Bonnie

Thank you Stacy for this sample tea!

I almost forgot to write about this tea…oh dear me!

When I looked at the tea (it does look more like ground coffee)…it appeared quite a bit like one of my favorite tea’s, the Ajiri Black Kenyan, which is ‘very’ strong! (My tea friends tease me about how strong I drink this tea!)

I was hoping Grandpa’s was going to be Grandma’s kind of tea!

The flavor was not quite as strong or wheat-bread tasting as my favorite strong brew, but it had the briskness and a little more malt.

I would definately put Grandpa at the top of the ‘strong tea’ list somewhere between an Irish and strong Kenyan tea.

Do…Love the strong flavor with milk and sweetened! My kind of morning brew! I think of these kinds of tea’s like having a great beer! Fish and chips, pizza and Grandpa’s Tea!

Doesn’t go sour or bitter on the finish like some strong black tea’s.

Should carry this one Stacy, just sayin’!

Thank you to Wanja Tea for this lovely sample!

My friend Joe at Happy Lucky’s is the ‘tea guru’ who teaches classes on ‘Green Tea’, especially Japanese and Korean tea’s.

We were expecting snow a few days ago, so I made my last run to the store and took this tea by the tea house to share, knowing that around dinner time…the shop would be pretty empty.

Joe was a little surprised that I had a green tea from Kenya (his eyebrows went up!), but carefully read the instructions and followed them. (note: The tea was prepared in a Gaiwan, not in 8oz of water).

We both said, “OH!” and smiled when the top came off the Gaiwan and the scent began to waft up to our noses.

He poured the tea into a small pot, then placed the wet leaves in front of me so that I could smell the aroma.

The leaves smelled fruity and savory… like pear and buttered green beans (but not exactly).

Both of us were very surprised when we tasted the tea.
The flavor was smooth and refined, leading Joe to remark that he never would have guessed the tea was from Kenya. It was the as fine as any good Japanese tea he had tasted.

The flavor was very clean without being dry or harsh.
The savory taste developed into a gentle Umami with bitterness in the way that I desire in tea, and which makes the flavor linger.

The Bosc Pear in Butter scent was unusual and a delicious sensory balance.

There’s something special about this Green Tea that should not be overlooked! I’m not sure what it is, but the tea keeps drawing me back! This may be the best of ALL the Wanja Tea’s!

I received a whole Beeng as a Christmas gift and was both surprised (stunned) and delighted! Thank you!

This was an easy pry with my Pu’er pick. The leaves were dry and ready for lifting in shale-like sheets. I placed about 30 grams into a stainless tea canister and topped the container with chemical free paper so the Pu’er could breathe.

The leaves reserved in my Gaiwan smelled dusty, so I rinsed them twice.

Steep times were 20 seconds in the beginning, increasing to 45 seconds by the 5th.

The liquor was light honey brown, increasing rapidly through each infusion to dark honey gold then russet gold.

Before I picked up the leaves to smell, or my cup to drink…I could smell a savory aroma. Short ribs, so savory and meaty that I was instantly hungry.

When I took a sip of the tea, there was a clean flavor like the watery taste of bean sprouts that was so smooth and carried on for a long time…then finished with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Steeping a little longer, there was black pepper and more savory flavor. The taste that lasted was stuffing. Chicken-herb stuffing with the tang of cranberry (probably was cedar in reality) at the finish.

The savory super flavor couldn’t be sustained. I was beginning to pick up more cedar-wood tang, which is a familiar Pu’er taste.

By the 5th steep, the tea had become elegant, velvety and smooth. The flavors melted on the tongue, dripping wet with salty savory and tangy cedar flavor so light that my brain couldn’t separate the one from the other.
I felt a flash like the fire in a ruby. A thrill. (When you drink something so good your body sometimes reacts before your mind can give words to it.)

A great experience with a hunk of dry brown tea leaves that finished with leading me to write!

After drinking the tea, I took a mental journey back long ago (25 years or so) when I traveled high up into the Andes with my cousin
(she was born in Peru). I wrote most of the day about the adventures we had in Huaraz, Peru. Might put it on the blog sometime.

Tea does this for me. Gets my memory going, and creates the proper peace for creativity.

The weather report for 8 inches of snow was a joke. Ha ha on Fort Collins again. We got about 1.5 inches which will be melted by Saturday morning. Bah!

The Rocky Mountains act as an umbrella of sorts, with snow falling heavy at higher elevations, then gathering strength as it passes over the Frontrange (where I live)…chugging full steam towards the plains then Eastward to unfurl wings of heavy snow.

Ah well. The dream of every low-land California child I was for snow. We prayed for it! In my lifetime, it snowed twice in the San Francisco Bay Area Streets…so as an adult, that dream of snow still burns and I get excited.

This morning I was sitting with my tea-tray (as I always do) watching the last snow-flakes drift down…more ‘snowkle’ than flakes.

I brewed a pot of tea on the strong side, cream and sweetening to add if needed.

Today, I noticed a strong savory flavor that I missed in earlier tastings. While some Assams are very malty, this one weighs heavier on the savory side and reminds me of a very good Kenyan Tea blended with an Assam.

I’ve tasted the new Assam’s from Butiki, but I like the savory flavor here more that I had remembered and would likely return to this Organic Assam over the newer ones.

Yum, morning tea…reminds me of homemade wheat toast with melted butter!

Today I made some hickory smoked chicken with a dusting of Master Han’s Wild Picked Yunnan Black tea, butter and honey on top.

The dark bits are not bitter or burned. The taste is fantastic!

http://flic.kr/p/dWzJPf

I’ve been waiting for snow to arrive, the first ‘serious’ snow since last Winter (5-8 inches says the Weather Channel).
It doesn’t rain here in the Winter, we get ‘sun glare’ instead.

If you don’t know already, leading up to the Academy Awards, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) has been running previous award winning movies from the 1930’s forward, and I’ve been recording some classics to watch with my grandkids.

Today, I fixed some tea dusted chicken using Mr. Han’s Black Tea…and smoked with Hickory chips. I placed the chicken on a bed of buttered, pureed parsnips. (I’ll be posting the pictures later)

When I was done, I sat down with a pot of Yu Lu Yan Cha, and began watching ‘This Is Cinerama’ on TCM.

What a hoot!

The history of moving pictures was the intro, then a demo of the new Cinerama wide-screen technology and early surround-sound (beginning with a daring ride on a roller-coaster from the front seat!).

What was interesting to me was that I remembered my parents going to a Cinerama Premiere in the 1950’s and I still have the booklet from the movie. It was a ‘BIG DEAL’ back then! Yikes I’m OLD!

I sat drinking my tea…enjoying myself…and I noticed that the tea was spicy, with a cinnamon bite on my tongue.

The association with Jin Jun Mei and Laoshan Black came back to me.. the first sip was like a jolt. I thought, “It’s neither of those tea’s really…not chocolate and not yammy.”
If anything, I felt that I’d eaten a dozen assorted cupcakes…honey spice, German chocolate, golden vanilla. The sweet indulgent goodness filled my mouth. DESSERT!

Dessert tea (especially a spicy tea) was the perfect match for my snow day (it arrived!).

I’ve had this tea for awhile, unopened. I was saving it for a special occasion, which wasn’t planned, but ended up being today.

The side-effects associated with migraine and fibromyalgia take over from time to time, and there’s not much I can do about it. Sleeplessness and depression are the two symptoms that I’m glad to get over with the fastest. Physical pain is easy to handle by comparison.
Today I woke up and reached for my Kindle Fire next to the bed. My daughter had a new entry on Facebook with a link to her blog that began with this quote:

“Stand at the brink of the abyss of despair, and when you see that you cannot bear it anymore, draw back a little and have a cup of tea” ~Elder Sophrony of Essex

Then she went on to quote me (shock):
My mother reminds me often that tea has a way of keeping you in the moment. It’s not like coffee which in our society is meant to keep you always moving forward.
Tea encourages the partaker to sit down and rest a moment. It is a sort of “reset” button for the weary.
If we push ourselves beyond what we can bear for the sake of being strong, we will fall over, teacup and all, and find staring up from the darkness of the abyss… far more terrifying than standing at the brink.

(Hum, I thought…something from an Elder (Monk) and my daughter to think about in the middle of my depression, and I went about my morning…considering those words from time to time.)

At about 4PM, I couldn’t figure out where the time had gone. I felt foggy headed and the depression had closed in on me.

I remembered the quote from the Elder (Monk) and went to my tea cupboard…rummaging about until I found the one unopened SPECIAL OCCASION tea that I had left.

Standing on the edge of the cliff as I was, seemed a great time for Hand Picked Spring Tieguanyin!

Without a care for the opinion of others, I smelled the leaves. They reminded me of the many years of art classes, the sweet scent of oil paint on my brushes and canvas (and on me).

When I rinsed the leaves, I was washing the gloom away with tea liquor like a new ritual, washing my hands and face with it’s pale perfume.

Each leaf was so dark I wouldn’t imagine it had seen more than the most gentle rays of sunshine.

I drank the tea.

Beautiful, delicate orchid, cool spearmint like a pool of mountain water…honey cream…that made me sit in another moment different than the one I had been in before.

Drinking the tea, I drew back from the ledge and the sadness was interrupted.

Through cups and cups, I continued to let the tea lift my spirit.
(Not only through the way natural chemicals in tea helps the brain, but through the exceptional flavor of this particular tea.)

Time and again, tea has come to my aid when my body gets the best of me.

I’m feeling…better!

Thank you to Eric for this lovely tea gift!

Eric from Happy Lucky’s (like he has no other life than that) went to San Francisco after Christmas and brought back a tea gift to me! What a nice young man he is!

I’m going to review ERIC! (Hahahah)

Eric is a Scientist! He only works part time at Happy Lucky’s but his main job is as Science Instructor at Frontrange Jr. College, until he get’s his Ph.D.

Eric is SUCH a great fellow tea nerd! One of the most endearing things about him is how much he knows about tea and how off-hand he is about it. He knows so much about the science of tea and the history of how tea has been produced and spews out information as though the rest of us know what he knows. Uh, no we don’t Eric!

What he brought me as a gift, was one of his favorite tea’s, which made me feel special.

I prepared the tea in my Gaiwan, just the way Eric would have done.
A short 30 second steep created the scent of flowers and Chinese food. (Something you might smell in the Summer walking by an outside cafe)

The flavor was sweet roasty stonefruit, water on granite rocks and very clean.
I decided to lengthen the steeps which made the flavor more roasty and woody than before with persimmon, peach and apricot sweetened with honey.Cinnamon spice punctuated the finish.

Those were a lot of flavors packed together, but this was a smooth tea. The flavors blended together like an old fashioned stone-fruit pie (my stone-fruit pie) with only the best ingredients, packed full of fruit and dripping with natural juices and a little spice kick.

(This tea is supposed to have an orange flavor but I didn’t taste any orange. I smelled the aroma of orange wafting around the cup.)

Delightful tea made more special by the giver! No wonder this is a favorite of Eric’s!

Thank you Stacy for this sample tea!

I have TROUBLE with Bai Mu Dan and I have no idea why! I didn’t even know that this tea had bai mu dan in it when I brewed it…thinking nothing in particular past the name of the flavor in the sample.

What happens is either I can’t taste the flavor at all, or I get a furry kind of feeling in my mouth with no flavor. It’s odd (to say the least).

Being fair about reviews (and fair to Butiki)…and seeing that I couldn’t really taste the tea, I thought I’d share a funny story from my daughters blog about what happened this morning when the appraiser came to her house.
Annalisa has 9 children at the moment (3 are Foster Children under the age of 3), their 8 year old son in the story is bi-polar and gets excited easily.
Her blog is: http://theaseticlivesofmothers@blogspot.com

Pole Dancing!
So, dear friends,the appraiser came. He was very nice and thankfully he has two sons of his own because my 8 year old followed him around the house with his mouth going probably two miles a minute. My son showed the appraiser the plans we have for our micro farm and told him if he didn’t score us well we’d end up on the street (thank you 10 year old brother!). It was amazing what my son fit into a 10 minute interaction. Up to this point while he had been talking this poor man’s ear off he had not said anything particularly shocking. But we weren’t finished yet.

I learned a lot about appraisals and how FHA guidelines differ from conventional guidelines. I learned what a conforming window really meant and what actually counted as a bedroom. We were almost free and clear but just as he was slipping on his shoes to leave my son said “I want to be a pole dancer when I grow up.”

WHAT?!

Then he added enthusiastically, “And my oldest sister told me she secretly wants to be one too!”

The man just looked at me and smiled and told me it was okay before he headed out the door. I asked my son if he even knew what a pole dancer was. “It’s someone who dances on a pole.” Hmmmm. “Like at the circus where they climb up and down the pole and do tricks?”

I asked. “Yeah, just like that!”
Of course the appraiser didn’t get to hear that part. All that poor man knows is that we are a extra large family with children who aspire to be pole dancers!

Thank you Lord for the innocence of my son! I hope you enjoy this little chuckle today!

Without my realizing it was happening, my taste in tea and my desire for it has changed.

In the beginning, there was a glittering path with lots of tea all of which I was ready and willing to try out. You could say that I binged on tea much like a child in a candy shop.

I soon realized that some tea’s I was binging on tasted better than others. The best tasting tea’s rose to the top and became the tea’s I craved!

As my appreciation for tea developed, I found that the tea that I loved the most were often harder to acquire. Tea from small farms, seasonal or wild picked soon became part of my new love affair.

This past month in particular, I’ve had some of the best tea’s of my life. Oolong from Verdant and Mr. Han’s Black, a Red Blossom 2010 Wuyi Oolong and Taiwaniese Wild Mountain Black Tea from Butiki have all been outstanding.

The experiences drinking the tea’s stopped me from writing as much as usual. These moments go by quickly, and I need to pay attention to the voice of the tea’s I’ve been drinking. It is very important to be still with good tea.

I kept the steep time rather short with this Oolong. 5 seconds on the first steep after a rinse, then 10-15 seconds.

I’ll discuss the flavor in a somewhat static way…

Fruit leather, stone fruit…plum, peach… Autumn brandied fruit compote. Slight smoky roast with cinnamon stick finish. Cooling on the tongue. Lingering flavor with the memory of Oriental Beauty sweetness. Creamy smoothness.

The first three steeps were best. Later pours were weaker but worth brewing.
When I say “the later pours were weaker but worth brewing” here’s what I mean: The taste of the tea is so good, that even when weaker, there is a longing for more and more…even if it’s a shadow of the first glorious cup.

Fine tea produces that longing for more. A desire for more than flavor. A desire for the entire experience that reaches a quiet place inside.

I put this on the ol’ blog too… www.teaandincense.com

I know, I know, I know…but this is a partial of a story and review on my blog…OK! www.teaandincense.com

I had an appointment with my Priest.

I regularly request time to meet and discuss various things with Fr. Evan. Sometimes we just talk, sometimes I have confession and most times we have TEA.
Previously I had introduced Puer (which he likes a lot) and Laoshan Black from Verdant. This time, I brought Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black Tea from Butiki.

With a smile, he brought out his electric kettle, filtered water and cups for me to prepare tea. Today, I gifted Fr. a fat white Gaiwan and showed him how to use it.

We smelled the aroma of the leaves in a heated dry Gaiwan. Then we steeped the leaves, poured the liquor into the fairness pitcher and into our cups…stopping to smell the wet leaves.

First sip….

“WOW!” exclaimed Fr. Evan.

“I taste cherry, no peach…wait…plum…some kind of stone-fruit, and the flavor… stays in my mouth!”

Thank you Eric (think it was Eric and not Joe) for this interesting sample tea!

The world of herbal tea is interesting. Leave it to scientist Eric to produce something new for me to try out on a recent visit to my tea shop.

Eric handed me a tea bag and said, “Here’s something you might find interesting. It’s coffee leaf tea and tastes pretty good.”

Sure, I thought. How could coffee leaf tea taste good. I’m not really all that fond of herbal tea, other than mint and ginger. I love herbal blends that I can add real tea leaves or puerh to, but I don’t drink plain herbal tea very often.

I was a big time coffee drinker. Only the best for me!

My Aunt lived in Brazil when I was just beginning to drink coffee in my 20’s, and sent powdery packages of ink black coffee to me in California. I was hooked long before Starbucks existed.
(My family thinks it’s amusing that I’ve switched to tea)

Last night, I decided to try out the tea, with an attitude that was cynical. I didn’t think that the teabag was going to give me enough flavor. I was being a snobbish bore.

The taste was better than I deserved and very much like guayusa and orange peakoe. I had to admit that the flavor was really good! The tea was something that I didn’t expect (no, it wasn’t coffee flavored or weak I had to admit to my snobby self!) and taught me a lesson in pre-judging.

It’s unfortunate that this tea only comes in teabag form because the flavor is tasty and makes a good decaf alternative.

Wish I knew about the leaves when I had coffee trees growing outside my back balcony in Puerto Rico, I could have chopped up some leaves myself!

Chinese New Year!!!

Granddaughter Schey and I went to Happy Luckys after Church like we normally do, and hopped up onto the bar stools that we usually occupy.

“Hey, what did you bring us today?!” Preston asked.

With great excitement, I pulled out my bag of Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black Tea which caught Joe’s eye further down behind the cash register.

“Wow, is that it?!” Joe exclaimed. (He and Preston had tasted the previous small sample from Butiki but this was MORE!)

“Yep, I brought the whole bag in so Eric, Andi, and Schey could have some of this tea too!”

I’ve never seen Preston move so fast! He had a Gaiwan, 6 tasting cups and an aroma set (for me) ready in no time.

I invited a young man at the bar (he was drinking tangerine stuffed puer that the shop now carries thanks to advice from Steepster mrmopar) to join in the tasting.

Preston warmed the Gaiwan, placed the leaves inside…waited, then passed the Gaiwan for everyone to smell the aroma. Delicious waffles…this is what we all think the tea smells like!

We each held the first golden-amber pour in our cups up high as Eric made a toast in Chinese 新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè) for Happy New Year!

All that I heard after that were….GROANS AND SIGHS OF DELIGHT!

I’ve seldom seen so many speechless, excited tea people. It was a pleasure bringing a grand tea to my friends.

In the past month…I’ve shared 2 tea’s that have been in the top 3 that Eric and Joe have ever tasted…Master Hans Black Tea from Verdant and Butiki’s Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black.

One final word:
What takes my breath away when I drink this tea is the finish.
Just when I’ve swallowed the tea it lifts me up and I’m floating on the most gentle ribbon of lingering flavor that undulates on and on like small ripples in the water. Eventually, my whole body feels the thrill of the tea. (Hard to explain how good it is)

This was a grand way to celebrate Chinese New Year!

Thanks Stacy for this tea sample!

The last time I tasted this tea, I had been drinking loose leaf tea for about 4 months, so tasting it again was a fun comparison!

I’ve learned that I LOVE strong Kenyan tea so I ignored Stacy’s suggested brew time of 2.5 minutes and opted for 3.5 minutes testing along the way. The longer time would suit others who like the bang of a bold tea that can handle the time.

The taste was black current, sweet dry prune and black pepper…all of which came as a swelling up of flavor towards the back of the throat.

I sweetened my tea and added cream (it was my morning tea)…then sat while my body continued to slowly awaken from sleep.

I’ve never been a morning person, even through three decades of work, I would arise an extra hour earlier than necessary to sit with ‘coffee’, until I had to get ready and could cope with the day.

Now tea is my morning companion, and I can make the wake-up time last as long as I want it to. What a luxury!

While I was sitting in appreciation of my wealth of ‘time’, my thoughts began to wander.
I’ve been making lots of curries, something that I find comforting in cold weather.
Because of my allergies, I’ve adapted recipes to remove beans, tomato, eggplant, green peppers and potato. Thai curries, instead of Indian Curries, have given me more options (Indian Curries use potato and beans in almost everything!) and are delicious.

Along the way, I’ve discovered that certain tea’s are better companions to the curries I make. Kenyan tea’s, some Puerh’s and Thai Chaa Khao Hoom Reistee stand up well to spice (depending on the dish).

I’d like to expand my list of tea’s and welcome comments from other people who make curry.

I appreciate the unique tea sourcing from Butiki (and we all love Stacy!)!

Thank you Nuvola Tea for this Sample!

I shared this tasting with my friend Eric who is a Science teacher at the College and serves tea at Happy Lucky’s several days a week. He’s here on Steepster, and a fellow tea geek!

When I want to discuss tea trivia, Eric’s my man!
We talk about leaf hoppers, the bugs that make Oriental Beauty Tea so sweet, and have talks about Puer fungus.

Eric handled the gaiwan through 4 steepings of this Ti Kuan Yin.
(He teaches a gongfu class so I am more than happy to let him do this!)
The flavor if this tea was lightly sweet, with a mild roast nuttiness.
I tasted brown sugar but the more I drank, the more I tasted old fashioned Horehound candy…bittersweet and tangy.

I was about to hand my cup back to Eric when the sweetest fragrance rushed up at me. Wow,this was the scent in my empty cup… thick like a flower shop but as sweet as See’s Candy!

Each steep was pretty much the same. Nutty roastiness, sweet brown sugar and Horehound candy.
A creamy mouth-feel lasted through the first three steeps.

Lovely tea.

Tonight I made Pad Thai from scratch for the first time. Prawns, noodles, egg, sprouts, scallions, garlic, peanuts, and homemade sauce. It was Excellent!, if I do say so myself.

The last squeeze of lime and sprinkle of chopped cilantro was pure heaven in my big bowl!

I paired my delightful dinner with Congou Keemun Tea because of it’s sweetness. This isn’t a malty tea and I wouldn’t have wanted malt or cocoa with my Pad Thai. A fruit or floral tea with body works better, and this Keemun was a nice balance with the Pad Thai flavors.

When you get old, remember to cook with love even if you’re by yourself. Healthy food should taste good, especially with the right tea!

Thank you Roughage for this tea sample!

This is a beautiful Oolong! The picture from Wan Ling Tea House doesn’t do justice to how lovely the tea is, so I took a few pictures.
http://flic.kr/p/dT162K and http://flic.kr/p/dSZNBp

The tea was so sweet. Sweeter than most tea’s I’ve had, even other Oolongs, and tasted like ripe pear and creamy pineapple.

I put my nose close to the wet leaves in the gaiwan, and the perfume wafted up around me as though I had sprayed the air with an exotic floral mist. The end of the spray was sexy and peppery.

One evening in Kauai, I went to a beach where there were no other people. It was almost sunset, and the small beach had many rocks the size of small boulders, strewn about. They were like stepping stones going from the beach out to the sea. It was easy to walk for quite a distance before the water reached my knees, so I left the shore and chose a rock to sit on out where the only sound was gentle waves, and the water lapping against my feet.

Soon the sunset changed the sky to gold which reflected on the sand through the clear water. I was a glowing golden statue sitting on a rock in the sea. http://flic.kr/p/dT1Yd4

When I was drinking this tea, I remembered the beauty of Kauai and the golden sunset. This is a shimmering Oolong, smooth and sweet.

I love to drink tea and go back to places that have moved me. One of the reasons I drink tea often.

Thank you JC for this sample tea!

I’ve had Tibetan Pu-erh before and thought they were supposed to be pretty much the same.

Evidently NOT!

What I drank before was ‘what the men drink who are herding animals Tibetan Brick Pu-erh’ which was a little on the rough side, although
fun to try.

I’ve been reading a book about the Tea Horse Road in Tibet, and slowly writing a story on my blog about ‘Ritual’.
It’s a story about how tea has become a Ritual in my life, and what that means to me.

The tea I decided to pair with the story is this one, a special Tibetan Pu-erh, because of it’s long and colorful tradition. I also wanted to make some Butter Chai Tea! (Can’t use Yak Butter Chai Tea unfortunately!) And this tea is the one to use.

Butter Chai Tea Recipe
A little milk (1/2 c) and salt (1/4 tsp), some butter (2 TB) and water (5 c) and Tibetan Pu-erh (1TB) and bring to the boil then simmer. (You can make adjustments to suit you.)

A tasty broth to stave off cold when treking through snowy mountain passes, donkeys heavy laden with tea… bound for waiting merchants on the other end of the Tea Horse Road. (OK, I’m a romantic!)

Before making the Butter Chai Tea, I made some regular Tibetan steeped (30 seconds) Pu-erh in my gaiwan.
The flavor was smooth and sweet with a refreshing taste. No extreme earthiness or thick mouth-feel.

The mellow flavor made the Butter Chai Tea light and smooth.

Because the Pu-erh boiled and then sat to simmer (the way it would on an open fire) I wondered how it would taste after a bit.
I waited while it simmered 20 minutes on the stove, poured a mug… and the tea tasted just as good as at the first!

Lovely Mild Puerh

Ritual is a story on my blog www.teaandincense.com

I began drinking tea as a way to be still (quiet) because my mind wandered when I tried to pray. I had difficulty quieting a zooming Silicon Valley mind that had rushed for so many years. Like most people I had worried so much about the past and the future, I didn’t know how to meet with God in the present.

Carefully learning to prepare tea several times a day, I didn’t just drink the tea but thoughtfully looked for all that was good in the experience.

First, I smelled the aroma of the tea liquor. Then I gave full attention to the scent of the tea leaves, observing the color of the dry and wet leaves. Finally, I tasted the tea prepared different ways (plain, with sweetening or milk, and after the second or third steeping ). I learned to use different types of tea equipment and the tea names from a vast array of tea previously unknown to me.

……and so on….

There are two kinds of wood you need for a good fire in a wood-stove, soft wood,like cedar to get the fire going, and hard wood, like oak for the fire to last a long time.

When I lived in the Sierra Mountain town of Paradise, one of the 6 girls that lived in my house was Susan. Her father was a tree feller. (That’s what you call them) Tree felling is a dangerous job, and when he wasn’t felling trees, he was drinking, so Susan stayed with me and her dad paid for her room and board with firewood. We had wood all Winter cut and stacked with bundled kindling. During power outages, we had heat! Cedar and Oak!

Compared with the 5000 foot altitude I live at now, 2000 feet doesn’t seem like much of a mountain, but where I live now is flat and dry. Paradise was mountain forest with tall pine and oak.
In the Fall and Winter, the smell of smoke from many wood fires was delicious wafting through the trees.

I absolutely LOVE the smell of a damp forest and wood smoke!
I LOVE the smell of the smoke early in the morning on a sunny, cold day holding a cup of hot tea in my hands, wrapped in a blanket while sitting on the back porch warm and happy.

Smoke means BBQ and 4th of July (the dumb little houses that smoke and do nothing else, remember them? And punks…those things that come with sparklers?).

So many people have memories of camping or hiking with friends when they drink a smoky tea. My grandkids call Lapsang Souchong ‘Memory Tea’.

This tea is NOT a Souchong! Souchong means: A tea made from the larger older leaves of the shoot. A lower grade of tea leaf.

This smoked tea is a high grade Oolong. Something Very Special!

I had a sampling of this tea before, so I took some of my tea to share with friends who I knew were NOT fond of roasted Oolongs but DID like traditional Lapsang Souchong. What would they think?

Joe prepared the tea according to the Verdant instructions, short 5 second steeps in a Gaiwan.
The flavor was lightly smoky, smooth and sweet. We had some trouble tasting further nuances in the tea with such short steeps so we decided to throw caution to the wind and do a 3 minute steep.

This was more like it we agreed! Longer Steep wins!
Sweet and silky smooth, but with whisper light smokiness.
The honey caramel Oolong base created a fat oozy syrup that coated the inside of my mouth…moving slowly from the back to the front.
I was toying with the idea of fruitiness but couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Maybe Fuji Persimmon. I don’t know, not sure.

I drank some more of this tea this morning, and took a picture. It was a time to reflect alone on wood fires and my life in Paradise. Time there with family and the 6 girls who came to me in High School and are now 40 year old women (including my daughter).
My parents, and grandmother are buried in that town.

You don’t have to be hit over the head with strong smokiness to have sweet memories, and this tea has given me all the gentle beauty I could desire.

I suppose that I’m like an old teapot that needs good tea to keep it well seasoned.

I’ve said this before, I hope this tea (or one like) it becomes available permanently.

http://flic.kr/p/dStjYM

Sip down as ya’ll say (my first time).

Received this from Roughage some months ago and it’s lived a fine life in my cupboard’s Roughage bin next to the mrmopar bin so they could have a nice visit.

The tea has lost a little umph over time. Good to see how that works really. Haven’t been able to tell with some tea’s, but this being all delicate and subtle…I could tell that the strength had waned a tad.

Still, the flavor was good.

I tasted the lingering citrus, seedless white grape with rich pound cake at the finish. It was a fine tea, just lighter.
Adding a bit of sugar to the tea helped bring out more flavor.

Some older tea’s are better in the bathtub then in a teacup they say, but not this one. It’s still good to drink.

Faded beauty? Yes, but a beauty none-the-less.

Thank you Wanya Tea for this sample!

The only small scale Kenyan tea’s I’ve tasted have come from Butiki, Ajiri and Wanja Tea’s.

Each have been different and delightful.

My friends who have spent some time in Kenya have winced and groaned describing the super, hyper-strong brewed tea. (I would have joined in with glee since the Ajiri Strong Tea tasted quite normal to me, but seems far too strong to many others.)

I haven’t reviewed tea on Steepster in DAYS! I’ve been making Asian Pickles (sweet and savory) and Vadouvan Indian Spice Blend (Curried onions and garlic which is slowly baked in a mixture of spices until almost dry. Stored in freezer bags I’ll have a good supply for adding to recipes!).

There is no way I could review tea with onion, garlic and vinegar scenting my house!

As a first tea after my cooking projects were completed, I chose this tea from Kenya, figuring that it was probably suitable for accompanying flavorful, spicy foods. (Kenyan Cuisine uses lot’s of curries!).

The flavor was bright and clean with fruit and citrus, a sweetness that was light and smooth. I didn’t taste any malt and there was no nasty astringency.

You could very well drink this tea plain (which you can’t say about many black tea’s) and I found that a little sweetening brought out the fruitiness in a way that I liked best. Adding milk seemed too heavy. The body of the tea was light and in my opinion, milk isn’t needed.

There was an aftertaste of black pepper pound cake. This made me think further of what the tea would taste good alongside. I imagined a Denver Omlette, Chips and Salsa, Curry or Spicy Sausages. It can handle flavor packed food without getting lost!

Although the tea isn’t heavy, it’s sturdy enough and holds it’s own.
One of those indispensable tea’s when you can’t decide what to serve with a meal.

Very enjoyable tea!

(Although I haven’t been rating tea’s, it’s my choice to do so now and then. Since this company has 2 tea’s…I chose to rate the tea.)

I imagine Stacy must have gone to sleep one Wintry night with the wind howling through the branches outside…full of dreams of fairies and liquor soaked plum pudding, a flaming spectacle at the end of a comforting meal.
Night-owl that she is, she would have jumped out of bed…run barefooted to her workshop to prepare a splendid tea, paying homage to that special pudding.

Has she succeeded in her magical efforts? Indeed she has!

My first thought was that I had Campbells Original Scot’s Shortbread in a cup, full of buttery sugary cookie. The richest kind! It was the Oolong Tea base that gave this buttery sweetness (along with some brown sugar).
Then there was more! An orange and vanilla taste, very clean citrus, made me want to take a dessert spoon and dig into my tea.
I added some cream…the way I would add real whipped cream to a pudding… and ugh… it was so, so good!

What would I serve to complete this as a dessert? Some dark chocolate, rum cake or perhaps some pecans and golden raisins.

Lovely tea treat!

Thank you JC for this generous Sample Sheng!

I took a look at the review by Amy Oh and JC before my own preparation this morning. Amy’s was a 20-30 second steep time and JC’s was short 2 seconds…increasing gradually like Ravel’s Bolero.

I ’m choosing to play a little between the lines.

After one rinse. I steeped an even amount of leaf to water in my Gaiwan (5 grams leaf to 5 oz water) for 12 seconds.
The flavor was savory like artichoke, just short of bitter and thick at the back of the throat.
As I moved back from the glass cup, I noticed a strong wild honey scent and put my nose back to the glass cup.
The scent wasn’t there.
When I went back again to the cup, the honey returned.
I held the cup and moved it around in front of me…the wafting aroma of wild honey magically perfuming the air. Tea magic. Look for this!

My second steep at 10 seconds was dry but had the same big flavor and umami finish.

I lowered the timing down further to 6 seconds and lowered the temperature to 170 degrees. Not so good of an experiment. The tea was too bitter, blech.

Back to boiling water I went, and a 20 second steep (which was where Amy Oh liked it).
Now the flavor was herb butter, savory and sweet. Delicious, rich Umami! Full and substantial with the lingering after the swallow that we wait for…and want for.
(Made me think of having a grilled steak with herb butter. Even the liquor looked like melted golden clarified butter!)

This Sheng is delicious!

Some young Shengs are harsh, too smoky, too one note.
This (don’t kill me JC) is like a good Gyokuro.

Mellow!

Thanks JC

Thank you Mrmopar for this Puerh sample!
BTW, the new picture is me sniffing wet tea leaves, proof that I am an official tea geek and nerd!

Oh yeah, getting back into my puerh groove! Woman does not live by puerh alone(but I almost get away with it)!

We’re having a dip in temperature…snow flurries then back up to the 50’s and 60’s. A real Rocky Mountain Roller Coaster! Wheeee!
For breakfast today…a strong cuppa PU sounded fabulous! (If you take a look at mrmopar’s cupboard, you’ll see that he agrees with me!)

This particular puerh was great for bold drinking. I was thinking about how you could make a big pot, sit down with breakfast or the paper…even fill a thermos and head out the door. It’s such a big flavorful puerh, reminiscent of what I ‘Used to get’ at Pete’s Coffee way back when! My morning ‘kick in the butt’ cuppa!

Smooth, dark, stands up to additions and the resteeps aren’t weak.

The flavor:
After one rinse, I steeped 30 seconds which produced a DARK red-espresso-brown brew, smooth and full of energy. The taste was raspberry/choco/cedar/nut with a little tang. (None of those flavors distinctly strong). Muted flavors, smooth and sweet.

On later steepings the flavor wasn’t as strong.

At the 4th and 5th steep…I got lazy and put the two steeps together in an 8oz mug, sweetened it and added cream. Yeah! Good!

I kicked back and watched the news, slurped my mug of PU with a furry throw tucked up under mu chin, my feet propped on the bench coffee table. What a life!

This tea is one of those “Whatever you want me to be, I’ll be it for you baby!” puerh’s! (Too bad I never married man like that, oh well!)

Thanks Mrmopar!