My adventures at Happy Lucky’s Tea House never end!
Today, before the afternoon rains cut loose from the heavy, swirling, Steven Speilberg cloudy sky, I ducked into my favorite tea house for a pot of tea adventure.
Happy Lucky’s has a large wall with a zillion tins of tea. I haven’t gone through every tin yet, so I usually stand before it with a quizzical look on my face until one of the knowledgeable tea experts comes to stand and stare with me. (They never rush)
After a minute or two, I ask “What’s new?”, or "Do you remember what I haven’t tried?, or like today, “I want an Oolong that would appeal to a black tea lover, what do you recommend?”
This is how I landed on Kali Cha, an Oolong from India that’s a Darjeeling Oolong. The leaves are roasted in a long tunnel roaster then the leaves are rolled. The result is a cocoa smelling small dry leaf.
A large Clay pot was prepared. When ready the basket of wet leaves smelled very strongly like roasted chicken with marijuana in the background. (just saying)
The liquor was harder to smell the aroma because the wet leaves had been so pungent.
I took a slurp of tea.
It was such a different tasting Oolong. Roasty and cocoa, dry all across my tongue without being very astringent and cool like the feeling of mint. I noticed saltiness and fruit but could not tell what kind of fruit it was. My opinion was swinging one way and another….
dry peach…no…raisin…no…dry prune…no.
As the tea began to cool, there was even more mellowness and eventually a little creaminess in my mouth.
I had settled on a flavor of sorts. 90% bittersweet chocolate, black current with raw brown sugar and camphor not in taste but the cool feel ever so slightly.
I decided to take some of this Oolong home for my stash because of the contrast with other types of Oolongs. It would make a good member of my tasting line-up and was appealing to me as a Black tea lover with it’s toasty and complex cocoa personality.
As I skuddled out the door with my little bag of tea…cane in hand, the droplets were plunking on my head and the scent of water and dust on the warm pavement was exciting. I love my town.
