It’s official: I survived the historic move of 2014. God (or reasonable facsimile), what a nightmare! I lived in a three-bedroom apartment for ten years and just moved into a loft split into two smaller rooms, with shared living space, kitchen, and bathroom, all on the second floor (below my private) space. This necessitated a major purge of massive amounts of furniture and accumulated nonsense. So now my remaining possessions are in total disarray—some here, some in storage, a lot sold or donated.
The first pot in this new chapter of my life is … drum roll … Adagio Leo. I made a large pot, using my “family-sized” tetsubin, because I have no energy, so I figured that I’d use the pot with the deepest and widest infusion basket, and then I’d have tea for the afternoon and be ready for a dinner-time caffeine-free infusion later.
I really like this tea, and looking at the fully unfurled leaves mingling together with the plumped-up chamomile buds definitely enhanced the experience. The oolong leaves expand so impressively! The best part about this blend for me, a person with severe oolong sensitivity, is that it represents a rare exception to the rule: an oolong which I truly enjoy!
The many elements of this blend together to produce a rich orange-gold liquor while still being identifiable as individual flavors. My tin was faulty (the lid came apart into two pieces), so I transferred the remaining dried tea into a small glass clamp jar, and now I’m thinking that I should do the same with the other Adagio Zodiac blends in my cupboard, as they are all visually appealing—more so than the decorated tins! I realize that exposure to light can degrade the tea, but I’ll keep them in the dark except when I’m about to brew a pot.
This large tetsubin is perfect for oolong. The wet leaves are so big that they fill the entire basket, but unlike smaller infusion baskets (which I do not use because they seem so oppressive and cramped), this one allows the leaves to achieve their full potential while also making clean-up a lot easier.
I cannot find my thermometer—perhaps I packed it with the postal scale? who knows… Is it in storage or amidst all of this chaos? Who knows…
Congrats on moving!
I hope you love your new digs!
Thanks, boychik and scribbles! It will take me some time to impart some order to this madness, but at least for now there will be no more heavy lifting of boxes—just many pots of tea!
;-)