Second Cuppa

Season’s Pick Special Purchase Tie-Guan-Yin from Upton Tea

My best experience so far with Tie-Guan-Yin, a special type of oolong tea, involved an unknown Chinese brand purchased at an Asian supermarket. That tea, while quite good, was nothing like the kind I recently ordered from Upton Tea. That’s no surprise though because Tie-Guan-Yin varies greatly depending on oxidation level and other processing techniques.

I don’t have a fancy tea kettle with a temperature gauge, so I boiled water and let it sit for 30 seconds, hoping to get somewhere close to the recommended 190°F. I let the leaves steep for about 3 minutes, which resulted in a golden color.

Initially, the Tie-Guan-Yin’s aroma seemed grassy to me, like you would expect from green tea. A few more whiffs revealed a floral fragrance with a little sweetness. True to the description on Upton Tea’s website, the tea had a light, buttery feel on the tongue.

As the third of many oolongs I intend to try, it may be too early to make a final decision about this Tie-Guan-Yin. But I will say this: the tea is light, pleasant, and smooth. Maybe that’s all that matters.

Aroma:	Grassy, floral, mildly sweet
Body:	Light
Flavor:	Smooth, buttery
Color:	Gold

The Honeybush Seduction

First impressions aren’t always great. It took me a while to appreciate so many things in life like beer, jazz, writing, Grateful Dead, vodka, work, desert scenery, etc. Such was the case with rooibos tea, and such is the case with honeybush tea (from Adagio for this review).

Like rooibos, the honeybush plant is native to South Africa. Also like rooibos, honeybush exhibits a sweet woody aroma and flavor, although slightly sweeter and weaker. Don’t worry about over-steeping this one; it’s impossible.

The “medicinal” characteristic that so many people complain about in rooibos is also present in honeybush; however, any diminished enjoyment this caused during my first cup was gone by my second and subsequent cups. In other words, the honeybush seduced me.

Honeybush doesn’t have any caffeine, so I can drink as much as I like after 5:00pm without disrupting sleep, except maybe for a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night. All in all, it’s a smooth, light-bodied tisane that seems to have a gentle, calming effect.

Aroma:	Sweet, cedar wood, honey
Body:	Light
Flavor:	Smooth
Color:	Caramel

Tetley Blend of Both Review

Green tea is believed to offer more health benefits than black tea. Tetley Blend of Both attempts to capitalize on this assumption by offering black tea drinkers the benefits of green tea.

I found this blend, composed of 72% black tea and 28% green tea, at bit odd at first but gradually came to like it. It’s supposed to be prepared and enjoyed like regular black tea. Tetley suggests drinking three cups per day to realize the benefits of one cup of green tea.

It looks and almost smells and tastes like standard British black tea; however, the small amount of green tea adds a pleasant twist. The green tea’s grassy aroma is more dominant than I expected, and the flavor is slightly bitter (from using boiling water, I think). Milk is necessary in my opinion.

As a side note for black tea drinkers, I wouldn’t be too concerned about missing the widely reported advantages of green tea. Black tea offers many of the same benefits, including antioxidants, with extra caffeine to keep you going. Recent studies have shown that black tea drinkers show reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.

If you still want to hedge your bets or simply want find out what happens when black meets green tea, Tetley Blend of Both is not a bad way to go. I’d continue drinking the stuff regularly if the cost of having it shipped to the States wasn’t so high.

Aroma:	Mossy, chalky, and grassy
Body:	Full
Flavor:	Malty, creamy, and a little bitter
Color:	Dark

When Work = Laziness

It’s easy to become complacent. You come home and sit in front of the TV, listen to music, or do some other passive activity. There’s always tomorrow, right?

At this point in my life — halfway through by my estimation — I seem increasingly anxious about developing skills and pursuing interests. When I don’t feed these interests of mine, I become disappointed with myself.

Another type of avoidance exists that we don’t typically associate with laziness: work. Pamela Skillings talks about it in her book, “Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams.”

Sadly, we often choose our jobs over other things in life that need our attention. I volunteered recently to work extra hours over the weekend when I could have easily passed. I didn’t earn extra money for it because I’m salaried. I guess I wanted to help the team.

But maybe I also chose to avoid the challenges of writing, blogging, learning photography, creating PHP functions, being a father and husband, and the many other things I should be doing on the weekend. The list seems daunting when I look at it in writing.

Yes, throwing oneself into work can be a form of laziness, and I’m guilty. I’ll probably do it again, too.

Clipper Big Breakfast Tea Review

Clipper Big Breakfast Tea has been a part of my morning routine for the last few days. This morning I paired it with a multigrain English muffin from Trader Joe’s while watching the latest news regarding the Boston bombing suspect who was apprehended last night.

Strong, punchy, and bold is what the package of 80 tea bags promises. Clipper’s teas are Fairtrade certified, meaning their sourcing meets certain labor, environmental, and ethical standards. The large, rectangular, unbleached tea bags seem to contain a respectable amount of tea.

While many Clipper tea varieties are offered to US consumers through Amazon.com, I had to order Clipper Big Breakfast Tea through an UK-based, online merchant and pay a ridiculous amount in shipping. I first tried ordering directly from Clipper Teas’ website, but my order was immediately cancelled (without notification) because they do not deliver to my part of the world yet.

The tea was very much what I expected. The aroma was a familiar mossy and citrusy combination. The flavor was astringent, bright, and bitter before the addition of milk. I can say with certainty that anyone who favors this sort of tea won’t disappointed with Clipper Big Breakfast Tea. It certainly was a great comfort to me this morning.

Aroma:	Citrus fruit and moss
Body:	Full
Flavor:	Bright, astringent, and bitter
Color:	Dark