1/24/08

I went yesterday to the Kalesia Tea Lounge, and had a giant cup of Yunnan Gold...whooo wee... a large cup. I had too much of a headache to enjoy it much, though. They have free wifi, but I didn't have my computer...They only have about 6 or 7 black teas, though there are a number of tea combinations, and oolong, green, and white teas, along with a few other things, like teaware and such...I should have had the Assam tea instead, though. I was more in the mood for that.

Today, I'm drinking a bit of the last of my Ceylon sonata. I'm still pondering what I'm going to buy from Adagio...The ceylon tea is very smooth today. I didn't steep it as long, so that may have something to do with it. I don't know how long I did brew it...meanwhile, I sent and received more correspondence from Adagio...I'll post it later.

1/10/08

Sigh. I'm running almost completely out of tea. I may buy the Twinings Earl Grey loose leaf just to get me by until I decide on the Adagio varieties I want next. I may also buy their English Breakfast, just to see if it's any different from the variety that they sell in tea bags. It's at the grocery store, which is something. It's the only loose leaf that's there. I'm still leary of going to Teavana because of the expense...on the other hand, there's a few tea rooms in the area that may have some loose leaf...I'll have to try those. Saturday maybe I'll go out see what I can find.

Today I had just the ceylon sonata...a bit strong, though. I knew it when I was making it that it would be strong...I wish I could resolve the many trips to the bathroom after drinking two and a half cups of tea in the morning...

12/30/07

So I forgot to put in the response email from Adagio. Ooops. Meanwhile, more Christmas tea: orange, lemon, some other fruits, and spices...just masks the natural tea flavor I like. It seems that I probably should be putting sugar in that tea with all those normally sweet things (except the lemon, of course). It does seem to be premium quality tea. I used my new teapot. It's an improvement in one area: the top is large enough for me to put my whole hand in so I can clean the pot. But it drips something fierce when you pour it. So my search for teapots goes on.

Today was the Ceylon Sonata. Ho hum. I should have gone for the Yunnan Jig...I needed more flavor, more "kick"...

12/19/07

Keemun Concerto! Good stuff. Especially when I make it not too strong. No cloudy tea, no bitterness from over-steeping...just good tea. I know why the infuser doesn't make me happy: it's because there's too much tea in it. If I do it right, then it works out. Still not optimal, but good nonetheless. I still have to figure out how to get the amount of tea right for each type of tea. More for the Ceylon, less for the Keemun...and so on.

Keemun Concerto tastes like there's just a hint of lemon...I do like it.

12/18/07

I made the Ceylon Sonata today, a bit weaker...and I regret it. Ceylon tea should be stronger.

Pouring of tea...designed to be slow. And deliberate. You can't pour any faster than the pot, because if you try, it will just spill out the top.

Yesterday I steeped the tea too long, and it was bitter...

12/13/07

Well, I'm almost out of Golden Monkey. Everyone at my job laughs at the name, but I love it. It is a unique tea. It's a bit too hot to taste, but I can already tell, as it cools, that it will be a great tea again today. It is a unique flavor, and very subtle...I don't have the vocabulary for it...it's also one of the best, I think. I'm going to buy a much larger tin of that just for me.

I'm noticing that the other teas are starting to blend in with each other in my mind. Not enough distinquishes them. I like them each a lot, but while they are unique, they aren't different enough...vocubulary failing me again here...I like the Ceylon Sonata, it's a great black tea. I like the Keemuns, too...though the Encore is better than the Concerto. I'm staying away from the Darjeeling #22, but the Yunnan Jig is pretty good...Assam Melody...haven't had that in a while.

11/28/07

Today, we're drinking the Ceylon Sonata. Still figuring out the strength, and how to handle the infuser problem. Maybe it doesn't have a solution, except to refashion an infuser that's deep, and wider, and has a better handle, and refashion the lid, too. I wonder why no one has done anything like that.

As for the strength, any time I see a picture of a cup of tea, it's far lighter than I would prefer it, in terms of color, which presumably means it would also be less strong.

I wonder what secret there is that people have with tea leaves remaining in the water for too long. How do they do it? No one seems to say. They just enjoy their tea, have great pics of tea plantations, and that's it. Maybe asking for mechanical details of this process is too much. Too much minutiae...

11/19/07

Today, we're drinking Ceylon Sonata. I'm not sure how I did it differently today, since it doesn't have that same flavor as the first time I had it. Maybe the tea itself has changed since I've opened the tin so much. Maybe I didn't make it as strong. Just don't know. I'm also experimenting with steeping the same leaves twice, just to see if the tea holds up for the second cup, (Ooops. I rhymed. Sue me :-) because I saw it on a website/blog about tea. I tried it yesterday with the Golden Monkey, and that turned out okay. Today, I just got brown water, without much flavor. I'm finding that I like stronger teas, but not too strong.

In other tea news, I forgot to bring my teapot, and forgot the other two tea tins. Maybe tomorrow. (Lot of maybes today)…

Went to the Empress Tea Room, and it really is a room. Okay, two rooms. And almost exclusively women. High tea was all that they were serving on Saturday, and it is $16.95 per person. Yikes! There's a British place out on North Dale that does tea for $5. Haven't been there yet, but worth exploring.