Limbering up and buckling down

Howdy again!

I hope that everyone out there had a fantastic holiday season! I spent most of mine lounging around my parents house, catching up on sleep from the past semester and working on several knitting projects.

But now I am back in school (and have been for almost 3 weeks) and trying to get back into the swing of everything. Hopefully I will be able to continue posting here this semester, since last semester I got distracted by many things, events, people, the beach... well... you get the point.

So here I am, another year has passed, and I'm trying to think of what my first non-iced tea should be for the year. I decided on trying out Adagio's Rooibos Vanilla Chai.

My usual desk set-up for reading...

Mmm snacks... mmm tea...-sigh- reading D:

Chai is something that i'm very fond of, having first had it many years ago. My dad would make it in a really large pan on the stovetop and then keep it in the fridge where I could pour myself a mug, microwave it, and enjoy as I wanted. Since then I've had many different kinds of chai, made many different ways.

Chai is, of course, the general name for tea. Most people are familiar with Masala Chai, or spiced tea, which comes traditionally from India. There Chai is boiled continuously to enhance the flavor, resulting in a strong, spicy blend. People state-side have more usually had Chai-Latte, where they've mixed chai-extract (or flavoring) with steamed milk and copious amounts of sugar to produce a very sweet, slightly spicy, and rich drink.

Spiced Chai seems to have grown out of the desire for India natives to drink tea, but not pay as much since it was taxed by the British. They would mix the tea with spices and then serve it British style, with milk and sugar, to help defray costs. While this angered many of the tea producers, this type of preparation became popular and outlived the British reign over India.

Spiced chai usually is made up of four major components. Tea, Sweetener, Spices, and Milk. The tea is usually a black tea, and is sometimes ground to help intensify its flavor. To the tea a sweetener, usually sugar, is added, along with a variety of spices. Commonly found chai spices are, Clove, Cinnamon, Ginger, Peppercorn, Anise, Cardamom, and Nutmeg. Many people tend to prefer to make their own blends instead of buying mixed Chai. This mixture is then boiled in a mixture of milk and water to create a delicious creamy, spicy, and soothing drink.

Recently there have been more people experimenting with chai, making it with green tea or rooibos instead of black tea, or adding in non-traditional spices such as vanilla, chocolate, etc. Some people enjoy the tea steeped as normal tea would be with only boiling water, others like to do this and then add milk and or sugar. Others prefer to make it the traditional way, boiling the mixture on the stovetop. Iced chai is also becoming popular, especially in milkshake-like blends.

I opted to make this in the traditional style, why mess with something that's perfect? I took 3/4 cup water and 3/4 cup milk, added about 4 tsp of sugar, and a few tbsp of the chai mix and mixed them all in a pan, stirring every now and again on the stove until the liquid looked the right color, which took a little over 10 minutes, The result was slightly more than a cup of delicious, spicy, and interesting cup of chai.

The rooibos creates a different spicy taste than normal black tea. I'm not sure that it's better than traditional black tea, but it's not bad. The vanilla is delicious in this, and the other spices complement each other nicely. Its a good blend, not something that I would reach for everyday, but on a cold rainy day it sure does warm up the body and soul.

I would recommend trying this tea several ways and see what works for you! In my experience it gets spicier as it cools down, but you might find something different.

I prefer snacking while (studying and) drinking tea. On my plate above you can see a tea egg, sliced in half, cream cheese topped with raspberry preserves with crackers, and a small daifuku. mmm. I like the crackers and cream cheese best with chai, since the creamy and sweet works well with the creamy and sweet of the chai.

Happy Sipping!

Cup 10--Emerald Needle

It seems like spring has sprung here in Indiana, and while it's likely that it'll spring right back to winter-like conditions, it has caused me more and more to think green...green tea that is.

Today's Tea is Emerald Needle, an aptly named tea since it highly resembles the shedding of a Christmas tree. Dark green buds make up the entirety of this tea, and while they don't open up to show themselves off like oolongs or some other greens, the still have some visual interest, and the buds seem to have lighted in color after steeping. The dry leaves smell rather like a forest, kind of like bark and flowers, maybe more like dried flowers? Slightly herb smelling as well, but not overly so. It's a very pleasant and calming scent that reminds me of when i used to build forts out in the forest when i was in grade school.

The tea seems to retain some of these characteristics since it smells about the same brewed. While the taste is a bit vegetal it still has a flowery taste. While the fit cup i brewed of this i steeped too long and go a slightly bitter/smoky taste, it still wasn't an unpleasant or lasting taste. The second cup i brewed shorter than usual and there was just the slightest touch of smoky, and i had to focus to actually get that taste. Subsequent cups were just as pleasing.

While this tea isn't some sort of Rare-Super-Premium-A+-High-Grade green tea, it isn't bad as an everyday tea. While i could see some people being put off by the smoky/bitter taste, i think it's a great addition to my breakfast. The floral and foresty scent makes me think spring as well. It's probably not a tea that i'll keep a stock of at all times, but it's not something that i'll never re-order either.

Kind-Green Tea
Brew Time-Less than a minute
Water Temp-170* or there abouts
Color- pale gold or a darker yellow
Fragrance- floral, forest,herb
Taste-sweet floral, slightly bitter/smoky, smooth
Best during-meals, early in the day
Style- Loose
Price per oz- $4.00 (sample tin)
Place bought- Adagio
Overall- rather common, but not bad

Boil 2-- Pu eggs and other new things!

So i had some eggs, and so pu-erh tea from Adagio that i had gotten as a free sample. I've tried drinking this pu-erh twice and both times the taste has just been drinkable, but the smell was rather bad. so i decided to use if for my tea-eggs this time around... in retrospect it wasn't the best of ideas.

brewed in a small batch the pu-erh is just a bit smelly. add it to an entire pot of boiling water and let it simmer for an hour or so and the entire room will smell like a pachyderm house. no. i am NOT kidding. i actually heard people in the hallway wondering where the funky smell was coming from. a spell in the fridge was actually worse. the entire fridge smelled like pu.

i'm sure in time the smell of pu-erh will not faze me in the slightest. but currently it makes me gag a bit. Pu-erh, i've been told, is rather like dark wine, it's an acquired taste. Apparently very earthy and delicious. Pu-erh is usually tea that has been pressed into Beengs, basically Frisbee like disks of tea. Tea producers sell these beengs and the people that buy it will age it, usually at least 3-5 years before having some. Older beengs of pu are usually sold for more. However if stored properly it can supposedly last much longer than wine, which will eventually re-ferment and become nasty sour tasting wine.

When you decide the pu is ripe for the drinking then you take the beeng and using a pu-pick (i'm sure that this has a proper name... but it's basically like a letter opener) you break apart the disk of pu. slowly working your way around the pu to break it in half and then flexing the half of the disks carefully so you wiggle the individual leaves free instead of riping and tearing them.

Pu collecting is something that many serious pu-drinkers do. Some people have seperate storage areas for their pu, much like a cigar or wine collector would. This is not unlike the tea-fridge's that many white/green/oolong drinkers have started to use to store their teas.

i actually have not tried these yet. i'm worried about how they'll taste, maybe i'll mix them up and make egg salad? i'll keep ya'll posted.

In other news! Meet the newest member of the family, the Shudei kyusu from Den's Tea.

isn't it cute?! it's a 9oz glazed kyusu that they're currently offering to past customers for 9 bucks, or if you're a first time customer you can order it in a 'novice package' which is basically the starter package with this kyusu. If all kyusus are this cute i may have a problem restraining myself from buying them @,@

I christened the new pot with some Houjicha Gold, or roasted bancha. It was cold today and it really hit the spot! In this order i also got some more of the Genmaicha Extra Green that i've previously reviewed. But the main reason that i ordered right before the new greens came out was because i wanted to try their sakura sencha.

ohhh. it was good the first time around. i should be reviewing it later this week since i'm more or less recovered from my strep.

Cup 5-- Leo

What's your sign?... Now more than a cheesy pick-up line, and more than an astrological sign, Leo is a blended tea available over at Adagio. Leo is a blend of Rooibos Orange, Vanilla Oolong, and Chamomile.

I believe that one user commented that drinking this was like sipping sunshine, or something to that effect. The Orange Rooibos makes this tea have a really nice citrus smell and taste, the vanilla oolong adds to the pleasant aroma and blends the flavors together while the chamomile does it's thing and calms the drinker down to a state of zen.

The color that i usually brew mine to is a glorious amber, comparable to the orange-red color that fire-opals take on. This tea smells a bit sweet, but has a slightly bitter taste of citrus before the vanilla smooths the taste over.

Each sip is relaxing, but it urges you in a way to have another drink. Then before you know it you've run out of tea and have to make more! While i haven't had Rooibos on it's own and don't know how it's own taste adds to this mix, i do know that i like Rooibos in this. (but we'll leave the lesson about Rooibos for another post :3)

The Astrological Sign Leo is the fifth sign in the zodiac. Ruled by the Sun and Fire, Leo is considered to be a masculine extrovert. People born between July 23- August 22 are Leo's, although now-a-days Leo does not come out in the sky until late summer.

Leo is supposed to be the Nemian Lion that Heracles (Hercules) Slew. The story goes that after the beast was slain, Zeus decided to throw the beast into the heavens to honor his son. Lions are also traditionally signs of the sun, and therefore have close ties to Apollo, Ra, Helios,Sunna, etc.

Typical characteristics attributed to Leo's are, Creative, Enthusiastic, Faithful, Loving, Broad-minded, expansive, dramatic, vain, impulsive, generous, warm-hearted, pompous, patronizing, bossy, interfering, Dogmatic, and intolerant.

Ideal Careers for Leo's are apparently,Politics/Governmental work, Business, Lawyer, Photographer, Entertainer, Music/Arts, and Director.

Leo's supposedly like, the spotlight, speculative ventures, luxurious living, drama, adornment, fashion, grandeur

Leo's supposedly dislike, doing things safely, small minded people, penny pinching, being compared to others, and loneliness.

Leo's are of course linked to, the colors red and orange, the sunflower and marigold, and to cats. Leo's apparently also like France, Italy, Peru, and Romania.

While I won't start to get into how I stack up to these parameters (i'll leave that up to the people that know me haha~) I will wave away the cabana boy as i relax outside in the sun, sipping my tea and continuing my illusions of grandeur, while in reality, it continues to snow outside and the wind whips past my window making it feel like a chilly 20*.

Kind-Blended Rooibos/Oolong/Herb
Brew Time-4 minutes, give or take
Water Temp-195*
Color-Amber-orange
Fragrance- Spicy citrus and sweet
Taste-slightly cirtus/bitter, smoothing with vanilla
Best during- mid-afternoon stretch
Style- Loose
Price per oz- $2.25 (although right now you can get a free sample if you spend over $25 i believe)
Place bought- Adagio
Overall- relaxing

Cup 3--Jasmine #12

I received my order from Adagio Monday and one of the first teas that i tried was their Jasmine #12. This incredibly fragrant tea is really relaxing.

As you can (hopefully) see from the picture, this tea is similar to the Black Dragon Pearls with it's ball shape, but these are much smaller than the BDP. They unfurl while brewing and release a great aroma and show off the three individual leaves and stems that make up the balls. The yellow liquor that this tea produces smells like jasmine, and has a faint flowery taste. This is the perfect tea to chillax with. Curl up with a movie or a good book, have a few cups of tea and slowly drift off to sleep. I steeped mine 3 times, the first time for the 5 minutes suggested, the second for a few minutes, and then the third for about 5 minutes. I was mostly watching for color more than time.I've found that with this tea you can expect 2 or 3 good infusions with the same leaves, pretty good staying power for a Oolong.

"WAIT!!!" you say, "STOP EVERYTHING! what in the world is this Oolong?!"

Oolong is a traditionally Chinese tea that is a 'tweener. It's not a black, but it's not a green either. Oolong typically has multiple steps for it's production. First they wilt the leaves to partly remove the moisture. To do this they either sun or air dry the leaves. After this they cool the leaves down before they gently toss the leaves so that the edges of the leaves bruise. When the leaf edges are bruised it creates more surface contact for oxidation. This cooling and then tossing will usually be repeated multiple times. After this they stir-fry the leaves in a large pan over high heat in order to stop the oxidation. Then they roll the leaves into strands or nuggets before they dehydrate the leaves by roasting them over low heat. This roasting can be repeated at varying temperatures to produce different flavors. After the leaves have been roasted then all there is left to do is grade them and then package them up.

Jasmine #12 might look like mottled rodent droppings, but it tastes great, smells amazing, and is a perfect way to de-stress after a long day of class or work.

Kind-Oolong Tea
Brew Time-4 minutes
Water Temp-185*
Color-Light Yellow to Honey
Fragrance- Sweet, flowery
Taste-Floral, slightly sweet
Best during- Late Afternoon and Evening
Style- Loose
Price per oz- $5.00
Place bought- Adaigo
Overall- it's like eating flowers, in a good way!

Step 2:Embracing your problem

So i've admitted i have a problem.

That problem being, i have too much tea. Yet at the same time it's nice to have a good selection! It's not that i've wasted money buying this tea, instead i've invested in a multi-beverage choice.

While researching (or procrastinating) i tripped upon Adagio Teas. At Adagio they not only sell tea and tea accessories but you can also create your own blends of tea for yourself and others to purchase. In addition they also sport their very own tea community! You can chat it up, look up tea parlors near where you live (and they're ranked!) members are also able to post up their blogs, and read a monthly newsletter from tea experts and aficionados.

Of course this discovery prompted me to buy more tea.

:D

Through teachat i've also located some other online tea retailers (some even have real brick and mortar building in states surrounding me!) who i've started to eyeball. It's interesting to note the price difference in Adagio and Teavana. At Adagio you're able to buy a 'sample' size with is about 1oz of tea, this translates into about 10 servings of tea. these one oz samples are really very affordable and offer a very easy way to try a tea to know if you will like it or not. It's a nice change from teavana where you're discouraged from buying a cup of tea, and instead urged to buy a 2oz "sample" of loose tea, which, in the case of the black dragon pearls, can cost you $15. Ouch.

Price seems to not always reflect on the quality of tea that you'll recieve. While I have not yet recieved shipment from Adagio (it's supposed to come tomorrow though :3) from the online community i beleive that i can expect some rather good teas! and since none of the samples that i bought were over $5/oz, and it looks like very few actually are on adagio, the price seems to be right. While i do enjoy going into a store, smelling the tea, watching them measure it out, and even chatting up other shoppers, i think that i might have to stay away from teavana in the future, if only because their teas are a bit overpriced. "how unfair!" you might say, but let us look at the price differences using a common Gunpowder Green Tea.

At Teavana Gunpowder Green Tea is $2.25/oz no matter how much you buy. At Adagio it's $2.00/oz, but when you buy more it also becomes cheaper per oz, eventually reaching $1.00/oz if you buy an entire pound. That can become a large difference. An especially nice extra is that Adagio also packages their samples, 4oz, 6oz, and 12oz measures in TINS, the price of which isn't in addition to your price. They also have a nice promotion where older members can send $5 gift certs to people that have not yet shopped with Adagio, and who doesn't like free stuff? (this is also in addition to the free tin of the zodiac blend i received and the free tin of the tea of the month. lots of goodies! let me know if you want one!)

Tins are important for tea storage for many reasons. Air and Light both can affect tea. Since most tea is best when consumed within a year of it's production, airtight, opaque containers are important to keep tea at it's best quality for the longest amount of time. while bags can do the job, tins are preferable, especially when you take into account the fact that you can reuse them over and over.

an enlightening tea-escapade if you ask me :3

in other news, according to a British newspaper 3 cups of tea a day can cut breast cancer risk by 1/3, all this according to a survey done in a cancer center in FL. Although this only applies to women under 50, it's an interesting statement, especially given that the health benefits, or detriments, of tea has yet to be fully explored.