Geoffrey Norman Send Message

Howdy everyone.

I am finally back up and running after several trials and errors with computer repair. Thanks to a whole slew of friends, this pseudo-writer is back in the proverbial e-saddle. Anyway…back to tea.

This was one I received in a care package from LiberTeas (bless her heart). It’s been awhile since I’ve had me some Assam, and this was an estate that was new to me. Also new to me, it wasn’t an estate with a really Klingon-sounding name. This one was Hazelbank…and that makes me giggle inappropriately for some reason.

This is about as Assam as you can get. It brewed dark copper at only a three minute steep. It’s characteristically bitter on the forefront and malty to the core. I think a few chest hairs poofed! into existence thanks to this. That and I was wide-eyed and alert.

So, good on ya, Hazelbank. giggle

It’s been a s**t day.

I had a second “interview” with a temp agency. I put that word in quotes because they brought me in long enough to say, “Oh, we don’t have anything you qualify for…yet.” Only with prettier words. One of these days, I’ll have a marketable skillset. Like, uh, sniper or something.

On the brightside, I received this beauty in the mail via the Canton Tea Club. It was another Arya “Jewel Tea”, which means I only have one left to mark off, "Huzzah!

The smell of the dry leaves was nothing too spectacular – woody, slightly malty, but no spicy muscatel goodness to speak of. Still a wonderful aroma, though. The leave palette was gorgeous, though.

I will totally confess that I accidentally over-brewed this. When I put the leaves to the steep, I was in the middle of trying to get my computer to work. (Seriously, it’s like defibrillating a homeless person.)So, it was more like a four-minute infusion than the recommended two-minutes.

Even then this turned out quite wonderfully. It reminded me of the Castleton Moonlight second flush mixed with an autumnal. Burly and oolongy. What a weird juxtaposition. I’m not sure if I like it better than the Arya Ruby, but it is still up there.

For more information, go here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/canton-tea-club-week-4-arya-diamond/

Where to start…

Oh yes.

Today was a far busier day than anticipated. I was up far too late the night before catching up on reruns of Once Upon a Time. (Seriously, that show’s amazing.) I mean to roust by 10AM, but that turned into more like…after noon. The final wake-up call was a literal call from my mother informing me of a job fair.

I did that, I applied for food stamps, I went to a work resource center. And I did all with little or no caffeine. I didn’t have my first cup of tea until the end of my poor-man errands – a meager teabagged Ceylon in a travel mug. (It was okay…but lukewarm by the time I got to it.)

When I came home, feeling like the poverty-stricken, out-of-work schmo that I was…I decided it was time for something highbrow. Ain’t nothing more highbrow than a Darjeeling white – let alone a Darj-white from Arya’s “jewel tea” collection. Lucky for me, it was perfect…and…

I felt like a raj.

If only for an afternoon.

In a sweater and khaki pants.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

Today is a day for mustering courage in applying for writing jobs…which requires more writing. There’s only one type of tea I turn to when I need a jolt, but not a “big” jolt – oolong. As if by serentipi"tea", my Canton Tea Club delivery arrived.

Granted, I’d already reviewed it and done a write up for this offering, but it was one I couldn’t help tearing open again. It was almost as perfect as her older sister. That and it was as tart and buttery as I remembered the first time.

If you would like to learn more (as well as see my personal history with Dan Congs), go here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/canton-tea-club-week-3-xing-ren-dan-cong/

In the meantime, I’ve got a rant about steampunk to write, and jobs to apply for.

Yay.

Update: The steampunk blog in question, if you want: http://www.lazyliteratus.com/1834

I should…uh…probably apply for jobs now.

I brewed a very indelicate pot of this in the late morning to get started on things. Perhaps a pot was too much. I was bouncing off the walls. But on the bright side, I did get several social media things done today. (Except a LinkedIn profile. Curse you, LinkedIn!) Still, quite productive regardless.

Oh yeah…taster notes.

Um…

I like it a lot.

There.

I love having a cup o’ perfect in the morning. I tore open the back..and smelled cocoa. I tasted it…and sipped cocoa. I’m just…floored by this. It was like a Yunnan Jin Cha and a Taiwanese Ruby 18 made sweet-sweet love and popped out a Himalayan lovechild.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

The Darjeeling kick continues. This time, I had my second 2012 from the Sungma estate. Loved their other first flush I had, and this one was almost just as great. It didn’t taste like an OP at all. It was so fresh-seeming, it came across more like a Darjeeling green tea than a black. Spicy as all heck, though, which I like from a good first flush.

I brewed a pot of this, and practically forgot about the last (over-)steep. It tasted like grapefruit. That’s okay, I like grapefruit. I liked this. Eh, ’nuff said. Good way to start (late) on a Saturday.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

Aaaand the Darjeeling binge continues, but this time with an offering courtesy of LibreTEAS. She passed on this little beauty in a care package, given my ravings for all things Giddapahar. After all, the estate was the first in Darjeeling I ever fell in lust over – thanks to their Musk. (That sentence does NOT sound right.)

This time it was a Darjeeling white! One of my favorite types of whites. This differed from the usual Darj fair because aromatically (at least dry) it smelled like a Bai Mu Dan – floral, grapy, and full-bodied.

On taste, it was even more compelling. It, honestly, tasted like a whiter version of their Giddapahar Musk, only not as perfect. It is a great tea from that estate but not the absolute best they’ve made. Still, for a late-night, last-minute, lighter-than-usual caffeine kick, it’s a tasty treat.

UPDATE And I just learned you can boil the BLEEP out of it, forget about it, and it will still turn out good. Hurray for steep negligence!

Weird…Steepster doesn’t seem to like the picture of this particular second flush Darjeeling. Oh well…(le shrug)

Took me awhile to get up and moving today, even after feeding the pets. As I write this, I’m still in my pajamas. (I know, shocker.) I decided to notch off one of the new Arya estate teas I received from Thunderbolt. This one wasn’t a part of their coveted “Jewel” series, but that was no matter.

It certainly was jewel-worthy, though, imparting (or rather, throwing) everything it possibly could at my tongue: toastiness, nutmeg, buckwheat, malt, cocoa, caramel, muscatel, rose wine, nut-sweetness, kitchen sinks, unicorns, et al.

It’s funny that I’m on a Darjeeling kick in the Fall, but I ain’t turnin’ back.

Full review: Pending on www.teaviews.com

Everyone and their kitchen sink was singing the praises of this one. It was getting mildly frustrating, especially since I hadn’t even heard of the Turzum estate before. This was the first invoice of Turzum’s first flush crop. And it shows.

If there’s one thing that can be said for the aroma and appearance, it’s that it screams, “FRESH!!!” Like a good first flush should, it brewed light, tasted light, but carried with it so many flavor sensations – some requisite for a Darjeeling, others new. A damn fine first of the first.

Full Review: Pending on www.teaviews.com