New & Old Blue-Patterned Tea Ware

Look what I brought back from California.  My friend Xy gifted this beautiful set to me.  Thank you!  I am excited to make and serve tea with this set.

I like blue-patterned tea ware!

Here's one of my favorite tea objects, patterned with blue of course, bought at the Tin Ming Tea House in Hong Kong Purple Cane Tea in Kuala Lumpur (thanks Lin!)

Tea & sympathy

All I wanted was tea and sympathy ("kindness and sympathy that you show to someone who is upset" -- thefreedictionary.com), when within a month of purchase from the small Tie Ming Tea House in Hong Kong, I broke one of the my new smelling cups. in the tea set below 

Note: image deleted on September 1, 2010.

Seeking green teas

Dry leaves of Phoenix Eyebrow Green

I am back on the tea wagon and am seeking green teas. Please make recommendations in the comment section. Thank you.

Oolong love

A pinch each of Strong Fire, Deluxe Tie Guan Yin, Wuyi, and Black Dragon

If the teas in our cupboard are any indication, we love oolongs and Tao of Tea oolongs in particular. By my count, we have two 2.5 ounce tins (one of Wuyi and one of Black Dragon) and two 1 ounce packets (one of Strong Fire and one of Deluxe Tie Guan Yin). The 1 ounce packets were purchased recently. After two consecutive orders of the Wuyi and the Black Dragon, we wanted to expand our oolong repertoire.

Our current favorite is the Strong Fire with a liquor of amber and a taste of roasted chocolate, like cocoa nibs.

Leaves of steeped Strong Fire

Strong Fire is also known as Dark Tie Guan Yin. Its description from the Tao of Tea website:

In making Strong Fire only the mature, hardy leaves are plucked. They are then ‘withered’ in the sun for a few hours to reduce moisture. Once suitable suppleness is achieved in the leaves, traditional rolling techniques ( at least 13 different motions) are applied in conjunction with light roasting to achieve the optimum shape and flavor. A final ‘high roast’ is given to complete the processing.

Mirabilis Camellia sinensis

Camellia Thea Lk. (plate)

The above plate was scanned from Catherine Herbert Howell's book Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth, and Beauty. Mirabilis is defined in the book as "wondrous, extraordinary." Unfortunately for tea enthusiasts, there is only one page exclusively devoted to tea. Two facts from page 113:

1. In 1898 Thomas Lipton was knighted by Queen Victoria...for his tea;
2. In 1904 the first iced tea was served at the St. Lois World's Fair.

Ceylon steep

We are still drinking the Andrews & Dunham Series 1 Ceylon that we won from Jamie of Tea on Tap, sadly now defunct. After all this time, the Ceylon has retained its flavor and mellows nicely with milk. Jamie also sent us the Dragonwell from Series 1.