Happy Holidays to all

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to say a quick "Happy Holidays" to everyone.

Here in my house we spent the weekend celebrating Christmas and it was a lovely one filled with visits from family and quiet time with the kids. I love this time of the year - decorating the tree, wonderful music, making gingerbread houses, baking (and eating) lots and lots of cookies. ;)

M got me a perfectly fabulous tea-related gift this year -- a shiny new electric kettle. I could not be more excited. (Yes, I get very, very excited about such things.) You can set the temp and it will bring it to that temp and maintain it within a 2 degree range. Finally gong fu tea preparation will be much more convenient and efficient. I'll be able to better control my water temp and quality. Even in my western-style tea brewing I'll be able to ensure that my water is at the perfect temp without breaking out the thermometer. It allows me to switch between
Celsius and Fahrenheit too. This is helpful for me because I sometimes receive teas from companies (like the ever wonderful Aura Teas) that give their instructions in Celsius and now I don't have to do the recalculation. The little things in life make me very, very happy.

For those of you not celebrating Christmas I suspect many of you still had some time off this weekend. I hope it was relaxing and filled with good tea.

Darjeeling Avongrove - Tea Gschwendner

It's definitely a winter wonderland around here. We didn't get nearly the amount of snow that was predicted -- only about 5 inches rather than the 12"+ we thought we might get -- but it's enough to be very beautiful. The kids didn't play outside too long today. I think the blowing snow was making them cold pretty quickly but I'm sure we'll be out in it quite a bit over the next few days.

I must confess that I didn't go outside on today's great snow adventure. I stayed in, baking cookies for Christmas, and sipping tea. (Chocolate chip/rice krispie cookies, frosted sugar cookies, and Mexican cinnamon/sugar cookies in case you were curious.) But I know you're actually much more interested in the tea.

Today's tea was a tea I've mentioned a few times since my October trip to Chicago - Darjeeling Avongrove from Tea Gschwendner. It is an organic 2nd flush Darjeeling FTGFOP-1 (Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - grade 1).

The dry leaf is a mix of dark browns, light greens, rusts, and silver in thick meandering curves and waves. The scent was fresh and slightly lemon. I picked up notes of grape and even of fresh sawn lumber.

I brewed 1 1/2 tsp of the tea with 8 ounces of water just at boiling for 2 1/2 minutes. The tea's liquor was like golden honey with peach tones. The scent was like honey. I kept thinking of the word nectar. The wet leaf was more of a reddish brown. The leaves were flat with serrated edges. They were moderately sized leaves that had been broken into smaller pieces.

The taste was rich and malty with very little astringency. Warming. Cozy. Familiar, yet there was still something surprising about it. Haunting. I continue to be very intrigued by this tea. It is completely drinkable. It is not inexpensive but I certainly felt that it was worth its price.

Competition in the world of bricks and mortar

I just read an interesting story in the new edition of World Tea News. Apparently Adagio Tea is preparing to open their first bricks and mortar shop. I definitely didn't see this coming. I had been impressed with their ability to develop a strong online presence that was both well-known and well-respected. In an era when many places are moving out of the teashop business into online sales, this seems a bold move. What is even more interesting is that they are eyeing Chicago for the first store. This is surprising as Argo has been working hard to corner that market and TeaGschwendner is already there. (Of course this is all happening very soon after a TG Exec moved over to Adagio.)

Anyway, enough of me re-hashing what's already been written. You can find the article here. I really can't decide how I feel about it. On one hand, I think Adagio does good work and I think they've kept prices reasonable. I think they have strong products to offer which would add appeal. On the downside, I'm not sure an Adagio store will feel unique enough. What will it offer that I can't get from them online?

What do you think? Would you shop at an Adagio retail store? What would you hope that they could do that would be different from what already exists?

Housekeeping and a Question

Just two quick notes in this post -

One is just a heads up:
A few comments have been posted to the blog that are all a variation of "I like your blog. You should check out this tea: www.imtryingtopromotemyproductusingyourblog.com"

I make it a practice to reject these comments because I don't want to be used to promote products that I have never tried. Occasionally I will pass it along if I think it looks promising, but generally, I just won't post them.

IF you post a comment to the blog and it doesn't get published, please feel free to e-mail me directly (teapages (at) gmail.com) so we can discuss it. I'm happy to reconsider if I know that it is a legitimate recommendation from an interested reader.

Now, time to put on your thinking caps:
I am in the process of tracking down older writings about tea - essays, book excerpts, etc. for a project I'm working on. These can be pieces by people in the industry, historical figures, etc. And when I say "older" I'm thinking early 1900s and before. I am primarily interested in non-fiction, but if there's a fictional piece you're in love with, let me know. If you have any thoughts, ideas, and recommendations for pieces I should read, please send them along to me at teapages (at) gmail.com

Thanks for your help and have a great Thursday!

Cloud Mist - Zhong Guo Cha

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We had lots of time visiting family. Over two days we visited three houses and saw more than 30 relatives. My kids had a ball playing with their cousins and with the children of my cousins. On my mom's side there are 13 grandchildren and we were a tight-knit bunch. It's fantastic having my kids get to know them and their kids. Right now there's a 4 1/2 year old (mine), a nearly 4 year old, a nearly 3 year old (mine), a nearly 2 year old, and a 1 year old...and another on the way (not mine.)

I have been wanting to get back to tea reviews but hadn't been feeling very organized. It takes some time to do one well and I've been feeling a bit stretched in all directions. I know you can all relate. (It doesn't help that my son told me that he uses magic to make the house messier every time I turn around. I knew it had to be something like that.) I am in awe of and inspired by the many of you who are able to write frequently...coherently...and inspirationally on a regular basis. I admire you. BUT, I should have a link to another article of mine to share soon. (I hope. Fingers crossed. I never REALLY believe something is going to run until I see it in print. Not a tea one, but one I'm very happy to have the opportunity to write. Spreading my wings a bit.) And, today, I wish to write about one of my new FAVORITE teas.

I don't say "favorite tea" very often. And there is never just ONE. But, Zhong Guo Cha's Cloud Mist (Yun Wu Lu Cha, G-5-3-2) one is certainly high in the ranks. This Chinese green tea has been haunting me. I tried it for the first time as part of the afternoon tea I attended at Savvy Tea Gourmet in Madison, CT. The owner, Phil Parda, included this tea as one of the six we sampled and I absolutely could not get it out of my head. It seemed criminal to only have one infusion from those marvelous leaves, but in that environment, it was simply all that was possible. I knew I had to bring some home to do full justice to this tea.

The dry leaf is dark green, very thin, and wiry. It feels absolutely silky to the touch. The scent is quite subtle, a bit reminiscent of swiss chard. I infused 1 1/2 tsp of the tea in 6 ounces of 165 degree water for 1 minute, 45 seconds. I examined the wet leaf and was struck by the color. Suddenly the leaves mimicked the color of manzanilla olives. They were already opening and the tiny delicate leaves were beautiful. These leaves were incredibly fragrant - asparagus dominated. The liquor itself was a pale green/yellow and had the aromas of asparagus and seaweed.
Infusion 1: (1:45) It was very smooth and light. The flavors were very similar to the scent - asparagus with a touch of marine notes.
Infusion 2: (1:45) The flavor turned a bit more toward spinach, with a touch of honey sweetness. There was not even a hint of bitterness to this brew. Impossibly smooth.
Infusion 3: (1:15) Much more complex. Not as clear a flavor comparison as the first two infusions. It was slightly drying in the mouth. I noticed a slightly buttery texture like a Chardonnay, but it wasn't that same viscousness I associate with that wine.
Infusion 4: (1:15) The flavor was definitely weakening here. The infusion was very pale in color. I continued to pick up some of the buttery notes, but felt that the oceanic flavors were a bit more dominant.

I am very anxious to try this tea brewed in a gaiwan. I am always struck with how differently a tea can taste when brewed with various techniques. A tea that seemed "blah" to me can absolutely sparkle with gong fu brewing techniques. Other times I crave the simplicity of the "throw it in a teapot with some boiling water" style of brewing. It can feel cozy and homey and fight off the winter chill. This is why I rarely give up on a tea before I've brewed it three or four times.

Have a great day everyone. Happy December!

(I'll have a very brief post going out in a few minutes looking for some information. Put on your thinking caps!)