Saturday Morning Tea

Oct25

Good morning, dear tea friends! After a week of dark, gloomy days, the clouds have all been swept away by the autumn winds and the sun is shining brightly in my corner of the world. As the leaves fall and pile up in bright patches on the ground, that leafy, woodsy smell permeates the air. I’ve chosen a China black tea for my morning tea today, one that reflects that rich autumn fragrance.

I’m pleased to introduce you to Hong Tao Keemun, a 2014 lot newly arrived from China.

The leaf is dark and twisted. Ooo, that sounds like the beginning of a scary story, doesn’t it? Perfect for the approaching All Hallows Eve.

I steeped it for 5 minutes in boiling point (212F) water.

Keemun tea is named after a county, Qimen, in Anhui province. There are several stories about its origins but the most common is one of a governmental official in the late 1800s who learned about black tea production in Fujian province and then decided to return to his native county, Qimen, to produce black tea there. He met with success and his new black tea was imported to England where it was enjoyed as a breakfast tea.

With its stout, warming flavor profile, this tea would be a perfect start to your day.

My teapot sits next to my kitchen window, which overlooks a red maple tree. At this time of year, the leaves have turned a rich shade of deep burgundy with glowing amber undersides. The color of this tea matches that beautiful leaf.

As I pour my first cup, I can smell its fragrance of autumn leaf with whispers of Burgundy and smoke.

The flavor is deep and complex, with notes of Burgundy wine, a cocoa nuance, and a sweet, smooth quality that lingers long into the finish. For tea lovers that enjoy their tea British style, this tea would stand up quite well to milk.

I’ve recently acquired a compost tumbler and have set it up in my backyard. I’m so excited to start composting my tea leaves and turn them into rich fertilizer for my garden beds. Speaking of which, I’m headed out there today to continue the preparations for their winter sleep. Yes, to quote one of my favorite book series – winter is coming!

Until next time, enjoy your tea!

“Moreover to light a fire is the instinctive and resistant act of man when, at the winter ingress, the curfew is sounded throughout Nature. It indicates a spontaneous, Promethean rebelliousness against the fiat that this recurrent season shall bring foul times, cold darkness, misery and death. Black chaos comes, and the fettered gods of the earth say, Let there be light.”

`Thomas Hardy, Return of the Native

Saturday Morning Tea

Oct11

Good morning, dear tea friends! A steady rain is falling from the leaden sky on this October morning. The fiery palette of autumn is muted as I look through the curtain of water sheeting down outside my kitchen window. I’m watching the rain and sipping a second flush Darjeeling, newly arrived from India. Let me introduce you to Puttabong Estate STGBOP1 (DJ-261) Organic. As you can see, the leaf is of the broken variety. I usually find broken leaf Darjeelings too astringent for my palate, however, this offering is silky smooth and oh so drinkable. I’ve already had two cups!

I steeped the leaf for 1 1/2 minutes in boiling point (212F) water. As with all broken leaf teas, especially Darjeelings, a quick steeping is all that’s needed to extract full flavor.

Also known as the Tukvar Estate, this tea garden was first planted in 1852 and is nestled in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains near Kanchendzonga peak. With altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 6,500 feet above sea level, it is one of the highest elevation tea gardens in Darjeeling district, in northeastern India. Its tea plants consist mainly of clonal bushes and China jat, meaning tea bushes with origins from China.

The aroma of the glowing amber-colored liquor is toasty with honey sweet hints. The first sip fills my mouth with rich flavor. Notes of fruit are highlighted by a citrus-like brightness. A lovely sweetness greets you throughout, lingering long into the finish and becoming more pronounced as the tea cools.

A truly satisfying cup of tea.

Today is the perfect day to stay inside and work on my watercolor pencil class. My next assignment – draw a ribbon and all its highlights and shadows. I’m looking forward to the challenge. What’s up for your weekend?

Have a great tea-filled day and I’ll see you in two weeks!

“The rain to the wind said,
You push and I’ll pelt.’
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged–though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt.”

~Robert Frost

Saturday Morning Tea

Sep27

Good morning, dear tea friends! The autumnal equinox has come and gone this past week, pushing us into the fall time of year, with its glorious colorful foliage and cooler temperatures. This weekend, however, we’re experiencing warmer temperatures, in the 80s, a lingering taste of summer much welcomed.

I’m feeling very quiet today so I chose a quiet sort of tea, the kind of tea that complements my meditative mood. From the northern mountainous region of Fujian province, this white tea, called Drum Mountain White Pekoe, was grown on a small tea farm nestled in the heart of the mountain.

From the China Facts Tours website:

“Drum Mountain, an important scenic area in Fuzhou, has enjoyed a long history and reputation. As early as the Jin Dynasty, it was appraised as one of “The Two Matchless Scenic Beauties in Fujian Province.” Lying 8 km southeast of the city on the northern side of the Min River, the beautiful mountain with four peaks nemed Lion, White Cloud, Alms Bowl (of a Buddhis monk) offers over 160 sites of interest, centred by the Gushing Spring Temple (aka Fountain Temple). Since ancient times, men of letters and celebrities vied to visit the place, wrote poems and had their inscriptions carved on rocks, adding to the attraction of the mountain.”

It sounds like a beautiful place.

I steeped the leaves for 3 minutes in 180F water. A fresh vegetal aroma wafted up from my glass teapot as I poured my first cup.

The tea liquor is of the palest yellow with a whisper of spring green. Its flavor is lightly vegetal and silky smooth with notes of tangerine and flowers. Mmmmm…

One of the many things I love about tea is its ability to bring my focus into the present moment, to my cup of tea. I gently pick up my tea bowl and cradle it in my hands and just dwell in a peaceful place for awhile.

It’s always a pleasure to share a cup of tea with you. See you in 2 weeks!

“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”

~T.S Eliot

Saturday Morning Tea

Sep13

Good morning, dear tea friends! I’m back from Michigan and happy to share another cup of tea with you. Today’s tea is a green tea from An Hui province in China. It’s called Huangshan Mao Feng.

The Mao Feng (translates to “Hairy Mountain” or “Fur Peak”) leaf style is long and wiry, created by twisting the leaves during processing. I have read that Huangshan is another name for Mount Huang, located in An Hui province. It’s a place of granite peaks, hot springs and beautiful sunsets and sunrises. An optical phenomenon known as Buddha’s Light occurs a couple times a month there with the sunrise. Sounds like an amazing place.

These huge leaves are always tricky to measure so I usually take a pinch rather than use a measuring teaspoon. I used a couple of pinches per cup and steeped for 3 minutes in 180F water.

You can really see the twisting of the leaf in this photo after steeping. Beautiful.

The aroma has a distinctive fresh floral note, like walking through a spring garden after it rains. The pale greenish hay-colored liquor is smooth and light with a harmonious blend of flavors – floral like lilacs, vegetal like fresh peas and a whiff of pipe tobacco in the finish.

I am absolutely in love with our new tea glass. Even though the tea is hot, the glass is cooler to the touch because of the double walls. The tea looks like it’s floating on air, so lovely and elegant. I’m imagining a cupping with these glasses lined up so you can enjoy the beautiful colors of a range of different teas. I love color!

The day started off without a cloud in the azure sky but now a bank of billowing gray clouds have moved in, bringing with them some much needed rain for my garden. It’s a perfect day to stay inside and curl up with a good book. I’m reading a great fantasy story, called The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. What book can’t you put down these days? Tea and books go so well together, don’t you think?

See you in 2 weeks!

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ”

~C.S. Lewis

Saturday Morning Tea

Aug30

Good morning, dear tea friends! This morning’s tea is a black tea created from a Chinese cultivar usually reserved for Oolong. It’s called Black Tie-Guan-Yin, from Fujian province. I imagine that its processing would be very similar except for the lengthier oxidation.

Guanyin, also known as Quan Yin or Kwan Yin, is the East Asian Goddess of Compassion and Mercy. I’ve read that Guanyin is a shortened version of Guanshiyin, which means “observing the sounds (or cries) of the world.” Some Buddhists believe that when they depart this world, Guanyin will place them in the heart of a lotus flower. What a lovely image.

I steeped the long, twisted leaves for 5 minutes in boiling point (212F) water. A distinct chocolate aroma was evident in the dry leaf and also while steeping.

You can see how the leaf is rolled and twisted in this closeup photo. It looks like the pleats on a girl’s dress.

The tea liquor is a dark, rich amber color, very similar to the Ceylon tea I reviewed last week. A spicy, cocoa aroma wafts up from my glass teapot.

The flavor is deep, full-bodied, and satiny smooth with tangy notes of bittersweet cocoa and hints of spices – nutmeg, cinnamon and a whisper of mace. If I had to speak only one word about this tea, it would be – yummy.

Summer is officially over as Labor Day weekend passes and the kids return to school. How did that happen so fast? Thoughts of sweater weather ahead cause me to turn to the darker, rich-bodied teas. This is a great selection to add to my cupboard.

Enjoy the long weekend!

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.”

~J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows