To make up for not posting for a few weeks I have been really good this past week and dedicated 29/04/13 - 05/05/13 to Chinese tea.
I went even further than just dedicating this week to Chinese tea and decided to dedicate each day to a different variety.
Monday: Black Tea - Because Mondays are hard I chose nice high in caffeine black tea. I started my day with a bit of a cheat as I had a Breakfast Blend but I'm sure it contained some kind of Chinese tea. In the afternoon I drank copious amounts of Keemun because Keemun Black tea is by far my favourite Black Chinese tea. Did you know that in China they sometimes call black tea "red tea"...just a little tea fact for you there :)
Tuesday: Puerh Tea - I had the day off work so I thought that Puerh tea would be a good one for today as in my opinion it is the most time consuming Chinese teas to brew. I chose a 2006 Puerh teacake that I hadn't had of yet so it took a little bit of time to cut the cake before brewing. It's a great experience though - I like working for my tea! With about 3-4g from a good aged Puerh teacake you can rebrew about 8 or 9 times and that is what I did - Puerh all day long! It was great.
Wednesday: Green: I was back to work so I packed a few samples of green tea to take with me - these included a Long Jing Grade 3, a Lu An Gua Pian and then to end the day in work I drank some of my favourite Chinese Jasmine Dragon pearls.
Thursday: Oolong: I didn't drink tea at work which was a shocker so when I got home I got out my Gaiwan and brewed some beautiful cups of Tie Guan Yin.
Fridays: White - Seeing as it was friday I treated myself to Silver Needle white tea from a cute tearoom round the corner from work. When brewed correctly this tea is divine!
Saturday: Yellow - Not a huge fan of Yellow teas so I struggled this Saturday but I got through it by making sure I only drank high quality leaves.
Sunday: Aged Oolong - Sunday is a day of rest and to me it is quite a grand day and so I paired it with a grand Da Hong Pao. One of my all time favourite Chinese teas.
I have to say it was a good week. I like recording what teas I am drinking - I guess this week was a little different as the teas didn't always reflect my mood as I was choosing from the specific varieties for each day.
Have you done this before? I would love to hear your experiences of keeping a tea diary!
Peace Out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Monday, 15 April 2013
My tea diary!
I saw this idea on another tea blog and thought it was pretty cool - I'll never have time to do it for every cup of tea I drink but I will try to do it once a day. And this is what I did for the past week My Tea Diary.
8th April: Monday morning and of course I needed to start my day with a strong pot of Chinese Puerh tea in one of my Yixings.
9th April: Tuesday I woke up late and so couldn't have any tea until I got to work so my first cup was from my work stash and I had chose a Gunpowder Green tea. I keep Gunpowder in work because it's quite a hardy tea due to the rolled leaves. I don't like keeping delicate teas in work.
10th April: Wednesday I was feeling a little bit rundown so I started my day with a shot of Match. I'm not a huge fan of the taste which is why I take it in shot form but I do believe it sorts me out when I'm not feeling great.
11th April: Thursday I treate myself to my favourite Da Hong Pao Oolong tea. I say treated myself because I'm running a bit low on it and funds are sparse these days so I am trying to make it last (especially as it is one of the few teas that age well).
12th April: Friday I was naughty and made myself a tea cocktail - this basically involed 2 measures of irish whisky topped up with some cold brewed lapsang souchong. Oh delicious!!
13th April: I met one of my friends for "coffee" on Saturday afternoon at our local coffee shop but I had an Earl Grey with lemon. It came from a teabag but it was actually ok and the chat was good!
14th April: Ah Sunday, the day of rest! My most memorable cup of tea from this day was not actually tea at all but a refreshing peppermint tisane that I drank after a rather hefty Sunday dinner.
So there you have it, my tea diary for the week. Obviously I drank more than one cup of tea a day but these were the ones what stood out for me the most!
Have you ever kept a tea diary before? How long did you do it for?
Peace Out,
Gary the tea freak
xx
8th April: Monday morning and of course I needed to start my day with a strong pot of Chinese Puerh tea in one of my Yixings.
9th April: Tuesday I woke up late and so couldn't have any tea until I got to work so my first cup was from my work stash and I had chose a Gunpowder Green tea. I keep Gunpowder in work because it's quite a hardy tea due to the rolled leaves. I don't like keeping delicate teas in work.
10th April: Wednesday I was feeling a little bit rundown so I started my day with a shot of Match. I'm not a huge fan of the taste which is why I take it in shot form but I do believe it sorts me out when I'm not feeling great.
11th April: Thursday I treate myself to my favourite Da Hong Pao Oolong tea. I say treated myself because I'm running a bit low on it and funds are sparse these days so I am trying to make it last (especially as it is one of the few teas that age well).
12th April: Friday I was naughty and made myself a tea cocktail - this basically involed 2 measures of irish whisky topped up with some cold brewed lapsang souchong. Oh delicious!!
13th April: I met one of my friends for "coffee" on Saturday afternoon at our local coffee shop but I had an Earl Grey with lemon. It came from a teabag but it was actually ok and the chat was good!
14th April: Ah Sunday, the day of rest! My most memorable cup of tea from this day was not actually tea at all but a refreshing peppermint tisane that I drank after a rather hefty Sunday dinner.
So there you have it, my tea diary for the week. Obviously I drank more than one cup of tea a day but these were the ones what stood out for me the most!
Have you ever kept a tea diary before? How long did you do it for?
Peace Out,
Gary the tea freak
xx
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Steepster!
Hey guys,
Carrying on from my last post about tea reviews (I'm still yet to post my first reivew I know!) I found this cool website where there is a whole community of reviews!
It's called Steepster - http://steepster.com/
The homepage states:
Carrying on from my last post about tea reviews (I'm still yet to post my first reivew I know!) I found this cool website where there is a whole community of reviews!
It's called Steepster - http://steepster.com/
The homepage states:
"Dive into the universe of tea.
Write a tea journal, see what others are drinking and get recommendations from people you trust."
Perfect for what I was talking about in my last post! Can't wait to get started!!
Peace Out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Loose leaf CommuniTEA
So it turns out that there are A LOT of tea blogs out there - I am not the only tea freak after all. It's a huge communiTEA (hehe) of tea lovers like me!
Loads of the blogs do tea reviews which I think it's a pretty bloody good idea!
So I am going to carry on blogging about my normal tea rants and related escapades but I think I'll throw in the odd loose leaf tea review too!
So if you are a Chinese tea company and want me to review your tea then please do get in touch.
In the meantime I'll have a look in my tea cupboard and see what I've got....
*runs to kitchen and checks*
Ok, I'm back, and I think I will do my first review on LuLin Teas Da Hong Pao - a dark Oolong that tastes like.....find out more tomorrow!!
Oh I'm all excited now!
Know any good companies to get tea from to review? Let me know!
Peace Out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
Loads of the blogs do tea reviews which I think it's a pretty bloody good idea!
So I am going to carry on blogging about my normal tea rants and related escapades but I think I'll throw in the odd loose leaf tea review too!
So if you are a Chinese tea company and want me to review your tea then please do get in touch.
In the meantime I'll have a look in my tea cupboard and see what I've got....
*runs to kitchen and checks*
Ok, I'm back, and I think I will do my first review on LuLin Teas Da Hong Pao - a dark Oolong that tastes like.....find out more tomorrow!!
Oh I'm all excited now!
Know any good companies to get tea from to review? Let me know!
Peace Out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
Monday, 18 March 2013
One Direction in tea news AGAIN!
Well well well looks like One Direction have been in the tea drinking news again (I wrote about them a few weeks ago here).
This time they have shunned alcohol on their most recent tour for Peppermint tea - how very on rock and roll!!
How old are those boys anyway? Are they even old enough to drink alcohol?
Anyway I'm all for it - it's great to see role models in the spotlight setting a good example for their fans.
Hmmmm what could I do to get famous so I get sent free tea? I'll have to get my thinking cap on!!
Read the full article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2294451/One-Direction-shun-booze-order-peppermint-tea-drink-backstage-tour.html
Peace Out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
This time they have shunned alcohol on their most recent tour for Peppermint tea - how very on rock and roll!!
How old are those boys anyway? Are they even old enough to drink alcohol?
Anyway I'm all for it - it's great to see role models in the spotlight setting a good example for their fans.
Hmmmm what could I do to get famous so I get sent free tea? I'll have to get my thinking cap on!!
Read the full article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2294451/One-Direction-shun-booze-order-peppermint-tea-drink-backstage-tour.html
Peace Out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
What's in a Chinese tea name?
If you like Chinese tea as much as I do then you will be aware that there are many funny and pretty crazily named loose leaf teas out there.
Let’s take a look at a few of my favourite ones:
Monkey Picked Oolong: This Oolong tea hasn’t actually been picked by monkeys but the legend surrounding the tea does state that monks used to train monkeys to climb to the top of the wild tea bushes to pick the youngest buds and bring them down. Read more here.
Big Red Robe: Another Oolong tea with a funny name, it is traditionally known as Da Hong Pao but was named big red robe because the original tea bushes were protected throughout the winter by being covered by red robes. You can read more about that tea here.
Iron Goddess of Mercy: Yet again another Oolong tea! This tea is also known as Tie Guan Yin. The name Iron Goddess of Mercy comes from the goddess who gave a tea plant to a monk to reward him for making offerings in and keeping tidy an abandoned temple. You can read more about this tea here.
I love all the different funny Chinese tea names – these are just a few but there are plenty more!
Do you know any more you want to share with me? I’d love to hear from you!
Peace out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
Let’s take a look at a few of my favourite ones:
Monkey Picked Oolong: This Oolong tea hasn’t actually been picked by monkeys but the legend surrounding the tea does state that monks used to train monkeys to climb to the top of the wild tea bushes to pick the youngest buds and bring them down. Read more here.
Big Red Robe: Another Oolong tea with a funny name, it is traditionally known as Da Hong Pao but was named big red robe because the original tea bushes were protected throughout the winter by being covered by red robes. You can read more about that tea here.
Iron Goddess of Mercy: Yet again another Oolong tea! This tea is also known as Tie Guan Yin. The name Iron Goddess of Mercy comes from the goddess who gave a tea plant to a monk to reward him for making offerings in and keeping tidy an abandoned temple. You can read more about this tea here.
I love all the different funny Chinese tea names – these are just a few but there are plenty more!
Do you know any more you want to share with me? I’d love to hear from you!
Peace out,
Gary the Tea Freak
xx
Monday, 4 March 2013
Went to Harrods last weekend
Hey guys,
So I went to Harrods on Saturday while on a trip to London and I just had to go in and visit the Food Pantry to see their tea selection. As my friends perused the shoes and handbags (yes it was me and a bunch of girls!) I spent a good 45 minutes analysing the tea they sell.
I have to say they have a pretty good selection. Unfortunately my phone had run out of battery and we didn’t sit at a seat with plugs on the train so I couldn’t charge it and therefore couldn’t take any pictures but you can see examples of most of the teas on their online store.
I love the Harrods own brand packaging of tea – the little gold tea caddies with the image of Harrods on the front. It seems to combine Chinese and English tea culture for me very well.
I am also quite a big fan of the We are Tea range in their metal tubes – I like that it’s a bit different.
Anyway it was pretty cool but I’ve really gotta rush and get back to work. Sorry about the short entry and lack of photos but please do comment if you’ve been to Harrods and checked out their tea section!
Peace out,
Gary The Tea Freak
So I went to Harrods on Saturday while on a trip to London and I just had to go in and visit the Food Pantry to see their tea selection. As my friends perused the shoes and handbags (yes it was me and a bunch of girls!) I spent a good 45 minutes analysing the tea they sell.
I have to say they have a pretty good selection. Unfortunately my phone had run out of battery and we didn’t sit at a seat with plugs on the train so I couldn’t charge it and therefore couldn’t take any pictures but you can see examples of most of the teas on their online store.
I love the Harrods own brand packaging of tea – the little gold tea caddies with the image of Harrods on the front. It seems to combine Chinese and English tea culture for me very well.
I am also quite a big fan of the We are Tea range in their metal tubes – I like that it’s a bit different.
Anyway it was pretty cool but I’ve really gotta rush and get back to work. Sorry about the short entry and lack of photos but please do comment if you’ve been to Harrods and checked out their tea section!
Peace out,
Gary The Tea Freak
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)