Tea and Incense

2002 Tuo cha Supreme Ripe GongTing Puer – Humility

by bonnie on April 3, 2013

Tea:
Mrmopar sent me a few small Tuo cha’s around Christmas (nice of him) so this morning I rinsed one piece for 20 seconds in boiling water, poking it gently with my Puer knife. I used a small pot for brewing tea instead of a Gaiwan.

The steep time was 1 minute because I prefer a strong brew.

Surprisingly, the flavor wasn’t strong but bland. Uninteresting, bland Puer is something I rarely encounter.

Recently, I put together a bin of herbs, spices and berries for adding to tea when I feel like experimenting with flavor.

The list contains:

Elderberry, tulsi and various kinds of mint, goji berries, lavendar, cinnamon bark chips, dry ginger, burdock root, jasmine flowers,
chrysanthemum blossoms, cranberries, orange peel, cassia seeds and cocoa hulls. (Most items cost about $2 an ounce)

I had this blah tasting Puer and I knew that I could do something to improve the flavor with an ingredient from my bin of goodies.
I chose the packet of cocoa hulls and steeped a very small amount in the brew basket with the bland Puer tuo cha.

The addition worked! I created a tasty pot of very Cocoa PU! I added cream and sweetened the cocoa pu to make it even more delicious.

Can’t wait to see what else can be created from this bin of flavor boosters!

Humility:

My daughter called…

“Mom, guess what? We just got a ‘Star Award’ for best Foster Parents and I don’t know what to say? How can I accept the award when I get mad and frustrated at my children and lose it sometimes?”

It didn’t surprise me that she and my son-in-law recieved the award, or that she would say that she didn’t deserve it. People who deserve awards usually don’t realize that what they do is special, or heroic. It’s in their character to go beyond normal.

That same day, she got another call and was informed that they had received ‘Foster Parents of the Year’ for our County.

Now she was complaining again! “How could this be?!”

Blubber, blubber, blubber!

Calmly I explained that life has to have balance. The many nights sitting up with the bi-polar 8 year old who can’t sleep and is bouncing off the walls. The baby on oxygen who was crying. Then I remembered the baby who was thrown out the window and had broken bones, and the many newborns they had nursed off drugs. All the hours of diapers, laundry, visits and thankless nights were being recognised. This is a family with 12 people, not a family of 3 or 4!

“Annalisa, remember these awards when your son is yelling at you and telling you how unfair you are! When the County does a ‘POP VISIT’ on the day the septic has overflowed into the basement bathroom during naptime and you’ve got wet towels in your hands.”

Humility is learning how to bow and let the oil of blessing fall on your head without protesting. It’s hardest to do when it’s deserved.

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Curried Pumpkin Rice (Vegan)

by bonnie on March 22, 2013

I was going to make a roasted vegetable and pumpkin soup with coconut milk and got carried away.

The result was better than I could have imagined! I’ve decided to share my recipe!

Recipe

28oz box roasted vegetable broth

11oz bag frozen roasted corn, 1/2 onion (chopped) and 1 small clove garlic (crushed) sauteed together in 1TB grapeseed oil.

8oz can organic solid pack pumpkin

1 cup lite coconut milk

1TB curry powder, dash of cinnamon (all to taste, add a smidge of ginger if you like) and salt.

When the corn and onions are sauteed, add them to the liquids and bring everything to a simmer until smooth. Add 2 cups of rinsed rice and simmer again until most of the liquid is absorbed being careful not to burn the mixture! Take the rice off the heat and cover for 10-15 minutes.

The rice will be sticky, easy to form into balls which can be baked in a low oven if you want them crispy (the rice is just as good without being formed into balls as a base for toppings).

Make a sauce by steeping Butiki Tangerine Creamsicle Guayusa Tea a little strong, then add a tablespoon of butter subsitute (and honey if you want a sweeter contrast).

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Rome

by bonnie on March 19, 2013

I LOVE ROME!

I love Rome and want to return to feel the life of that ancient city again!

With the media attention on Vatican City the past few weeks, I wanted to make some comments about my own journey to beautiful Roma a few years ago. I planned a 10 day Mediterranean Cruise first, followed by a week in Rome. Flights, connections, hotels…I did it all without using a travel agent.

The hotel I found was in in the Pamphili Park area and had a large pool, extensive villa gardens and balcony. Breakfast was included daily and was huge even by American standards! Mounds of fresh rocotta, vegetables, cakes of all kinds, eggs and meats, fresh squeezed orange juice and cappuccino. (There was a free shuttle to and from the Vatican and Metro every 20 minutes.) The daily room price was a fraction of what the cost would be in Central Rome and the view from the balcony was absolutely beautiful, looking out on an old Monestary and Villa’s. Towards the end of the week, it was Italian Independance Day…and as I sat on the balcony, jets flew in formation overhead having just flown over the parade route in front of the Colosseum.

Every day I stopped at a little grocery-deli by the Vatican and bought water, wine, bread, meat and cheese for dinner to eat on my hotel balcony. There was just enough space to fit in the little hotel frig. and allowed my budget to be spent on pizza , gelato and espresso. (I just looked up the current price of a room for 2 with breakfast and it’s still about $100 a night !)

The hotel shuttle dropped and picked up at the Metro closest to the Vatican, a short 2 block walk from the walled compound.

Walk up some stairs, along that tall ancient wall past the Vatican Museum entrance, to the famous columned St. Peters Square. The view takes your breath away.

The vastness of the square! St. Peter’s, where throngs of people have gathered for monumental events! Was I really there?

I noticed an Obelisks (Rome has the most of any city in the World), this one from the city of Alexandria 28-30 BC was brought from Egypt by Caligula. It looked dwarfed by the size of St. Peters and the surrounding massive buildings.

This refuge became my place to rest and people watch while in Rome, sitting under the shade of ancient columns with tourists and local Romans.

Everywhere I wanted to go I could walk to. (You’d be out of your mind to wear anything but walking shoes with the cobbled streets and I never saw an Italian woman in heels.)

There are books that tell how to avoid lines (I never waited in a line), how to look up the days and times when the Vatican Museum and St. Peters are available for visiting (it is a Church). Some things are closed during the extended Roman lunch time, but most are open. If you don’t look these things up ahead of time, something you might want to visit could be closed. (I used the Rome book from Rick Steves and a pocket map as guides.)

By the Pantheon (noticed another Obelisk from Temple of Ra in Heliopolis) is the fanciest McDonald’s in the World (and it is). The reason I knew the McDonald’s was there is because I plotted out this as a bathroom location. In a city with no Starbucks or fast-food restaurants, knowing where there’s a bathroom is important.

Not far away from the Pantheon is the Trevi Fountain (which I recommend seeing at night when all the beautiful lights are on). The fountain is gorgeous! (You should watch the movies Three Coins in a Fountain and Roman Holiday before going to Rome). Make a wish and throw in your coins, because people still do this.

Churches and cafe’s, fountains and pictures of Audry Hepburn from the movie Roman Holiday tacked on the walls of many shops and restaurants, made the romance of the city all I hoped it would be.

My favorite day was spent wandering through the Vatican Museum, then winding downward to the Sistine Chapel was a big crowd of people packed tightly inside. The guards kept saying “No pictures, no photo’s” which nobody paid any attention to. All arms were raised with cell phones and camera’s held high taking pictures of the ceiling.

Along the side wall running the full length of the chapel, was a clear plastic bench with a back to it. I sat down and removed everyone from the room in my mind, leaving me alone with Michelangelo’s painted ceiling and two gigantic painted masterpieces (one being the Last Judgement) at both ends of the room.

At first, I was surprised at how small the space was inside the chapel. I had seen movies and books about the Sistine Chapel…but to be honest, there is no clear understanding of shape and form without seeing the real thing. The same can be said of St. Peter’s. The vastness of the space is hard to comprehend without being there.

Sound moves in bands like ribbons. The interior is golden-hued with particles of old incense hanging on beams of light. You can’t take a photo and see those things clearly.

It is cool inside. With hundreds of people walking around, you don’t feel that you’re in a crowd at all because the space is so enormous.

No sleeveless shirts, no tank tops and no shorts are allowed.
I like respect. I’m all for it!

The best time of day for watching people is late afternoon. Gelato time! Romans don’t drink coffee with milk at any time but breakfast. If you ask for it you might get a funny look. People stroll in the evening, whole families out and people sitting on benches or visiting with neighbors.

Something about how unassuming Rome was appealed to me. Romans don’t work too hard. They enjoy life!
A typical day might be: Go to work, stop for cafe…have a 2-3 hour lunch, stop again for gelato, go home. This is my idea of a perfect routine!
Add on a 4-6 week vacation every year and why wouldn’t you want to be Roman?!

La Dolce Vita! http://youtu.be/vFyaa5AB2sA (This just makes you feel good! These young men are from Rome)

I want so much to take my granddaughters to Rome, I want to return!

Photo’s: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEmFABA

Tagged as: Rome

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PERU- Stop to Look

by bonnie on March 5, 2013

I don’t want to be rushed! Don’t push me past the flowers or a great cup of tea! Let me watch the snowflakes glide through the air quietly outside my window.

I’ve been to many beautiful places and if I could go back, I’d sit down for awhile with a thermos of Pu’er.

A long while back, I took a long trip by bus with my 3 girl cousins up into the Andes, winding slowly past terraced farms. There were frequent stops, with many people getting off and on along with their various assortment of animals and items to sell at the Indian Market. We were all heading for Huaraz, the capital of the State of Ancash, Peru.

We climbed slowly to 15,000 ft. with a vast, broad view of tundra…thick, golden grass stretching as far as the horizon, banked by high snow-tipped mountains in the distance. A few donut clouds hung flat without movement.

Looking out my window, small homes with bright clay roofs punctuated every 20 miles or so. How I wished the bus would stop so that I could inhale the view and admire the beauty of what was in front of me.

The thin air made everything ( including the water in the splintered canals) look frozen, as though nothing had ever been alive except the magic bus from Lima that I was on, moving with clunks and grinding noises… past this motionless diorama.

Huaraz, our destination at 10,000 ft., was a warm climate city, close to the Equator. It was still a chore to breathe. A small branch of coca leaves in a teapot of boiling water… (provided by our hotel) …helped our heart and lungs handle the transition from sea level (my Aunt Lois’s house in Lima) to the high altitude ride by bus that we had just accomplished in one day. Overnight, the thumping of our hearts calmed to a manageable rate.

Our first day, Pam and I hired a car while the other cousins went horseback riding. We drove through vast fields of purple blooming potato plants, winding 5,000 feet higher to an aqua alpine lake where mountain climbers gather to begin their trek to the summit of Huascaran (22,000 ft.). The wind whipped with great velocity down from the higher passes to the lake, then back up as though we were at the bottom of a bowl where the wind was scraping the bottom. The whipping wind stung my face but excited me too. It was wildly beautiful!

On the way back, we stopped at an Incan Temple. Noone was there but us, and nobody usually came to this site. We walked through the temple, past carvings of cats and hero’s from battles. Various body parts of people killed were wrapped around the hero’s from wars. Arms or legs were wrapped around the waist or neck of the victor as an honor to the slain, brave enemy. (I saw lots of statues with body parts in Peru!)

In Huaraz, many people told us that Tourists go to Machu Pichu but Mountain Climbers from Europe come to Huaraz and not many Americans come to visit at all. They were fascinated that Americans were visiting their city as tourists and kept asking “What the heck were we doing in little Huaraz?”.
I was a particular hit with the short, broad-chested Andean mountain men because of my height (5’9″). ”Dios Mio!” was the exclamation that I heard from the time I got off the bus until we left! (I must have looked like a big Amazon workhorse to many people!)

One evening we went dancing (with an escort). I kept explaining why I couldn’t keep up the pace at that high altitude telling the young men that I was “muy alta” TOO TALL by mistake in Spanish instead of using the correct word “altitude”. Naturally they always answered “No Importa”! Sure, it wasn’t important to them that I was tall… hahahah! Joke on me!…but I was dying dancing too much and no-one understood that I needed to sit down! I needed help with my Spanish!

When I look at pictures of China, Tibet or Nepal, I’m reminded of the farms I’ve seen in Peru. Terraced crops winding up and up the hillsides and irrigation canals formed from ancient stone channels that are opened and shut as needed to let the water flow from snow melt and rain. High mountains and colorful people.

The Andes women remind me of women from Nepal with their high cheekbones and glossy black hair. They are colorful, beautiful beyond belief and compact. Layers and layers of bright wool skirts, men’s shoes and a man’s black hat perched on their head. Braided hair tied together at the ends with bright ribbon.

Are there any women more beautiful than these women of the mountains?!

On market day, the bustle and color was all I hoped for! Walking past roast pig and Cuy (guinea pig), cobblers resoling old shoes with tire tread and a row of secretaries with ancient typewriters ready for any who could neither read or write. The market was full of flowers, alfalfa, Inca Soda… and always potatoes.

I would love to sit with Pu’er in that market, by the temple or at the lake watching the color shift and movement change.

I’ve been on busses going past vista’s where I couldn’t get off too many times in my life, like that high altitude pass on the way to Huaraz.

If you see something beautiful, STOP! Slow down and see as much as you can! Don’t wait until later!

Drinking tea should be teaching all of us to slow down. Enjoy taste, scent and the visual beauty of the leaves. If this isn’t happening slow the pace even more and begin again.

******************************

I thought my lungs would burst.

The beauty of the lake with snow capped mountains was like a jagged spear.

My vision was golden, as though Angels lifted me with energies meant for heaven,

and like a sudden Aurora Borealis that is and then is not,

I felt a wind-thrill at the top of the World.

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5 year Aged Rou Gui Oolong-Verdant Tea

by bonnie on February 15, 2013

Without my realizing it was happening, my taste in tea and my desire for it has changed.

In the beginning, there was a glittering path with lots of tea all of which I was ready and willing to try out. You could say that I binged on tea much like a child in a candy shop.

I soon realized that some tea’s I was binging on tasted better than others. The best tasting tea’s rose to the top and became the tea’s I craved!

As my appreciation for tea developed, I found that the tea that I loved the most were often harder to acquire. Tea from small farms, seasonal or wild picked soon became part of my new love affair.

This past month in particular, I’ve had some of the best tea’s of my life. Oolong from Verdant and Mr. Han’s Black, a Red Blossom 2010 Wuyi Oolong and Taiwaniese Wild Mountain Black Tea from Butiki have all been outstanding.

The experiences drinking the tea’s stopped me from writing as much as usual. These moments go by quickly, and I need to pay attention to the voice of the tea’s I’ve been drinking. It is very important to be still with good tea.

I kept the steep time rather short with this Oolong. 5 seconds on the first steep after a rinse, then 10-15 seconds.

I’ll discuss the flavor in a somewhat static way…

Fruit leather, stone fruit…plum, peach… Autumn brandied fruit compote. Slight smoky roast with cinnamon stick finish. Cooling on the tongue. Lingering flavor with the memory of Oriental Beauty sweetness. Creamy smoothness.

The first three steeps were best. Later pours were weaker but worth brewing.
When I say “the later pours were weaker but worth brewing” here’s what I mean: The taste of the tea is so good, that even when weaker, there is a longing for more and more…even if it’s a shadow of the first glorious cup.

Fine tea produces that longing for more. A desire for more than flavor. A desire for the entire experience that reaches a quiet place inside.

Tagged as: Oolong, Verdant Tea

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Tea, Fr. Evan and Leaf-hoppers

by bonnie on February 15, 2013

I had an appointment with my Priest.

I regularly request time to meet and discuss various things with Fr. Evan. Sometimes we just talk, sometimes I have confession and most times we have TEA.
Previously I had introduced Puer (which he likes a lot) and Laoshan Black from Verdant. This time, I brought Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black Tea from Butiki.

With a smile, he brought out his electric kettle, filtered water and cups for me to prepare tea. Today, I gifted Fr. a fat white Gaiwan and showed him how to use it.

We smelled the aroma of the leaves in a heated dry Gaiwan. Then we steeped the leaves, poured the liquor into the fairness pitcher and into our cups…stopping to smell the wet leaves.

First sip….

“WOW!” exclaimed Fr. Evan.

“I taste cherry, no peach…wait…plum…some kind of stone-fruit, and the flavor… stays in my mouth!”

I just sat and smiled, knowing how good the tea was, how special from my own experience and from the effect on others I had shared the tea with.

Then I told the story of how small leaf-hoppers chew on the leaves of the tea trees. The tree heals itself and grows even sweeter leaves then before. This is what produced the extraordinary sweet tea we were now drinking I explained.

We sat silently re-steeping tea leaves and sipping many cups of tea, when Fr. John (retired) knocked on the door and came in.

“Oh, Fr. John…you have to have some of this tea!”, said Fr. Evan. So, a new beginning was made with fresh leaves (Fr. saved the previous leaves to re-brew later).

“Fr. Evan”, I said, would you tell Fr. John about how we’re preparing the tea and how it got it’s sweet flavor?”
Flawlessly, he explained the preparation using the Gaiwan (which he did himself) and told about the leaf-hoppers.

I enjoy leaving some tea with my Priest as I do wherever I go (a trail of tea). (There’s special tea left for his wife and little girls for when they’re at his office too!)

I’ve been thinking about the wild tea trees and the leaf-hoppers since drinking that tea, like a lingering flavor and lingering thought.

The bug attack on the tree isn’t met with loss of branches or the death of the tree. The tree over time heals itself.
What is produced is better than what was there before and has more value.

Fr. Evan didn’t preach a sermon to me, but as I was thinking about why I chose that tea to share, I thought about the many hardships in my life that I thought would break me or even kill me but didn’t. There was a choice to be bitter or heal into something sweet like the second leaves that are sweeter than the first ones.

Life is truly better than what was there before and my heart is glad.

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Ritual-Why I Began To Drink Tea

by bonnie on February 6, 2013

I wrote a letter to my family last week, an update on the past year, a personal State of the Union before my 65th Birthday.

This blog entry serves a similar purpose I suppose, as I reflect on my first year as a Tea Drinker.

The last few years have been a time of isolation, diagnosis, discovery and change as I’ve learned to live with limitations due to health issues. I experience chronic Atypical Migraines, Food Allergies and Fibromyalgia (which has side effects of depression, pain and brain fog).

A year ago, I began drinking loose leaf tea and my life changed. Here’s my story:

I’m a person who likes ritual. I like to follow a pattern of doing things, making lists so that I know what comes next.

I go to a Church where the rituals are ancient and beautiful to me. It’s quiet and comforting to walk into the Church with the scent of incense, flickering candles and the haunting Tones of Byzantine Chant. Eastern Orthodoxy is old. Stand, bow, kneel, light a candle. It’s interactive, and I understand the connection of spirituality with the senses and I like it.

I began drinking tea last year because my mind wandered when I tried to pray. A rule of prayer is a common practice among Eastern Orthodox Christians (as it is in many other religions). But, I was having difficulty quieting my busy mind, one that had raced for so many years making plans for the future and worrying about bills and work. Like most people, I had worried so much that now I didn’t know how to shut my mind-talking up to be still with God.

Thinking about the problem, I devised a plan and created a Ritual for myself of preparing tea several times a day, not to just drink tea (which I knew nothing about at all) but to thoughtfully look for all that was good in the experience and take my time. I bought a $.99 tray at Walmart and chose a quiet place to sit down with no distractions.

First, I smelled the aroma of the tea liquor. Then I gave full attention to the scent of the tea leaves, observing the color of the dry and wet leaves. Finally, I tasted the tea prepared different ways. I tried it plain, with sweetening or milk, and with additional steeping. I learned to use different types of tea equipment and the names for tea from a vast array previously unknown to me. I never gave up!

While I was contentedly drinking my tea, I was present in the moment. I was learning to pay attention to what was happening in that small space of tea-time and noticed that with some special tea’s there was a heightened sense of well-being that made me think about the lovelier times and places in my life. A walk down a path under the redwood trees, or Thanksgiving when my family was together and happy. These adventures in healing memories seemed to grow over time.

My prayers and my health were slowly improving and still continue now.

A year since those first cups of tea, and the problems with fibromyalgia, depression and migraines are not as severe as they once were. My daughter remarked recently that the frequency of ‘sick days’ (days of total dysfunction) has decreased, and she’s right! (There’s the L-Theanine compound found in tea that has helped combat depression naturally without me taking drugs.)

I believe that drinking tea in a relaxed manner and sitting down quietly several times a day brings the best benefit to mental and physical health. Taking an L-Theanine pill leaves out the essential engaging of the mind, body and spirit in learning to be still.

When I began to drink tea as an aid to prayer, I had no idea that my in spite of my awkwardness, the prayers would easily become inner hymns of thanksgiving.

I thank God for this gift.

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Tea Review

Tibetan High Grade Pu-erh 2002 The Phoenix Collection

I’ve had Tibetan Pu-erh before and thought they were supposed to be pretty much the same.

Evidently NOT!

What I drank before was ‘what the men drink who are herding animals Tibetan Brick Pu-erh’ which was a little on the rough side, although
fun to try.

I’ve been reading a book about the Tea Horse Road in Tibet, and slowly writing a story on my blog about ‘Ritual’.
It’s a story about how tea has become a Ritual in my life, and what that means to me.

The tea I decided to pair with the story is this one, a special Tibetan Pu-erh, because of it’s long and colorful tradition. I also wanted to make some Butter Chai Tea! (Can’t use Yak Butter Chai Tea unfortunately!) And this tea is the one to use.

Butter Chai Tea Recipe
A little milk (1/2 c) and salt (1/4 tsp), some butter (2 TB) and water (5 c) and Tibetan Pu-erh (1TB) and bring to the boil then simmer. (You can make adjustments to suit you.)

A tasty broth to stave off cold when treking through snowy mountain passes, donkeys heavy laden with tea… bound for waiting merchants on the other end of the Tea Horse Road. (OK, I’m a romantic!)

Before making the Butter Chai Tea, I made some regular Tibetan steeped (30 seconds) Pu-erh in my gaiwan.
The flavor was smooth and sweet with a refreshing taste. No extreme earthiness or thick mouth-feel.

The mellow flavor made the Butter Chai Tea light and smooth.

Because the Pu-erh boiled and then sat to simmer (the way it would on an open fire) I wondered how it would taste after a bit.
I waited while it simmered 20 minutes on the stove, poured a mug… and the tea tasted just as good as at the first!

Lovely Mild Puerh

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Tangerine Creamsicle Pancakes

by bonnie on January 22, 2013

My ‘tea‘ recipes are not complicated. In fact, they are almost too easy.

Years of rushing home from work to hungry people taught me to whip up a meal from scratch in no time flat. Long before there was a movement to eat seasonally, or buy from local farms, I figured out that this was an economical way to feed my family. Boxed, packaged foods cost too much for a single mom.

Now that I’m on my own, I still adhere to a simple, fresh way of eating…and I can whip up a meal that tastes great without costing much time or money.

Now and then, I like to make whole wheat pancakes. I make enough for the week and stack them with foil between the layers inside a bag to make them easy to separate and reheat. They can be used for breakfast, with cheese for lunch or filled like a crepe for dinner and rolled over.

I had an idea one day to heat the milk needed for the pancakes and infuse some. I also added a small amount of grated orange peel and a tsp. of honey to the batter.

The pancakes were delicious!

Something bready about the Guayusa enhanced the pancakes and made them taste richer. The citrus was very light, adding to the sweet, honey wheat fragrance.

A little butter and drizzle of honey…yum! Quick and easy.

This recipe was created with Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancake Mix which requires the addition of milk, eggs and oil. You could do this with other mixes.

Tagged as: Butiki Tea, Guayusa

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Tea House on Walnut Street

by bonnie on January 17, 2013

Preston

Thousand Tael Tea “Hua Juan”, 2001 Phoenix Collection

Joe and Sam

Saturday, there was a NFL playoff game with Denver against the Ravens. Nobody was going to be downtown, and I knew the afternoon would be perfect for bringing tea samples to the young men working at my favorite tea-bar (Happy Lucky’s) on Walnut Street.

As soon as I left my house, the snow began to come down in large flakes but, as I drove towards Old Town, the snow stopped.Possibly the 14 degree Winter chill was too cold for the snow to fall?

The door bells jingled as I walked into Happy Lucky’s. Sam (from Cambodia), Joe (the ex-professional dancer) and Preston (the student) were all there behind the bar, smiling and glad to see me. I had my green cloth bag of tea samples, something that I brought with me on every visit to the shop.

Preston was fairly new to the world of tea and eager to try whatever I had to offer out of my bag of tea’s.
Today, I brought something special, a sample of Pu-erh (aged tea) that was sent to me from a tea friend (one of several) that keeps me supplied with my favorite type of tea (Pu-erh). This particular one was from JC in Washington D.C. and is a type with flowers. The flowers are small bright gold dots…organisms that break down the tea leaf matter and create the healthy properties in tea. They are good for a person to drink and haven’t any bad flavor.

Preston and Joe broke apart the Pu-erh bark horizontally, looking at the golden yellow flowers lined up like dots along the leaves.

Next, a Gaiwan was placed on the counter, the tea put inside and the leaves were rinsed once quickly with boiling water. The Gaiwan was filled again with water poured over the leaves to steep for 30 seconds.

Before I could smell the tea, Sam, Joe and especially Preston were ooooh’ing about how the tea smelled like a forest after the rain and smiling.

Preston poured small cups of tea for all to taste and his world changed. It was dramatic. (This is what tea can do to a person)

He began talking about being a 13 year old boy again, with his 4 wheeler…going through the forest in Mississippi. The best time of his life. On and on he went about how he loved the sweet, woody, mulchy forest flavor. Tea, that has the special ability of turning into a magic carpet and transporting a person back to the best places in one’s memory.

Pu-erh can be resteeped over and over again (which we did)…and Preston, Joe, Sam and I were like old folks sittin’ on the porch, talkin’ ’bout the good old days. We talked about fishin’, campin’ and cookin’ outdoors. We each had memories in some forest that we could relate to. We drank more tea.

When it was time for me to leave, Preston asked if he could have a little piece of Pu-erh to take home. I smiled and gave him all the rest of what I had. This was his first awesome experience with tea…there were more to come.

It’s amazing what tea can do. Where it can take you, and what can happen when you share it with others.
I still have my green bag of samples and more tea to share.

Sometimes granddaughter Schey is with me, and sometimes other servers such as Eric (the Science Teacher/ tea guru) or George (the owner) or Andy (Manager), Andi or Diana are working at Happy Lucky’s. (The shop helps support schools in Cambodia!)

I’ve never seen the staff unfriendly, inattentive or grouchy. There’s always a smile for everyone, and especially for me. This is my pub, my tea bar and the connection I have with the World.

The shock I went through after my husband divorced me, followed by illness made me withdraw from people. I still find it hard to venture out because my fibromyalgia often makes me sound dumb, and my migraines also make me cloudy headed sometimes. It’s embarrassing to be talking then suddenly go blank!

The people at Happy Lucky’s always make me feel welcome and never make me feel uncomfortable when I stumble over words. I have one safe place to go, and I’m really fortunate! What a blessing!

What they do for me, lights the incense of gratitude. I raise that sweet scent to heaven and hope I can be as kind to others as they have been to me.

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WWII Christmas Trunk

by bonnie on January 3, 2013

Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea

My big tree came down today and it looked like the first phase of Spring cleaning.

One thing leads to another.

Then the wreath and garland came down from the mantle, the mantle got a good scrubbing…and the Pacific Northwest, Native American Art (which I love) got a cleaning before going back up.

The floor, carpet, side table with mini tree in the dining room were changed back into their former configuration before the Holidays,but with a scrub.

The tea’s I ‘could’ have had today, new tea’s that I got from some kind Steepster friends for Christmas and New Year’s, need my full attention. I’ll devote a day to each one next week (maybe sooner).

Before beginning my tasks this morning, when I rummaged around in my cupboard pushing packets aside looking for a bolt of lightning to strike me with inspiration,…I brilliantly picked this tea for a couple of reasons. It’s tasty (no brainer) and it reminds me of days gone by (sigh).
This tea is very romantic.
I was feeling nostalgic with delightful memories of Christmas’s past.
My Dad’s WWII Navy trunk (called a boot) has stored my best ornaments since 1967 including some from the 1920’s. It’s one of my treasures.

Some of the ornaments were created by my Grandmother (born in 1901) out of walnut halves…made into little beds with a tiny baby sleeping in it.
My mother made Victorian Lace ornaments with empty spools of thread. Red Glass Bells from my mother’s childhood are carefully wrapped in tissue. These are my treasures along with ornaments made by my children and myself which are wrapped and stored carefully in Dad’s old trunk.

Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black Tea has the black tea base that I’ve loved from the first time I sipped it, so rich with chocolate.
The floral, citrus bergamot adds elegance and a slight briskness.

This is not like anything you could compare with, not an Earl Grey. Not a floral tea which I’ve never seen with such beautiful purple/pink flower petals. Unique!

I’ve never tasted tea that’s chocolaty and wheat grain like Laoshan Black , then has an orange, grapefruit zest briskness and an added floral hint…just a hint of bergamot. Who would think up such a combination? Verdant Tea. (Actually David Duckler, his culinary background comes in handy).

Brilliant! Delicious!

Tea is able to help us pause with our memories if we take the time, and this tea was the perfect choice for me today. Cleaning up from the Holidays, remembering the past.

(The picture I took some time ago was Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black Tea and you see the brilliant tea flowers.)

Tagged as: Verdant, Verdant Tea

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