Richard Kilgore

A friend reported that a can of Adzuki beans costs $2 at the grocery store. Yikes! She wants to buy them dried and I don't know a source to recommend to her. (I checked and Rancho Gordo does not have them on his site.) My friend wants to eat simply cooked beans - like warming a can of beans, only better. But this got me wondering what all I can do with Adzuki's. In a salad, of course. But what kind of salad and what else to do with them? So, what's a good source for dried Adzuki beans, and in your part of the eGullet universe what kind of salads and other dishes (soups, stews, casseroles, whatever) do you use them in?

I'm with PJ! Cold pizza is great. Love it for breakfast. Lukewarm pizza for lunch, why not?

PC - Sounds interesting. Help my ignorance - what is durzano? WC - I'll have to try your "hot start" method. Never heard of it before. Chris - I am about to put in an order with Greg at Norbu for a variety of teas and I plan to give this Taiwanese Lapsong Souchong cousin a try. The very fine Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong from mainland China does not often get into the US compared to the ubiquitous brash tea usually exported to the US as Lapsang Souchong, so a high quality alternative is welcome. All - Expect to see an announcement of the next Tea Tasting & Discussion and the free teas offered tomorrow.

A Chinese red/black tea, a sample from Norbu Tea, this morning and this afternoon it has been a long and continuing session with a 1999 CNP Old Tree Shu from Yunnan Sourcing. The shu brewed very smoothly in a Yixing made from older (1970s) clay. I have yet to fit in a green tea of any sort today, but had a nice Spring 2011 Jade Dragon (Chinese) Green Tea from Norbu yesterday early evening; this one I like better than the 2010 harvest. So, what's brewing in your part of the tea world?

My tea drinking, (other than iced) has increased lately due to a cooling trend here, erratic though it may be - 107f on Tuesday, 83f today. Let's say a three day average of a chilly 95f. Have been making my daily matcha from yuukicha.com, as well as a morning black tea from Norbu and frequently an afternoon Oolong. I have not had a shu in several weeks, WC, but it's been on my mind this week. Maybe tomorrow. As it cools, we'll be starting another in the continuing series of Tea Tasting & Discussions. Some interesting teas from Japan next, and you'll be among the first to know if you are subscribed to this eG Coffee and Tea Forum.

I don't plan meals a week ahead, but have a list of staples that I know I need to fill in...and jot a note about what appeals to me for the next two or three days. Then I go shopping and create menus/ingredient lists (on paper or in my head) as I see what's fresh, available and what's on sale. I have three mainstream groceries nearby, as well as a Costco and a Central Market (and a Sprout's just a little farther), so I usually do one larger trip and two smaller ones each week.

Looks like calcium to me , too. I get it in my electric kettle and have used vinegar or a product for cleaning coffee pots and such.

Things are looking up. I am brewing a Dan Cong (it's preferred leaf) in it now and so far, so good. A little of the baking soda slickness, but otherwise okay. I'll have to do another two or three sessions to get the slick to go away. This pot was so well seasoned when I got it that I poured hot water into the empty pot...and could taste the Oolong.

Thanks, WC. As you suspect, I am trying to avoid losing the seasoning on this pot, which has a long history of being used for Oolongs by at least two previous Chinese owners. The last one is a teapot dealer who used it daily in his warehouse. The pot has very good clay, though less than aesthetically pleasing proportions. The clay, which was mined out, makes it a winner. I have put it through several pots of boiling water, one with baking soda and am now doing another baking soda/boiling water treatment. If this does not work, I'll have to try something more radical. Wish me luck!

Did it again with an older Yixing with good clay that is no longer available> Yikes! Just discovered it tonight, and just beginning the treatments. I'll post on the results...on the positive results, he said.

One of the many wonderful things about tea is that you can enjoy it with a pretty basic, straightforward approach and at an increasingly subtle and complex level if you wish. Will offers some helpful ideas above. There is also a great deal of information here in the eG Coffee & Tea Forum. There are topics on all the issues that Will mentions and many more, including those on all the major teas and tea growing regions of the world. Just scroll down the topics and explore whatever strikes your fancy. You may also find some books helpful and my usual suggestion for someone wanting to understand more about teas of all sorts is "The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide"by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss.

Still been drinking the two teas from The Cultured Cup featured in the current TT&D: Yunnan Golden Tips and Nepal Chiyabari Estate for black/red teas early in the day. Lots of iced tea, too (it hit 107f today). Also back to matcha, the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka from yuuki-cha.com. It's taken me a few tries until finally getting a great bowl today. No matcha in months and took taking care with the details to get the tea:water ratio just right. Out comes the ml measuring cup - I had been using a little too much water until today. So what teas are you all drinking in your part of the globe?

I am becoming a tea-weeny in this heat (109f heat index at the moment) and so have increased my iced tea:hot tea ratio. Nonetheless I have been drinking the two teas from The Cultured Cup featured in the current TT&D: Yunnan Golden Tips and Nepal Chiyabari Estate black/red teas. Also a Mellow Monk Japanese green tea and the Wu Niu Zao Chinese green tea from jingteashop.com. In general I find green teas brewed hot more tolerable in the heat since they are brewed at 175f and below. Japanese Gyokuro and matcha especially. So how about the rest of you? Drinking teas hot, cold, or iced in your part of the universe?

Interesting, Chris. I have not tried either iced. But I do sympathize - it's heading for four weeks of triple digits here, with the highest in my area being 109f. I keep a glass of iced water handy when drinking hot tea several times a day, not that I haven't had my share of plain iced tea. I'll be interested to see what else you come up with for these teas iced.

Thanks to Chris (cdh) for his detailed and informative tasting notes, and to Kyle Stewart at The Cultured Cup (TCC) for providing the free tea samples for this TT&D. I first discovered the Chiyabari Estate Black Tea at a T-Bar Club at TCC a couple of years ago and it has been part of my regular black tea rotation for some time now. Please feel free to continue discussing these two teas, whether or not you received the free samples. And stay tuned for a new Tea Tasting & Discussion soon. If you subscribe to the Coffee & Tea Forum you will be among the first to know.

Will, the aged baozhong sounds interesting. Do you have a source for it? Same for the Hawaiian Oolong, WC. I was out of town in Austin during the long weekend holiday for a wedding and did not have time for tea (except iced), although I did take teas and equipment. Just before that and since I have had several - the Dian Hong Imperial from Norbu, the Castleton Estate Darjeeling Wiry from Tea Source and yesterday the Nepal Chiyabari Estate (featured in the current TT&D) and a Yin Zhen white tea, both from The Cultured Cup. It was 106f yesterday and it's already hit 107f today, so iced tea and lots of water have been on the menu. Nonetheless, I got two more infusions of the Yin Zhen today. Not sure what's next - matcha? Chinese green?

Andie - What brand are those three skinny ones?

Past few days it's been Jamirah Estate Assam (TCC), Castleton Estate Darjeeling, Wiry (Tea Source) and Nilgiri Glendale Estate, Handmade (also Tea Source) for morning black teas, and Shi Feng Long Jing from jingteashop.com for a green tea. Today I'm drinking Wu Niu Zao also from jingteashop.com. This green tea is still incredibly good, being opened for about a year.

Thanks for the info on carbon-trap, haresfur. I very much like shino and have a few shino pieces, some with a nice crawl posted in this topic.

Yes, I agree about the "Old Plantation". Really great. The sun came up on a pot of Gift Grade Keemun from jingteashop, and maybe one cup left in the bag. Then on to the Organic Honyrama Gyokuro Kin-un from yuuki-cha - three good infusions and then I blew the fourth with a too long and too hot steeping. Don't think I have even enough left in the bottom of the bag for one more session. And now a floral, honeysuckle Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong from The Cultured Cup. Overall a pleasant tea day. And it just may not be over yet.

Yes, I agree about the "Old Plantation". Really great. The sun came up on a pot of Gift Grade Keemun from jingteashop, and maybe one cup left in the bag. Then on to the Organic Honyrama Gyokuro Kin-un from yuuki-cha - three good infusions and then I blew the fourth with a too long and too hot steeping. Don't think I have even enough left in the bottom of the bag for one more session. And now a floral, honeysuckle Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong from The Cultured Cup. Overall a pleasant tea day. And it just may not be over yet.

haresfur or WC, do you know how the carbon trap effect is created?

Congratulations, WC! Two attractive teapots. Interesting crawl on the glaze of the kyusu. I especially like the second one, what with it's complex riff on traditional Japanese glazes. And nice photography, as usual.

Tan Yang Gong Fu Red(Black in the West) Tea from jingteashop.com to start the day. A pleasant start at that. Later in the day brewing Norbu's Lao Tai Di Qing Xin (Old Plantation) Oolong, but not gong fu cha, rather with 2.5g leaf in a 210 ml Yixing. Although I have brewed this tea more often gong fu cha, this works out very well - with three good infusions - when I am in more of a hurry. Other than iced tea in this 104F temp, that's my tea for the day.

I really don't recall the name. This was a few years ago and I don't think they have carried it since, though they have carried others.