

Took me awhile to get up and moving today, even after feeding the pets. As I write this, I’m still in my pajamas. (I know, shocker.) I decided to notch off one of the new Arya estate teas I received from Thunderbolt. This one wasn’t a part of their coveted “Jewel” series, but that was no matter.

It certainly was jewel-worthy, though, imparting (or rather, throwing) everything it possibly could at my tongue: toastiness, nutmeg, buckwheat, malt, cocoa, caramel, muscatel, rose wine, nut-sweetness, kitchen sinks, unicorns, et al.

It’s funny that I’m on a Darjeeling kick in the Fall, but I ain’t turnin’ back.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

Everyone and their kitchen sink was singing the praises of this one. It was getting mildly frustrating, especially since I hadn’t even heard of the Turzum estate before. This was the first invoice of Turzum’s first flush crop. And it shows.

If there’s one thing that can be said for the aroma and appearance, it’s that it screams, “FRESH!!!” Like a good first flush should, it brewed light, tasted light, but carried with it so many flavor sensations – some requisite for a Darjeeling, others new. A damn fine first of the first.

Full Review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

I have had good masala chai. I have had bad masala chai. I have never had perfect masala chai…especially in latte form. I notched off this new little gelato/espresso place called Affogato in the St. John’s neighborhood of North Portland. It was adorable, the gelato was delicious, but their chai…dear God…their chai!!!

It was perfectly balanced. I’m one of those that doesn’t like a masala chai to be too spicy or too sweet. Call me crazy. This was a very even keel blend. It was a ginger-dominant blend, but that was in no way a detraction. Call me a convert. Wow. Too bad it’s quite a distance from my side of town.

My full review of the shop can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/18/late-night-lattes-and-gelato/

I got this at the end of last week via the Canton Tea Club, and I’d completely forgotten that I had tried it before. In fact, it was the very first pouchong/baozhong/whatever I ever sipped. I actually had to refer back to my old review to recall what I thought of it. (HERE: http://www.teaviews.com/2011/01/20/review-canton-tea-co-pouchong-4/)

This time around, I actually opted to treat it more like an oolong and gaiwan it. It was a far more floral and buttery drink when done with short, successive steeps. Far more preferable to the toasty profile of a western approach. As a result, I’m boosting the rating up.

There’s a lively discussion going on as to whether it’s a green tea or oolong on the Canton blog: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/canton-tea-club-week-2-that-pouchong/

I’m firmly in the oolong camp…but I will settle for “groolong” as a sub-category.

Trumpets heralded.

Angels sang.

Faeries danced.

Greek choruses intoned.

My heaven, this was perfect.

Taster notes? Who needs taster notes…angels singing!!!

A full review, though, will be pending on www.teaviews.com

This was a personal blend created using Tao of Tea’s Yunnan Tippy South Cloud, peppermint, orange peel, and osthmanthus. No idea what I was thinking, but it looked cute. Taste-wise, I can definitely tell you that peppermint was the wrong choice. Spearmint or plain ol’ nana would’ve been the way to go. That said, it holds up well with the “fair” category. Needs work.

For the full story of how “Bob” came to be, read here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/13/blending-bob/

This tea scares me. More out of fear of what to think than…er…genuine fear. It’s CTC-grade, bitter as all heck, malty, and it kicks me in the skull. Normally traits that I wouldn’t like in a morning cup o’ black. Just so happens, I may have been wrong. (That happens a lot, actually.)

This tea is Excedrin in a cup – a headache reliever with a wallop of caffeine. But, dang, does it ever need milk.

Thank you, Courtney ( The Purrfect Cup ) for this sample.

I’ll admit it…I’ve been drinking.

No, not tea-drinking, the “other” kind of drinking. It’s currently about 1AM, and I just got done with a two-pint night after an exceptionally crappy day. How crappy? Oh, one of those debt-looming, still-unemployed, hemorrhaging wallet sort of days. Closing the night off with one of my delectable sheng pu-erhs seemed like a wonderful nightcap. Fitting that this should be my last of this particular batch.

You might be wondering where the taster notes for this update are. Eh, I’ve done two others; you already know I love this stuff to death. It’s far more robust than the average sheng, but not overly robust like a shou pu-erh. I will miss it, heartily – like its taste.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a story about sex, drugs and spaceports to write.

EDIT: DONE! The story I was working on while drinking this: http://www.lazyliteratus.com/1750

I know…odd.

This is my second time having this. And it was just as excellent the second time around as the first. Granted, they probably over-steeped it a little bit, but that’s the great thing about a damn good black – it takes a punishment with poise.

This was my tea of choice for a clandestine meet-up with a fellow tea blogger – An International Tea Moment. You can read about that here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/10/meeting-a-tea-moment/

Er…if you wish.

I acquired this little puppy through my membership to the Canton Tea Club. I knew that wasn’t a wasted effort. The first tea write out of the starting gate was a Nilgiri green! Nothin’ excites me more than notching off a new type of tea from a region I didn’t did this certain type.

Upon opening the bag, I was greeted by a really unusual scent – salty-sweet seaweed. It reminded me of those Japanese seaweed snacks one can pick up at an Asian mart. The leaves were huge – not the type I usually associate with Indian teas, probably large leaf assamica.

Taste-wise, it was really peculiar – somewhere between a Korean daejak, a Darjeeling green, and a Mao Feng…but more delicate. It easily lasted two infusions, and did quite a wake-up.

For more information on it, read Jane Pettigrew’s blog here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/week-1-green-twirl/

I actually acquired this at the Northwest Tea Festival this year. Love events like that where you can taste before you buy. This is an unusual post-fermented tea in the fact there’s no harshness to it at all – compared to the other non-pu-erh hei chas I’ve had, anyway. It lasted a good seven or eight infusions, and its deceptive gentleness was counteracted by a wallop of caffeine. Necessary fuel for a five-hour long writing streak.

Said writing streak was my coverage of said Northwest Tea Festival, which can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/07/my-first-tea-fest/

Having a heck of a time getting started on anything awesome today. Lost out on a writing gig that I was in over my head for. Temp agency positions are scarce…and it’s a Friday. Well, at least my tea will be good. I love this stuff. I want to cuddle with the gaiwan I put it in.

A vendor friend past on to me some of the Sakuma Bros. Sun Dried White for 2012. Holy heck, it’s like night and day from the 2011 batch! Their isn’t much of a creaminess there, as their was with the year prior. Instead, it’s fruit – particularly tart strawberry leaf, pears, and a dash of lemon. Not sure what happened to their plants in the last year, but wow…just…wow.

I’m sorry I don’t have any better superlatives.

I’m a sucker for Darjeeling oolongs. Heck, I’m even a sucker for the one and only Assam oolong I’ve tried. Nilgiri oolongs…um…they mean well. This one out of Bihar is hard to pinpoint. So we’ll start with the obvious.

Do I like it? Oh, hell yes. Character-wise, it has the nuances of a Nilgiri OP (Tiger Hill-ish), but a lot of the fruity bend of a Formosa. There’s also a smoky aspect on the end, but it’s very minor. One thing of note, though, this tasting note was from trying it Western-style. It held up well in a “wrongfu” prep, but not quite as well. Go big and boiled with this one.

It also almost became the subject of a tea fiction story (along with one other Doke tea, a Taiwanese sencha, and two Nepalese whites), the “DVD commentary”-ish blog on that trainwreck can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/10/03/blending-tea-and-fiction/

I received this one from the lovely The Purrfect Cup…and of course it had to be a Sherlock inspired blend. Wouldn’t except anything less from her. (If you haven’t, you should seriously check out her tea talk with the venerable Mr. Holmes on her blog. Awesome.)

Anywho…

This was already on the plus side for containing bits of Lapsang in the blend. Whiffing the dry batch was like smelling a good tobacco. Keemun contributed a necessary woodiness, too. On taste, oddly enough, the Lapsang hung back, allowing the Keemun to take point with a sweet and malty punch. The pinesmoked mouthfeel was kept pretty reserved. As blends go, sometime aspects of it were uneven, but still pleasant to sip. A very good afternoon tea.

Even though I had it in the late morning.