Week 4 Year of Tea
Day 22: It's my 22nd #teaoftheday in my #yearoftea and what a beauty! It's a Nepal Antu Valley SFTGFOP1 AKA Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe Grade1 it's a rarity because this is a green tea and usually you only get black tea from Nepal. It's got a brisk grassy taste without too much astringency. Nice...
Day 23: I LOVE tea and I LOVE Liquorice so drinking Liquorice Tea for my#teaoftheday No.23 seemed like a fine idea. Now I'm not a big fan of flavoured teas so maybe I'm not the best judge...maybe I should've asked Sam in Carlisle (who buys a pack every 3 or 4 weeks) for his thoughts! Don't get me wrong it's not horrible, it's just a bit weird. If I can be bothered, at some point I think I'll see how it works as a latte...watch this space...
Day 24: Forget yesterday's thinly veiled sneer at flavoured black tea; I'd forgotten how much I enjoy this Scottish Moorland Tea. It tastes great (think hot ribena and Victory V's) plus the addition of heather flowers is a nod to a traditional Pict drink.
Day 25: Don't be fooled by the milky complexion of #teaoftheday No.25 it's PROPER sturdy. Chosen as it's Burns Night, it's an organic Scottish Breakfast Blend. Combining African and Indian leaves, it's so hefty I can feel the hairs sprouting on my chest.
Day 26: Today I've been on a Yunnan Pu Erh. These are some of the most widely known Chinese teas - their popularity in the UK started to grow about 15 years ago when Victoria Beckham was allegedly drinking it as part of a weightloss program. Apparently if you drink a cup half an hour after your meal it helps to metabolise fats. I don't know what happens if you spend all day drinking it like I've done...It really is 'my kind of tea' - I like earthy flavours and it's a very complex taste. There is an entire group of people (mostly in Canada and the US) who only drink Pu Erh because there is such a wide variety - not just 'Sheng' or 'Shou' (AKA Green or Black) but the various vintages too. I'm going to return to this one in a future post as it deserves more depth.
Day 27: It's a slightly different #teaoftheday today inasmuch as it's not one of 'mine' but courtesy of a very pleasant lunch with me sibs at The Parlour at West Bridgford. It's a Darjeeling Late Harvest (sometimes called a Monsoon Harvest) and it has all the top-notes you expect from a Darjeeling. I intended to try a second infusion but didn't remember till I was in the carpark. No matter I'll definitely be returning to The Parlour so I'll try it then! Great tea (and a really very good Full Breakfast)
Day 28: Hurtling towards the end of the month, thought I'd slow it down a bit with a flavoured green tea. Brewed for 3 minutes at 80°c this Wild Cherry Gunpowder is an absolute pleasure. Conveniently for me as I'm always wandering off and losing my tea, this tastes best when it's become tepid.
