What is in your cup?

[ProfCrash]

Kabusecha Pot one.

I just finished the last of the Kabusecha. I enjoy it but it takes me longer to go through then other teas. I tmight be one that I retire. As much as I like the higher quality green tea, I find that I favor the Oolongs and Pu Erh's enough that I don't see myself buying more then Sencha and Bancha for my green teas.

[pdurrant]

Just finished Coke Zero #3

[Bilbo1967]

Pinot Grigio Rose for me (first bottle)

[astra]

Cuppa #7

Liu An Gua Pian

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Pinot Grigio Rose for me (first bottle)

First bottle? Sounds like an interesting evening is getting underway.

[CRussel]

Golden Dragon Oolong this afternoon.

[Stitchawl]

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P2zo...eature=related )

We watched a documentary last night about the 'Fitz'... I always wanted to dive this wreck but by the time I had the skills and knowledge to do deep, (527ft.) technical diving, the Canadian government had made the wreck a protected site and diving her is prohibited... Perhaps just as well... Let her rest in peace.

Good morning, everyone. Happy Wednesday. I made the mistake of trying a tea that was given to us as gift this past weekend. It's a Japanese tea blender's idea of how to modernize an English Breakfast tea. I guess his first step was to remove all the flavor... Gimme a sec... gonna dump this and get some East India Company's 'Assam.'....

I'll let that steep a bit, knowing in my heart that I will have a great cup of tea this morning. No need to rinse my mouth of the first one. There wasn't enough flavor to need to remove anything. Bleech!


Stitchawl

[beppe]

Originally Posted by astra

Cuppa #7

Liu An Gua Pian

didn't you like only black teas? once upon a time?

Liu An Gua Pian Tea

(Liu An Melon Seed Tea)

Liu An Gua Pian Tea, a Green Tea, is one of the 10 most famous Chinese Teas . The literal English Translation for the tea is Liu An Melon Seed, or Liu An Melon Slice. The Tea is grown in the Liu An County in the Dabie Mountains of China's Western Anhui Province. The tea is a truly elegant tea with a light and almost spicy aroma. The taste of the tea is very smooth and has a hint of sweetness to it. The tea got its name from the shape of the processed tea leaves. They are flat and oval, resembling a melon seed. In early spring the tea growers cut off the end of the tea tree branches and use the second tea leaf and not the bud, as in most teas. Each leaf's central vein is cut out and the leaves are pan fried over low heat. During the frying stage, the leaves are shaped into the melon seed shape.


Left: Liu An Gua Pian growing on the mountainside
Right: A close up of Liu An Gua Pian leaves
Legends
Liu An Gua Pian has an interesting legends associated with it. In China’s ancient past, a small village was constantly ravaged by a giant monster that lived in a cave in a mountain near the village. The monster, when hungry, would race down the mountain and attack the village. It would lay waste to the village and devour the local people and their livestock to feed its voracious appetite. The villagers would rebuild and about a month later the monster would return. The Bodhisattva Guanyin took pity on the poor people and planted LiuAn GuaPian trees in front of the village. The next time the monster came to devour the locals, he was stopped by the wonderful smell emanating from the trees and was pacified. From that day on, the monster no longer bothered the village.

Left: Processed Tea Leaves
Right: Brewed Tea
History
This tea's recorded history goes back as far as the Tang Dynasty. It was recorded in the Luyu's famous book The Classic of Tea. It was also recorded during the Qing Dynasty as being the ultimate Green Tea and it was the subject of many poems. This tea has been enjoyed by China’s leaders for centuries. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the Empress Dowager Cixi believed that LiuAn Guapian was necessary for her diet and would drink the tea on a daily basis. The finest tea was delivered to The Forbidden City as tribute.
Premiere Zhou Enlai loved Liu An Gua Pian Tea and on his death bed asked for a cup of the tea.
On Henry Kissinger’s historic visit to China in July of 1971, he was presented with a gift of Liu An Gua Pian Tea leaves.

[beppe]

Green smoothie
1/4 apple, 1 kiwi, 1 carrot, 1 orange, 1 cup of frozen broccoli, 1 slice of ginger, 1 slice of lemon with its zest, milled flax seeds, 1 small spoon of Mencha. 1 cup of ice cold water.

Breakfast included
1 slice of rye bread toasted, spread with plum butter, covered by a thin slice of cheese.

For lunch I am envisioning a raw roots salad (pastinaca, tupinanbour, root celery) with raw kale and a tin of Alaska salmon.

To day I have to work. But only in the afternoon.

[Stitchawl]

An afternoon finishing the latest "Dave Robicheaux" novel, while drinking Fortnum & Mason's 'Ceylon' tea. Both are excellent!


Stitchawl

[beppe]

Stitch old friend. For an amount that is way below the price of a bottle of Tequila, I just got this one. In NY, not in Nogales of course. The bottle of course.

[aceflor]

Due to having an upset stomach today (no reasons, really, apart from the visit yesterday of Petit Prince friend and his mother ), I'm having a cup of Salvia right now, which will be followed by a cup of Tila a bit later.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by beppe

Stitch old friend. For an amount that is way below the price of a bottle of Tequila, I just got this one. In NY, not in Nogales of course. The bottle of course.
Attachment 78523

Yes!!! That is exactly what my Spider plants looked like when I lived in New England! Very healthy looking with loads of babies hanging down, more sprouting every week. If you clip off a baby and stick it in some dirt, we have another healthy plant in just a few months!

Here, this is about as much as you can hope for. It's what you find being sold in the garden centers...



Not quite the same...


Stitchawl

[HomeInMyShoes]

Well, for doughnut day, it's gotta be coffee. Black.

[beppe]

Originally Posted by aceflor

Due to having an upset stomach today (no reasons, really, apart from the visit yesterday of Petit Prince friend and his mother ), I'm having a cup of Salvia right now, which will be followed by a cup of Tila a bit later.

biting lime, licking salt and down the hatch? No fooling around with silly mixes? that's the way.

For lunch, I gave up the silly idea of raw roots salad. I did have a huge salad but with tomatoed herrings (I found a lost jar in the outfridge), speck and a slice of that German rye bread (yes, I confess, I smeared it with butter). And I drank a tiny, but so tiny, little glass of Linie, that around the equator Norwegian aquavit. Mine went around the world on the MVTaronga in June 2001 (so it is written on the back of the label). When I tasted the herring, I remembered that there was a bottle of Linie somewhere. Went in the cave and practically it jumped in my hands. These Scandinavians. Perfection. I stopped at three. I have to work.