What is in your cup?

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by astra

I understand your point of view about 19.
25 & 26? Are you sure that by that age you would not know yourself and be still immature to commit?
I don't know.
I married when I was 29. I was not ready 3 years before that. I am not sure I was mature enough even at 29 but my other half was more experienced and knew how to soften the rough edges. However, I know that I was an abnormality. My friends at 25 were more mature than I was at 29.

I guess it depends on one's life experience.

I was 21 one I got married... but I was more mature at 18 then most 30 year olds I know...

[Iridal]

Originally Posted by astra

Ouch indeed. Getl well!
You have an interesting bicycle.
I used to have a similar ages ago, back in Ukraine



However, after I tried one with gears I could never return to this type.
It is lot harder on leg muscles than bicycles with big wheels and gears.
I guess it is comfortable for ladies in skirts/dresses.

Oh, but mine is a 6-speed (has 6 gears ), and I usually overtake most other cyclists when I'm using my Brompton. It's just like a normal bike really, only it folds really really small so you can tuck it away anywhere I bought one so I can take it on the train with me. It saves me about 30 minutes travelling to and from work!

In my cup: pumpkin soup!

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by astra

Because I realised that I was going to buy Keemun there was no point in drinking it during tea tasting

I find that most Keemuns seem to improve with some age. I got some Lion Mountain Keemun from Peets last year, and wasn't thrilled. But I put it in the back of the cabinet, and had some last month. I now like it, a lot. Now this could be my tastes changing, but I think it's really more about the tea changing. It mellows out and the nuances are able to come to the fore. It's got some sweetness, and a round nose now that it just didn't have when it was new.

Originally Posted by astra

Another tea I tasted during tea tasting was Lapsang Souchong. WOW! That was fantastic. Noone would call it "burned tyres". She explained why. Just like with Milk Oolong, one can enhance the flavour artificially. Thus the flavour becomes overpowering, i.e., burned tyres. If it is a natural flavour it is a notch above subtle. Obviously, smoky but with a hint of sweetness and very pleasant. I didn't buy it because it was too expensive but I won't re-order this tea in Tea House Emporium either. I have to try other sources. Predictably The East India Company and Fortnum and Mason Maybe sometime around Christmas

The difference in quality between good Lapsang Souchong and cheap versions is huge. One of the best I've had was one I got in Paris several years ago at Mariage Freres

Originally Posted by astra

I think I know where I reside...

Yup, I know where I reside too. Yummm. Some Bowmore would be good right now. Well, maybe not yet. But this evening...

In my cup: Pride of Port.

[astra]

Originally Posted by CRussel

The difference in quality between good Lapsang Souchong and cheap versions is huge. One of the best I've had was one I got in Paris several years ago at Mariage Freres

I found something interesting about Lapsang Souchong today

This genuine quality is different in terms of the following points:

1) Tea leaf is lustrous
2) Tea leaf is in a reddish black color
3) The size of the tea leaf is small


Try to look at the tea leaf under the sunshine. You would notice that some of the tea leaves are shining like black crystal. This is the fact alone proves its authenticity of the real Lapsang Souchong.

The fake quality usually shows the following characters:

1) Tea leaf shows a grayish black color or a very dark color
2) Color is not bright as the smoky aroma might have been added by burning the logs or barks of different types of tree.
3) A very strong smoky aroma, yet no aroma of dried Longan
4) The taste is thin, lack of body and taste becomes drastically thin when it comes to the 2nd brewing

Lapsang Souchong I have at home has a dull greyish colour. So...

I have now three in my bookmarks folder Tea/Tea Shops/Tea Wanted/Lapsang Souchong:
The East India Company
Fortnum and Mason
and now Mariage Freres

Nighty night.

[Stitchawl]

The Whistling Gypsy came over the hill,
Down thru the valley so shady;
He whistled and he sang
til the greenwood rang,
And he won the heart of a lady.

She left her father's castle gate,
she left her fair young lover;
She left her servants
And her estate
to follow the gypsy rover.

A dee do a dee do die day,
A dee do a dee day-o
He whistled and he sang
Til the greenwood rang,
And he won the heart of a lady.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59U6gAnOKDU )

Good morning, everyone! Another fine day! I have my cup filled with unbranded Keemun tea, and a plate of fresh croissants beside it. A quick breakie then we're off to ride the mountains above Kyoto!

Originally Posted by orlok

Might the liquid in question be an anagram of ign?

Might be... But after a few, I could spell it that way too.

Originally Posted by astra

.....
Another tea I tasted during tea tasting was Lapsang Souchong. WOW! .... but I won't re-order this tea in Tea House Emporium either. I have to try other sources. Predictably The East India Company and Fortnum and Mason Maybe sometime around Christmas

I purchase mine from McNultey's Tea and Coffee. They have two grades of the tea; natural and Extra Smokey. I assume that the Extra Smokey is an enhanced tea but I love it! It's worth it to me to have it shipped all the way from the States, rather than buying some here. The import shop in Kyoto sells a Japanese importer's brand but I don't care for the flavor.... Much to thin. I used to buy my Keemun from them too before I discovered the unbranded Keemun at the Chinese import shop. McNultey's prices are really low; a pound (428gm) of Lapsang Souchong costs $18 USD.

Originally Posted by astra

I married when I was 29. I was not ready 3 years before that. I am not sure I was mature enough even at 29 but my other half was more experienced and knew how to soften the rough edges. However, I know that I was an abnormality. My friends at 25 were more mature than I was at 29.

I married my first wife at age 20. I didn't 'grow up' until I was 34 and married and divorced twice. Then at age 62 I became a child again.

Time for one more cup of tea, then a quick shower, and take my pony out of the barn!


Stitchawl

[astra]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I married my first wife at age 20. I didn't 'grow up' until I was 34 and married and divorced twice. Then at age 62 I became a child again.

I envy your attitude to life. It is easier that way. My attitude had created problems for me most of my life.
One of the artificial aspect of my attitude is that I believe it is a wrong life style to marry/divorce marry/divorce marry/divorce. I don't mean it is wrong as immoral, no. Just wrong. There is a mistake somewhere. An user error. When you choose a partner for life time, it is meant to be for life time. Not 5 years, then oops...we don't fit. Then 10 years later, oops...I did it again Nevermind, lets try again. And so on and so forth. It is not good for kids. I believe a child is supposed to have one mother and one father. Otherwise, it gives them bad example. They won't learn to value the sacred union of two souls.
Besides kids it is unhealthy for one's mind. One doesn't approach the union very seriously. One doesn't endeavour to choose a partner for life. One approaches marriage as ...maybe, maybe not. More like a living together for a while and see how it goes. For me marrying and committing oneself to live with another person is a lot more, and if approached seriously then it cannot change in 5 or 10 years time.
I believe that at the age of 20 we don't know ourselves. We think we do, we think we know Everything. But thinking and doing is not the same.


On the other hand, as I say I complicate life too much, when it is already too convoluted without my contribution. I don't change my mind too often, thus predictable and boring. My brother tells me: be simple. Relax. Don't think too much. Just be simple, otherwise you won't live long. I am telling you this as a doctor.


Cuppa #1
Assam Numalighur TGFOP1 Second Flush

[GeoffC]

Coffee#1 just finished ....

Good Morning All ...

[maianhvk]

@ Paul: does your avatar look a bit lighter today? I think it had a different shade of green yesterday...

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by astra

I envy your attitude to life. It is easier that way. My attitude had created problems for me most of my life.
One of the artificial aspect of my attitude is that I believe it is a wrong life style to marry/divorce marry/divorce marry/divorce. I don't mean it is wrong as immoral, no. Just wrong. There is a mistake somewhere. An user error. When you choose a partner for life time, it is meant to be for life time. Not 5 years, then oops...we don't fit. Then 10 years later, oops...I did it again Nevermind, lets try again. And so on and so forth.

I agree with you 100%! And in a perfect world, this would be the normal situation. Unfortunately and personally, I haven't found that perfect world. Others have. No doubt about it. Lot's of folks married for 50+ years, etc. And many of them happy about it. The operative word is 'many.'

"A Marriage" By Robert Creeley 1926–2005

The first retainer
he gave to her
was a golden
wedding ring.

The second—late at night
he woke up,
leaned over on an elbow,
and kissed her.

The third and the last—
he died with
and gave up loving
and lived with her.

I couldn't live that way. Perhaps I should say, I refuse to live that way. I do agree that this is a selfish way to live, but I've only got one life, and I want to live it, "to suck the marrow of life." I've watched too many 'give up loving and live with her...'

Life is meant to be 'lived,' and not, passed through. Henry David Thoreau said; "most men lead lives of quiet desperation." I prefer to live by another of his quotes, one that I'll paraphrase here "...I wished to live deliberately, ... and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." As I'm finding now in my latter years, life is just too short. While I wish that I hadn't made the mistakes of my youth, I'm glad that I wasn't forced to live my life enduring them, either by personal philosophy, religious convictions, or societal pressures.

... and on that note, I'm gonna have a small glass of rum!


Stitchawl

[astra]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I couldn't live that way. Perhaps I should say, I refuse to live that way. I do agree that this is a selfish way to live, but I've only got one life, and I want to live it, "to suck the marrow of life." I've watched too many 'give up loving and live with her...'

Life is meant to be 'lived,' and not, passed through. Henry David Thoreau said; "most men lead lives of quiet desperation." I prefer to live by another of his quotes, one that I'll paraphrase here "...I wished to live deliberately, ... and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." As I'm finding now in my latter years, life is just too short. While I wish that I hadn't made the mistakes of my youth, I'm glad that I wasn't forced to live my life enduring them, either by personal philosophy, religious convictions, or societal pressures.

May I say, I could not agree more? and I don't think I contradict myself

my cup is empty.
Need to catch up

[VydorScope]

inmy cup... Black Silk coffee while I work on my lesson for tomorrow...instead of doing my homework LOL

[astra]

A cup of Pu-Erh.
Sample of cooked Pu-Erh brick.

[astra]

Just finished a cup of Wu Yi Rock - Shui Xian.

[astra]

I just came across an interesting site and thought it would be a good idea to share this info with fellow teaists and wannabe teaists

Index area
Various types of tea and how they are produced
Common blends and varieties of Camellia Sinensis
Loose tea - why not teabags? No name brands?
How to "brew" the perfect cup of tea

[Stitchawl]

Some say love it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.

Some say love it is a hunger
An endless, aching need
I say love it is a flower,
And you it's only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance

It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying
That never learns to live.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfUWub8xjdY )

A rose by any other name... Good morning, everyone. Sunday mornings... I think they are special for most families. A time to be together, even if one is reading the newspaper, another on the computer, yet another watching early morning cartoons... "Home." It's a special time and place.

A mug of Taylors of Harrogate's "Yorkshire" tea in front of me, a bowl of muesli next to it, and a banana for afterwards. Cloudy skies, with a touch of rain to come... Good day to relax and read a good book!

Originally Posted by astra

I just came across an interesting site and thought it would be a good idea to share this info with fellow teaists and wannabe teaists

Thanks for showing this. It's interesting, isn't it, how different sites seem to give different information? I'm referring to the page on 'blends.' I remember many months ago we were commenting on the contents of 'English Breakfast' teas. I said it was a blend of Keemun and Ceylon, you mentioned it was a blend of Assam and Ceylon... And we were both correct, depending upon the blender's choice! We've now seen several different sites with both blends offered. Someone mentioned that they preferred Assam in the morning and Keemun in the afternoon, while I preferred Keemun in the morning and Assam in the afternoon. I guess this is why the blenders make both available as an English Breakfast tea. This is probably what makes horse racing! If we all bet on the same horse it would be no fun at all!
Then the site you found the other day saying that Lapsang Souchong should be 'naturally' smokey flavored, but the this site saying it should be smoked over pine fires... I wonder if one is 'more correct' than the other, or just different ways of achieving the same end product?

And then... there actually ARE people who like Lipton tea in bags...

I'm going to grab another cup of tea and my book, sit down and read a while!


Stitchawl