neokomuso

Delicious, full-bodied crop of this year’s 1st flush Darjeeling from the Goomtee estate.
It’s so refreshing after the months of drinking from the 2008 lot to dip into the revitalized tea crop.
Goomtee has outdone themselves!

Finally picked up a tin of the organic Cinnamon Plum!
I caught Rishi’s blog entry about mulling cider with it, and it sounded delicious.
It’s a gorgeous pot pourri of herbs and fruit that just hits you the moment you open the tin.
I’ll look forward to mixing some with cider!

There are many varieties of “Milky” oolongs; some being infused with the essence of milk, and others which are supposedly “naturally occurring” or aquire their creamy flavor from the nature of the oolong varietal. This is an example of the former; being scented with milk in much the same way that jasmine tea is scented with real jasmine flowers.

Personally, I prefer the scented milky oolongs, as the “naturally occurring” ones only vaguely hint at a milky flavor. There used to be a purveyor in my area who carried this outstanding tea, and I tracked it down to Red Blossom. Mr. Luong at Red Blossom carries an Anxi and a Taiwan version of this tea, the former being darker roasted. It was this Anxi Silk Oolong which I had first encountered at my local teashop, and I was very happy to find it again!

My karigane comes from a very special and exclusive lot grown entirely by an elderly gentleman living in Saga. The tea he grew in his back yard and produced by hand caught the attention of a Chanoyu supplier in San Francisco where it was kept behind the counter only to be shared with friends and afficionados. Luckily, I have some very good friends!

Imagine my surprise when I saw that Dammann Freres was being sold at Sur la Table.

This was a very nice Earl Grey and I especially dig the stylish tin, but…
seriously, Earl Grey Yin Zhen? I thought this was going to be a white tea scented with bergamot. Granted, I didn’t look closely enough to see that it was clearly marked Black tea with white tips. I found a few white buds in the tin, but I’ll chalk it up to a lame French marketing ploy. Just further hurts my impression of French tea purveyors. I’m not a big fan of the other “Freres” either. ;)

Shirakata’s hashiri lot was very good this year. I am still enjoying my package this week.
I am usually wary of those earliest of crops that seem to rush to market, but I am very pleased with this one, and look forward to comparing it to his later shincha harvests arriving this week.

This tea is an outstanding example of the new styles being experimented with in India. Tao of Tea’s Kali Cha and White Darjeeling are the leaders of Indian oolong and white tea, in my opinion!