After a full week of working in NJ, I am so happy to be home and surrounded by tea again. I have a quick story regarding this tea and airport security. I’ll start off by saying that I ALWAYS get pulled for “random” searches. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that my maiden name is Syrian. (I chose to hyphenate when I got married. Perhaps not the greatest idea in hindsight.) Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah…Random search, my ass! And I look white!…mostly. So I get pulled…they go through my purse, my laptop case, etc. In my purse they find my sample of Golden Bi Lou. I recently received the sample in the mail from Chicago Tea Garden and thought it would be a great size to take on my trip. I DID think to include the slip of paper that came with the tea. (I think this is the only thing that saved me.) While the airport security folks are rubbing various cotton swab pads on the inside of my purse, another security guy dangles the bag in front of me. I told him that it was tea. “Loose. Leaf. Tea.” I guess he’d never heard of it. He thought it was a type of drug. I told him about the slip of paper in my purse that describes the types of tea, steeping times and so on. I pointed out that there was a website on the slip that could further aid the situation. I don’t know if they went to the site or not, but about 5 minutes later they let me go. And I got to keep my tea!
That being said…I really did like this tea. The malty taste comforted me once I got back to my hotel and settled. Maybe it tasted better because of the ordeal I went through to bring it with me. This isn’t the heaviest Yunnan I’ve tasted, but it was quite pleasant. I think I prefer my Yunnan with a little more punch. There was a nice earthy taste and light sweetness to the tea, but I mostly remember the malt and the cute fuzzy leaves…and the fact that it never got bitter in the slightest. I’m very happy with this sample and curious about reading the posts from those that chose the Sticky Rice Pu-erh Toucha. That was the other tea I debated getting the sample of.
Side note: I love how the Golden Bi Lou leaves look! I keep staring at the picture on Steepster like it’s one of those “Magic Eye” prints that were big back in the day. It’s so cool that some of the leaves are in focus and the others are blurry. Great tea photo!
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oh no, this doesn’t bode well for my trip to vegas! (in aug)
Oh no! I admit, I had to laugh a bit reading this but only because I anticipate the same thing happening to me when I fly with tea!
I like to swap with writing buddies when I travel, and I have always wondered if I would need to ask for a cup of hot water to prove what was in my little paper fill-it-yourself filters.
When you read about it it’s funny. However, when you actually are in such a situation it’s not so funny at all. Glad that at least the tea was good. :)
Lena, I’ll admit I did laugh for a second and then when “he waved the bag of tea in your face” I was like I know he he didn’t!!! LOL I do remember the black eye and I love the way this tea looks like little snails.
oh no, this doesn’t bode well for my trip to vegas! (in aug)
Oh no! I admit, I had to laugh a bit reading this but only because I anticipate the same thing happening to me when I fly with tea!
I like to swap with writing buddies when I travel, and I have always wondered if I would need to ask for a cup of hot water to prove what was in my little paper fill-it-yourself filters.
When you read about it it’s funny. However, when you actually are in such a situation it’s not so funny at all. Glad that at least the tea was good. :)
Lena, I’ll admit I did laugh for a second and then when “he waved the bag of tea in your face” I was like I know he he didn’t!!! LOL I do remember the black eye and I love the way this tea looks like little snails.