Rainy Days

Rainy days are the best days to enjoy tea, I think. Something about wet, soggy, cool days, rain falling all around, makes for extra enjoyment of the mood of the tea. This is probably what was so wonderful about tea in England. Often rainy, often soggy, days would be brought by back to life by a great cup of tea. It warms you, but isn't too thick, isn't too bitter. It's lively on your tongue, and makes its way down...warming you from the inside, out. It has sophistication, even when it's the lowest grade of tea.

So today, on this rainy day, I'm having Keemun Superior, from Mighty Leaf Tea. Today, though, I made it unusually strong, so I'm regretting it a little bit right now. It's still good, and isn't as cleansing as it is thicker than I would normally like. I need to order more of this particular tea from them, since it's one of my favorites.

Tea can be a relaxing ritual. I'm learning about Zen, and Buddhism, and I'm seeing how tea rituals and such may have been at the very least influenced by it. And how tea in itself can be Zen, since it is a separate thing, but you drink it, and it becomes you. And you cease the desiring of it.

For example, part of the Japanese tea ritual (which I admit I saw only on the Karate Kid II movie) is that you make the tea, but then you drink when you're ready. Buddhism is like that. You can be anxious as long as you want, as long as you think it's 'fun', but when you're ready, you can change what you're doing, and drink the tea. And it's nice to see that wikipedia agrees with my assessment: "Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the tea ceremony."

Ordered tea!

Ordered a bunch of tea from Adagio today. I'm so excited! More tea! Lately all that I've been drinking is the tea from teabags by Bigelow. And even then my variety has been low: earl grey, constant comment, English Tea Time (which I believe is grown on American soil) and a few others. I've been missing the loose tea, though. It's hard to drink the blueberry muffin smelling tea, because it makes me want the muffins!

I do need to get another loose leaf infuser that simply fits into a single cup, though. I've got the tea balls, but it's still not the same.

Tea Novice

OK - So Guest Blogger Here


Let me start by saying that I am not the tea connoisseur that Rusty is. When it comes to hot drinks I've always been more of a hot chocolate with Amaretto type of girl. I'm not a fan of coffee (the smell alone makes me wrinkle my nose in disgust) and my experience with tea has been more Lipton than anything else. I'm not sure I had even tried loose tea until last Christmas.

That said, I am learning to enjoy a good tea. Besides the wide variety of flavors, it also won't get me fired (unlike the Amaretto) if I want a caffeine a pick me up at work without the yucky aftertaste of diet coke.


Today I am trying the fujian baroque black tea (a birthday present from a Rusty). I usually have a glass of the Accidental Awesome (which he also gave me) in the afternoon, but decided to shake things up a little today.


So here goes....


The smell is familiar. It's a mixture of chocolate and something that I can't place. Definitely some kind of spice. The tea itself is smooth and feels thicker on my tongue than what I am used too. Very pleasant.

I tend to like my teas medium sweet, but this one needs nothing added. It doesn't leave a bitter taste in my mouth that some teas do, but I also wouldn't call it "sweet". It's quite tasty (much like the man who gave it to me - but we'll save that for a different blog).

I like the flavor, but must admit, my favorite part of this tea is the smell. I found myself inhaling deeply prior to each sip - taking in as much of the aroma as possible.


So - in conclusion - very good tea. Flavorful with no bite and a great aroma.

(Thank you for allowing me to step in - Russ will be back for the next posting).

Blueberry tea

So I'm drinking Blueberry tea from Ikea. It's interesting, drinking tea that smells like a blueberry muffin. It's very mild, no bitterness, and not very astringent, either. It's keemun tea, too, from China.

I'm drinking my tea - thinking of thee - you have to agree - it's a good way to be
-This is from Cinnamon. She's drinking the Almost Awesome tea that I got from Adagio...