A Southern Season

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.

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.

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 big pot to go with grilled cheese and chips for lunch! Youngest daughter cuddled her refilled cup after the meal and said, “I don’t know what I would do without tea.” Must have been good!

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!

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.

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!

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.

This is a good all-purpose tea to go with food. It tastes fine plain but I think I like it best with a little sugar. Hubby takes it like all his tea – LOTS of sugar nad a dollop of milk!

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.

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.

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.

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.

A standard Pai Mu Tan. I’ve had better quality ones at 3Cups and Essencha, but you cannot beat the price ($3 for a 2oz bag).