Roses for the Queen. What a superb idea! I’ve been on one of my Keemun kicks here lately. Whenever that happens I tend to spend a great deal of time at the court of gracious Queen Catherine who benevolently bestows upon me her rich gifts of fine, sweet cocoa and malt. With a deep sense of gratitude I decided to bring her roses, a gift for her unrelenting kindness and grace. She loved them!
Two parts Queen Catherine and one part Harney’s Rose Scented Black was spot on perfect. I used one heaping teaspoon of this blend to eight ounces of 205F water and steeped for three and a half minutes. Just right! Although no additions were needed, a jot of milk and a dash of sugar only enhanced the rosy chocolate treasures of the tea.
The Queen loved my roses so much I’m thinking knighthood here. I see a long and happy future for myself at good Queen Catherine’s rosy court.
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“Anyone who has used that comforting phrase ‘a nice cup of tea’ invariably means Indian tea.”
- George Orwell
Darjeeling is the tea that inspired me to begin my beautiful journey through the wide world of tea and will always reign supreme in my tea pantry! My first tea love, so to speak. Nothing beats a truly great Darjeeling such as a good muscatel second flush. Also, Autumn flush Darjeeling, I believe, has been greatly under appreciated. Darjeeling autumn flush Gopaldhara Red Thunder Gold that I purchased through What-Cha is the best tea of any kind I have ever had the pleasure of drinking! I am most definitely a Darjeeling dude!
Other than my much beloved Darjeeling, teas that I especially enjoy are fine estate Assam teas such as Assam Dikom Estate or fine Ceylon estate teas – low, mid and high grown.
Besides my much beloved Indian and Ceylon teas I must say that I adore a really good Chinese Keemun and is another tea that is always stocked in my tea pantry. Yunnan tea and Formosa oolongs are other favorites.
As for scented teas, I am an Earl Grey fanatic! Earl Grey in fact is my main go to tea. Other favorites are rose, jasmine, violet, orange blossom, black currant, vanilla, almond, caramel, and spice.
I have a fondness for most herbal teas – A complete rooibos fanatic! I’m very fond of camomile and peppermint too. However, I absolutely detest hibiscus!
Black teas are my favorites. Green tea is okay, although I do love iced green tea! Pu-erh is just plain nasty in my opinion. Being fascinated with Russian tea culture, I take my tea Russian style with no milk and sometimes a little sugar or honey or, perhaps, fruit preserves such as strawberry or cherry. A lemon slice is also welcome. I would love to have an antique Russian samovar! A tea glass held in a podstakannik is also on my list. The Kusmi Russian teas are amazing with the Anastasia blend being my favorite.
One of my favorite guilty tea pleasures is Darjeeling with honey as King Charles III takes his.
I try to purchase organic tea whenever possible.
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
