Month: December 2013

  • Deck the Halls with Balhyocha

    T’was the night before Christmas, And all through the flat, Every creature was stirring Because of my hungry cat. For the last couple of weeks, I was feeling humbuggish. But I awoke with a streak… If a little bit sluggish.   After running some errands For the night’s holiday supper. I thought to myself, Man,…

  • Russian Tea Finds You

    I can’t remember when this quest began, but it all started with a random Google search. It was probably in the Fall of 2010, and I ran across an article about Russian tea. What astounded me was that there was mention of Soviet-run tea plantations. That immediately got me digging. Russia has a long-standing love…

  • The Golden “Tea”-cket – A Tandem Tea Tasting

    Back in March, when I was visiting The Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants, I ran across a particularly unusual tea. It was a small brick wrapped in gold foil, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a candy bar. I asked the teatender on duty at the time if I could sample it. She obliged and explained to…

  • Oolong for the Old Otaku

    I have always had a fascination with Japan for as long as I can remember. The first seeds of wonder were planted by early-80s dubbings of Robotech, and continued on well into my teens and twenties with samurai films galore. One could even say my otaku (read: fanboy) brain was hardwired to like everything Japanese…