Steep Stories

of the Lazy Literatus

Category: Tea Features Page 14 of 26

I don’t call these tea reviews, but rather tea features. Reason being, I don’t devote insane amounts of effort to negativity.

That and life is too short for a bad cup of tea.

Old Bear Puerh

By

On November 9, 2015

In Tea Features

NaNoTeaMo, Day 9: “Old Bear Puerh”

I had a craving today. A Fall sorta craving. A few posts back, I mentioned how raw puerh had become my new “Fall beverage”. Not masala chai, not *gulp* pumpkin spice . . . but rather sheng (raw) puerh. It was an odd choice, I know. Nothing about the flavor profile of sheng screamed “Autumn me!”

However, I kept thinking that maybe – just maybe – there was such a puerh in my backlog box that “may” have the taster notes I needed to prove my point. And if I remembered correctly, there was a bear on the packaging. White2Tea had sent me a few samples some months back, and I clearly remember a bear. When I got home from work, I got to rummaging.

After a few minutes of digging, I found it.

bear found

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Monsoon Flush Oolong in a Deluge

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On November 8, 2015

In Tea Features

NaNoTeaMo, Day 8: “Monsoon Flush Oolong in a Deluge”

It rained today. A lot.

Okay, that’s not an unusual statement to make in the Portland area during late-Fall. But the sheer amount of rain we’ve received in the last month seems like overkill. Today, at work, I had to take out the garbage . . . in the middle of a deluge spell. All I had on hand for protection against the elements was a trash bag DIY-ed into a makeshift raincoat/burka thingy.

It didn’t work.

trash bag jacket

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Green Coffee and Me

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On November 8, 2015

In Tea Features, Tea Musings

NaNoTeaMo, Day 7: “Green Coffee and Me”

This post is going to be a bit heretical, but please bear with me. Yes, this is still a tea blog. And, yes, this entry will still have something to do with tea. Even if the focus is on . . .

green coffee beans

Green coffee.

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Defining a Doke Tea State of Mind

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On November 7, 2015

In Tea Features, Tea Musings

NaNoTeaMo, Day 6: “Defining a Doke Tea State of Mind”

doke

Doke

/’dōk/

noun

  1. A river located in the state of Bihar, India
  2. The surname of a tea estate in Bihar, India owned and operated by the Lochan family.

verb

  1. To induce a state of mind in a Doke tea drinker, wherein they experience equal parts bliss, resiliency . . . and/or blind, seething rage when denied said brew.

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Dark Tea Déjà Vu

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On November 5, 2015

In Tea Features

NaNoTeaMo, Day 5: “Dark Tea Déjà Vu”

It all started with a tweet . . . when I was drunk.

teabeer drunk

Not tea drunk, actual drunk.

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Tea and Sugar – The Weird Way

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On November 4, 2015

In Tea Features

NaNoTeaMo, Day 4: “Tea and Sugar – The Weird Way”

In 2013, I was a regular follower of UK-based Canton Tea Co.’s Tea Club blog. Two of their employees went on a sourcing trip to Yunnan province, China, and picked up something rather unique. I certainly hadn’t heard of it before, and I try to keep my ear to the ground regarding anything “weird”. The blog entry featured a Dian Hong (Yunnan black tea) that had been fired in red cane sugar.

can sugar black tea

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An Autumn Puerh Pairing

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On November 4, 2015

In Tea Features

NaNoTeaMo, Day 3: “An Autumn Puerh Pairing”

We are now Falls deep into Autumn, and every tea drinker is cuddling up to their favorite color-changing brew. Everyone has their favorite autumnal cuppa. For many, it’s masala chai. For others, it’s something equally burly or floral. It varies from person to person, but everyone has a favorite. Except me. Well . . . until recently.

Until . . . well . . . tonight, I hadn’t decided what my preferred Fall brew was. I think that’s changed. I’ve been on a big sheng puerh kick lately. And even when I’m not required to brew up a sheng, I find myself gravitating to it. For a month there, I thought Earl Grey would be the mainstay, but sheng took a surprise lead last month. It’s all Misty Peak Nick’s fault.

Two weeks into October, I received a sample of Misty Peak Teas’s Autumn 2015 loose sheng puerh. Seconds after receiving the package, I immediately went to brewing. Poor impulse control won out.

Misty night brew

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Waiter! There Are Crab’s Feet in My Puerh!

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On November 3, 2015

In Tea Features

NaNoTeaMo, Day 2: “Waiter! There Are Crab’s Feet in My Puerh!”

Some of you may have noticed that I whored out a certain podcast today. Mainly because I was co-hosting it. The awesome TJ Williams of World Tea Podcast invited me on to discuss one of my favorite subjects – weird teas. Heck, I devoted most of this blog to that very subject. Together, we decided to countdown some of the weirdest we ever encountered. Click the picture, and give it a listen. I’ll wait.

World Tea Podcast

All done? Nifty, wasn’t it?

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A Devotea Taiwanese Tea Tasting

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On November 2, 2015

In Tea Features

NaNoTeaMo, Day 1: “A Devotea Taiwanese Tea Tasting”

If any of you fine folks were paying attention to my social media yammerings, you may have noticed a peculiar update. I said that I wouldn’t be participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I tried two years straight . . . and gave up halfway through both times. Instead, I mentioned I was going to participate in something of my own devising – NaNoTEAMo. The idea? To blog every day in November.

There are two reasons I’m doing this: (1) I want to challenge myself a little. And (2) This . . .

box

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A Mellow Yellow Tea Tasting

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On October 27, 2015

In Tea Features, Tea Musings

Most people cultivate a close group of friends – those that share common interests, or that they feel most comfortable being around. One of the unfortunate drawbacks to being a tea blogger is . . . most people within my close-knit group reside in several different locations across the country. Or outside the country. As a result, I only see them once a year at World Tea Expo. The only way we have to combat this is Google Hangout.

Yes, Google Hangout: The tool used by hermits everywhere to pretend at being social. That and for business meetings . . . conducted by hermits. As you can tell, I positively adore Google Hangout. But I am also a self-professed hermit.

Many moons (and Moonlight teas) had passed since my group last had a “Tandem Tea Tasting” event. Jo “A Gift of Tea/Scandalous Tea” Johnson finally chose to rectify this absence by scheduling one. Months in advance.

A Gift of Tea

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