Happy Lucky's Tea House

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Recent Tasting Notes

89

Off to Boulder today to celebrate Scheys 19th birthday! I kept asking her to invite people,but she wanted to spend the day with me. What a sweet granddaughter! (Good thing she loves tea!) We have plans to stop at several tea houses.
OK…like many of you,I enjoy a strong cup of tea in the morning. I’m driving more than usual,so I made a pot of strong tea (steeped 7minutes) then added cream and splenda. Love the strong brew!Never makes me jittery either.

Off to a great day and photos.

Hesper June

Happy 19th Birthday, Schey!

Sil

That’s awesome Bonnie. How wonderful that she’d love to spend her birthday with you. I hope you have an amazing day!

Indigobloom

That sounds like a lovely day! you have an amazing granddaughter, wish her a happy birthday for us! :)

TheTeaFairy

Happy Birthday Schey! By now, I feel like I «know» her a little through your posts here on Steepster. What a fine young women you have as a grand daughter! And I totally support her decision…what?? a chance to spend the day with awesome Bonnie??? Yes, please!!!

Bonnie

How nice…! We drank tea and I’ll post some pictures. I made a fuss at the Dushanbe about how they made my Pu-erh (about 3 grams in a 20oz pot for 5 minutes makes a weak tea!)…I became BONNIE TEA NERD! Talked to the manager and asked them to also provide the option of a gaiwan (which the server had never heard of). I’m just too terrible!

JC

lol 3grams in 20oz!? I hope they took your advice. :)

Indigobloom

tea diva Bonnie! I think you schooled them, as was deserved! 3g in 20oz… oh dear

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89

Yesterday, I had to run by Happy Lucky’s in the afternoon to sign up for two tea classes. One, for that evening (Gonfu Tea Ceremony with Eric) and tonight will be a Japanese Green Tea class with Joe.

I don’t step over the doorway without having a cuppa myself…so I ordered a pot of Irish Breakfast Tea and some dry leaf to take home.

Irish Breakfast gets you going when you have errands to run. I had to go to Whole Foods and read labels, traversing through the isles under fluorescent lights that make me woozy. Give Me Strong Tea!

Granddaughter Schey came to the class last night which was fun for me. Everyone had a chance to use a Yixing and Gaiwan to pour both Oolong and Pu’er for the small group. Eric is a Scientist and teacher which makes him interesting.

This morning, I took the Irish Breakfast Tea that I had purchased and made a pot to linger over while watching the morning news.

This is one of the best things about being retired.

If it’s too cold outside, I’m warm and comfy inside with my fresh pot of tea on a tray. I have a lovely, large quilted-dome tea cozy from April Cornell that keeps my pot of tea hot between pourings.
(I always have cream and sweetening on the tray just in case I want to add some.)

Ahhh. Dark, strong….strong….Irish tea!

This isn’t one of those wimpy Irish wanna-be tea’s. Without being astringent or dry, this delivers a warming cup that’s what you’d want in a thermos out on the peat fields when the wind has kicked up and a drizzle is beginning to threaten with a damp shiver.

I like my tea with milk.

Drinking one mug, two…then three was easy.
The whole pot gone in no time.

Sometimes I wonder what has happened to the tea in my pot. It seems to disappear without me drinking it.

No matter. It’s delicious!

I set a plan with my new tea energy to put up my Christmas Tree today.
Tonight is another Tea Class and Tomorrow is St. Andrews Day,
the Patron Saint of Scotland. All Scots are supposed to wear Plaid
tomorrow!

Here’s another bit of news I found out…

Looks like my daughter and son-in-law are going to adopt BOTH of the 2 year old Foster boys they have. The boys are 6 days apart in age.
I couldn’t be more pleased!!! One has special needs (Williams syndrome) so I’m happy he’ll be in such a loving family of 5 boys and 3 girls!

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91
drank Matcha by Happy Lucky's Tea House
676 tasting notes

I went to the IRS today. (That should have made even the most cheerful among you shudder!)

There were taxes from my divorce that I didn’t know would be coming and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. One thing I’ve learned over the past few months is that I need someone to help me organize parts of my life. I don’t understand paperwork so I’ve got myself into a little (or big) tax mess.

Imagine being very competent mentally but waking up one day unable to understand what you’re reading. Like dyslexia. Information is scrambled and makes no sense. This is what’s been happening to me. I can understand if you show me how to do things, but not paperwork and sometimes I go blank on questions. (I don’t have dymentia, thankfully (I was tested for that).)

Anyway, I went to the IRS in the middle of a brain fog with some papers they asked me for. I was handed papers and asked questions and I just couldn’t understand anything. I told the person, “I have no idea what this means, it could be in a foreign language, I can’t explain anything, I don’t know what to say.”
I got a look and comment…“You need someone to help you.” “I’m not supposed to do this but go to the Senior Center and find help.”

Brother!!!

I left and made a ‘B’ line for Happy Lucky’s Tea House.
I looked 3 shades of pale puke…feeling sick and hurting all over from fybromyalgia (which has been a bear the past month!).

Andy (TEA GURU!) took one look at me and said…“Whatcha drinking Ms. Bonnie?”…then he said…“How about a Chocolate Matcha?!”

“Oh YES please!”

I sat at the bar watching the foaming and frothing, stirring in the specialty cocoa…A-n-t-i-c-p-a-t-i-o-n!

Finally a big mug of fluff was set in front of me with a tall tumbler of ice water next to it (thoughtful). Fireworks!

This was thick, thick, thick cocoa Matcha, so creamy and warm with an interesting, almost savory then sweet complex flavor. The foam was playful and wonderful like a puffy sigh of relief.

It didn’t take long for the caffeine and green tea L-theanine to work on my pain and foggy brain.
I’ve noticed for some time that tea helps me feel better. I don’t know how, and it’s not a tea high or anything…but my pain isn’t as bad when I drink certain tea’s, especially Pu-erh and Matcha. This is good! It might not be this way for everyone, but it works for me.

While tea doesn’t cure all my problems, it has given me a way to help with my physical discomfort without resorting to narcotics for pain.

By the time I finished my fine mug of chocolate Matcha, I was feeling so much better and the taste was fantastic!

Why would I post all this here on Steepster. Seems kind of private and personal and inappropriate doesn’t it.
It is personal. And real.
I want you to know that this part of Elder life is joyful, funny, and has challenges just like being young.

“Stand at the brink 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 (A Monastery in England)

Tea makes everything better.

Becky

Well, gosh. If you can’t be personal and private on the internet, where can you! ;) Personally, I think it’s interesting. Is there some natural remedy in your tea? Or do you just love tea so dang much that you get a useful placebo effect from drinking it? Either way, it’s nice. And I hope you feel better.

Veronica

Good for you for realizing you need help and having the courage to seek it out! Divorce is such a major life change (I’ve been there) that it can mess with your brain no matter what age you are. I hope everything works out ok with your taxes. Next time you have to go there take a big tumbler of tea with you!

Hesper June

I am so glad you found some comfort. I hope everything works out with the taxes soon.
I like the quote you shared, I had not heard that one before.

Autistic Goblin

It might just might be neurological… (I’m NOT a doctor) but I’ve heard there are some conditions that could cause an information mix up. Of course I know nothing but it might be something to ask your doctor about. I’m glad you had a good tea to bring you out of that mess :D

Bonnie

The tea does help me a great deal! It hits the brain where the pain signals come from. Since fibromyalgia and migraines come from the brain, it makes sense that if the brain
is calmed with tea or L-theanine from good tea…that the pain would be calmed also. (a side effect of fibromyalgia is brain fog and depression, there isn’t a cure for this disease).

Claire

Hope you feel better soon Bonnie. <3

Tommy Toadman

I hope you feel better too, Praying :)

Bonnie

Thanks guys…hey, I just need to drink more tea. More tea, More tea, More tea!

Indigobloom

that’s awesome that something you love makes you feel better, and that it’s healthy! :)
yay for Bonnie!! and I love your stories xx

Nik

Not inappropriate at all. Thanks for sharing the different parts of your life with us, Bonnie. I hope the symptoms that cause discomfort and pain calm down for you soon. [hugs]

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86

When I walked in the door of my favorite tea pub today, the first person I saw was Andy, all tan and refreshed looking…back from Cambodia and a long honeymoon!
He was wrapped with Christmas lights, tasked with decorating the shop for the Holiday’s. All the other servers were bustling about with an influx of tea patrons that had just about used up all the available teapots and tables.
I sat on my usual bar stool, waiting and watching. They all know that I don’t mind waiting when it’s busy.
Besides, I enjoy the show.

Today I came to see George (the H.L. owner). I was there to drop off two tea and spice rubs that I created with tea from Happy Lucky’s and some seasonings from Savory Spice Shop.

Eventually, the crowd in the shop thinned out and I was able to order a tea that I wanted to take to my daughter’s house for Thanksgiving Day. I already knew that Vanilla Black was pretty popular with flavored tea drinkers at Happy Lucky’s, so I gave it a try.

Joe had blended the tea with natural vanilla. This makes a big difference in the taste, and I remembered how we had discussed how even natural flavors are tricky. You have to add just the right amount of vanilla especially and not overdo it.

The base Black Tea wasn’t malty, but was a straightforward Black Tea. (I wish it was malty. This is a matter of my own taste though.) It had a full vanilla flavor. The vanilla wasn’t bitter and softened the stiffness of the Black Tea.

Without milk but sweetened, the tea was a bit brisk but good enough.
When I added some cream, I liked the tea better, creamier.

I’m sure my daughter and granddaughters will enjoy this tea on
Thanksgiving with the other tea’s I bring to share. Vanilla is, after all, comforting and enjoyed by most people.

Sil

mmm this sounds tasty!

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96

Thank you to Bonnie for this awesome sample ;)

This is one of the finest Pu-erh’s that I have had so far!! After brewing this exquisitely aged tea, the flavors are composed beautifully, of smooth, silky, earthy (but not musty), nutty, with vanilla like components in later steepings. This tea reminds you that it deserves the respect to be sipped and savored like a fine wine..to gulp this tea would be disrespectful ;) I wouldn’t mind drinking this everyday. Where can I get More of this Tea Bonnie !

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Happy Lucky’s takes phone orders, tell them you’re my friend! 689-3417 area code (970) …In a few months they should have some tea’s available online but they are really a walk-in business to serve tea mostly. They said that anyone on Steepster that wants their tea, just CALL! AND, stay SAFE in this storm!!!

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97

I love the Japanese green teas!there is rarely a day I go without a pot or 2 of whatever genmaicha I happen to have around! but its on rare days that I decide to break into my small stash of happy lucky’s gyokuro. this one I have had iced as a “shinobi” brew, in a ceramic pot, and a cast iron pot. and in case you have never heard of a shinobi brew its when place just ice cubes in a pot with the gyokuro and as it melts that will be your tea. its worth experimenting, but I personally love and prefer it hot! when brewed just right the green color is lovely, and there is not to much leafy bits in it either. its got a fresh grassy-ish flavor of a good japanese green. but beware! this tea will not tolerate anything less than perfection! leave it for a few to many seconds or not let the water cool enough it will let you know. this is one of my favorites, and it will be a sad day when I finally run out of happy lucky’s gyokuro, and will have to move on to another brand.

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93

Backlog> (Can’t believe this is the first time I’ve used that word!)

Sunday is my day off from writing reviews but not my day off from drinking tea.
I decided several weeks ago that I needed to have time to visit tea houses, have tea outside my own 4 walls, take pictures for my blog or do other things that are enjoyable and feed my soul.

The point is that there should not be any pressure to produce a review. No words.

You might think that’s an easy task. Huh? I’m a talker, it’s not so easy for me to be quiet and to stay off Steepster.

I keep 3×5 cards in my purse so that I can jot down notes if I happen to drink tea when I’m out somewhere. Do you do that too?
So it’s no use. Having a day off means I’ll write a backlog the next day. It will just have to be done that way. I’m addicted.

At about 3:00 I stopped by my H.L. tea pub for a pot of one of the new tea’s added for the 3rd Anniversary Celebration this weekend.

The shop was FULL of people buying tea from ‘The Great Wall’ where about 350 or more tin bins of tea are stacked with samples in front for sniffing. People stand and sniff, pick a tea and buy some for home or have it brewed up.
Joe was manning the ‘behind the bar’ orders, Eric and several others were making pots of tea, setting timers, weighing tea and answering questions.
I just sat and waited for the dust to clear. It always does.

I had been to Church, visited with my granddaughter and forgot to eat lunch. I was in the mood for a hearty tea.
Joe told me that there was just enough Second Flush Assam left for 1 pot and then it would be gone until the next order came in.
“Let’s do it”, I said.

Joe brought me the tin box and a dry sample to smell.
The leaves were a mix of yellow gold and chocolate brown with a scent of hay and pepper.

The wet leaves were cocoa colored and malty sweet smelling with some honey in the aroma.

The liquor was golden honey in color and scent.
When I took a sip the tea was tangy, strong almost like a malty clover honey with horehound.

I drank the tea straight then added milk and raw sugar.
The improvement was dramatic.
I invited Joe and a mountain man that looked like ZZ Top to have some of the tea with/without milk and they agreed that milk was the best way to drink this tea, even if you don’t add sugar.

I dawdled over my last cup, took some pictures of my favorite place in town.
This Assam was one of the better ones I’ve ever had.

I asked, “How do you guys always stay so cheerful? I never see anyone who works here in a bad mood. No one’s ever cranky or complaining.”
Joe laughed, “That’s not an option, we’re professionals and there’s no place for that kind of thing here.” (He wasn’t joking, he said this with pride)

When I thought about what he said, and the fact that the whole staff is following this same work ethic and pride in what they do, that’s commendable and pretty rare.

Can you imagine if every business had employees who were cheerful, kind and helpful, gave great service without ever being cranky?

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70

COMMENTS:
This is my first rooibos tea and settled on it on my first visit to Happy Lucky’s Tea House in Fort Collins, Colorado. While in aw to mass amounts of teas at my hand this was the choice of my girl friend and is now my favorite nighttime tea since there is no caffeine.
Rooibus Tea is made from the needle-like leaves of a caffeine-free bush that is native to the South African region. The major benefit to this tea is that it does not go bitter if you let it steep to long. This blend contains dried raspberry flakes.
This is a wonderful “desert” tea if you where to classify it do to its sweet taste and aroma. This makes a wonderful relaxing tea that is soothing and not overpowering to the pallet, even though the raspberry flavor cotes on thick to you pallet and slowly fades away revealing a slight wanderlust taste. This makes a great iced tea.

TEA:
- type: Rooibus
- place of origin: South Africa
- leaf-grade, if applicable: fine
- date purchased: September 30th 2012
- date brewed for these notes: October 15, 2012

DRY LEAF:
- color: deep red with light brown
- constituency: fine needle like leaves
- aroma: raspberry, sweet, pleasant

TEA-TO-WATER PROPORTIONS [grams to fl oz]:
1 tsp/8 oz

BREWING VESSEL [pot, gaiwan, etc]:
chinese ceramic pot

FIRST INF:
- time: 5 minutes
- temp: boiling water
- color: golden red with hint of light brown
- aroma: sweet rasberry
- taste: sweet, raspberry, slight hint of honey
- leaf appearance: dense needle like structure brownish color
- leaf aroma: raspberry, light hint of honey

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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92

Tonight I made some pancakes with leftover pumpkin risotto. If this sounds odd to you, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GREAT THIS TASTES!

The risotto was creamy, nutty, sweet and spicy from seasonings and butter that I pared half and half with buttermilk pancake mix and a dash of Vietnamese Cinnamon. So good!
A little bacon and Maple Syrup and dinner was on!
(I love pancakes on a cool evening once in awhile)

What tea would compliment my pancakes?

I remembered the Strong Fire Tieguanyin that I picked up recently, with a haunting deep honey flavor, almost tasting like a peach liquor. I could imagine the woodiness I had tasted with the dash of cinnamon I added and how delicious the combined flavors would be.

It was easy to steep a small pot of tea to set on my dinner tray but hard to wait two minutes before beginning to devour the pancakes.

The savory-sweet, cinnamon-wood, bacon-butter and cakey-risotto flavors rocked! All my taste-buds thanked me.

What a fine tea to keep drinking with many meals over the cool months ahead.

By the way, I’m testing out http://www.teaandincense.com if you’d like to give me any feedback. thanks.

Tommy Toadman

I want some of that, sounds good :)

Nik

That sounds sooooo good!

Bonnie

I’ll always be a little overwieght I’m afraid. I love to cook. Then I eat…but not too much.

Terri HarpLady

Ooohhh, Bonnie, we’re on the same wavelength! I had pancakes tonight too! :D

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92

Somewhere in Fort Collins, I’ve misplaced my CANE. Usually I leave it at Happy Lucky’s Tea House, so last night on the way home from giving grandson Donovan his birthday gift is where I went hunting for it.

It wasn’t there. Oh No!

I had some tea though (which always makes things better)!

Joe was minding the shop and it was pretty empty except for one other regular. We sat at the bar talking now and then about dancing (she’s a 20 year old dancer) and about tea. We got along well.

Joe and I were discussing the Kenyan tea that I reviewed and how it tasted a little like an Oolong. I mentioned how I enjoyed the roasted Oolongs in the Fall and Winter. He asked if I had tasted the Strong Fire Tieguangin?
“What?” I let him know that I hadn’t been informed about that tea.
Off he went to pull the metal canister for me to smell the leaves.

“Um, yes…very roasty smelling leaves and dark too”, I thought. I’d try this one.

Joe prepared a large clay pot and I waited 4 minutes until the timer went off and the leaves were pulled out.

Gracious! The leaves were Black-Brown and looked more like Pu-erh!
The scent was charcoal and french roast coffee with a little tea sweetness. (I could have spent all my time smelling the leaves if I wasn’t worried about the tea getting cold.)

The flavor was not as smoky as the scent. It was sweet and roasty, savory (not vegital), nutty with an unsweetened chocolate undertone.

The second pot was steeped 3 minutes and the leaves were woody and still half unfurled, with an aroma that was more meaty like a good roast chicken.

The flavor was not as sweet or charcoal, dryer in the mouth but never becoming bitter or astringent. This tea was easy to drink.
I talked to Joe about how I could drink pots of tea with roasted chicken or with a savory rice dish, even something buttery where you need to cut through the fat texture and wash it down like when you eat a pulled pork sandwich.

Yes, this tea could stand up to food without being too heavy on it’s
own.

I liked the roastiness very much with a hint of smoke, not too sweet but with character.

Still looking for my CANE….

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Claire

I hope you find your cane soon!

tunes&tea

I also hope you find your cane. Is it aluminum or wood.

Terri HarpLady

Could you have left it at church?

Daisy Chubb

Uh oh – I hope it doesn’t mysteriously show up int he hands of one of the scary Happy Lucky basement ghosts! I’m sure it’ll turn up, hopefully soon!

This tea sounds amazing – I would love to try cooking with it too!

Bonnie

OK…The CANE was at OLD NAVY!! It needed a T-Shirt! My cane is blue, silver and black small flowers with a black wood handle. I’ve had her for almost 3 years.

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66

Sample from Bonnie. Thank you.

The dry leaf smells of sesame oil. The tea tastes of sesame. Although light, it has a very round flavour that is silky in the mouth and pleasant. I suspect this is a tea that I need to be in the right mood for. Still, I am enjoying this pot of it and shall no doubt enjoy the next pot too. Thank you, Bonnie.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Righto Sesame…I like this when I’m having a chicken sandwich…yum…sesame and chicken. Bet your cats would siff around it too.

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91

The last time I tasted a darjeeling at Happy Lucky’s it was the last picked darjeeling of Autumn, after the Monsoons. It was very rich and tasty.
While I was sitting at the bar tasting that tea, someone mentioned another one…this Monsoon Darjeeling that I hadn’t heard about, and I decided that it would be my next pot of tea on my next visit.

I hadn’t forgotten the name or season. I’d become aware through trial and error that the later darjeelings interest me more than the muscat, first flush ones that everyone else raves about.

I’m all for the gypsy darjeelings cloaked in wet leaves, saturated with a slight smokiness and dripping with the fruits of a golden Fall compote.

I call this gypsy for the brisk dryness that is not like linen but more like the top of your hand across velvet. The tea tastes almost peachy and nutty…then floral, changing to brown sugar toffee. No, this isn’t a darjeeling that is too sweet, but is pleasant.

I sat and cupped my hands looking at the honey liquor, bending over my cup and going back to the sweet fruity/floral aroma over and over again with great pleasure.
Surely, I thought, this tea would become astringent as it cools. It must. But, as I waited that prediction didn’t ring true, I was wrong and glad to be incorrect. No tannin or acid or turning into meh’ as we like to say here on Steepster.

I do like this Monsoon and the other late darjeeling tea’s. They appeal to me because of my love of darker tea’s with malt,smoke and rich complexity.

I remember that today is 9/11 and I will remember to serve others in memory of them and all those innocents who suffer in the World (I know I’m one of many who do the same)!

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90

This week’s trip to my Tea Pub was one where I order a
pot of tea (I’m always looking for a new tea to try and write about)
and then pull out a packet of one of my own treasured tea’s
for my tea server friends to try. (These employees are super mega educated about tea!)
I ordered this Darjeeling and sat at the tall bar watching several
of my friendly servers take the last of my sample packet of Summer Tieguanyin and gradually pour all 18 steepings.

It’s funny to watch the whole tea serving and drinking from a bar stool. The Gaiwan was ready and the pouring began.
Eyes rolled around and primordial sounds arose as my friends enjoyed
the exceptional Oolong tea. It was amusing (I know I laughed).

My tea was more interesting and delicious than I expected also.
Harvested after the monsoon season, this darjeeling is a ‘no flush’…because it’s at the very end of picking. It has no muscat flavor, no astringency or acidity.
For an hour or so, my tea friends and I chattered on about what was making this tea so sweet? We ended up talking about beer, then grains and grain sugars and the closest flavor to what we were tasting in the tea was Grape Nuts.
Yes Grape Nuts cereal, which has a barley sugar that tastes good. (One other person said there was some kind of stone fruit but we could never decide on that. INCONCLUSIVE!)

I drank a whole pot of tea. Then I asked for a refill.
(Looking for stone fruit)
An odd thing happened with the second pot.
The leaves smelled soapy. Not bad soap, not Irish Spring. More like the musky warm soap scent left on a man’s skin, very light and pleasant.
(Well OK then, who just woke up?!)

The tea didn’t taste like soap but like Bergamot. Strange.
As the tea cooled, the soapy scent and Bergamot flavor drifted away as if they were never there at all.

I am such a fortunate person to have a place like this to go and have a good time, taste tea and share the tea I have. What a blessing. Without this place, I would have far less contact with people face to face. This is why I hope the tea culture in North America grows. For the tea we all love…sure, but for more places like my tea pub (Happy Lucky’s and in Boulder Ku Cha) to exist for hospitality.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjBX1Mjf Finally found a picture of the place!

Thomas Smith

Totally agree on the Grape Nuts with this tea!

Indigobloom

I’ve never heard of no flush before! always something new to learn…

Bonnie

When it’s the end of the picking’s…they don’t bother with ‘flushes’, it’s Autumn.

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93

The last few visits to my tea shop I had been told about Water Sprite Tea but for some reason, had gone on to a green tea and an India Oolong.

Today, I remembered.

Granddaughter Schey drove me to Church (I sold my car) and Sunday afternoon is the best time for tea in town.

When we walked in the door of Happy Lucky’s, there were three servers (PRO’S) in their bright red and maroon Cambodian silk shirts grinning widely in a friendly “Hello” as though we were family. (Schey loves tea there as much as I do!)

“I’m ready for the pillow tea today”, I said. "Ah, the Water Sprite. You won’t be disappointed, " said Eric and all agreed.

Sundays are quieter in the shop usually. We sit at the tall bar to chat and watch tea being created for ourselves and others, sharing tips and information about tea. I’m a talker!

In no time a nice big clay pot of Water Sprite Tea was ready.
But first, what was done to prepare the tea?
A tea wrapped pillow is about 1.5 inches by 3 inches (some are a bit smaller) in a square or rectangle shape and wrapped in white paper like a present. One package is unwrapped for tea, placed in a clay pot and steeped in 190F water for 1-3 minutes then the tea is poured into another clay pot for serving (the pillow doesn’t fit into baskets or filters…too big!). (You could brew using 2 mugs at home)

The tea was sweet and floral with a lovely cooling in the mouth which I’ve tasted in Taiwanese Oolong’s but never in Chinese Oolong’s.

This Chinese Oolong was very light with no astringency or dryness at all even when the tea cooled.
Layered under the delicately sweet floral flavor was a hint of vegital green bean that you would normally associate with a green tea.
The flavors were interesting and made me want more and more cups of tea.

I was told that 7 steepings or more were to be expected. We had 4 pots full and there was little fading of flavor.

I purchased some of these dreamy little pillows for sharing with Schey and my other grandchildren.

Indigobloom

freedom from driving, yay! lol
this sounds oh so yummy

TheTeaFairy

So cute that they call it a tea pillow..

Bonnie

I called it a pillow because it’s wrapped in white and about the size of a small hotel bar of soap and puffy. Won’t fit in a basket so plop…into a gaiwan or pot.

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93

I may not be able to get to my favorite tea shop for a week or so because I have someone who wants to buy my car tomorrow.
This is a good thing and will lift the burden caused by medical bills off my back.
I’ll find an inexpensive old car to hobble around in and be OK.

In the mean time, off I went to HAPPY LUCKY’S to be HAPPY with some
TEA!
It was just my luck that 3 of my favorite tea server friends were there at the same time! It wasn’t too busy in the shop, so it was like a party for me (maybe not for them though)!

I don’t think the people who work at Happy Lucky’s know just how much they mean to me and other customers as well.

While I was sitting at the bar watching customers wander in and out ordering tea, I noticed a regular customer that I had seen before who comes in for a daily matcha. Andy vigorously whisks the matcha powder with concentration and care until it froths to the perfect consistency…then hands the foamy bowl over and it’s gone in three or four splendid gulps.
Another young woman was matched with a custom Chai Latte…just for her (my server friend laughed and commented to me how he loves to pick out the right tea for the right person).

It was Andy who stood at the tea wall with me today while I sniffed tins of green tea. I picked the most expensive one. It smelled so savory.
He said, “Try the Lu An Gua Pian, it tastes almost the same and costs less…and I like it a lot myself.”
I picked up the tin to sniff and thought it smelled quite similar to the first tea but was just a darker pine green color.
I decided to go with his suggestion and ordered a clay pot full of tea.

When Andy took the basket out of the pot and presented the wet leaves they smelled so good. I kept saying that they smelled like lunch. I know that sounds stupid, but they smelled like something you’d want to eat. SAVORY and salty bright dark green leaves so vegital and spinachy, green bean, artichoke, blah, blah, blah…good that you think of it as a meal!

I took a sip of tea and before the liquor hit my mouth I could taste it from the savory scent. Oh, it was so good! Wet and juicy too! The tea was light and salty but never bitter or acidic.

As the pot of tea cooled down, the feel of the tea became a little dry on the tongue but never bitter or astringent. The aftertaste lingered for a long while. That is as it should be.

Much later, I added a little raw sugar before the pot was empty and the tea was delightful and enchanted with the kind of taste you get from anything you do in a culinary way with sweet and savory dishes. Yum, Yum, Yum!

This was a great pot of afternoon tea.

As I was leaving the shop. I made a comment about how grateful I am.
It wasn’t missed.
I was about to open the door and I heard,
“Thanks for reminding us to be grateful Bonnie, we need to be mindful of that every day.”

(Little do they know that it’s they that made me mindful of being grateful at that moment… by their kindness)

Michelle

I love reading your tasting notes. You share such wonderful stories, and I definitely need the reminders to be grateful :)

Scatterbrain

You really make me want to visit Happy Lucky’s. Sounds like an awesome place.

Bonnie

I hope everyone can find their tea place really. If you go to a place often enough you become friends. Or, try to start a group that meets now and then. You learn so much more.

Michelle

There’s a tea shop downtown where I go to school, but it’s more formal – it’s fairly expensive on a college budget and it’s not just tea, it’s a full service with finger sandwiches and stuff. It’s delightful, but I wish there was one more like your Happy Lucky’s!

Bonnie

Michelle, all I could find was Tealuxe in Cambridge closest to you unfortunately unless there are unlisted or new shops. Have you been there yet?

Michelle

Oh, yes, I’ve been there! They’re great, but about an hours commute. The tea shop I was speakin of was the one in NY where I go to school :)

Bonnie

Where do you go to school in New York?

Michelle

Geneva NY. We’ve got Dallywaters in town, but I think for much else I’d have to go out to Rochester. It’s okay though. I’ve got plenty of tea already… my roommate thinks I’m crazy!

Bonnie

Ha, we’re all crazy!

chadao

Liu an gua pian is one tea that I have yet to try. It intrigues me because it is made without buds. I’m guessing it has a very nice, robust flavor. I wish I lived closer to fort collins, this seems like a wonderful tea shop!

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90

This evening it’s COLD outside! Burr!

Last night one of my alarms began to beep. I thought it was the carbon monoxide alarm so I changed out all 3 batteries. Still, the beeping continued.
I kept fiddling with it for a few hours, charging batteries and trying them again until I discovered the beeping was coming from my smoke alarm on the 9 ft. high ceiling. That alarm was too tall to reach without a ladder. Beep, Beep, Beep!

Finally, hours later, the beeping went dead!

Today I called my son-in-law to come with a ladder to change the battery and he was in and gone in less than 5 minutes.

Beep, beep, beep.

Right away the beeping began again.
It appears that I need a new fire alarm, and I’ll have to put up with this stupid beeping until tomorrow afternoon when MR. son-in- law can return to disable the bleeping device.

I’m getting edgy!

I soothed my nerves and drank this beeping beautiful tea.
This was so good and roasty, a tasty fruity Darjeeling Oolong that’s a little peachy but not too sweet.
I really love Autumn tea’s (this tea reminds me of Autumn).
They’re comforting with the taste of the liquor left from baking peach or apple pie. I’ve made lots of pies for contests and when I bake an apple pie especially, I always add a little brandy which this tea reminds me of. It’s light but smooth and fruity.

No more beeps though, I’ve had enough!

Janefan

Its probably not defective, just needs to be reset. Ours does this too. Try this (or google how to reset your exact brand/type, if you know it.) http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/35905/Ive_replaced_the_batteries_but_my_smoke_detector_wont_stop_beeping

Indigobloom

oh dear poor Bonnie! you must be a little twitchy by now :s

Bonnie

Day 2 waiting for the son-in-law, slept with a pillow over my ears! Went out to Happy Lucky’s to tea this afternoon with my granddaughter Schey to get away from the beep, beep, beep!

Bonnie

Thanks Janfan!

Nik

“beeping beautiful tea” – lol! Aww, poor Bonnie, hope the SIL has come ‘n’ gone by now! =)

Bonnie

Nope Nik, I climbed up on the coffee table (One thing that is solid wood!!!) got a rubber gripper from the kitchen and reached high enough to open the battery door without removing the whole alarm from the ceiling. Plopped out the dang battery too. (To play it safe I turned off the breaker to the alarm first because it’s hardwired {which does not stop beeping}) I am sane (as much as I can be) again!

Nik

Well that’s a relief, at least! =)

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90

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.

Indigobloom

sounds amazing!! raisin in an oolong? fun!

Bonnie

ok, how many of you hit the like because you saw the word marijuana?

Autistic Goblin

I hit it cause I saw cocoa but then it said raisin and prune… it lost me there.

Spoonvonstup

Haha! Not I- to tell the truth, I didn’t remember that part until you mentioned it again. Also- the raisins and prunes made me immeadiatly think about other teas that might give you a similar experience: I’ve had a few Rou Gui Wuyi Oolongs that were very raisin-y. Thinking back now, I don’t remember many reviews of roasted/Wuyi oolongs coming from you (except these most recent couple). Am I remember correctly?

Also, I loved this part: “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.”

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88

Thank You Bonnie for this sample

This is my third Lapsang Souchong I have tried (previous were bagged from Choice Teas and Twinnings)

I made a small pot from the sample Bonnie sent.
It’s the weekend – and weekends are for loose teas.
I boiled some water, and put the sample in the pot.
The pot makes about 2-3 cups of tea.

I didn’t hesitate to add a splash of milk and two sugar packets, from previous Lapsang Souchong experience.
For breakfast, I’m eating a smoked sausage to complement this tea.

I enjoy Lapsang Souchong’s in the morning, as a first tea.
This tea was strong, had flavor, and was smooth.

I’m going for Lap Band Lapsang surgery to fix my slouching problem I have today. :)

I googled “happy luckys tea house”
and got:
http://www.happyluckys.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/happy-luckys-teahouse-and-treasures-fort-collins

Bonnie

Glad you liked it and will be praying that the surgery goes really well and gives you relief! I think Happy Lucky’s needs to do new photo’s!!! (I mentioned that to them!)

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76

Thank you Bonnie for this sample ;)

This is a tea that need multiple tasting “sessions” to “explore it further” or “get it”!! It is a complex tea that is very smokey on the forefront or your taste buds, then changes to the typical “black tea” taste, while leaving behind a very pleasant smokey aftertaste that can linger on the palate for 5-10 minutes!! While accomplishing all these feats at the same time, it has a very silky mouth feel that is easily discernible! Even though I am not a fan of “Black Teas”..this is a very well made tea, that can easily change someones mind to the possibilities that Black tea can offer to the palate :)

Song Pairing “Seashell” By Skylab http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhIN-4NXFXA

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

ok….so no camping or fire memories heh? Try cooking something with this like suggested. Not everyone likes to drink LS. Some people sweeten it too.

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68

No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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68

Thanks to Bonnie for this sample ;)

This tea had a very light smokiness that was very mild with a very silky mouth feel. It was very easy to drink..in a comforting and familiar way!! The very light roasted flavors, reminded me A lot of roasted sesame seeds!! A pleasant tea to be infused at any time of the day ;)

Song Pairing “Seashell” By Skylab http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhIN-4NXFXA

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Yep, sesame for sure. I sweeten it, reminds me of sesame rice candies!

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95

This is a superb LS. Many thank yous to Bonnie, who supplied me with my fix. It is greatly appreciated. All my previous tasting notes still stand. It is everything good about an autumnal camping trip, the smoky fire, the barbecue flavour. All that and more. But, better yet, in addition to drinking it today, I made some LS chocolates this week and have been scoffing those alongside the pot of LS. Yum! The LS works well with dark chocolate, producing a smoky flavour that two friends thought was like smoked Bavarian cheese. They came back for more, so success then. This LS wins on yet another count.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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95

Sipping this while seasoning my new Yixing travel tea tumbler. Thank you hugely to Bonnie on both counts. It’s sweet and very smoky. It makes me feel good. I love it. Thank you, Bonnie.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Welcome. You need it in the damp U.K.

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