Naftal

Yes, I agree. IMO "Keemun (or Qimen) tastes closest to English teas

Yes! I agree. Tea must be stored in air-tight containers and must be kept dry. I would also add that they must be kept away from things that have strong scents/smells. If stored this way, teas should keep for a very long time.

Hello- What are the characteristics of the original "Russian" tea? What did you like about it? was it "fruity"? "smokey"? "earthy"? or something else?

I use my Calphalon Knock-off flat bottomed wok and wooden utensils almost every day. Do they count?

Interesting article. I've had kuding and it is wonderful!

In a perfect world, I would just drink Dragon Well, Pu'erh, and Ti Guan Yin (Chinese Teas) all day long. But, this is not a perfect world, so I include teas from India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Japan. I also like a Vanilla Rooibos on occasion. At home, I always keep an Orange Pekoe A (Sri Lanka) and a Green Pearl Tea (China) on hand. BTW, Green Pearl Tea goes back to the Tang Dynasty and is known in the west as Gunpowder.

I am a freelance writer and educator by trade. I was interviewing a local chef for an article I am working on. At the end he asks me if I'd like to cook with him. Stupid? me says "yes".Soo, on Tuesday, after he is done for the day, we are going to use his kitchen and cook two dishes, one being my choice and the other being his. Question: Aside from the obvious,is there anything I should do or not do so I do not make a fool of myself or my editor?

I've also been drinking the green pu'erh that my nephew brought me on returning from his last trip to China.BTW that trip was last year and the tea has been holding up very well, as you might expect with pu'erhs.

I have lemon balm in my garden. Today I made my first batch of tea with it. Wonderful stuff!

Question; Does the root of poison hemlock/queen ann's lace smell like wild carrot? I have no intention of trying to learn the difference if it does, The likely-hood of death, and all that.

Din Tai Fung sounds like a perfect place for Dim Sum

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the taste of steamed mushrooms........! IMO it is pure umami, due to high levels of guanylate. http://www.foodfacts.com/ci/ingredientsdefinition/disodium-guanylate/601 This is purely subjective, but I think steaming preserves most of the guanylate present in 'shrooms. BTW, I eat them as a snack because I don't have the patience to wait and put them in something else.

This conversation seems to indicate that I am the only one who prefers to steam mushrooms. Is that true?

The local tea house just acquired a very interesting Raw Pu,er Rose Square. I was pleased to to discover that it actually had a slight rose flavor, not just a rose scent.

Some of my lemon balm has black spots, which on closer inspection are actually opaque. Should I be concerned? Can I still use them for tea?

I usually start the day with some form of fried rice. Most of the time it's nothing special. But...recently, I was given unlimited access to a neighbor's rhubarb patch. So, today we had fried rice with diced rhubarb.

My neighbor inherited a huge rhubarb plant (plants?). She did not want it/them, so now I have permission to enter her yard whenever my supply of that plant is low!!! I am set for the summer, rhubarb-wise.

I make fried rice daily. I add old tea leaves to it. Think Laphet Thoke, Burmese Tea Salad. Congee is good too. You can put anything in that!

I love fried zucchini too! I do it middle eastern style with a garlic-yogurt sauce

There are black spots on the lemon balm I planted last fall. Any idea what it might be? They are in a different area of the garden than my older stuff.

Does this rating imply that they have the best chef in the world?

Since tea is my passion, my lemon balm and mints will be used primarily in tisanes. I am particularly excited to see how my chocolate mint plants do in tisanes. I may even do them in a kombucha.

My lemon balm is doing very well, too. It, and my onions, both came up early.

Yes! My preference this time of year is Woodford Reserve

I was curious about the Hot Brown, soooooooooooo http://www.brownhotel.com/dining-hot-brown