A Southern Season
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I wonder why I don’t drink this one more often? This is truly delightful – delicate, complex, smoother than smooth. There is absolutely NO astringency, a light vegetal aroma but not much vegetal flavor, and sweet light raisin notes. I served it to a friend who is new to teas and doesn’t like greens, and she loved this one even though it is very similar to an oolong in many ways. Even the second steeping was applauded, making this tea an even better bargain. Some people say they re-infuse up to five times, but I find three is my limit.
Preparation
This is a light colored tea and has a light but complex and interesting body. I love this one alone or with a light snack like delicate tea cookies. I would NEVER add milk to this one, but I love it with just a touch of sugar. I guess it makes sense that since this is Taiwan’s only black tea it would behave and taste a bit like an oolong. You can brew this tea at least three times, and it is almost impossible to oversteep it – it just doesn’t get bitter! I read that it should be steeped for 8 minutes on the first steeping, and even after that time was still very light in color. On my second steeping I actually forgot about it and was afraid it was ruined, but it was still delightful! This is one I will not let supplies get low. My youngest child is not a fan of greens or oolongs ( and I am not overfond of oolongs myself) but loves this tea.
Preparation
My bestie stopped by to have lunch with me today after shopping for all those goodies you need in order to send a child to college. Her son is leaving for the first time, having done his first two years here locally while living at home.
I made Philly Cheese Steaks with sautéed onions, mayo, lettuce, mozzarella, the usual stuff. It was gray and rainy so I wanted a stout-ish tea that would taste good with our food but would also appeal to everyone, since hubby was also eating and he is picky.
This is one of his favorites, and I must say that I like it very much as well. It needs no additions for me, though hubby adds milk and sugar, but that is true of pretty much all black tea for him. It is fruity and malty with no trace of dryness or astringency at all. It goes well with pretty much any food, whether meal or snack. Though it has a nice, bright flavor, it does not have the strong lemony flavor that some Ceylons have that can turn your tongue a bit. This and its decaf companion from the same store are shelf staples here.
A very good Ceylon! The leaves are HUGE and I do mean huge. There is a nice honey aroma and full flavor to this extremely smooth tea. This was actually made by accident today and became a fourth tea for the tea party when my youngest grabbed the wrong container. That was fine – we drank all the tea we made and then had to make an extra pot of Keemun Hao Ya A because we sat and talked for so long!
Preparation
It is 70 degrees, though blustery, and we could not pass up this opportunity to have a picnic lunch on the grass in the sunshine. Lunch was followed by tea, cookies, and Valentine chocolates outside and reading aloud from Mrs. Dunwoody’s Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping. (I had to explain many things to my daughters. Did anyone else ever have to pour hot water and ammonia on a floor and then scrape up wax buildup for their mother? Thank goodness that is one chore I never anticipate having to do again! )
As for the tea, it was a most excellent companion to our reading. This is a black tea that goes well with anything and is liked by everyone. It has no astringency like the higher grown Ceylons may have. It is from the daily tea selections at Southern Season, but has good body and very large leaves. It can be served plain, or taken with sugar and milk equally well.
Preparation
My grandmother did EVERYTHING and I didn’t even know how to do the simple things when I went on my own. I even remember being terrified of the washing machine! Poor David did the laundry for the first 6 months or so before I was ready to learn. David did most of the cooking too – I literally didn’t know how to boil an egg. Seems like a million years ago! I think my grandmother thought she was doing things for me to save me the trouble since I was an earnest student and was always doing homework, but she really did me a disservice because it was twice as hard to learn everything all at one time when I started my own home!
This book would have come in handy! Mrs. Dunwoody is a fictional Southern Belle who put these hints together in 1866 in her old age for posterity. It has everything from recipes for housecleaning solutions to etiquette to organization. It is certainly very old-fashioned, but there is a wealth of great advice in it!
To this day, every time I gingerly attempt to deconstruct a cooked whole chicken, I can just see both grandmothers looking down and laughing hysterically at me.
“Cut AGAINST the grain, dear!” I can hear my mom when I carve a bird! And “You’re throwing that away? There is still a lot of meat left on that carcass. Here, let me….” or how about “Be careful not to overbeat that pound cake!” But I must say that by the time I was housekeeping on my own, my mom ended up liking my cooking better than her own!
:) …and then there’s my feeble attempts to bake homemade bread…but let’s not go there…
Now that is one area where I succeeded! My mother used to say, and I quote, “I’m scared of yeast!” She wouldn’t bake with it because she would put a lot of work into something and then it would fall.
I think the yeast is much more dependable these days – I remember even in the 90s going to the supermarket and buying yeast. THere was always a huge possibility it was “dead” from improper storage and sitting on the shelf forever. Now I use instant yeast – I get the big bag from King Arthur and keep it in the freezer in a special container. Lasts so long and you know King Arthur treats their yeast beasts right!
Yeast beasts—-I like that. (I’m collecting tongue twisters for a kids’ writing assignment.)
We bake so much, especially home made bread, that I buy the Sam’s Club double pack – two pounds! I keep the open one in the refrigerator and the other in the pantry since it is vacuum sealed. I used to use Perfect Rise but the only local source is pretty expensive for the amount we use, and the one at Sam’s has worked well for us. Perhaps it is more stable now – plus my mom was raised in an orphanage and didn’t have anyone to teach her to cook! And down here in the country, especially back then, they made cornbread and bsicuits that didn’t require yeast, so probably even her older relatives barely used it.
Breakfast with hubby today – he’s off work! Yay! Made a liter pot ( with the Jungle Love cozy!) of this to go with cheese toast and toasted buttermilk bread with blackberry preserves. It was good, but had begun to get bitter at the end as it cooled. Added milk to counteract but still ended up with heartburn. Not a bad tea usually, though. Note to self: drink it faster!
Preparation
Needed a tea to go with a quick lunch and it had to be one that hubby would drink. Ceylon Extra Fancy to the rescue! The leaves are quite large and it is a smooth, very drinkable tea. You won’t stay up at night thinking about it, but it is very servicable and better than reaching for the grocery store stuff. Takes additions nicely, even if you feel like adding cinnamon, cloves, or other flavorings to fancy it up some more.
Preparation
This is indeed Extra Fancy! The leaves are large and have a nice pure tea aroma. This is my “go to” tea when I need a big pot of tea for lots of people of differing tastes to drink with a meal. It has good body, good tea flavor, and you can spice it up as you wish with milk, sugar, cinnamon, some vanilla – anything. Smooth, no bitterness at all. This went with chicken veggie soup at lunch today as we looked out on the yellow and orange leaves and the cloudy gray sky, which made for a very soothing, comforting lunch indeed! This is my hubby’s favorite tea when he drinks caffeinated.
Preparation
This is a very smooth, very round cup of tea. There is a strong honey aroma and taste. A Southern Season carries this tea on their “Daily Teas” list, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t special! This tea is also the March 2010 monthly special along with Lung Ching Dragonwell, so they are both a great bargain right now.
Preparation
I have always enjoyed chai tea. This particular one has curled black tea leaves, cinnamon chips, dried ginger and open cardamom pods. It has that wonderful smell of mixed spices even before brewing. I take my chai with milk and honey. I don’t know if it is because the cardamom pods are open compared to some of my other loose shai tea but this one has a much heavier cardamom flavor. The cinnamon and ginger are really just backgraound notes.
Preparation
The dry tea smells like grape jelly when you open the bag. It looks like black teas with some green leaves. I used just boiling water and steeped for 5 minutes. Once brewed the grape smell is not as intense and the tea notes start to come out more. My first cup was without sugar and was smooth and had a subtle grape flavor. I tried to single out other flavors besides grape and, well, tea, but I couldn’t. The second cup I added sugar and besides being sweeter I couldn’t tell much difference.
