Wholemeal Crank

I've had a more delicate version of a rotary grater with a larger hole drum, but at that time only wanted the finer grind of the nuts when using them for cookies and cakes, so never tried the larger size for nuts. For softer nuts--walnuts, pecans--the nut choppers sold in supermarkets etc--the kind with a rotating set of things that stick out from a drum, and push the nuts through narrow openings--give a nice uniform piece 3-4 mm in diameter, but I broke too many of those when using firmer nuts like almonds, and finally tossed out the last one. For situations where I want the nuts to replace flour (usually 2 parts nut meal for one part flour) I use the rotary grater, and for coarser nuts, chop by hand, and if I really care about the uniformity of the nuts (hardly ever, but it has happened once or twice), I use a knife and then a colander to shake the fines out.

30", 15", 30": that was the key. I am enjoying my third infusion of Yuuki-Cha's Tenryu Misakuo Organic Shincha. It is sweet, light, and vegetal, a hint of the expected astringency in the third infusion, but overall, quite a delightful experience. Infusing 4.5 gram of tea in my 5 oz kyusu (about 150 mL water) with water at 160 degrees, the first is light and sweet and vegetal; the second is sweet, a bit heavier with some sweet vegetal flavor and a bit of vanilla, a touch of umami but not much (a 30" second infusion was too heavy bodied), and the third infusion is more like the second, but the astringency starts to increase a little. Delicious. I think that shorter 2nd infusion allows the elements that have already started to leak from the wet leaves to be recovered without too much more coming out of the leaves (which would result in in an overly strong infusion for my tastes), and then the 3rd infusion, there is not so much rushing out into the water, so an infusion the length of the first works fine. The 4th infusion is trickier, and length depends on how much the water has cooled in the teapot, and how much time I have before I must run out the door (the usual situation in the morning), and this morning, with the water too cool at 120 degrees, I left it for a good couple of minutes, and was well rewarded. Should also add that the dry leaves in their bag smell vegetal and sweet, and transform from very deep dark green when dry to bright and lighter green of the fresh young leaf when wet afterwards. Pretty. Yumm.

I can't answer your exact question, but I have played around a bit with nut meals, and my preferred tool for grinding nuts finely for my walnut cookies and pfefferneuse is my rotary grater: (the rotary grater is on the left) It makes finer, drier, and more uniform ground nuts than the food processor or blender. Apologies if this is a duplicate of what you're already doing.

Three teas today: started with the Tenryu Misakubo Shincha from Yuuki-Cha, which came out much better with a little attention; midday had a pick me up with a Numi tea bag of a mix of lemon myrtle, green tea, and mate--very nice, a gift from my tea-loving student; and in the evening, I did a tasting of several Ti Guan Yins. An all-good tea day. Yay! I think one more try tomorrow and I'll have the Tenryu Misakubo pretty well optimized. Also today, straightening up and putting away the latest tea orders, and happy to note that the tea cupboard & tea drawers at work have enough room for everything. Whew. I was a little afraid it wouldn't this time.

Started today with the Tenryu Misakubo, trying to prepare tea and photograph tea and tea setting at once, and mauled the tea more than anything else--1st infusion too short--lovely delicate sweet flavor, but very light--then overcompensated by forgetting the 2nd infusion for too long! I think this is going to be a wonderful tea if I can keep focus better. Now that I have pictures, tomorrow I will just brew the tea! I also tried some Lao Ban Zhang Mao Cha (loose puerh) from Norbu, the tea from our recent tasting, but used too much leaf and had trouble getting back to that sweet spot from my earlier experience. I think I was so pleased to not have to use it sparingly that I overdid it. I came back to these leaves later in the day with very short infusions and was able to recapture the earlier sweetness but obviously will have to give this one the attention it deserves too. Then moved on to what was going to be a shared gongfu session with the new Taiwanese Charcoal roasted Tie Guan Yin from Norbu, but the sharee had to skip out after one cup, so it ended up as a bulk brewing to share for the afternoon. First impression is that this tea is more refined than my Sea Dyke red-tin Anxi Ti Kuan Yin, mellower and smooth. It deserves better attention in a gongfu session also. Ended the tea day with the Yunnan Bao Hong green tea from Yunnan Sourcing, which did get the attention it deserved, and was a lovely few cups of tea. I knew today was going to be crazy busy, and really I shouldn't have been trying the new teas under such pressure, but I couldn't stand to wait any longer.

This afternoon I headed into oolong territory, with the last of some of Chado's Pouchong. It's a tricky dark roast oolong that can be brilliant, spicy and sweet, but easily crosses into astringency like it did this afternoon. I did not pick it to share with the newest member of my tea circle, who was recently told by her doctor to avoid coffee due to colitis. We're going to see if she can tolerate small quantities of some mellower teas. Then this evening, Yunnan Bao Hong, my best infusions yet from this tea. All done very casually while working, so no weight/temp parameters, but it started off smooth, and ended mellow, and samples were given as offerings to some of those who drank my unfortunately brewed Pouchong earlier in the day. I think my reputation was somewhat restored. And after that, some Lemon Myrtle Rooibos. Such a bright, zippy tea, it manages to help with alertness I think simply by making the tastebuds dance. Now pondering which new Yuuki-Cha tea to open first in the morning. All look so scrumptious. Eeeny, meeny, miny, mo, catch a teapot on your toe.....

Starting this morning with the last of my Den's Sencha Zuiko--amazed I was able to muster the willpower to not rip into all of the beautiful packages of tea I just received from Yuuki-Cha yesterday. The Zuiko is exceptionally mellow and welcoming this morning, putting on its best after spending the night in the cupboard, face to face with the new rivals.

Got my order from Norbu, yay! I am almost out of sencha, trying to ration the last of it while waiting for the first shipment from Yuuki-Cha, so I started the day with Jin Xuan instead, a beautiful Taiwanese green tea from this Norbu shipment. There are wonderful Alishan-like notes coming through in this rolled green tea. I shared a gongfu session with a gaiwan, small tasting cups, and a fair cup with my tea-loving student (with us only through the end of the week). He thought it was pretty amazing too. I then moved on to the 2009 spring TGY, shared with a lot of my clinic companions, and now am ending with a long, many-infusion finish of Ba Xiang Dan Cong from Tea Habitat. Mmm. The lucky person I shared this one with this evening was wowed, as am I, every time I brew some.

My first and only tea of the day--travel day, yuck!--Winter Bao Zhong from HouDe. Nice.

Grabbed a different tea bag by mistake--the samples from Jing Tea Shop all have the same silver bag with handwritten labels--and instead of the Mao Xie, had a lovely session with their Huo Shan Huang Ya yellow tea, the best I've managed with this tea for a while. My first few sessions were excellent, then I had a few that were not so perfect, but this was back to the quality of the first sessions--but since my thermometer is on the fritz, I can't be sure what I did to make it so good. Checking jingteashop.com, they're out of the office for the next month, so I will have to wait until they get back to make a new order from them.

The look is much less important to me than the actual performance of the material. Lab benchtops are sturdy, but not so hard that things shatter easily against them. They do scratch more easily than would a hard natural stone, so that would count against them, but I can't imagine ever wanting to use a natural stone as a work surface, because they're too hard. One thing I am dreading, when I finally am ready to buy a house, is having to rip out the damn granite countertops that are so popular right now, especially when renovating a house for sale. Or the even more evil tile. Ick.

Started with some Jade Pole green tea from Yunnan Sourcing--love adding the 'poles' to the tea pot, fun to count them out instead of weighing or pouring. And it's a nice mellow tea. Then Purple Haiwan sheng puerh from Norbu, and I goofed on the brewing. I needed a thermos full and did not have a lot of time, so I infused for one very long concentrated infusion, without the first rinse, and then diluted with water to the desired volume. It came out a bit off, a touch of bitterness but more notably lacking in the sweet or fruity notes that I expected. Now going to relax with a little Mao Xie oolong to help me through a photoshopping project.

That's soapstone, which we discussed over here. It does come in different colors, but all of them are dark, sometimes with marble-like veining. Not at all what I was referring to, nor have I ever seen this in a lab. The standard benches in student & professional labs I've worked in were a very sturdy solid plastic-like material, much denser and less brittle than formica. They look like this, although I don't know if this is truly the same material.

Started today with some Dragon Well, sweet, green, mellow; then on to another 'mixed' oolong (Mao Xie and the last of a Winter Alishan sample), for a thermos full; and finished a sample of Da Hong Pao from Norbu after that, progressing lighter to darker through the day. Trying to get through some of the little bits before more teas arrive.

To late for another edit so just need to add that I am now working my way through the middle of the thermos of the two peacock shu puerhs, and two hours later, it is wonderful, sweet, earthy, mellow, not as spicy and deep as the shengs--I'm finally starting to really GET the differences there--but this is a nice batch of shu pu, and perfect for the end of a tiring frazzled travel day, when I wasn't ready to cater to a delicate tea.

Haven't been keeping up the last couple of days, but have been drinking tea. Yesterday was particularly fun: I started with some Anji white tea, then we were having a celebration at work and I brewed up a bunch of the Lemon Myrtle Rooibos from the Cultured Cup and shared it widely--it was quite a hit. Lots of 'wow!' comments. I bought a large quantity but may have to go back for a pound for Christmas presents this year. Then I brewed up some of the 2009 Lao Mansa puerh from Norbu, a previously rather tempermental puerh that seemed mellower this time around, already, after sitting in a drawer in my office desk, dry with A/C temperature control, and it put up with bulk brewing for the afternoon thermos with very good grace, and was well received. Did a lot of 'pour-through' infusions in the Kamjove, a couple slightly longer, and tasted the mix so far in the thermos a couple of times to get the balance of depth and sweetness just right, while keeping that bitter note in check. It is going to be very fun to follow this tea over time, if I can be disciplined enough to keep from drinking it all right now. It reminds me strongly of the Lao Ban Zhang from the recent tasting, and it was hard to put down. Today was a travel day, and I'm rehydrating after a long time in airports and airplanes with some mixed 'peacock' puerhs from Norbu, finishing off a few samples (a mix of a 2007 Mengyan Guoyan Tea Factory Golden Peacock with 2006 Haiwan Tea Factory Peacock Quest). Nice grounding after all that time in the air. And yesterday too I sent a swap package to a tea acquaintance who offered to take one of my not so good puerhs off my hands (a large beautiful beeng of 'mixed flowers puerh' that just never floated my boat). Since she mentioned she was just getting started with puerh, I put together a grab bag of some samples of different beengs for her, and while I was doing that, put together a package for my tea-loving student, with some of my favorite student-budget-friendly teas. Much tea sharing, and a little more room made in the tea cupboard and drawer for my next orders from Norbu and Yuuki-Cha. A good couple of tea days.

Another quiet tea day: shared jasmine/silver needle mix during clinic, and it was popular as always, despite being a bit too strongly jasmined for my taste; some korean green "not fermented" tea, shared again; then some green Bao Hong from YS, warm and mellow and not really shared as I did my evening paperwork. Tomorrow will need something darker, roastier, toastier to make up for such a mellow light tea day.

Today started with hot chocolate, no tea. I made up for it with a nice brewing of the 2007 White Bud sheng puerh from Norbu, and now am finishing up a sample of Mao Xie oolong from Jing Tea Shop. This one does have a hint of that elusive flavor we were discussing in the tasting of another version of the tea from Norbu, but not quite so strongly. Halfway through the brewing now, spicy is dominant over sweet. I probably shouldn't have prepared an order from Norbu before the 2nd tea of the day--it was like shopping while hungry! But except for the puerhs, where I have bought more beengs to get to know the wide variety of the teas, knowing they'll keep for sampling from time to time, there is coming to be a balance between the teas in and teas being drunk. White and green teas especially, being infused fewer times, and probably also at a higher leaf to water ratio than formerly, go quickly. Sharing brewed teas at the office and giving away a few ounces here and a few ounces there to those still tentatively working their way towards loose leaf from tea bags also helps the turnover.

Since I am no longer allergic to chocolate, I have no more need to make my fondant and dip carob candies from scratch. I just go to See's. Or Recchiuti's.

Today finished with a gong fu session with the 2007 Menghai Silver Dayi sheng puerh from Norbu. It was smoky and sweet, still a bit astringent on some infusions, threatening bitterness if I wasn't careful, and yet, never getting there even when I was quite sloppy with the infusions times. A nice tea that deserves a better gong fu session & review one of these days.

Yesterday only had my starting sencha--no other tea all day long. Shocking and strange. Just a lot of errands and hithering and thithering and not a lot of time for tea. So today started with some sencha (only a little left, but Dan gave me an update and the senchas I'll be ordering from Yuuki-cha should be ready in a few days) and then I prepped a thermos of the Zhangsu Lake oolong from Wing Hop Fung. Didn't want to miss mid-day tea because I was in too much of a hurry to make it! This is a honey-sweet and floral tea that is not losing much with being held in the thermos. Yum.

On days when I don't immediately reuse it, it goes into a cupboard, but mostly it ends up in the dish drainer, upside down.

I am very happy with my sweet little tokoname kyusu but for one thing: the rim curls back in on itself sufficiently that there is a little rim that catches a few drops of water when it is turned over to drain after use--usually it is left in the dish drainer overnight. By the next morning, when I flip it over to use it again, some water drips down from the inner rim. How worried should I be about this leading to mold or other distasteful stuff? Is this a situation where any of you would occasionally dunk the whole pot in boiling water, or set it in the oven to heat through from time to time, or should I just ignore it? The pot sees water at something between 150 and 180 degrees F nearly every day.

This evening enjoying a green Bao Hong from 2009 from Yunnan sourcing, in my 'seafoam' yunomi, a nice basic green tea, without a lot of tolerance for multiple infusions, but sweet and mild with the first couple of rounds. Today started with a delicious round of Den's sencha zuiko, and then shifted to the distinctly odd: a tea suggested and requested by a colleague, 'gabaron' from Zen Tara Tea. It is specially processed to be rich in gamma-amino butyric acid aka GABA. I was disappointed that it wasn't bright green as in the photo from their online catalog, and the flavor was that of a highly oxidized oolong tea, nearly a black tea, pleasant and nonbitter, but quite thin, and that was using an amount of tea leaves that filled my kamjove when fully wetted and opened, for a quart plus a bit more of tea, an amount that usually results in rich and deep flavor from a good wuyi, taiwanese or anxi oolong. I doubt I'd buy the gabaron again, when there are so many lovely oolongs out there that I like much better.

I'd be interested in it either way--shinchas alone, or sinchas plus senchas. I'm still very new to the japanese greens, and find the prices and minimum orders and need to consume the teas quickly after opening to all be barriers to trying a wide variety of them. A large order split between three or four of us would help with the cost and the what-to-do-with-so-much-tea dilemma both.