Imperial Jasmine Green Tea

Ah Ha! So it turns out that the green fly is just a common aphid. Cool story isn't it? Tea is at least as intricate and multi layered as the wine industry is, and I'm a little surprised that tea connoisseur-ship hasn't taken off (in the u.s.) like it has with wine, or cigars. Maybe I'll write a post about how fancy tea can be. Not today though. No, today I talk about Jasmine green tea.

Jasmine green tea is something I drink because it reminds me of Chinese restaurants. This is the stuff that they serve you in those stainless steel tea pots, with the little tiny cups. My grandparent's used to take me to this place called the Four Seasons in Seattle's Chinatown when I was a kid. In fact my grandmother still takes me to this little dive called the Ming Tree when I visit her. I've always connected jasmine tea, foo dogs, and sweet and sour chicken with a sense of well being, so although, jasmine green tea is not really an everyday tea for Americans; I like to drink it from time to time.

On the other hand; the Chinese love this stuff. It's right up there with the Dragonwell, and the Monkey Picked Oolong for them, and if you get some of the quality stuff it can be rather satisfying. Right now I'm drinking "Imperial Jasmine Tea" from Kamwo Herbal Pharmacy in New York's Chinatown. They have all kinds of interesting herbs and fungus' about the place, and they have an accupuncture clinic in the back called The Grand Meridian. I get needled back there once a week. The place looks a lot like any other pharmacy, except there are a bunch of people packaging up what looks like twigs, and bark.

So about the tea: Any Chinese tea that says imperial is going to be high in quality, so try for that. Jasmine tea comes from tea picked early in the season from Fujian Province in China. The tea is "decorated" with fresh jasmine blossoms to impart the Jasmine flavor on the tea. Tea is highly absorbent of odors, so all you have to do is place the tea in and around a bunch of jasmine flowers, and the tea will soak up the scent. The harvesting is done during the day, and the flowers are layered on at night when they are in full bloom. The more consecutive nights that this layering is performed, the more heady the scent and flavor. High quality jasmines will be decorated up to twelve times.

I have read that jasmine teas are technically oolongs because they are allowed to ferment for a short time, but I don't think anyone will turn up their nose at you for calling it green. If you don't know the difference between white, green, oolong, and black teas, then check out this link Types of Tea.

Here you go Erik. Here's a greenfly. love you.

Kakra effect on Darjeeling Muscatel

On an earlier post I asked for confirmation of a "double fermentation" situation where Muscatel tea from Darjeeling was concerned. Apparently this "effect" is not isolated to the Castleton plantation, but is common to second flush teas that bear the description "Muscatel" in the name of the tea, not to be mistaken for the general description of Darjeeling teas as having a muscatel flavor to them. No! I'm talking about teas that are called "Muscatel".

"kakra” in local language means dehydrated leafs and this dehydration takes place when an insect called green fly bites the tea leafs and the leafs starts oxidizing on the bush as pores are formed on it, the leafs are further plucked when the soil and climatic conditions are perfect for the harvest and when the tea is further processed."

So that's it. That's pretty cool I think. What an interesting way for such an awesome tea to get it's flavor. If I can find out exactly what this "green fly" is I'll share that as well. There's this strange bug that lives on tea bushes, and looks like a tea leaf, but it doesn't resemble a fly at all so I doubt that that is it, but it could be.

Dragonwell, Lung Ching Imperial Green Tea,

Alright, get a load of this.........

Imperial Dragonwell is the Queen of Green Tea. A classic Chinese green tea. Beautiful shape, emerald color, sweetish refined taste. Lung Ching Tea - AKA Dragon Well is produced by hand through a 10 part process. The tea used to produce Dragon Well is grown by the side of West Lake in Zhejiang Province. Dragon Well is distinguished by its beautiful shape, emerald color, scented smell and tending sweet floral character. In Chinese culture Dragon Well is looked upon as an excellent gift to give to your friends as once it was a gift to emperors. In ancient times top Dragon Well tea was the tea of emperors and special dignitaries. The secret was in the plucking! Known as imperial plucking. Young virgins, gloved and using gold scissors delicately plucked the stem and placed it into a golden basket. The tea was only plucked once a year during March and early April before the Clear Light Festival, otherwise the tea could not have the moniker Imperial. Today the plucking process has changed somewhat (the time of plucking has not changed) but it is fascinating to know the tradition behind this marvelous tea. Like most other Chinese green tea, Longjing tea leaves are pan fried to stop the fermentation process. Longjing tea contains Vitamin C, amino acids, and the highest concentration of catechins among teas. Hot tea brewing method: When preparing by the cup, this tea can be used repeatedly - about 3 times. The secret is to use water that is about 180 degrees F or 80 degrees C. Place 1 teaspoon in your cup, let the tea steep for about 3 minutes and then begin enjoying a cup of enchantment - do not remove the leaves from the cup. Once the water level is low - add more water, and so on and so on - until the flavor of the tea is exhausted. Look at the pattern of the leaves in the brew, not only do they foretell your fortune but you can see the bud and shoots presenting themselves, looking like they are about to be plucked by young virgins.

Whoa! I had no idea what I was drinking! Well, I knew it was pretty good, a lot like the Japanese Sencha. In fact there is some similarities in the taste of these two teas. That must be because they are both pan fried. The brewed Dragonwell is a little bit greener, and like the above description says "A sweetish, refined taste". I would also add that it's a bit earthy, but that could just be the mellowness. The dried leaves are bigger than the Sencha, and for some reason they're flat.

So drink up. You'll feel like the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty even if you don't have any lackey's to command. I like to take a sip, look down my nose at everyone, and state quite plainly that everyone will be "Scrutinized, assessed, and dealt with accordingly".

Risheehat (flowery) second flush

This mornings tea was the Risheehat (flowery), second flush. Like all the good Darjeeling teas, it is nice and smooth, and doesn't need milk. Because it's a second flush tea, it's a bit darker than the first flush, and a bit sweeter. The term "flowery" must refer to the mild hint of jasmine, or something floral, that is lurking in the flavor. It brews into a nice burnt orange color, and it possesses a slightly complex aroma. I don't have the most sophisticated palate, otherwise I would try to give you an in depth description of the smell, but take my word for it; it smells great. Take a look at the picture above. It's not the best picture. but you can see how some of the leaves are a distinctly more orange, or brown, or green in color. That's how the aroma comes off.

I think that this tea is a little bit hard to come by at this point, because the Risheehat estate didn't produce much of it. That seems to be the story with a number of Darjeeling teas this year, thanks to the dry winter. I understand that the crops are rebounding somewhat, but that the harvest is still not what it needs to be.

Tea Quote of the Day:

"Computer:

Tea,

Earl Grey,

Hot."

-Jean Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship "Enterprise."

Sencha, Green Tea

Alright! I finally have some time to write something! So I think we'll go with Sencha Green Tea. I've been trying to educate myself on green teas lately, and I started with the most common varieties from Japan and China. Sometimes the common stuff is the best, because there's so many people producing it, and they've been doing it for so long that they've just got it right, especially if you get a premium grade.

The Sencha that I've been drinking is simply "Sencha, Premium Grade, Japanese Green" from McNulty's Tea and Coffee in New York. It's fairly inexpensive, and it tastes great. It's very smooth, and it brews into a beautiful grassy yellow. Sencha is usually said to be vegetal, or to have a grassy flavor, and I agree. The flavor is also compared to Seaweed, which gives it an oceanic quality, and lends itself to pairings with seafood. It's a great everyday green tea that works anytime of the day.

I've read that "Sencha" can be translated as "roasted" or "common", and I've read about a few slightly different methods for processing. It is always described as air dried, and then usually pan fried. The finished tea leaves are rolled into long needles, and it keeps it's dark green color.

Here's some info that I snagged off the internet;

Sencha is the most widely enjoyed green tea in Japan. You'll find it everywhere you turn, in varying grades. It can be recognized by its shiny, needle-like shaped tea leaves with strong fragrance.

Along with the springtime blossoming of cherry trees, the first harvest of sencha is highly anticipated and celebrated. It's thought to be the first taste of the coming year in tea, and very lucky to give as a gift. This first harvest is referred to as "shincha".

Processing: The tea plants used to make sencha are grown in full sun. Processing is a series of six steps that begins with steaming (halts oxidization, preserves the color, aroma and taste). The leaves are then partially dried and machine twisted, making them soft and pliant. This step is repeated, with a second round of drying and twisting, resulting in increased fragrance and needle-shaped leaves. A third round of drying finishes the process. The tea then is hand-sorted to remove any stray stems. Sencha can be enjoyed right after being made (needs no maturing), and generally has a 6 months shelf life.

Brewing: The key with sencha is to use soft water at a low temperature with a short steeping time. It's a delicate tea, and does well made in a small vessel like a gaiwan or kyusu.

Cooking: It's common in Japan to re-use the leaves of high-grade sencha in cooking. Try adding them to salads and dishes that do well with fresh greens and herbs.

I haven't gone out of my way to brew it at a lower temperature, but I do stick to the shorter steeping times. I always drop all my teas into the hot water, and then use a seive to strain them into the pot. This pretty much reduces brewing times with all but the darkest teas anyway, and I think you end up with better flavor as a result.

So next time maybe I'll talk about Lung Ching, Dragonwell from China. Or about steeping methods.

Paper vs. Plastic

If you are a consumer of loose leaf teas, and you care about the effect that your presence has on the earths environment, then the article below should be interesting to you. It's the old debate about paper vs. plastic. I always recycle the plastic grocery bags that I collect, but what about the little tin tie bags that your tea comes in? If it's paper, do you compost it? and if it's plastic, do you recycle it?

This article is actually about coffee bags, but they're the same as what we get our teas in.

Here's the link to the website I found this article on http://beanactivist.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/whats-the-best-bag-for-coffee/

What’s the Greenest Coffee Bag?

Posted by Chris O’Brien

Coffee drinkers pay more for packaging, shipping, and advertising than we pay the farmers who grow coffee beans. So how can we pay more to the people and for the product and less for the package? And which kind of package is best for the environment?

Setting aside the issues of shipping and advertising, and ignoring single-serve coffee containers for the moment, the basic retail packaging choice is between a paper bag and a plastic-covered foil bag.

Aargh! The eternal paper versus plastic debate. Hoping to discover once and for all which to choose, I researched this question and reported my findings in Fermenting Revolution. I found that this is a frustrating debate for good reason – there is no clear environmental winner when choosing a paper or plastic bag.

Paper
Paper is from a renewable resource – trees. But just because trees are renewable doesn’t mean we’re consuming them sustainably. We axe-down ancient forests and destroy habitat for endangered species, replacing complex ecosystems with tree farms or worse. Today, we have less than half the global forest cover we had at the beginning of settled agriculture ten thousand years ago. In the age of global warming, the role of forests as carbon sequestration sinks has taken on new importance – we need all the trees we can get in order to trap carbon dioxide in hopes of slowing climate change. Unfortunately, we continue on our decline of total forest cover.

Compared to plastic, paper is much heavier. The eco-impacts resulting from this added weight are staggering. According to the EPA, one paper grocery bag requires more than twice as much energy, produces 15 times as much waterborne waste and twice as much atmospheric pollution, as one plastic bag. Though they are theoretically recyclable, Americans chuck four out of five paper bags in the trash. Paper is biodegradable but nearly no-one actually composts them so biodegradability is moot. The vast majority end up locked in landfill where they will stay indefinitely, not biodegrading at all.

Oh, and even if you wanted to compost or recycle your coffee bag, most of them are lined with polypropylene (plastic), so you’re actually getting a paper bag with a plastic bag nested inside it – two for one! Just to keep things complicated, there are exceptions. Some paper coffee bags have no liner, which means they are indeed compostable. Others use a layer of “glassine” which is a dense semi-transparent paper that according to National Envelope is “biodegradable and recyclable.” So if you happen to know that your paper coffee bag is liner-less or uses glassine, and you are willing to compost them – this may be the most environmentally preferable option if you ignore the whole weight issue.

Versus Plastic
Plastic is derived from petroleum and doesn’t even theoretically degrade. At best, plastic bags are recycled, but in reality we only recycle a pathetic one percent of them, tossing out over a hundred billion plastic grocery bags every year. A few manufacturers have started making starch-based plastic bags but they remain prohibitively expensive and account for less than one percent of the market.

But plastic is super cheap, compact and light as air (just think how often you’ve seen them blowing around in it). Its compactness and lightness weigh positively in the shipping formula – light and small means that just one truck can transport as many plastic bags as it takes seven trucks to transport the same number of paper bags.

Drat! Foiled Again
So plastic is drastic and paper is a waster. But hold on, we’re talking about coffee bags not grocery bags. Plastic coffee bags are actually double-bagged just like the paper bags. The inner lining is usually 5 mil polypropylene plastic but the outer layer is aluminum foil. This dual-layer system rules out even the possibility of recycling, plus it adds the complexity of evaluating the environmental footprint of foil. Cripes! This is giving me a headache.

Just to be sure there wasn’t some hidden upside to all this, I called North Atlantic Specialty Bag Co. and a very helpful customer service rep assured me there was no recycled content in the paper, plastic or aluminum of their bags. She also confirmed that the poly-lined paper bags and the poly-lined aluminum bags were not recyclable due to the dual-layer system of each. However, she did say they were soon planning to offer a compostable/recyclable paper option. She didn’t know the construction of these new bags but I suppose they must be the unlined or glassine-lined paper bags I mentioned above.

A Roaster Weighs In
Searching the web for details about bags and looking to see which roasters use what, I found this helpful info from the folks at Cafe Campesino, who give their customers a choice of bags:

Kraft Bags
Our standard packaging for 1-lb. and 2-lb. units of coffee is a biodegradable Kraft paper bag, which can be composted or recycled. Our 5-lb. units of coffee are also packaged in Kraft paper bags, though this size is not biodegradable (it is recyclable), as an internal plastic liner is necessary to support the greater weight during transport. We strongly recommend transferring your coffee into an airtight container upon receiving it.

Foil Bags
To provide for longer shelf life, added hardiness for shipping and for resale venues, we recommend having your coffee packed in our sealed foil bags, each of which (1-lb., 2-lb. and 5-lb.) has a one-way valve to allow the coffee to off-gas without letting air in. Again, we strongly recommend transferring your coffee into an airtight container once the foil bag has been opened.

Presumably, the note about the recyclability versus compostability of the 5 pound plastic-lined paper bag is due to the fact that you can’t simply toss it in the compost bin, but you could remove the plastic liner from the paper bag and recycle each separately.

As far as cost goes, every coffee seller I’ve found who offers both types of bags charges the same price regardless which type you pick. So cost doesn’t appear to be an issue. But there may be a trade off when it comes to quality. Foil bags are better at keeping air away from your beans, which means the coffee stays fresher and retains more of its potential flavor. So if you’re seeking maximum flavor enjoyment, not just a morning jolt, its important to pay attention to exposure to air, though this can be controlled in part by what you do with the coffee once you get it home.

Weight a Minute, the Winner Is . . .
The weight comparison at the beginning was for grocery bags. Since “plastic” coffee bags are actually plastic-lined aluminum foil not just plain old plastic, the preferential lighter weight of plastic disappears. It seems the best option then is an unlined or glassine-lined paper bag.

But wait, there’s one more thing. Paper coffee bags are available in tan or white. The white ones are made of pulp that has extra bleaching (very nasty, toxic processing) and have a coating of clay applied to them.

So, if you buy a pound or two at a time, like most people do, then you should get it fresh from a roaster in a paper bag, transfer it to an airtight container, and compost or recycle the bag. Or if you live near a roaster, ask if you can BYOB – bring your own bag, er, refillable airtight container, and eliminate this damn “econundrum” altogether!

---

Dandelion Tea

Unfortunately I haven't had much time to write lately, and this post is going to be as short as the last one.

Dandelion Root Tea: It's supposed to be really good for your liver. Your liver is basically the first organ in the chain of enzyme's and proteins that roam around your body and affect all the other organs. In other words; if the liver doesn't work, then nothing else will either. So it's important to keep you liver healthy. Here's a link with a little bit more info naturalherbsguide.com.

The Dandelion root tea tastes really good also. Sometimes it's called Dandelion coffee, because it's got a bit of a roasted flavor to it.

So I've been exploring green teas a bit lately, and I plan on writing a few things about that in the next few days. Hopefully I'll have the time.

Tea Quote of the Day:

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future." ~Thich Nat Hahn

Harmony Tea.

This morning I'm drinking a warm cup of my new Chinese herbs. Four scoopfuls of a granular powder three times a day. The stuff is explained in Chinese on the bottle but as I understand it these particular granules are for harmony in a couple of my organs this week. At first the concoction tastes a bit like dusty gasoline, but now, after many weeks of this kind of medicine, I've begun to find the taste soothing, comforting even.

For the past month or two I've been going to acupuncture once a week to get my body, mind and spirit cleansed, strong and healthy. God, it is so hard to talk about it without it sounding so goopy. Why is that? Why does peaceful healing stuff sound so much like a bunch of steaming bullshit? It really is true, I'm healing my body, mind and spirit ok?!?!?! Sorry I'm not drinking martinis and saying "fuck it" to the details of french cooking and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer or meditating in India, eating pizza in Italy and falling in love on a beautiful island while I tend to a wise man (although both ways are effective). I'm just going to acupuncture once a week and trying to make things better.

I want to have a baby someday (soon!!!) and I've been working with Angie on making my body a happy organism to fulfill such a dream. I've quit smoking. I don't drink beer anymore. (I've now switched to rose wine which is tacky and a little bit like a lush, but it doesn't take itself too seriously and it's pink after all.) I've been doing yoga as close to everyday as I can (which is anywhere from 0 to 5 times a week). And I don't remember the last french fry I had.

I'm also really angry and sad it turns out. This is something that I always knew was lurking on the inside somewhere but Dr. Tsao saw it on my tongue and now it's all out in the open. (He can read your tongue like it's your diary!) I'M MAD. I ALSO WANT TO CRY A LOT. And I know that's hard on the people that love me. I'm working on it. I am. I know living in this warehouse by the BQE isn't helping much at all. We're moving. And my greater purpose is out there waiting for me and I'm coming as fast as I can I just don't totally know WHERE it is physically on this planet.

Until it's clear. I will sit here. Now. On my futon. With the constant swishing sound of highway traffic at my head. With the smell of the industrial bakery on the first floor filling my senses (almost to nausea). With the tub of Pabst Blue Ribbon and the coffee grinds scattered like confetti just outside my door.

And drink my Chinese herbs for Harmony.

Tea Quote of the Day:

"Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order." -Okakura Kakuzo, "The Book of Tea," 1906

Nonsense and Keemun.

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" -Alice, a great tea drinker.

Yesterday took place through the looking glass I think. Everything that I thought would be in the day turned out to be opposite and yet I still managed to be unaffected, happy even. I woke up with 15 minutes to get out the door to go to work and I got dressed like a breeze. Normally with a time constraint or any pressure at all, my clothes turn into hideous rags that I've never liked or even seen before. But, I was dressed and ready to go in that 15 mintues of Tuesday's Wonderland. It was raining so I figured long sleeves would be aprapo, but it was hot and muggy so I was sweating instantly. I was sluggish in my restaurant set up thinking it would be a slow Tuesday shift considering heaven and its wet sheets, but it was really really busy. I thought I would have time after work to come home and change before I went to dinner at Megan's in the East Village, but I forgot I agreed to do a double yesterday. And, I thought the D train stopped on 14th street, but I ended up in Herald Square 20 blocks away and was an hour late to Megan's.

But somewhere in there was my cup of tea. And it was great.

I made myself a tea bag of loose "Grand Keemun" before I left for work, ironically bought from Alice's Tea Cup, my old stomping ground of tea drinking, selling and endless enjoyment thereof. Keemun is my very favorite tea. Truly. Maybe it's my magic elixir. A special pick me up that puts spring in the step of any day no matter how foiled. I drank it in a pint glass (Wonderland tea cup) at the bar of the Brooklyn Fish Camp before the place was packed and I was serving spicy sardine sandwiches like a whirling dervish.

Chinese black tea always has a bit of smokiness to it. I don't think they drink much black tea in China, Green tea is more their style. But their land sure makes a hella of a fermented camelia sensis and it went down smooth yesterday in the world of my very own.

Plywood Queen

Well, after that post about the Puttabong Queen, I decided to have a cup. I made the mistake of brewing it, and taking it with me in a travel mug on my way to see "Harold and Maude" in Bryant Park. That tea is not for travel mugs. It was good, but it would have been better if I had just sat down and drank it like I was planning on enjoying it. I know better.

On a completely unrelated note; I needed a piece of plywood today that was at least thirty eight, and nine sixteenths inches long in one direction. So I went to the scrap pile in the shop, and I picked up a piece, and it was the exact right length. I thought that was pretty weird.

In the beginning!!!

In the beginning there was a word and the word was Mother. And it was good. It all started for me through out my whole life. My mother is a living breathing talking walking pair of Ruby Slippers but you don't even have to click your heels at all to be home. She makes everything home. And magical. And she's impervious to evil.

Since I can remember she's been making tea and putting it on a silver tray with one candle, milk, sugar and tea cups that we made or otherwise. No matter if it was Tuesday at 3 AM and we can't sleep or Sunday with guests, it was always as if the queen might be showing up for a cuppa. This experience is deep within me and I want to give it to the world. And I will. Once cup at a time. So I guess it starts there. From my tea classes in Manchester England to the Bellevue Hotel in Darjeeling India, my rubby-slippers-mother has been with me.

Although I agree with Erik that Muscatel is the greatest tea ever, this morning, like most mornings for me summer and winter alike, I'm enjoying a hairy black brew. I like 'em strong. With milk. Today I went for the loose English Breakfast we got from McNulty's Tea & Coffee Company and if you're ever in the West Village you can't pass it up. McNulty's is my very favorite. They've been selling tea since the word Mother and they have a satisfying collection of loose teas in the exact old world looking environment that you want to buy it in. It's the best. Plus, their website has great pictures and a comprehensive explanation of "What tea is."

McNulty's English Breakfast is made with Chinese black tea as part of it's blend (Assam tea from India and Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka being the other two more consistent components of EB). It gives it that sort of wine/whine flavor, which is why I think I like it so much. The trick is, if you like strong tea, use MORE tea in the bag instead of more TIME brewing it. I brewed this fat sack of leaves in the spring green painted tea pot my Mom painted for me. It drips everywhere and it's only decoration is a darker green swirl she painted on the top, but the bottom says "To Lauren Rose, Love Mom." It's the best tea pot of my life.

In the end of this beginning, on this Monday day off, I'm happy drinking McNulty's English Breakfast from this short and stout.

light light light, Lauren.

This is a picture of a cup of the Puttabong Queen (first estate to harvest for the first flush of 2009), brewed just over twenty four hours after it was on the bush. I believe it was the finest cup of tea that I have ever had. This picture was taken in the dining area of the Bellevue hotel, in Darjeeling. On a clear day you can see the the Himalayas from the hotel, and the Tibetans who run the place are incredibly nice. This is a wonderful memory for me.

IN THE BEGINNING!!!.......There was a hot cup of tea.

Alright! Here we go. This is the first post for this blog.

We started this little blog because we like to drink tea, and then talk about it. Just a casual conversation, nothing serious. So rather than drone on about what this is, I'll just get started.

This morning I had a cup of Castleton, Muscatel from Darjeeling India. If you haven't tried this tea, I highly recommend it. Lauren and I were in Darjeeling last spring and we brought some of this tea home. I've had to ration the tea out to myself, otherwise I would drink it every day. It's that good.

For information on Darjeeling tea, and what 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Flush means go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_tea

Muscatel is a second flush tea, which means that it it is harvested in May or June. Second flush teas are typically sweeter and smoother than first flush teas, and the muscatel is an amazing example. It's an exceptionally smooth tea, and although it's fruity; it's dry, and the sweetness is subtle. The muscatel flavor is often compared to currants.

The Muscatel that I had this morning came from the Castleton estate, which is one of the best producers of tea in the region. Every Castleton tea that I have tried so far has been excellent, so if you decide to try this tea out, I think it's worth seeking out the Castleton offering.

I love Darjeeling teas because of their light body. Most other black teas go well with milk, and some of the African varieties beg for it, but Darjeeling produces teas that can be taken completely on their own. In fact it might almost be wrong to put milk into your cup of Darjeeling. I will come to your house and make you drink coffee if you try it.

So try some of the Muscatel. You'll be very happy you did.

Oh yes... One other thing. I was given an explanation about how this tea gets it's unique flavor. Maybe someone out there can confirm this for me. Apparently the tea is double fermented by a rather curious process. At some point just before harvest, there is an insect that will begin feeding on the tea leaf. This begins the process of fermentation. The tea is then picked, and fermented in the usual way. The manager of the estate has to be paying close attention to the timing on this process to get it right. This could be a technique that is unique to the Castleton estate, due to it's elevation, or aspect, or it could be how everyone does it, or it could be a bunch of nonsense. Whatever the case may be, I love this tea, and I think you should have a cup.