Ailaoshan Black Tea

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm.

i chilled it, so good, all flavors are bolder and smooth. resteep is good as well.

Sounds great! So happy I hoarded on this one…

congrats on seasoning your new pot :)) I waited forever seasoning my first one too – then quickly added several to the collection. They aren’t as scary once you start using them regularly

Thanks! I think my friends may have unwittingly given me a new obsession. I’ve brewed many cups of several different teas, and every one has been a perfect cup. Lush and rich and absolutely delicious. Do you designate your yixing to certain flavor profiles, or more general types of tea? It’s too soon to tell what my preferences would be, but I’m curious.

I have one for dark oolongs – but really I mostly drink DHP.
I have one for sheng – I don’t drink a lot of it so that’s fine
I have one for shou – I drink most shou from the pot with no issue
I have one for Special Dark – this pot is larger and I LOVE Special Dark western steeped – I also don’t really want those heavy chocolate notes in my regular shou pot
I have one for blacks – I really only drink Yunnan and Fujian blacks – so I’m not too worried about that (if I was into Darjeeling – I would do that in a separate pot)
I have 3 more that I haven’t seasoned – I think I’m doing to do one for aged sheng…. but I haven’t really gotten into that yet… Probably do another one with just general shou.
I just like them – they are so cute and I like how the tea steeps in them…. :))

I agree. And I can definitely see myself getting overly attached to my teaware this way—like each one has its own distinct flavor and personality. They are cute!! I drink mostly Yunnan and Fujian blacks too, so I don’t see it being a big problem. I will probably get several more in the future and season them for different things. And wow, you seem to have a lot of teapots. :P

I have a bit of a problem….. I also have 2 glass and a ceramic and a ru kiln and a couple of gaiwans – those are all small for gongfu. I don’t want to talk about cups – :)

https://instagram.com/p/wpvh-POE4n/?modal=true
https://instagram.com/p/wpvUVuuE4Q/?modal=true
I’ve bought more since these photos – I’m just hanging head in shame and checking myself into rehab….

Can you say “best problem ever”?! I’m so jealous of your collection. Now that I’m past the “MUST TRY ALL OF THE TEAS” phase and comfortably settled into what I know I like, I’m beginning to enter an “I NEED MORE TEAWARE NOW” phase. There is a coffee shop near me that hosts handmade pottery shows/sales every few months. When they have their next sale, you know where I’ll be…

Should I admit that I actually started taking a pottery class thinking it would be cheaper to learn to make my own than continuing to buy….. ((LOL it’s NOT – really really hard to make cups – fun but HARD) I’ve bought some amazing pieces locally. Go to the sale and let the addiction begin….
I did that too – stopped buying ALL THE TEA – needed to cupboard reduce so stopped buying tea and just moved right into teaware. Oh well it’s fun and it could be worse…. :)

Oh, yeah. Making pottery is not easy. I’m a fine arts student at a university; I’m considering taking a course in Advanced Ceramics next semester so that I can fuel the addiction. All I would make is teaware. And everything I make would probably be off-center, because making pottery is HARD. It’s fun and meditative but wow. There are a couple of people here who are fantastic potters. I’ve considered commissioning a tea set from one of them, but it’s hard to justify the expense. (Though I will probably end up spending loads of money on teaware in the long run, anyway…)

Haha! We both wrote a note at the same time :-)

This does not surprise me

Y’all share the same brain!

:)

Yes eggs in a hole! I had so much fun with the tea and giggles last night and there was some dinner skipping here as well. I was HUNGRY and I had avocado toast with a few pecan halves and some pu-er concoction and steeping a cup of this awesome tea right now.

Nommmmy!

My mom always made egg in a hole for us as kids, to this day no one makes them quite the same! I try to avoid wheat these days but once in awhile I just can’t resist an ‘egg in the hole’ as a treat. My favorite part was always eating the little square of bread fried up in butter beside the egg in a hole!

Enjoy! More tea after Church!

@whatshesaid – I saw a recipe the other day for an egg in the hole without bread! They used a rings of bell pepper and cooked the egg inside – let me see if I can find it and I will link you. Not the same of course but it sounded good to me

I’m very jealous of your breakfast :-). I only have enough leaf for one more cup of this one so I must hoard it until I place a WP order!

Now that’s what I’m craving for breakfast and there are neither eggs nor bread in the house. (I should go grocery shopping.)

We always called it egg in a basket. I loved it, my kids loved it. I miss it, & yes, there are many gluten free variations that are fun, but of course, never the same…sigh…it’s that little circle of toast!

I agree Terri, It’s all about the little tiny circle (or in my case, usually a square) of toast from the “hole”!

MzPriss, I think I’ve had that before, tasty but definitely no buttery bread replacement :)

I always served it with extra pan toasted triangles too :)

Haha! I’ m overwhelmed with you answers you guys, thought it was local dish or something, this is great! And yes, the little tiny grilled circle IS the best :-)

MzPriss, avocado toast is like a guilty pleasure…without the guilt! I also love toast and coconut butter with crunchy chia seeds on top. Weird but so good! And that pu’erh concoction of yours well…for some strange reason, I can clearly envision what you are having ;-)

Inspired by this post, I made a savory almond flour pancake, topped it with sauteed greens & eggs, & made 3 cute little circle pancakes to represent the circle toast. :)

Aww, terri this sounds so great and yummy! How cute, little mini round pancake :-)

@TeaFairy – for some strange reason I bet you can even taste it :)

@Terri – that sounds awesome

At my sweet little co-op market, they have the best thing now!! I just freshly ground my own CHOCOLATE ALMOND BUTTER!!! Chunks of almonds and chocky chips so so good!

Hehehe, as a matter of fact… I can!!!

Oh, I make my own peanut and almond butter. Never thought of adding chocolate to the almonds. Oh, that would turn like a some kind of crunchy Nutella, without the excessive load of sugar!!! Will try it this week for sure, thanks!

It is kind of like that with a higher nut to chocolate ratio. Very very good!

MzPriss, then this will be dessert today, drizzled with honey on ripe bananas!

OH! I have a banana! I’m going to warm it up a little so it will drizzle and do the same

Ok, let me know how it tastes like, I’ll have mine later…Lol, My review threads always end up talking about eating, I’m such a foodie!!

I am too. I’m cooking right now – just made some cauliflower rice sald (not rice – just cauliflower buzzed in the cusisinart) and stir frying veggies for some lentil curry

salad not said

Hey, we do seem to have similar culinary tastes! Love the versatility of cauliflower so much, I make some sick fake mash potatoes with nutritional yeast…I’ve served that to people who actually like it more now than real mashed potatoes!!

I make those too. And have you made the pizza crust with it yet?

Noooo! Ok, will you pm me recipe when you have a chance? Pleeeeazzzze?

I totally will. I’ll go find it now and send it to you PM

OK – the banana deal: I used my cast iron skillet and wee bit of butter and sliced my banana length-wise and did a little stove-top grill of the banana until caramelized and brown in spots. Warmed the chocky-almond butter for 15 seconds and then drizzled over the banana. Yes – you want it.

I like to freeze my bananas and then put them in the blender.

Caramelized bananas with chocolate syrup are the most simple and decadent dessert on the planet. Just sayin’. <3

I have allergies to some foods so I collect recipes on Pinterest. Anyone else? Bet Terri does!

*Lariel – easy banana ice cream!

@ Bonnie – I bet Terri does too. I don’t Pinterest – I just bookmark everything. Although I lost a lot of things when the harddrive on my macbook fried a little while back

@Brenden – I’m way picky about chocolate syrup though. I haven’t found one I love that doesn’t have some kind of crap in it. Do you know of one?

Yes I do!!! Just melt 80% dark chocolate yourself, the best!!!!

You don’t have to add anything to it to make it stay syrupy? Doesn’t it harden on the food – or LOL do you just eat it up before that happens?

Was about to say the same thing, Fairy-awesome-one!

I have a tiny skillet that I use for melting chocolate :) haha

Haha! Chocolate awesomeness!! No I add NOTHING!!! Unless you serve it on something frozen, it’s ok. And as you mentioned, i just eat it too fast for it to have time to cool down ;-)

Well it just so happens that I have some 80% chocolate :D

Well well, how bout that? Sounds like we are having the same dessert tonight ;-)

Oh and Brenden, I too own a tiny weeny little skillet for my chocolate. I don’t put anything else in it cause I don’t want ANY taste transfer. It’s so darn cute:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/14536236312/in/photostream/

it IS cute!

i had microwaved hot dogs for breakfast

Hahaha! It’s all good apt, we are health freaks, we’re the scary ones ;-)
(I also did have my days of microwave mornings once upon a time, but I was more of a pizza gal!)

^hahaha, winner! :D

Tea Fairy, let me just make a suggestion… http://www.wayfair.com/Frieling-Profiserie-Butter-Warmer-A33256-L777-K~FLG1195.html?refid=GX42755230140-FLG1195_9754074&device=c&ptid=48134555460&PiID%5B%5D=9754074&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=FLG1195_9754074&gclid=CjgKEAjw8r6dBRDZprbmndPi90sSJAB2U6dRIUwL2qtvMWMlmiFaDj8cL-f8_2oRcrJsqjq-Wq6gA_D_BwE

I REALLY want this :)

Ooh ya, me like the petite size :-) that would be perrrrfect!
But then again, I’m a pots and pans fanatic…If I had a gigantic kitchen, I’d probably own every kitchen gadgets and appliances on the market!

A chocolate skillet? How does that work?

:-) I need to get it…Since I’ve condensed my kitchen I realized I’m sort of missing some vital items. I’ve got two cast iron pans, a stainless steel crockpot, and a tiny skillet. I’m a huge fan of Frieling, too, which helps me trust that it’ll be a good investment :)

I’m sorry to tell y’all what I am eating right now

TheTeaFairy your chocolate skillet is adorable!

@WP: Yep, that’s the kind of pan you’ll have for a long time:-) better pay a little more once than keep buying every two years…

@Lariel, it’s not really a chocolate pan, it’s just very tiny and I like to melt my chocolate in it cause I can do just a little bit at a time :-)

@MzPriss: Well Bon Appétit then ma’am!!

fig & mascarpone gelato from this italian guy’s shop where he hand makes it

@TeaFairy – if it would get there from here I would totally send you some so we could share :)

I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that but now I have to hate you….
;-)

This post just keeps getting better & better :)
I want fried bananas, drizzled lightly with maple & maybe some coconut milk on top,& toasted coconut flakes.Yeah…I want that.
For dinner I’m having brats (nitrate & other BS free), a cultured dill from last summer, homegrown asparagus & cukes, & sweet potato french fries fries.
Tomorrow I’m planning to make a batch of cauliflower tabouli. I haven’t had tabouli for a long time & cauliflower makes a pretty good sub for bulgur too. I have all the other ingredients in my garden: parsley, mint, cukes, sungold cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic.
Foodie? Damn right!

Yeah you might have to. A friend just brought it over

Ok, now I can’t hate you no more ;-) I’m going to your house, bye cats, bye dog…

it’s amazing

You can bring them. Although my dogs don’t understand cats

Oh man Terri that dinner sounds awesome.

My dog thinks all cats are puppies, and so he acts like a daddy dog and goes to snuggle them and keep them warm, but they just smack him in the face and he gets confused…lol

It’s ok…the intention counts, I’ll always remember you offered to share with me:-) enjoy for the both of us!!

Terri, if I was living near you, I’d find an excuse every day to drop by around dinner time, and just pretend I need something. And then you would say, «hey fairy, I was just about to have the most fabulous dinner and dessert, would you like to join? » ;-)

I wish to have that tabouli please ma’am

You know you’d get great tea @ Terri’s too

I love cats and dogs stories, your dog sounds adorable!! …brenden this is how “friendly” things are here :-)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/12530016644/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laafeevertee/12529529795/in/photostream/

I am overcome by the cuteness

That dog is GORGEOUS!

That’s Dexter, pretending he doesn’t want to make a snack out of Happy…

They’re snuggled!

I love those pics! I used to have a great dane (Ellie Mae), & when my cat Opal had a litter of 5 kittens, they were HER kittens. She mothered them all the time, they were her babies.

If my kids ever move out, I seriously want to do the bed & breakfast thing, so you can all come visit me :)

:) This is Prana, WPTC’s mascot ;) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150971448518765.527973.567508764&type=1&l=d62fd5cf66

Awww for the dog, yay for the B&B. can I reserve now????

Prana is just gorgious. Sigh. i want another dog…there’s nothing like puppy love :-)

TF, it might still be a year or 2, but of course! :)

Dexter and Happy are totally adorbs too! :)

Terri, i can wait, i’ll be totally worth it ;-)

Thanks Brenden, they are my babies :-)

You guys have spiked your tea, I’m positive. Have you seen Brendens kombucha (or kumbaya whatever)…It’s fermenting into hippie wine (b4 you were born). (Sorry Brenden, it looks like fruity sangria with soggy granola on top. Most of them do not just yours). Need a party somewhere. A cruise! (Keep saying that)

Haha! bonnie I did look at breden’s kombucha, my aunt use to make her own, that’s how I know it…he almost convinced me to try and make my own, lol!

A party with you bonnie? Anytime, let’s have one now, you know how much I’ve missed you :-)

What is this cukes of which you speak? And also, you guys are making me want to garden.

Lol, we do sound like weirdos don’t we? Lariel, kombucha is fermented tea. It looks gross and slimy but it tastes pretty good and has a lot of health virtues. Brenden had a link on how to make your own on WP website but I can’t find it anymore…

I know what kombucha is, I’ve had it a few times. I was wondering what ‘cukes’ are slang for. That’s not really a word we use in California.

Oh sorry, I didn’t notice “cukes” and this thread is wayyy tooo long for me to trace it now!

Ah, cucumbers!

www.whisperingpinestea.com/kombucha and yes it’s hippy wine ;)

Not to mention, you can make kombucha wine with champagne yeast ;)

Cukes = cucumbers
I grow a lot of them, then I put them into a salt brine for 2 – 4 weeks to make old fashion dill pickles wth lots of garlic & dill.

Ok, bookmarked this time! I can now imagine all kinds of drinks and cocktails with champagne Kumbucha ;-)

Here’s a link
http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sour-pickles-2/

And of course there will be some on the table when I go visit St-Louis and stop at Terri’s B&B!!

hell yeah! We’re still eating them from last summer, & I’ve started making the new ones, so there will always be more! Along with home made cultured (and very much alive!) sauerkraut, kimchi, dilly beans, & whatever else I add to my bubbling laboratory :)

Mmm I bookmarked that one. Sounds yummy :)

Cukes sounds like an odd word, though I’ve only liked cucumbers if they’re in tahini sauce.

Mmmmm, tahini sauce! Picturing all the ingredients…yup, I could make some of that too!

Lol, this thread as a life of its own now ;-O

I meant “has” silly typo

Just one more reason to love Steepster, and tea, cuz otherwise none of us would have met in the virtual world :)

Exactly! Can I come to your B&B when TF does?? There won’t be much sleeping but there will be lots of middle of the night tea…

…and giggles :-)

Extreme giggles!

You know what they say…if you visualize it enough, you will make it happen :-) see? the giggle part already happened :-)

Well I do keep a travel bag packed…

Lol, I don’t travel much…but I guess it doesn’t hurt to be ready ;-)

YES!
I think once my kids all move out, we should have a mini tea convention/slumber party (with no actual sleeping) at my house, to celebrate the grand opening of my bed & breakfast/Tea House.

So Terri, you know in New Orelans they all the Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs? I think we should name your B&B The Singing Harp Social Aid and Pleasure Club when we move in visit :)

Aww, love the name! (And I saw what you did MzPriss) I totally vote for moving i !! In exchange, I’ll change the beds and do laundry for free. Oh, and I can cook for your guests awesome dishes with foods from your magic garden!!

LOL, I can certainly use the help!
BTW, I think this may be the longest tea posting comments thingy ever! :)

mmmm….

Congrats!!!

I love this one too

I have four teas rated at 100, and three of them are from Whispering Pines. I might be addicted. :)

Yeah, it’s a problem. I have the same problem with Mandala and Verdant too

This makes me smile :) So happy that you’re all enjoying my stuff! :D

Good stuff.

I need this one!

@Brenden – I totally agree with MzPriss, good stuff. :)

:) I’m excited for the good stuff that will be released on July 1st! :)

@MzPriss – You and kimquat have me hooked on Mandala. Thank you. ;-)

You are very welcome. It’s good stuff too. And Garret is awesome.

Stuff that was out of stock or new stuff? Or both?

Both.

Marzipan – you really do. Reeeeely

Oh mercy. I made a new deal with myself that I will only make one online order a month. Looks like July will go to Whispering Pines. :)

WOOOOOT! :D

It was out of stock last time there was a % off code. :(

That’s because it’s so f-ing good

Truth! I have never sold out of a tea faster than this one!

Yeah, I have no doubt there will be a rush on this one again. Too many of us only bought one ounce last time. Won’t make that mistake again! I want to try the Bi Luo Chun, too!

Hehe…that’s why I hoarded on it…muahahaha!!!