ashmanra

A quick cuppa before heading out for my first radiation treatment, or as my eldest calls it, OFF TO GET MICROWAVED! I hope I get a superpower. Note to self: avoid dung beetles.

I thought I would give this another try. It is unchanged, as is my opinion! It isn’t terrible, it is plain black tea. There is a tiny bit of astringency but not much. It has decent body but lacks nuance. It would be fine with lunch but I would rather have a tea that makes me oooo and aaaah. I think this must come from camellia assamica bushes because I have that little tummy rumble I get when I drink assams and yunnans! I do best with camellia sinensis teas!

I read JacquelineM’s hint about steeping this at a slightly lower temperature and I tried it today. It was lovely, so I think I will continue just so I don’t get the accidental bitterness that a few have experienced. (Though I haven’t had that problem so far.)

This is a decent breakfast tea – nothing out of the ordinary but very serviceable and went well with my “faux Mexican” food lunch. (Tortilla full of cheese rolled and squished in the Breville, then doused with enchilada sauce. See? Fake Mexican food!) So now I have had 40 ounces of tea already and have a small tea party to do on one hour! I will definitely be sloshing by 4 pm, but at least I am getting lots done with all this caffeine coursing through my veins!

Bwa hahahaha! Yes, I said I was out of this, but I saved that last little basket of used leaves to rebrew another day, and today was the day! I had enough to make a 20 oz. pot and drank it all sans additions. Ah! It is definitely weaker, but still has lovely notes. The color is pretty much unchanged from the first steep! Enjoyable.

We had tea on the patio this morning to enjoy the early spring warmth and sunshine, though it was still a wee bit chilly. This was my pot of choice while hubby had Kenilworth Ceylon OP, but we each had one cup of the other one’s tea!

I would be distraught that I used that VERY LAST OF MY LEAVES of this most beloved tea in the house, except last week I discovered that I had filled a tiny tin with about one and a half ounces to get me by until Harney restocks…..Make it soon, Mike! Make it soon!

Lovely tea this morning after breakfast! This is good sans additions to me, though hubby likes it with milk and sugar – the way he takes all his teas! :)

It is 75 degrees and sunny. We had a dozen harrowing errands to run so I told the girls we would have a picnic tea when we got home! We chose Emperor’s Red to go with our plate of Danish Wedding cookies.

I have always found it to have chocolate aromas but today when I lifted the cup to my lips I thought, “Wow, there is a fruity note there I hadn’t picked up this strong before. Maybe baked apple?” Then I saw Jacqueline’s post today where she referred to it as fruity as well! It was delicious as always, and like Jacqueline, this was the last of my leaves! We had Sandy on speakerphone to "join " us for tea since she got back to the states yesterday. She said that she had already had to endure the sorrow of seeing the last leaves…we are thinking about starting a support group.

Youngest and I have opened the doors and set the tea table to enjoy a pot of tea and a few cookies on this beautiful day! She chose this one. This has a lot of flavor for a decaffeinated tea. I tried the Decaf Assam and can’t drink it – no matter how much leaf or how much time it tastes like the water you used to rinse out your cup! This one has real tea flavor, and can even handle milk and sugar if you wish. Nice body, nice tea flavor, and even strong enough to go with food.

I forgot I had drained my cup of Kenilworth Garden OP and had refilled it with this! I lifted the cup to my lips, sipped, and went, “Aaaaaaahhhhhh! That is so good!” Of course it is! It is Harney’s Golden Monkey! The best Golden Monkey I have EVER had!

This was the first tea served at tea party today. Tea party included a sampling of Lindt Dark Chocolate with a Touch of Sea Salt and fresh pound cake, as well as a cookie plate. This was very well-liked, and was so smooth. It is not as astringent as Uva Highlands, but a little more so than a really low grown Ceylon – which I love – they really are smooth! Kenilworth Garden has nice body and flavor. I took mine plain, youngest daughter took it with milk and sugar. It is good both ways!

A tea party tea today! This one was excellent as always. We had Kenilworth Ceylon first, which was quite good, and when I lifted my cup of Paris it was almost like smelling a fine perfume! This tea makes you feel rich!

I needed a refined, rich, elegant tea this evening. Today is my long day when I teach until 6:30 pm and sometimes a little later, so I like to have tea time around 3:30pm and then keep a pot at hand to carry me over to supper. Paris came to mind. Ahhhh! This was a lovely treat to make me feel spoiled while I worked late!

Very golden, sweet, but very light. If you like Golden Monkey you might like this, but it is not nearly as caramel, swet, or honeyed. It was well-liked at “little tea-time” today. I may try another gold yunnan someday to see how the two compare.

Something is messing with my tea mojo on this one! The first time I tried it I was in LOVE with it. I sent some to Sandy along with samples of some French teas (Damman Freres) and she preferred this one. But again today I have done something wrong in the steeping parameters somewhere. It is just a tad astringent and not as sweet. Perhaps I need to cut my steeping time and lower the water temp a tad. It is a good tea, but it isn’t making me swoon like the first time I had it, and it is probably my fault!

It is 70 degrees, though blustery, and we could not pass up this opportunity to have a picnic lunch on the grass in the sunshine. Lunch was followed by tea, cookies, and Valentine chocolates outside and reading aloud from Mrs. Dunwoody’s Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping. (I had to explain many things to my daughters. Did anyone else ever have to pour hot water and ammonia on a floor and then scrape up wax buildup for their mother? Thank goodness that is one chore I never anticipate having to do again! )

As for the tea, it was a most excellent companion to our reading. This is a black tea that goes well with anything and is liked by everyone. It has no astringency like the higher grown Ceylons may have. It is from the daily tea selections at Southern Season, but has good body and very large leaves. It can be served plain, or taken with sugar and milk equally well.

On Jacqueline’s recommendation I am trying this one again and taking it with sugar and milk. I tried it before with no additions and though it wasn’t bad, I thought it wasn’t great.

I tried the first cup with just sugar added, and it was very pleasant. Although no one else has mentioned it, I really think I picked up on the barest hint of smoke in this, as is common with many keemuns. It was lovely! I tried it with sugar and milk both next, and liked it just as well, though most of the time I don’t add milk to my tea. Hubby is very picky and likes only a few teas but he finished his cup so he must have rather liked it! It was a lovely pot to follow up a quiet Sunday brunch while I catch up on my correspondence. I would liken this to Premium Steep’s Golden Monkey, though perhaps not quiet as refined, and also to Teavana’s Golden Monkey, though it is not as honeyed as either and has a little more heft because of that hint of smoke.

A very nice vanilla flavored black tea! This one is not nearly as sweet as their Vanilla Comoro and I use it as a stand alone or with cookie or cheese plate tea. It is pretty iced, as well. Must have been good – I just drank the whole pot! I do put a little sugar in this one if I am not having it with food.

A lovely afternoon tea! We had this one with pound cake, fresh chocolate chip cookies, and Belgian Cream Puffs. Very satisfying!

Sold out again? How can it be! Alas! I am glad I have a little bit left but this is getting serious, people! This is such a favorite that it HAS to be served at Wednesday tea party every week! I resteeped this week, too, and we drank a second pot of it. Delicious, round, satisfying, naturally sweet, full-bodied yet golden caramel flavor. I am on pins and needles waiting for them to get some more….I will be ordering a pound so we won’t have a tea emergency anyway time soon…

So excited! So many people have already shown an interest on getting in on the special offer of loose leaf Tower of London next week that Mike Harney decided to just add it to their catalog! Wheeeee! I know I already had three pounds spoken for and possibly four. If you haven’t tried it, this tea is just too good to miss, and I almost DID miss it! I read a very positive review of it and at the time EVERYONE was sold out, including the Harney website. My hubby got online and searched until he found a little tea shop that had some and ordered it for me as a surprise. This is lovely in the afternoon unsweetened and served with cookies or a cheese plate, and I drink it in the mornings with just a touch of sugar. It is similar to Paris, but sometimes I am more in the mood for this one!

Oh joy! Just smelling the leaves of this beautiful Earl was delightful, and then things just got better as I poured it and sipped! The tea base is very high quality and the bergamot is just right. It was very well liked at tea party today, and my guest remarked that it was sooo much better than the bags and sachets of Earl Grey from another company that she usually buys. Indeed, it doesn’t even compare.

When I read about the toasted cheese and tea at the end of I Was A Rat, I had to smile! And I also had to celebrate that warm feeling and happy smile with a toasted cheese sandwich (perfect, by the way, from my new Breville Smart Grill and Griddle hubby encouraged me to get!) and a pot of good tea. I knew the old cobbler and his wife wouldn’t have had a foofy French tea, so I chose this milder-than-most Irish breakfast that we like so well! Very nice! Milk and sugar, of course!

A nice pot of this followed breakfast today! A little sugar in this one for me unless I am having it with afternoon cookies. Today I picked up on the grapey flavor of the black currant in it a little more than usual. It was yummy! And Mike Harney has offered to make some one pound bags of this loose leaf! Hooray! I already have orders for three people wanting it, and I expect Sandy may make it four when she gets back from her south island tour!

Mike Harney just wrote to me and offered to make a pound of this loose leaf! Hooray! I have asked him to make more than that – does anyone else want some of this delightful goodness in loose leaf? Just post to the Harney wall on Facebook or call or email them and let him know. Their customer service is unsurpassed! If you haven’t tried this lovely tea, I will liken it to Paris and it definitely has French style. It is wonderful unsweetened or with sugar.