Steep Stories

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Everybody Hwang Cha Tonight – Gamnong Style

    Previously on Steep Stories: Our fearless (or rather, fearful) protagonist was whisked away to an underground, dwarven tearoom in Darjeeling – one that was overrun with dancing snake-people. The crisis was averted by a well-placed Hindi movie musical number…oh, and splendid tea was had in the interim. Afterwards, the pajama’d thirtysomething, a gnome, and an…

  • A Dwarven Dance in Darjeeling

    A month had passed since I came to the startling realization that I wasn’t going to review tea anymore. Days had passed when I realized I didn’t have a job anymore. Mere hours had crept by before I remembered that I wasn’t wearing any pants. Of course, I was still in bed when I pondered…

  • State of the Minion Address #2: Revamps and Retirement

    Greetings, fellow tea folks. It’s time for one of these things again – a reflection on where this blog has been and where it’s going. Don’t worry, zaniness will resume again after I’m done discussing with you – fair reader(s) – a few happenings that are afoot…or at hand. (Whatever.) But let’s start at the…

  • A Tiger in the Taiga

    It was, for the most part, a normal Sunday night. That is, if you consider coming home with a full body-ache normal. My work week had taxed me (both mentally and physically) yet again. Not something I ever wanted to be routine…but such is life. Typically, after a long night’s work, I came home, poured…

  • The Revenge of Finbarr’s Persian Princess in 1910

    This review is actually a sequel of sorts. To read its predecessor – for context – go HERE. Don’t you hate it when you wake up in the morning and end up in another time period? So do I. As far as I know, it’s only happened once – today. I found myself awake at…

  • Orange You Glad I Broke My Pekoe in Portugal?

    I looked out the window today and thought to myself, I need a f**king vacation. Okay, everyone thinks that at one time or another, and I guess my long spat of unemployment last year was “kind of” a vacation. What I mean, though, is an actual break from it all in another place other than…

  • Defending a Discerning Palate

    A few nights back, I had a dream where I was asked by a vendor in Darjeeling to review some of their products. The box that came in the mail was huge; there were at least fifty 100g bags in it, along with other various Indian-ish tea apparati. The first bag I took out was…

  • Lady Burgermount

    I remember the first time I ever tried to pronounce the word “bergamot” in front of a bona fide tea professional. He instantly corrected me by saying, “It’s bergaMOT.” And here I was uttering the less pronounced, “bergamitt”. That’s the way it always looked to me. The mitt-mispronunciation has since left my lexicon, but I…

  • You’ve Probably Never Heard of this Tea Before

    One particular evening, a friend of mine and I were conversing over beers. (Isn’t that when the best conversations happen?) The topic of hipsterdom came up. Being residents of the greater Portland area, we were bombarded with them regularly. The “anti”-clique made P-Town one of its ironic bases of operations. Funny thing, though, no one…

  • Guan Yins, Tigers and Lords, Oh My!

    For context, READ THIS FIRST. For once, I thought I’d get a full night’s sleep. The work week had been murder, and for some odd reason, I couldn’t stay in bed for more than six hours. Well, this time I had an excuse. A loud roar jolted me from sleep. When I opened my eyes,…

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