A while ago I purchased an antique tea tin from the old A&P. To my surprise, it still had some tea in it - Orange Pekoe. Today I decided to brew it up and see what it still tasted like. Amazingly enough it still was drinkable. Not outstanding or wonderful or even all that good, but it wasn't awful and it was recognizable as what I would call "tea tea" - stuff that's ok but why bother. I shall save it for the next person who buys the tin and they can see what it's like in 10 or 20 years.
For those too young to remember, A&P stood for "the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company", a tea importer long ago that morphed into a large chain of grocery stores that went out of business about 20 years ago. Their "8 o'clock" coffee is still being sold and Cook's magazine rates it the best of the grocery store beans. It is too, at least I think so.
Yes, I am a switch hitter when it comes to tea and coffee. I can appreciate both. In fact, in the winter, it is my breakfast drink. Terrible, I know, but there you are!
This week I decided to go through all the samples I have acquired and see how or if I like them.
I cleaned out my tea cupboard and found all sorts of things I had forgotten, like some gyokuro, raspberry tart, osmanthus flavored oolong, several other greens and a lapsong souchong. Hence the week of samples. I hope the LS isn't another sample of one I got from Upton's several years ago that was the most awful stuff I ever had - my husband said it tasted like it was brewed in an ash tray. Could not get the taste out of our mouths for over an hour - we finally resorted to a cup of strong coffee, after brushing our teeth, chewing gum, drinking another tea. And I love Lapsong Souchong.
My favorite LS is the Hu Kwa from Mark T. Wendell. I love to just smell it. It is so well balanced and the base tea is so good. When I was working and would get a new shipment from them, everyone would have to come and smell it, it's that good. A wonderful morning cup. They also carry some excellant teas packaged in China - the Foojoy line. This year they have added a sampler of the "Ten Classic Teas of China" which I will betrying for sure. Great birthday present!
The phtos today are still in Switzerland, same village of Darstetten. The one on the right is an example of "Schirenschnitten" [probably spelled wrong] which means scissor cutting. It hangs in the village hall.
Taken from http://teafortoday.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment