catching up

A lot of things have been happening lately, such as graduating college and having a busy summer with lots of sewing and grad school reading when I get a spare moment between internships. And my family home has finally entered the 21st century by getting wifi! So now I can blog from somewhere other than the cold basement! hooray!

Here's just a teaser of some of the teas about which I'll be catching up:

Montréal tea haul!

Clinton, NY: Tradition -Jasmine Green Tea

Found this one in the Language Office this past Thursday and helped myself to a pretty little packet. Let's see how it is!

     Nice sachet, large and spacious for leaves to expand. Sweet smell when foil pack opened. The liquor has a very floral aroma, and more full-bodied than I am used to in my jasmine tea (I usually drink Sunflower jasmine tea -the one that comes in the orange tin). A little stronger too. Looking at the opened leaves in the bag, I can see that this a little more than the amount I usually use per cup-- wait a second???!

trans fat -in my tea?! Some one explain.

   Even without the suspicious trans fat, I wouldn't get this tea again. Just not as good as other jasmines to make it worth it. I've mentioned before how I'm not a fan of green tea in teabags and although, as you can see, the leaves are still a decent size, it just seems a little off.

ebay: glutinous rice puerh

The cake is very pungent. In the most delicious sense of the word. The astringency of the tea is tempered by a hard-to-describe sort of almost sourness. I haven't eaten sticky rice in a few years, so I don't remember the smell, but I am assured by the internet that this indeed the smell I am struggling to describe.

This aroma is apparently imparted by an herb

"There exists an herb in China’s Yunnan Province who’s aroma closely resembles that of sticky glutinous rice. “Nuo Mi Xiang Nen Ye” translates to “Sweet Rice Tender Leaves.” This tea in maocha form, is left for months in close contact with Nuo Mi Xiang Nen Ye leaves until the tea leaves take on the scent of the herb. [...] Once steeped, the tea emits a sweet aroma identical to that of fresh sticky rice. The liquor is very brothy and resembles genmaicha in color and taste." -thanks to worldoftea.org


I'm blogging "live" this time, instead of after as I usually do. As the tea is steeping, I'm getting a beautiful scent from the liquor that really does smell just like rice. I've heard it said that glutinous rice puerh is a good subsitute/alternative for gen mai cha, but so far, the aroma is really not that similar. There's no distinctive roasted smell and it seems like it will be much sweeter. Let's try it. Here goes:

Delicious! Very smooth. A slight ricey flavor lingers on the back of the tongue.

A mouthful of later infusions have more of the astringent taste of ...wu-yi tea, but still with that delightful ricey taste at the end. I love the cute little tin too -I will definitely be buying this again!

Washington D.C.: Liberty Tea Bags

I got this one when visiting D.C. for the first time this past summer and have been saving it for just this occasion! Happy Presidents' Day!

The back of the package tells an interesting story about tea subsitutes durin the American Revolution, including "New Jersey red root, sage, and raspberry leaves." This caffeine-free herbal tisane does look like green tea and is a pretty interesting blend. None of the ingredients stands out in particular, overpowering the others. Instead, you can taste each of them at different times as you swallow. You'll be left with a refresion, slightly minty aftertaste.

The package advises a steeping time of 5 minutes, but I left the bag in as I was drinking. The first few sips were a little too watery for me, but I drank it slowly and it got to be actually quite delicious the longer the bag steeped. A peach slice is a suggested garnish, which I think would be quite delicious with this tea poured over ice, during the summer. A little honey could a nice treat in this tea as well, though I found it to be crisp and refreshing, without being too floral or too minty, on its own.

So if you're ever in D.C., I'd recommend picking this up! It's $8 at the Smithsonian gift shop for $20 bags, but if you're going to buy souvenirs, it's better than a magnet that falls off your refrigerator and breaks...

National Hot Tea Month -where was I?

So, January was National Hot Tea Month. Who knew?

Certainly not I! Whoops!

I've been two-timing Tea again, with a hot new date. Thesis.

...Actually, Tea, Thesis, and I have some pretty nice threesomes.

But sometimes Thesis gets a little out of hand and he and I have to take a short break from each other.

Like tonight, with our friend Donut who came over to visit Twinings (Naturally Decaffeinated) English Breakfast Tea. Not the most exciting black tea (far from it- please look forward to a post about a very wonderful black tea, coming soon!), but at least there's no bite. Plus the slight bitterness canceled out the slightly-too-sweetness of the donut. I don't usually eat donuts, but this one was so small and cute...I could not resist the temptation to dunk it, Clark Gable style!

Central New York: TAZO, Awake

This combination is warming and refreshing at the same time. The milk helps to round out the flavour of the Awake tea, which I honestly find a bit hollow on its own. The blend of black teas is nice in theory, but I think the balance is somewhat off. There doesn't seem to be anything binding them together and I feel a little disjointed whenever I drink it plain (plus it doesn't wake me up at all!). Adding milk helps Awake actualize its depth potential and the touch of spice from Silk's fantastic Pumpkin Spice flavor is a really nice added touch. This combination is, as I said, refreshing since it's not heavy on the spices and you don't need sweetener.

ebay: Mini puer #1, square

I've been lonely here on campus without my human boyfriend, so I've been spending a lot of quality shopping-therapy time with my other one, tea. I've got a LOT of posts to catch up on!

Pretty recently, I scored on ebay with a good-sized box of assorted mini puer cakes! Over 30 varieties!

Only problem is, I don't know what they are!

Treasure!

Well, here goes the first one! This little square guy, so cute!

It would be funny to trick somebody into thinking this is a piece of chocolate!

The first infusion is very dark, nearly black. A wonderful full-bodied, earthy flavor, slightly astringent in the back of the mouth as you swallow. Rich. This tea has a more fermented aroma than the other puer I've been drinking. (A post on that to come!)

If I find out what the flavor is I will edit the post so that anyone who happens to read it can try to purchase a sample for his/herself. Recommended!