#TodaysTea: #Guihua Wulong Cha – Osmanthus Oolong Tea. Spring, 2019; Made with Anxi Gaoshan (#Tieguanyin) YanXian OolongTea and Osmanthus flowers in Anxi, Fujian; Beijing Wu Yutai Tea Industry ltd, Beijing; stem and 2-3 leaves, light oxidation, scented with flower petals; high mountain source.
Taste: Creamy, sweet, syrupy, soft, spicy, with a mild, “prickly ash” bite on the top of the tongue, fragrant, floral, osmanthus, honey; Wet leaf: apricot and peach, vegetal; Retronasal: hints of floral, vegetal and peach pit notes.
#TodaysTea: #Eternitea#Masala Chai. Sep 2018; var. Assamica; Hittakkal Post, Kotagiri, #TheNilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India; CTC (cut, twist, curl/crush) black tea blended with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, vanilla, and other spices; 1500-1800m.
Tasting Notes: Dry leaf: dusty, cardamon, clove, faintly honey like Wet leaf: clove, cinnamon, fading spicy hints. Tea liquor: at first light, hints of cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, followed by clove, ginger, the bite of black pepper? Finish: a mild bite and astringency on the side of the tongue and up into the cheeks. Ad the tea cools the spices and vanilla become much more pronounced. Retronasal: lingers like Christmas cake and biscuits.
About the Pot: It is an aluminum, #Swan Brand #Teapot, Made in England, and is “The Carlton” model. The hand scratched inscription seems to read, “ From S. Bott 1968” I was born in 1966. As long as I can remember, my #grandmother used this teapot to make herself a cup of tea each day. It ended up in my Mum’s b&b and I eventually took it over (the teapot) some 20 years or so ago. In some way, this is the first ever teapot I noticed, or deliberately took into my collection. I still use it to this day.
