Snow Geisha

My Tea Thoughts:
December 8, 2009

1. Look. Before brewing, Snow Geisha is your average whole-leaf white tea, with one addition: dried cherries. This made me a bit nervous, since I don't usually like cherries. After brewing (probably thanks to those same cherries) it's a lovely clear pinkish-orange, with its only marring factor a large amount of sediment in the bottom. Does anyone know what this sediment is? I don't.
   
2. Smell. To me, Snow Geisha smelled like cherries, or worse, like artificial cherry flavorings. I could not smell the tea at all.
   
3. Drink the steam. Strangely, when drinking the steam, I detected hardly any cherry -- just a sweet white tea.
   
4. Sip. The basenote proved to be a sort of lemon-sour, fruity-sweet note, with little tea in the mix.
   
5. Slurp. Perfect! Strong cherries first, then strong tea. Will the two ever get combined?
   
6. Gulp. The texture is weak, non-assertive, and watery. Not necessarily bad, though, for a fruity white tea like Snow Geisha.
   
7. Think. Snow Geisha was fairly good, but a little too weak and wishy-washy. (Look at me, accusing a liquid of being too wishy-washy.) Perhaps if it was brewed longer than the 3:30 timing we went by, it would improve. Or it could be a good base for adding lemon, sugar, or cream -- perhaps a fine tea for a little girl's tea party, since it's sweet, not very tea-tasting, and would be good with the requisite "stuff" in it. Today was another Testaments and Tea day, so we read from Psalm 2. "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?" We are looking for Messianic OT prophesies quoted in the NT.
   

Happy Sipping,
CoolCat

Lavender Dreams

My Tea Thoughts:
December 4, 2009

1. Look. Lavender Dreams is a beautiful tea dry, with not only varied herbs but also dried fruit and even complete dried flowerbuds. Once brewed, it is a light and lovely yellow-brown, very clear, not at all cloudy.
   
2. Smell. It has a comparatively sweet smell, with many different floral, herbal, and savory notes.
   
3. Drink the steam. The steam is mainly sweet, but has a floral overtone.
   
4. Sip.The main note of Lavender Dreams is a fruity sweetness, but bright and clear. If you could taste the color orange, it would taste like this.
   
5. Slurp. I detect overtones of flowery notes, savory herbals (rosemary? chamomile?) and perhaps even the faintest hint of real green tea.
   
6. Gulp. The tea is smooth-flowing, but not very powerful.
   
7. Think. This tea would be best suited for brunch or lunch, in my opinion. While drinking it, I read some passages from the Bible as part of a new Advent tradition. My favorite verses from these segments: "Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones." ~Isaiah 49:13 "[to the serpent, Satan] And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your ofspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." ~ Genesis 3:15
   

Happy Sipping,
CoolCat

Thanksgiving Tea

Today is Thanksgiving, so my family and I celebrated the traditional way with a big meal (but not too big) of turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, and more! I was in charge of picking out the tea, so I designed a blend of slightly more than half Earl Grey and slightly less than half lavender. This blend was specially chosen to be strong enough to go well with a big meal, but gentle enough to sit well on the stomach. I just wanted to share this yummy mix with my readers!

The Seven Steps of Tea Drinking

1. Look. What color is the tea? What do the leaves look like -- are they plain leaves or do they include flowers, spices, or fruit pieces?
2. Smell. Put your nose right next to the tea. What flavor notes can you detect? Write them down or remember them, so you can compare them with the ones you taste.
   
3. Drink the steam. Pull a large amount of the steam through your mouth, and compare these flavor notes with the ones detected with your nose.
4. Sip. Only let a small amount of tea enter your mouth (even if it wants to flow heavily, don't let it!) and by no means allow any air in at this stage. This should help you establish the base note.
5. Slurp. About an equal amount of tea and air should come in now. This is the step that gets you funny looks in restaurants, but it strongly accentuates the overtones of the tea. After slurping, swish the tea over all areas of your tongue, which detect different flavors.
6. Gulp. Drinking a large amount of tea with no air determines the timbre, or texture, of the tea. This can be affected by water quality. If you have a small teacup, which is often best for tastings, you have probably drunk the last of it now.
   
7. Think. Compare the different notes tasted at each stage. Which one is the basenote, and which are overtones? Are there any 'undertones,' flavors percieved as darker or deeper than the basenote? What foods would complement this tea -- pastries or cakes? Or is it a more savory tea, one that would go with bread or cheese? Maybe it would be perfect with fruit. Did anything else stand out about the tea?

Happy Sipping,
CoolCat
P.S. I've decided to switch to the seven-step model for my tea reviews. Keep your eyes open for more posts!

On the Go Tea

When you're on the road or in a hotel room, it can be hard to get any tea at all, let alone the perfect cup a connoisseur craves. So here are my tips for good on-the-go tea:

• Bring your own tea along with you. Don't risk having to stoop to Lipton, even while traveling. (I've just made a cup of Chocolate Mint tea, and I'm out of town.)
• If you're taking a long car ride, try a thermos full of hot water so you can brew whenever it's convenient. Also, pure water stays hotter for longer in a thermos than a beverage containing a bag or leaves. (It's been shown scientifically, in the book How to Fossilize your Hamster.)
• While in a hotel, run the coffeepot with no coffee in it, then make a cup of tea with the hot water. If you use looseleaf tea, strain it into another cup through a towel.
• Above all, do not put tea in the coffee-grounds holder of a coffeepot. Tea needs time to sit in the same water, time to release its full flavoring, so don't attempt to brew tea by trickling water through it the way a coffeepot does.

Now you can enjoy your tea anywhere, no matter where.

Happy Sipping,
CoolCat

I Want YOU...

... to help me improve CoolCatTeas! All you need to do is take my poll, right under the CoolCat picture to the right, and tell me how I could best improve CoolCatTeas.

Thanks for helping,
CoolCat

Saving $$$

I know you're wondering what this has to do with tea. The answer is... A LOT! Even if you're starting to feel the pinch and try to save money more than you ever imagined, you don't have to give up your favorite hot drink! (Tea, of course.) Here's how:

You can reuse tea leaves!

I've never tried to save them for long periods of time, but I know from personal experience that you can make many cups of tea from one scoop of leaves. They can sit for several hours between brews, and would probably be fine overnight. Another fun thing to do is to drink the different brewings right in a row. Each cup will taste different, and it's a great way to explore the possibilities of a tea.

Happy Sipping,
CoolCat