Namring (upper) autumn flush

We haven't talked about any Darjeeling teas for a while, so here we go. This Namring, Third Flush is one of my favorite Darjeelings of all time. It's really really, smooth, and incredibly mellow. If I had to characterize it as a person, I would say that it's a monk. Not a shaolin monk either (although that would be an awesome tea), but a monk who chills out in some high altitude monastery collecting medicinal herbs, and making friends with mountain goats.

The Namring tea estate is one of the oldest around Darjeeling. The highest garden (where this particular tea comes from), tops out at 5,500 feet above sea level. They have upgraded to modern processing equipment, which is a rare situation in India; most estates are still using machinery that is over 100 years old. I emailed them recently to try to find out if their tea was produced organically or not, but I got no response. That's a tough question in India, because although most tea is produced organically, it might not have a certification, and a producer might not be willing to claim organic without some kind of documentation. Unconcerned would be just as likely as unwilling. Organic certification costs a lot of money, and many of the tea estates are constantly on the brink of financial meltdown. It's usually the estates that are owned by a corporation (Namring is owned by Darjeeling Impex ltd., which also owns the Borokai estate in Assam ), that have made the investment into an organic certification. Darjeeling Impex doesn't look very big, so maybe they can't afford it, or maybe they don't care, or maybe it's not organic at all. Their tea tastes damn good though.

Here is the description of the Namring Upper that I used on my own site www.himalayanqueentea.com;

A very relaxed tea from one of the oldest plantations in Darjeeling. This tea possesses a very light vegetative flavor, with a wisp of ripe fruit, and an extremely smooth, woodsy after taste. The loose tea is high withered to keep a nice, greenish appearance. This is a bright tea that should be sipped after meditation, or while relaxing in the grass, under some shade, knowing that there is nothing you must do for the rest of the day. Maybe you will go for a hike, or maybe you will read a book. Let the tea decide. The pleasing golden color of the brew will lighten your step, and you will feel the freshness of the young clonal bushes that this tea comes from.

That's a pretty good recommendation I think. I encourage anyone who likes tea to drink some Namring (upper) Autumn Flush.

The Goji Berry. A blessing.

One of the magical ingredients Erik picked up on his Chinatown adventure was a big bad of dried goji berries. Normally they are SO expensive in health food stores, the bag he got in Chinatown was $5 and we were just at Wholefoods last night and checked the same size bag was $18! So I did a little research this morning on Goji berries. Always on my pursuit of new ingredients for my own tea recipes!
So here's what I found out about the Goji. They are also known as Wolfberries. Or Happy Berries. They are high in antioxidants. They protect the liver, help eyesight, improve sexual function and fertility, strengthen the legs, boost the immune system, improve circulation and promote longevity. Apparently this tiny pink blessing in higher in vitamin C than oranges, higher in beta carotene than carrots and higher in calcium than broccoli! I think those last three are only if you eat them though. It's funny to me that almost every little herb and berry you research is a miracle medicine and if you drink or eat it you'll live forever, poop a lot, have a million babies and have clear shiny skin. I'm not mocking it, I'm sure it's all true, it's just funny how often it seems to happen.
Most people tend to recommend just throwing a small handful into your cup of tea in the morning to add a little pink tartness to your brew and then they're re hydrated and perfect for eating! Which is how you can get all that vitamin C, beta carotene and calcium!
I saw one recipe for goji berry tea that had cacao and I got inspired! I happen to have a bag of raw cacao beans! My wheels started turning and I started inventing. A super antioxidant tea! Goji berries, rooibos, cacao beans and a little crushed dried orange peel for flavor and added vitamin C. Yum! In theory. So I brewed my first pot. It's sitting here next to me, brewing. And now it's ready to be tried.
Ok.
Fingers crossed . . . .
Hmmm.
Yes.
Yum.
Not YUM!!! though. It needs a little tweaking for sure. It doesn't feel like anything. I don't feel wintery. Or summery. Or like I just got on a boat. Or the want to go to bed. I don't feel like I'm in a cabin in the woods. Or on a long hike. Or like by morning I'll feel better. I can drink it and enjoy it because it tastes like a witches brew. (Oh. I just named it! "Witches Brew," a cauldron of antioxidants.) It's rather earthy. Only earthy in fact. I think that's probably the cacao, that stuff is STRONG. (Don't ever think it's a substitute for chocolate. Because it's not.) I can taste the berryness, the tartness, which is the goji. The orange peel I used came from a bag of Chinese spices so maybe that's why it tastes so medicinal- you know, it's got that coatedness that reminds me of drinking herbal remedies, not neccessarily happy teas. It smells more like soup than tea. Which again, I happen to like, but may not be a good selling point. Ok, so a little tweaking is in order. I think I'll make a bag for Erik and a bag for people at work and ask for their opinions. The tea bag itself is so pretty! It's got the dark red of the rooibos then the wet dark of the cacao then the bright pink of the goji and the pale orange of the orange peel.
Perhaps some cinnamon might do the trick.
I don't know. Maybe it is good. Just as it is. I'll ask around.
And I'll keep you posted.

Chinese Red Dates.

I gave Erik a couple books about Tea for Christmas to aid in his becoming a Kung Fu Tea Master (which is a real thing turns out). At the back of one of the books there is a list of tea recipes for all sorts of ailments and I am so excited to try them out! I have been trying to cultivate a small inventory of my own inventions, mostly herbal, to start selling on the web. Today I'm trying the dried Chinese Red Dates also sweetly known as the Jujube.
I did a little additional research on the medicinal benefits of Chinese Red Dates and here's what I discovered: these little miracles invigorate the spleen and stomach qi, aid in weight gain and appetite, increase stamina, strengthen liver function, they're rich in vitamin C, B12 and protein, and most importantly, across the board, nourish the blood and calm the mind (aka "women's hysteria"). These little sweet red shriveled dumplings help with paleness due to deficiency of blood including loss of; so if you just finished your period, had a baby, or any type of surgery, this is the tea for you! Jujubes also help teenagers fall in love.
The recipe in the book calls for: the dates, tea of your choice, and some sugar. I replaced the sugar with honey, used Rooibos for the tea and I am enjoying my first cup. I do, however, want to try them just on their own to get to know their taste solo. So far I can tell they are sweet and woody, like a honeyed earthy raisin. They taste exactly as you would imagine, they taste as they look: tiny, red, shiny and poppable.
I've been keen on trying to come up with my own women's tea and since this is such a big one when it comes to nourishing the blood and lack there of, my next mixture will be with Raspberry Leaf! I'm so excited!

The New Year.

Always use fresh water for every new pot of tea.

Even if there is water left in the kettle from the pot before, this is not the time to worry about waste. Allow yourself to pour it down the drain and wish it well. The afternoon pot needs to be made. It demands new water from the facet. The oxygen is fresh. Opportunity roiling. Breakfast is past. Evening is yet to come. For now revel in the brisk boiling of this new cup.

Happy New Year.

Lauren.

The haiku version:

Use fresh water for
ev'ry new pot of tea and
Opportunity.

Makaibari

So this tea is something that could only come from Asia. I would love to try it, but at $400.00 per kg, it's a bit outside what I would consider a necessary expenditure. The next most expensive tea that I know of is the Castleton Moonlight (Darjeeling), and it's half the price of the Makaibari. Just to put this into perspective; the Castleton Moonlight transported to me to a different dimension when I tried it. Buddhists talk about being able to achieve a brief moment of enlightenment when you sneeze, or during orgasm, because your mind is truly unfettered in these moments. A taste of the Castleton Moonlight almost pushes it's way into that realm; AND IT'S HALF THE PRICE OF THE MAKAIBARI! There's a price on the home page that says it's $1,600.00 per kg, but they offer an online purchase for $400.00/kg. The sixteen hundred might just be about bragging rights.

So anyway, I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet. I'll include a link to the Makaibari estates home page later on, but for now, I'll give you a little info; The estate has been passed down from rajah, to rajah for four generations, and the current owner, Rajah Banerjee has created an entire ecosystem on the estate. Instead of just growing one crop, Banerjee has diversified the flora, and fauna to create an efficient ecosystem. There's tigers, and panthers there. Enough said. This place should be in a James Bond movie.

Oh, and also, the tea is only picked by young girls, under a full moon. Poke around the website for a bit and see what it's all aboutwww.makaibari.com. The estate is outside of a town called Kurseong, which is on the sketchy mountain road to Darjeeling from New Jalpaiguri. Kurseong is considered part of the Darjeeling region as far as tea production is concerned, so Makaibari would be a Darjeeling. Apparently it's the most expensive tea in the world, but I'm going to guess that someone in Japan is selling a rare tea for a similar price.

So if anyone decides to make a purchase of the Makaibari, let me know about it. Maybe we can work something out.

Lapsang Souchong

This is the right time of year to talk about Lapsang Souchong. This tea was made for sitting next to a fire in cold weather. Outside of a few African teas, it's unlikely that you'll find a more husky, robust black tea.

Souchong is a Chinese tea that gets it's smoky flavor from being smoked over a pine fire. The story is that during the Qing era, the passing of armies would delay the drying of the tea in the Wuyi hills, so the workers would speed up the drying process by drying it over a fire. Hard to say why a passing army would delay tea from drying, but there it is.

I've also heard that the tea was originally dried too close to fish that was being smoked. Lapsang Souchong was produced in an area that had a substantial fishing industry.

Isn't it interesting how all these teas have their little stories about how they came to be.

Well, I think as far a Lapsang Souchong is concerned; you're either going to love it, or hate it. It's pretty strong. Personally, I like it a lot. There really isn't any sort of a nuanced description that I can offer for this tea, because it pretty much just tastes like smoky tea. There's a difference between some of the different varieties of Lapsang Souchong, and you can certainly find something of a higher quality if you're willing to pay for it.

So that's it. A little bit about Lapsang Souchong. I think maybe I should start a blog about Kung Fu movies, because that's what I feel like writing about now.

Visit www.himalayanqueentea.com for all your Darjeeling tea needs.

Grand Keemun

I've been drinking an excessive amount of Darjeeling tea lately, so I've had to make some changes. The last few days I've been drinking Grand Keemun instead. Darjeeling's are rarely taken with milk, and Grand Keemun does just fine with it, so my entire morning has become something different entirely.

Grand Keemun is possibly the most popular Chinese black tea among westerners. Some of the words commonly used to describe Grand Keemun are earthy, smoky, full bodied, or woody. Basically, it's a fairly dark, breakfast tea. Like most Chinese black teas, it manages to remain smooth, and vaguely delicate despite it's dark character. Once you try it, it's fairly clear why Grand Keemun is such a popular tea. It's really good, but it's not so fancy that you have pay attention to it. Very few teas lack an earthy-ness, or a vegetative quality so Grand Keemun's general character is not so unique. Regardless, it's worth seeking it out. I like that you can take it with milk, or without, and it's still a good experience. I've become quite a tea snob lately, so I'm probably not giving this more "common" tea it's due. In fact, it's not entirely common. You could serve Grand Keemun amongst any company, and still consider yourself to be a snooty person.

Keemun comes from Quimen County of Huangshan City, in Anhui province. There are a number of varieties of Keemuns produced in this region; some better than others. Keemun is also one of the main ingredients in English Breakfast blends.

Personally, I consider it to be a strong, yet smooth, black tea, that I take with milk, unless I happen to be out of milk, in which case I am happy to drink it with-out.

You can find Grand Keemun at any decent tea shop, and you can get away with overbrewing it a bit. This is a great everyday breakfast tea.

The above picture was snagged from Tea Chat, a site run by Adagio teas. It's probably a Keemun Mao Feng, or some other high quality Keemun. Typically the loose tea leaves are a little smaller, and a little darker than in the picture. You can see the dark color in the brewed tea.