Re: Cheeky Post

As to unusual methods of drinking tea.... I have yet to notice any deviation from *orally*. lol

True tea appreciation in these parts is a solo venture, to be sure. Restaurants generally serve a cup of hot water on a saucer, with a spoon, wrapped tea bag, and lemon slice on the side. At the age of

17, I had a feeling there must be more to it, and began to explore in the larger metro areas. I found a handful of coffee shops which sell loose tea. Trying their varieties was a bit anticlimactic, after reading about tea in the only book that my local library could offer on the subject. Every time I travel, I look for tea.

All the mainstream brands sold in local grocery chains, (we have done away with most of our mom 'n' pop markets in the name of "convenience") consist of tea bags in cellophane wrapped boxes. Darjeeling, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, and many flavored black teas, green teas, flavored and plain. Herb and fruit teas seem very popular, but there again, they are bagged 'n' tagged.

I am not a fan of green tea. However, after reading on this board that one is not supposed to infuse it with boiling water, I intend to have another go at it, and see if my opinion changes. I prefer dark teas with woody or spicy undertones. I don't know what terms are typically used to describe these traits. I like those from India that I have tried. Teas from England and Ireland please me, when I can find them. As to Chinese tea, Oolong is my favorite, perhaps because of the aroma. I used to drink jasmine a lot when I was younger. I am not as fond of it, now. I still treat myself to a pot of Lapsang Sushong when I go to the city.

I used to mail order, on occasion. I don't do it anymore, because I abandoned my post box in favor of home delivery, and rural shipping is tricky, at best. My favorite specialty shops and vegetarian markets (who used to sell wonderful loose tea) have closed up shop, one by one, in the wake of suburban sprawl.

As far as chasing my own "thirsty muse", I am guided by my palate and purse. I put up with a lot of rather stale tins of overpriced, mass produced, but still flavorful, loose tea. I just have too many irons in the fire to traipse about the globe at my whim. But, I am taking mental notes for my retirement! I plan to gad willy-nilly in search of the perfect cup of tea, collecting rare books, and pretending I am not too old to learn to paint. Aahh, the ease with which dreams take us!

Carol :-)

~~~~~~~ "And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." ~~~ ~~~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~~~~~~~

Reply to
C. S.
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I hope that your merchant's tea is good, because his french is not that good.

Theaphile doesn't exist in french, and I doubt that it exists in any language...

Laurent

Reply to
Laurent Bugnion, GalaSoft

On 14 Jul 2003, Laurent Bugnion, GalaSoft climbed into "rec.food.drink.tea", opened the box of crayons and scribbled the following:

Well, the teas are very good. As for his French, I belive it was his attempt to coin a word similar to "audiophile".

Derek

Reply to
Derek

Laurent Bugnion, GalaSoft wrote:

It does now.

In the seething morass that is the English language there are some words for which there is such a powerful need that they spontaneously pop into existence from a vacuum. It's a quantum-mechanical effect, similar to the emission of electrons out of nowhere in a strong enough positive field.

ObTea, to compensate for all my smart-ass remarks:

My friend Hui-Chuan's father just visited her from Taiwan, thanks to SAR's quiescence. I pay closer attention to Hui-Chuan's family visits than a junkie does to the movements of his dealer. Her father-in-law is close friends with a tea farmer who knows his stuff and lets me place requests. But her Dad's no slouch. Picking a favorite tea has been compared to choosing one's favorite child (the one who least recently pissed on the couch?), but can be done even by those of us who are not Meryl Streep. Mine would be Wen Shan Baozhong (pouchong). The mother of all baozhongs. It is the lightest an oolong can get before being green, but it certainly is an oolong. I could tell that with my eyes closed. It does need 100 degree water. Wen Sha is a town/small district in Northern Taiwan, whose name (uninformatively) means "Mount Wen". One can steep it a half-dozen times and more, or leave it concentrating for long periods without getting bitter. It seems indestructable. If I couldn't imbibe caffeine (ptui!, ptui!, ptui!) I would still brew a cup of MOAB for the aroma which is like that of some ethereal flower which doesn't, but ought, to exist. And then I'd pour it out and resteep for the aroma of the second cup, with the aroma of a different member from the same mythical genus. And so on. It is a revelation. The district has many producers. I've tasted two of the more expensive ones (and it is expensive - this isn't mainland China) which are both wonderful. Ten Ren has a variety of varieties at

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Rick.

Reply to
Rick Chappell

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