Wholemeal Crank

In the thermos, keeping wonderfully, black yunnan with osmanthus blossoms, fruity and delicious, although the actual caffeine content was not enough to prevent a significant attack of post-lunch drowsiness. Tonight, enjoying some of the green yunnan Mao Feng, very pleased that my most recent order arrived today, so that instead of needing to hoard it, I can continue to drink it freely. I may even give some away as part of a holiday gift.

Started with some gyokuro, and now am brewing some purple bud sheng puerh. Puerh is simply good stuff.

I've been mostly using parsnips in soups, sometimes stir fries, and have enjoyed them when other people roast them. Oddly enough, my favorite recipe featuring parsnips is one that combines them with carrots, and I really appreciate the zip that the parsnips add to the proceedings: Curried carrot & parsnip soup.

Except for bitterness, I usually find all of the elements of the green teas present in white tea, but in more dilute or delicate versions that are harder to tease apart and give a name to: Sweetness? Camphor? Vanilla? Perfumey or flowery? Delicate flavors of sweet vegetables or nutty asparagus? Tart or fruity? The Yunnan Mao Feng I've been enjoying so much is a little like a white tea in almost completely lacking bitterness--at least, as I've brewed it so far--but it has more robust flavor than my silver needles. Probably that's why I adore it.

A couple of nice tea-and-dessert combinations. Yesterday, some Peach Blossom tea from Rishi with mochi and berries for dessert (I had given the tea as a christmas gift), and well brewed at that. Today, drinking some Eight Immortals Dan Cong Oolong with poached quince. Superbly brings out the fruitiness of the tea.

Now working on some Pouchong from TenRen. The grade I've been drinking is not at all sweet, but still manages to taste like summer sunshine distilled into a cup--that golden hay vegetal caramelly warm quality.

Started the day with the genmaicha from Yukki-cha for the tasting topic, alternating sips with my gyokuro kin from denstea. I bought the smallest quantity of the gyokuro that they offered--2 ounces--but still have quite a bit left, because it takes only a little tea per cup.

2nd infusion, 8 grams tea to 150 grams water at 170 degrees, brewed one minute in a glass teapot: still quite strong with the toasted flavor, and a little bitterness with a little sweet. I diluted it further with just a little more water--probably a quarter more--to get what seems like a very nice cup, at a point where it tastes more toasted than scorched, and the sweetness is still there. It's interesting to compare it to the darkly roasted oolongs: those also have a roasted-toasted flavor component, but this is much stronger. I don't drink coffee so can't be sure that is what it tastes like, but wonder if this tradition of stretching tea with roasted rice began before or after coffee was known in japan?

Warmed tart applesauce and vanilla ice cream for gingerbread a al mode.

Been trying to take that lesson to heart, even if the cupboard is overfilled with other teas, especially if they never give that same intense joy of one that is so perfectly suited to your taste buds. Just ordered some more of the Yunnan Mao Feng from Norbutea that I've been enjoying so much, and if the Yunnan gold I just got from a new source doesn't measure up to the Chado Yunnan Xtra Fancy I am now out of--having used it for a christmas gift, mixed with osmanthus blossoms, I will get more of that as well.

STarted the day with Genmaicha with matcha in two versions, and then badly mauled the last of some ginseng oolong with careless brewing--was ok but watery in the end, and finished with a mellow pot of dragonwell. I think I just am not the target audience for dragonwell, despite its superb reputation.

Interesting stuff. Started out trying to compare it to the denstea sample I had, a single tea bag of their Genmaicha extra green, which weighed 2.8 grams, bag and all. I guessed the tea was about 2 grams, so brewed up 2 grams of the yukki-cha tea at the same time, both with about 50mL water, water at 80 degrees in preheated gaiwans for 1 minute. There is no comparison: the denstea was paler, lighter, sweeter, a lot less roasty. The Yukki-cha tea is rich green, strongly toasty/roasty, richer, fuller bodied, but also not sweet and hinting at bitter. Quite surprisingly strong with the roasted taste of the grain. A 2nd infusion was even more dominated by the roasted grain flavor. Will do the next infusion with the proportions recommended by yukki-cha.

Not all the sodium in packaged foods comes from salt aka sodium chloride, cf monosodium glutamate. Also, I suspect a lot of baked goods use more sodium-rich leavenings than home versions. There are also many preservatives that are sodium this and sodium that, although most of those are used in tiny quantities. And lots of packaged foods are oversweetened, with lots more sugars than homemade equivalents, and that makes the oversalting more "tolerable".

I have quite a few cookbooks that I bought used that and which have varying amounts of damage. Among those that I bought new, the one hardback with a spine broken into several chunks is Flatbreads and Flavors. It's also probably the most unique and diverse book I've got, with Sundays at the Moosewood (softcover, and also a bit worn) a close second. They're both books that have a lot of recipes I use repeatedly and haven't memorized and would have a hard time reproducing without the text in front of me. There are others that I also use a lot, and still others that I am itching to get into more, but for the desert island, I want a book that covers a lot of ground--no single subject or single cuisine (and the flatbreads and flavors is not just about bread!), that has a sense of taste that I trust (ok, for the moosewood I always need to double or triple the spices, but that's easy enough to factor into my preparations), and yet still has more recipes that I haven't yet explored.

First time making the Yunnan Mao Feng from norbutea by the thermos-full, and it worked great. I was running very late, had to make do with water from the water cooler tap which is not hot enough for the oolongs, used a higher than usual leaf to water ratio and one long infusion, and diluted it to a thermos full of very nice tea, still holding up well at the end of the afternoon. It is doing much better in this role than the more delicate dragonwell or gyokuros did.

Got mine today. Too late for tea now, will have to wait until tomorrow evening to take it for a spin.

Drinking my original favorite red-label ti kuan yin today--very earthy, dark, and perfectly in tune with the short winter day.

Except in asian restaurants, I generally only order herbal teas that I know are forgiving about steeping conditions. Even in asian restaurants, the tea making is pretty haphazard. And wherever possible, I always ask them for the tea on the side, which generally puzzles the staff no end, but lets me control the steeping.

Started with a pot of gyokuro, unfortunately got a bit distracted and infused too long. Made up for that with some Dan Cong Oolong.

Today, I'm drinking a ripe/shu puerh, the Mangyan Guoyan Golden Peacock from Norbutea. Sweet, earthy, a little fruity, a friendly pu. This time not really brewed gongfu, but with multiple infusions mixed into the thermos, with a little skill perhaps in the timing of the infusions, and it holds its own very well there.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. One thing I really love about that tea is how forgiving it is--forget it a bit too long, and it doesn't make you regret it. Perfect for the office, or for introducing someone to the idea of puerh. It got me interested enough to buy my first beeng.

This morning, Yunnan Mao Feng from Norbutea. Yesterday, Big Red Robe Wuyi. And also yesterday, pleased to see some tea at the office gift exchange that was not being given by me to one of my usuual suspects tea circle. We're taking over.....person by person, cup by cup....

Orchid oolong today....this one is a blend of oolong and osmanthus blossom. Not sure where I got it from, but lately have enjoyed osmanthus mixed with golden yunnan black tea that I won't be too sad when I use it up.

do any of these use a built-in or a inserted strainer? or do you simply hope the leaves sink by the time you're pouring that first cup?

Fortunately, I have help. Today supplied four colleagues during clinic, and ran out before really starting my evening paperwork session.