14 October 2007

"The Kiosks of Peking...

...Fragrant of Oolong."

Well, not quite.  This charming article is about a tea that I MUCH prefer to Oolong:  Darjeeling.

Tea

Darjeeling - ah, I've loved the taste of it for years, though I haven't had some for a bit.  The article made me want to go pick some up.  It does make a very fine tea even in the bags you can buy at the grocery, but wouldn't it be delightful to taste it fresh off the mountain?

8 comments:

X said...

I like black currant. Mmm

http://www.harney.com/blackcurrant.html

Jen

Anonymous said...

My wife and I have hot tea every day. She loves Darjeeling and Oolong. Darjeeling--ooh--way to dainty for me. I like Oolong, Earl Grey, and Irish Breakfast Tea. (If you like coffee, you'll like Irish Breakfast Tea.)

William Weedon said...

Jen,

I'm not a fan of the flavored teas. But I confess that black currant sounds intriguing.

Philip,

Oh, Darjeeling isn't dainty if you steep it long enough! ;) Irish Breakfast is definitely my all time favorite tea. I have several cups of it each day. Today I had three!

X said...

Well, at least it's not an herbal tea. My beef with most tea is that it smells good, but tastes like water. It should be called "tease". ;) I think I like black currant because it's not bitter.

I'm not even a real coffee drinker. I need flavored creamer (and lots of it) and two tablespoons of splenda. :D I may as well drink hot chocolate.

I had lunch with Linda and Fr. Loree today. :D I met someone else too, but I stink with names. Brian or Ryan Westsomething... he comments here sometimes.

William Weedon said...

Jen,

Sounds like a great day - did you guys go to that great Lebanese restaurant by any chance???

The other fellow would likely be Brian Westgate, seminarian from Fort Wayne, and sometime visitor to this blog too!

And Natalie is still doing well, I take it, after surgery?

X said...

Nope. We ate a polish meal at the Roman Catholic church two blocks away!

That's him! *waves to Brian* I'm sure he'll see this sooner or later... or not. Perhaps he's not a tea drinker. He's not a beer drinker either.

Natalie is doing okay. We're still sorting out her kidney meds since we're making some changes to her drug regimen. I few more days and then weez ottahere!

LPC said...

Pr. Will,

I must recommend that you try Japanese "ma-cha" (powdered green tea). But here is the twist, I like ma-cha latte. It is yummy. You should try it too.

I will drink one for you tonight.

LPC

WM Cwirla said...

Ah, a bit of apples and oranges in the tea department, my friend.

Darjeeling is a black tea from Tibet, fully fermented. You would be quite disappointed by it "fresh off the mountain."

Oolong is partially fermented tea, somewhere between green tea (unfermented) and black tea (fully fermented). The extreme of black teas is the Chinese puer teas, which my Chinese colleague tells me is used medicinally in China.

My personal favorite is jasmine oolong, which is flavored with dried jasmine flowers. It's a staple in most Chinese restaurants.

At the other extreme is white tea, which consists of the new growth buds and young leaves which are heat shocked and dried, retaining a high concentration of catechins.

For some incredible varieties of tea, as well as encyclopedic check out Seven Cups Tea:

http://www.sevencups.com/tea-shop/home.php