Tuesday, January 9, 2018

What a Difference a Steep Makes

 For Christmas I received several special gifts.
Imperial Tea Court, Imperial Keemun Hao Ya was sent to me by a friend.
It is considered a Tribute Tea or "gift tea" because of the extraordinary
quality of the tea. It is from Anhul's Qimen county in China where
keemun's are most often not produced anymore.
Most often I avoid keemun teas because I find them too black and bitter,
but I could tell this one was special just from the scent.
I tried it once and it was OK, but the information that came along
with it suggested trying to steep it a different way.
So I tried again. My normal 4 minute steep with one teaspoon
of tea per cup just wasn't working. The next time I steeped it 3 minutes
with one full teaspoon for a small 3 cup teapot.
What a difference it made and it was just right for a delicious
pot of tea. So glad I tried again.

Then my family knows I love books. Above you can see the two
books I received. Did they get it right?
Can't wait to take more walks in 2018.
The author, James Norwood Pratt, added a lovely note inside
The Romance of Tea.

On the plate was an after Christmas snack of the last bits of
Christmas stollen, mandarin, and cheese. My favorites!

Did you find some special, thoughtful gifts under your Christmas tree?

2 comments:

Jeanie said...

These are indeed wonderful gifts, Marilyn! I can see why you'd love the walking book.

I got a DNA kit from Rick, long wanted. And a baby carriage charm for my bracelet. Both super special!

Rosemary said...

Perfect gifts!