Tea Tasting Saturday #24 - Ti Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy)

No Dong Ding? Well dang!

I thought I had a sample of Dong Ding in my recent order from Harney and Sons but realized only last week I didn't. Turns out this tea is currently unavailable from them, so I ordered it from another vendor and it has yet to arrive. So "Tea Tasting Saturday #24" is really "Tea Tasting Saturday #25" according to the order in the book, but I hope you'll stay with me just the same!

Category: Oolong Tea

Purveyor: Harney & Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Chunky Monkey! I know that's a famous ice cream, but that's also the name that came to mind when I saw these huge bits and bobs of medium and dark green chunks and balls of tea in my sample packet. And it must be said this was also a noisy tea! When I dropped the spoonful of it into my little glass teapot, there was a distinct *thud* I don't ever remember noticing before.

Wet leaf appearance: Large, whole tea leaves clearly identifiable as leaves but with some pretty raggedy-jaggedy looking edges.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 3-1/2 minutes.

Scent: This tea had a hint of ... wait, wait, I know that fragrance! And I've smelled it very recently. Ah, gardenia! That is IT!

Color: Pale deep gold. Does that make sense? Maybe it's because I was viewing it in afternoon sunlight, but it struck me as wrong to simply call this color "pale" gold, because there is definitely some color and depth there. I like it!

Flavor: Oh my, this stuff is good! It has the merest hint of a floral taste (nowhere near as powerful as jasmine). If jasmine tea is rather like a fresh, somewhat brash young southern lady, then Ti Guan Yin is the older, richer aunt in the Chanel suit and pearls. Very rich and full "mouth feel." No astringency. Delightful, even to the second and third steepings!

Additional notes: I had always wanted to try Iron Goddess of Mercy tea -- the name alone, which comes from a Buddhist myth, is pretty impressive -- and I honestly had no idea Ti Guan Yin was she! (Can a tea be a she?) To be honest with you I was a bit aggravated I was going to have to break my "perfect record" of sampling teas in the order in which they appear in the book, but I must say, could there have been a better week to sample this gardenia-scented tea than the week in which our gardenias are at their peak? I think the "God of Mercy" was looking out for me here!


Next week's tea: Dong Ding, maybe???

Feeling just peachy!

Do you love the fruits of summer as much as I do? I love to see fresh peaches and berries show up in the markets and grocery stores, and I think my tastebuds are more frequently drawn to fruit and fruit-flavored drinks at this time of year. I enjoyed the new peach milkshake I had at Chick-fil-A this week, and I also liked the new Peach Infused Petals Iced Tea Mix I picked up at Fabulous by Design in downtown Newnan yesterday. I'd seen this new (to me) mix at T.J. Maxx but thought it was a bit expensive for the box of just six packets. Turns out it's currently half off at FBD (marked down from $7.50 to $3.75), and while you're making up your mind which of the flavors to buy you can also browse the gorgeous fabrics and, a surprise find, bolts and bolts of beautiful vintage trims.

I can't seem to remember to read the label before buying new teas, so I was a bit surprised to find each packet contains 23 grams of sugar. But it's all natural, organic cane sugar, and I love the convenience of being able to make just a single glass of iced tea when I want. So I would definitely buy this tea again, I just won't drink it every day!

This tea was prepared in my favorite tea glass, one of only two remaining from the set of four I found at a Hallmark store many years ago. Can you see that it says TEA on the glass? If you turn it around, it also says TEE and TE' and THE'. I've seen green glass versions of this at World Market (think "pale green" like the color of a Coca-Cola glass), but I've never been able to find clear ones again. If I ever do, you can bet I'll stock up!

Spring 2009 Tea A Magazine

The new issue of Tea A Magazine recently arrived, and as always there is plenty to interest us tea lovers! But can I just say this cover isn't my favorite? I don't like that the top half of the magazine is pretty much white space, especially when there is so much in the tea world that would be great on the cover of a magazine.

But enough of that! My favorite article is the "Guatemalan Tea Journal" by Jane Pettigrew, which recounts the trip she and editor Pearl Dexter made to Guatemala's Los Andes Tea Garden back in the spring. Both these women seem to be such lovely people (I got to meet them both briefly when the World Tea Expo was in Atlanta), and in reading their writings through the years, I think I am most impressed that they have such humility about their tea knowledge. They seem well aware there is always more to learn as a tea lover, and that is encouraging to an amateur like me!

Also in this issue, several tearooms are profiled, including the Harney and Sons Tasting Room in Millerton, N.Y.; Wystone's World Teas in Lakewood, Colo.; and the Strawberry Tea Room in Starke, Fla. As an aspiring tea room operator myself, I love to read how the other entrepreneurs manage their businesses. Anyone else seen this issue? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Teabag wrapper clipboard

If you've been saving all your teabag wrappers, here's a cheap and easy way to use up some of them while creating a nifty clipboard you can use at the office or at home.

I've been saving my teabag wrappers for quite a while now, and I was reminded of what I'd meant to make when I saw this little item in the new Country Living. You can buy a postage stamp clipboard for $28, or you can make one of your own pretty much for free if you happen to have an old clipboard you can use!

This plain clipboard is one I've had for a while and cost about $1 at one of the local bargain stores, as I recall. Or maybe it was the one I got for 25 cents at a yard sale. (I like clipboard crafts and have made one of these before with fancy floral scrapbooking papers. Now I keep a clipboard or two around in case inspiration strikes.)

My other supplies: Sandpaper. Mod Podge (decoupage medium). A paper trimmer to neaten the edges of the teabag wrappers.

Once I had shaped up the wrappers a bit, I just started slapping the Mod Podge down with a small paintbrush and applying the designs willy nilly to the clipboard. To my surprise and delight, even the flimsy wrappers with plastic-like or metallic-looking linings worked just fine, often better than the paper ones, which tended to wrinkle. When the surface was covered, I applied another coat of Mod Podge over the entire surface. Once the Mod Podge dried, I used the sandpaper to lightly file down the edges all around the clipboard. Done.

One final tip: I don't really care what my clipboard looks like *under* the clip, but if you do ... slip a piece of wax paper under the clip while it dries. I did that the last time I made one of these and it worked great to prevent a line from appearing on the papers under the clip.

Tazo Cucumber White Tea

Do you like cucumbers? I LOVE cucumbers. Fresh cucumbers, cucumber slices on tea sandwiches, cucumber cream tea sandwiches ... and so I had to try this new white tea from Tazo, Cucumber White. The word "cucumber" and the pretty spa green color of the packaging were enough to lure me in, but then there was also this great list of ingredients: white tea, lime peel, dandelion leaves, black Darjeeling tea, cucumber, peppermint, lemon myrtle, natural flavors, lime essence oil ... And the scent is simply divine!

The tea tastes as good as it sounds, very light and refreshing and very light on the lime. I loved the flavor, and I'm betting it will be terrific iced, too. For some reason I had to try this "white" tea in my "off-white" teacup. I'll bet I'm not the only one who occasionally ponders the proper pairing of teacup and tea ... or am I?

Calling California tea lovers!

Surely someone in the L.A. area can visit this upcoming exhibit and give us a report!

A trip to Madison

Over the weekend my husband wanted to take a trip somewhere in his new truck, so I suggested Madison since it's a somewhat famous Georgia town and, surprisingly for a lifelong Georgian, I've never been there. I've often heard and read about its beautiful homes (it was featured in a recent issue of Antiques magazine), and indeed I saw quite a few after we found a lunch spot and then enjoyed a brief driving tour. I like the classic southern look of this home ...

... and the pretty filigree millwork (if indeed that's millwork) on this home. I have to say, though, that since I live in Newnan, long known as "The City of Homes" for its beautiful antebellum and Victorian houses, I was pleased to see that my town's homes are easily just as lovely as those in Madison. And I have yet to see a home anywhere (well, OK, with the possible exception of Biltmore Estate) that I think is prettier than our Parrott-Camp-Soucy house.

Also spotted: A bride headed up the steps of a church to be married! It's always fun to come across a wedding in progress.

And unexpectedly, I found a marvelous souvenir in one of Madison's antique stores: these two Royal Winton Welbeck luncheon plates! I have been looking for these for several years now, but I held off paying the high prices they were fetching on eBay. I found these for $18 each (no expensive shipping either), and that pretty much made the day complete! I have wanted two more of these for about three years and, upon reflection, that's probably the longest I've ever had to wait to find a certain teaware. Do you have a story of waiting on the right price for a certain item and then finally coming upon it? I'd love to hear it!

Tea Tasting Saturday #23 - Ali Shan

Lesson for the week: Just because a tea resembles gunpowder green doesn't mean it will taste or *steep* like gunpowder green!

Category: Oolong Tea

Purveyor: Harney & Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Like larger balls of gunpowder green, but with a variation in color and not quite as tightly rolled. But definitely "ball-like."

Wet leaf appearance: Large, clearly life-sized tea leaves, sometimes still attached to the twig. I actually steeped this tea directly in my gaiwan for a change, and I was stunned when the 3-minute timer went off and I walked in the kitchen to see tea leaves completely filling the cup. Wow! I ended up pouring it all in a teapot and adding a few more ounces of water because I couldn't believe there should be this much leaf in the cup.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 3 minutes.

Scent: This tea had a light floral fragrance, reminding me of last week's oolong but with a hint of jasmine.

Color: Medium gold.

Flavor: As with the scent, this reminded me of last week's tea but with the jasmine flavor. And although I liked this tea just fine, I definitely prefer the Wenshan BaoZhong oolong from last week.

Additional notes: Ali Shan is considered a good example of high-mountain oolongs from Taiwan, which Michael Harney says "first emerged in the early 1980s, after the lifting of the embargo against world trade with Communist China." And if you have the book, be sure and read the account of how this tea is processed. So much work goes into this tea!

Next week's tea: Dong Ding

Green tea in the "apothecary"

It's been a great week for grocery store discoveries here in my neck of the woods. Yesterday I was at Publix (on Lower Fayetteville Road, FWIW) and came across a new cosmetic treat with Aloe and Green Tea. It's been a while since I've found any new tea toiletries, so I was happy to find this one.

It's the J.R. Watkins Natural Apothecary Shea Butter Body Cream with Aloe and Green Tea and contains green tea leaf extract ($7.99 for 3.3 ounces). I'm going to use it as my "purse" hand cream, and the scent is sooooo yummy. The cream contains a variety of floral extracts, and I find the scent very lily of the valley-like. And even DH said he liked the packaging resembling an old time pharmacy. I agree!

Tea Tin Flowers

The first gardenias of the season have arrived, with the same beauty and intoxicating scent I have always loved.


Also beginning to bloom: classic (and classy) blue hydrangeas. I know there are all sorts of varieties and colors, but for once I don't want pink. I want my hydrangeas blue.

Is it too gruesome to call this the "skeletal remains" of a last-year's hydrangea? But what beauty in the lacy petals that still remain, like vintage butterfly wings. (Double click to see more detail.)

Add a few of the last yellow roses of the season and ...

... plop them all in a Wedgwood tea tin. The FTD folks have nothing to fear from me, and yet -- I am pleased.

Let's go Krogering

Publix is my usual grocery store, but Sunday morning after church we ran by Kroger at Thomas Crossroads for the stuff to make salmon bagels. I happened to walk past an aisle with a huge display of kitchenwares and came across something I've been seeking for years now: good old absorbent terrycloth towels with a tea theme but that you can actually *use* and not worry about messing up.

Although it was tempting to buy one of everything (there are potholders and oven mitts to match these two designs and a couple more), I had sales resistance and bought only the two I needed. ($3.99 each, in case you wonder.)

A fine pen company I like has the motto "Life's too short to use an ugly pen." I say, "Life's too short to use an ugly anything."

It's time to "Think Pink"!

Steph over at Steph's Cup of Tea is continuing her "color study" blog posts, and this week's feature color is pink, a hue I happen to know a thing or two about. First, my favorite teapot!

What's a well-dressed lady without her gloves? (And why not pink ones?)

But let's not forget palest pale pink, the color of this faded, vintage millinery flower. I love its floppy simplicity.


This pink rose strewn "Simply Shabby Chic" box was a treat from my husband and contains yo-yo's for a future quilt, many of which will include pink.


This ball of thread, which I've used for crocheting and tatting, makes me think of strawberry sherbet.

Let's end with some pink jewelry, shall we? This old jewelry finding has lost all its pearls, but I still think it's simple and beautiful.

Inspired by a heart charm bracelet in Victoria magazine many years ago, I started one of my own and couldn't resist adding a couple of pink charms.

And so we begin and end with a pink teapot!

"Will work for teawares"

Saturday my friend Liz's sweet daughter Cydney graduated from high school, so while the family celebrated I had fun playing "storekeeper" during the afternoon shift at Cydney's Alley, the store in Senoia my friend named in honor of her two daughters. I have never worked retail in my life -- unless you count the summer in high school when I worked the snack bar at the local park -- so I wondered how hard it would be. It was actually a lot of fun, and I can ring up a credit card customer in no time, I learned! I was more than happy to do this for my friend, but she actually had a nice thank-you gift for me, and I couldn't be more pleased. First, this great 12-inch platter, above, will be perfect for serving up teatime cookies.

I love the contemporary design of this piece. Yes, I like my frilly Victorian serving pieces, and the fancy bone china, but I also like to have some "hip" things as well. This certainly qualifies!

As if that weren't enough, she also gave me this great mug from a neighbor business in Senoia. I have the Sereni-tea mug but did not have the Par-tea mug, so I was quite happy to receive it.

Speaking of Par-tea ... here are some more great Par-tea items I recently received as gifts from two other tea-loving friends. With the coasters (top left), note papers (top right), napkins (in matching Lucite holder), and the mug above, I am definitely being encouraged to develop the "Par-tea" mindset, wouldn't you say? Three different friends, three different towns -- and they all gave me a wonderful tea design I didn't have. Amazing! (And much appreciated!)

Before my shift at the store, I ran by the Carriage House to see my longtime friend Nancy Roy, who I was pleased to see had more of these darling little tea design embroidered bags.

And at Miss Wendy's in Senoia, I found a beautiful vintage teacup in that pretty robin's egg blue color with lots of roses on it -- and for just $10. For lack of storage space, I've almost stopped buying teacups, but when it's this pretty and this reasonably priced, well, I'll make room. It's a Royal Albert pattern called "Gaiety - Two Step." (Gaie-tea?) Turns out there was a line of these with names like Tango and Two Step and ... well, those are the only two I know about. The things you learn when researching teawares!

Tea Tasting Saturday #22 - Wenshan BaoZhong

Surprisingly, I found myself missing the green teas I said goodbye to last week, but one taste of this week's tea and it was "Hello, Mr. Oolong!"

Category: Oolong Tea

Purveyor: Harney & Sons

When purchased: May 2009

Dry leaf appearance: Long, ultra dark green tea leaves. I noticed when measuring they seemed especially rigid and didn't have any "give" to them.

Wet leaf appearance: Dark olive green tea leaves that struck me as very large (1-1/2 inches or so) compared to those of recent weeks.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 3 minutes.

Scent: Dry, this tea definitely made me think of classic black tea as soon as I sniffed it. Once steeped, the leaves took on a slightly woodsy/roasted note. (The Harney book, interestingly, differs with me a great deal on this point, describing the tea's scent as "so fragrant, it is hard to stop smelling its blend of gardenia, jasmine, and butter aromas." That wasn't my experience, but I have no complaints with this tea.)

Color: Pale yellow.

Flavor: Wonderful! I've had oolong teas before, but this one had an especially nice "mouth feel" and just seemed richer, fuller somehow. I resteeped the leaves and ended up having five cups of it before the day was over. I even drank this with dinner!

Additional notes: From "The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea" -- "One of the oldest Taiwanese oolongs, BaoZhong grows just outside bustling Taipei, the island's capital. The gardens lie to the south of the city, in a quiet mountainside spot where the air is clear of urban smog and mist almost always cloaks the gardens."

Next week's tea: Ali Shan

Simply, "Tea"

One day this week, my friend Susan called me at work to say her sister Beth, another longtime tea-lover friend, had found something for me and that I could either A) keep it if I didn't already have one or B) give it away as a gift on the blog if it was a duplicate! Isn't that incredibly generous, and I love that she was thinking not only of me but also of you! (Alas, I did not have one of these, so no giveaway on this. But I'll do another giveaway soon and help "pay it forward," as the saying goes.)

I love that this piece comes with small holes for hanging, and I've been mulling over precisely where it should go. Under or over a tea-themed piece of art? Next to another piece of black ironwork that holds teacups and saucers? But then it would also look great hanging on my tea cabinet, the one where I pile teacups and accoutrements and tins of tea. So ... if someone had given you this lovely item as a gift, what would *you* do with it? Ideas welcome!

Filet Crochet Teapot Potholders

Recently I was crocheting a small blanket as a gift for a family member. The pattern is a simple filet crochet heart design, in which you use open spaces and solid spaces much as you do with cross-stitch or needlepoint to create a design. As I was working on it, I wondered why I have never seen a crocheted afghan with a filet crochet teapot design. "Maybe I'll make one," I thought (like I don't have enough to keep me busy!). The next day, I was trolling Etsy for old tea stuff and found not one but two teapot potholders in filet crochet -- somebody obviously had the idea long before I did -- and best of all, they were just $1 each! This one with a large teapot is my favorite.

But I also like this one with its smaller center teapot and the stylized flowers, at least I think they're flowers, in the corners. (Be sure to double-click if you're a needleworker who wants to see more detail.) Both of them are backed with light blue cotton and have some sort of filling inside, but I won't be using these for anything without a thorough soaking in detergent first! I still think I'd like to chart my own design and crochet a teapot afghan, maybe as a project for this fall or winter. Unless, that is, I find the afghan already made for $1 on Etsy!