TEA FOR ONE

This is probably going to be even more boring than my usual drivel, but I have a little bit more to write about my birthday. I buy myself presents. I am pretty much a tightwad. I expect change back from every nickel I spend. However, I do have certain extravagances, to wit, tea and books. I control book expenditures by rarely buying a book that isn't on sale, discounted, remaindered, or used. Tea is rarely on sale, so I just have to limit how much and how frequently I purchase it. Here's my report on this batch of tea.

Even a fairly mediocre tea is $12 to $15 a pound, and really good tea can run $150 a pound. I stick to the lower end of the spectrum. Lately I have been buying tea from Upton Tea Imports in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. They have a huge variety, will sell small samples so you can try out something new, and they only charge $4.00 for shipping no matter what size the order. I purchase 125 grams or 250 grams of teas I like, and sample of new ones. Here's some of my latest regulars. Harmutty Estate STGFOP1S. This is an Assam tea, grown at sea level in the Assam province of north-eastern India. This one of the regions where tea plants (Camellia sinensis) are native. I like Assams because they have a heavy body and malty flavor. The alphabet soup following the name describes the leaf size and type. This is a super fine tippy golden flowery orange pekoe grade 1. Orange Pekoe indicates larger leaf pieces. The other stuff indicates that these include the flower tips of the tea plant. Despite the highfalutin name, it is inexpensive.

I tend to prefer Chinese teas to Indian, and one of my standards is Premium China Yunnan TGFOP. Yunnan is another place where tea is a native plant and is very close Assam in India. The tastes are similar, but I prefer this Yunnan. It is a better tea.

A nice blend of teas is Baker Street Afternoon Blend. I was, of course, attracted by the name which conjures up visions of Sherlock Holmes sharing a cup with Dr. Watson on a fogy London afternoon. This blend combines Chinese Keemun (one of my favorite types, very fragrant) and Darjeeling (Indian tea) with a touch of Lapsang Souchong. The later is a very unusual Chinese tea. It is dried over a pine fire. It has a very strong, smoky flavor. I have made Lapsang Souchong by itself, but it is such a string tea it sometimes upsets my stomach. It works much better in this blend.

I also drink flavored teas. These are real teas with flavoring, not herbal tisanes which aren't teas at all. The classic scented tea is Chinese Jasmine Tea. Jasmine flowers are added to the tea leaves and they are dried together. This is a pouchong tea, meaning it is only partly oxidized. A black tea is completely oxidized, a green tea is not oxidized, and puchongs and oolongs are only partly oxidized. Hence the tea is a yellowish color rather than black. I love this tea on a summer afternoon, very relaxing and refreshing. Although I didn't buy any this time, I also drink Rose Chun Mee, a green tea scented with rose petals. There's also a black rose tea, Rose Congu. A new flavor I tried was Osmanthus (Guangxi Gui-Hua). It's very much like Jasime tea, but I prefer Jasmine. With jasmine, rose, and osmanthus teas you can see the flower petals mixed in the tea.

Two other flavored teas I purchased were Sweet Almond and Mango Indica. These are black teas with bits of almond and mango mixed in. Two other flavored teas are much more complex. Orange Spice Imperial has cinnamon, orange peel, vanilla bean and clove. It is something like Constant Comment, but I think with a higher quality tea. Summer blend is amazing with grapefruit, orange and juniper needles and berries.

My order included 19 various samples. I've only had a chance to try a few. Here's my reviews. Scottish Breakfast Blend is supposed to provide and "eye-opening experience in the morning." It's not quite that, though it is a strong black tea with an interesting flavor. I think it's one I'll try again. Mincing Lane Breakfast Tea is a combination of Yunnan and Assam, but it was disappointing, undistinguished. Richmond Park Blend uses Keemun, Darjeeling and Ceylon, but I found it too much like Ceylon and Darjeeling which I don't care for. East Frisian BOP is a hearty Assam tea, a powerful, above average tea. Now is worth the extra $2 per 125 grams cost over an estate Assam? Maybe. I have another East Frisian blend to try.

In this batch I've also tried a Java blend. Of course, one thinks of Java as a place where coffee is grown, but they also grow tea. This in inexpensive and undistinguished, but might be good for iced tea.

I have quite a few to try yet especially some white teas. White teas are like green teas in that they are not oxidized at all, but the white tea isn't even withered so it is even more delicate than a green tea. I tried some white tea in San Diego last year and found it interesting.

At the other extreme from a white tea in a Pu-Erh. This is a Yunnan tea that has been allowed to oxidize twice. I understand it has a very earthy taste. Usually it is compressed into cakes, but the same I have it loose leaf.

Ah, it's four o'clock tea time. Must go. TTFN*

May the Lord bless you on your way and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne

*Ta-ta for now.