Florence

I wonder why the default Chinese tea seems to be jasmine, much like the default Japanese tea seems to be genmaicha.

I’m sure there’s a reason…if I uncover it ill let you know haha

The idea of “breakfast #1” seems to indicate there is a “breakfast #2” in the future. I like this vacation already. :)

Are you traveling for fun or for work? Sounds like an interesting trip already!

Oh there is Nicole…if I keep getting up this early it’ll be get up, go swim, whirlpool, sauna, breakfast 1, shower, plan the day, breakfast 2, go out…lunch, afternoon tea, swim, whirlpool, sauna….dinner, relax, evening snack…bed lol. At least on the weekend.

Work days will be sucker but hopefully still involve tea and swimming at least once haha

Ellyn – work for 2 weeks. Even though its Sunday we’re working this afternoon and because of the time difference I suspect ill be working a bit in the evenings during the week too. Lots of busy work but its still an experience that I won’t forget

Is your bed round?? LOL take some pics!!

You know how to travel. :)

I would suspect that the added flavors in jasmine and toasted rice hide the inferiority of the actual tea they are serving. But that just might be me being a pessimist. Plus it’s traditional but not “boring” like plain tea would be to non tea drinkers.

Also, have fun in China!

Haha IB…I have and will, ill upload when I get home since there’s no Facebook.
@ mercury could be but even at the tea bar downstairs they had “oolong, jAsmin and green” lol

So descriptive. haha I find that most Chinese people feel about tea the way westerners feel about wine. Some people are hardcore while others know there’s more to it, but don’t care to get into the details. For example, tell me it’s a sweet white wine, and I’m good. I don’t care how long it spent in a barrel or exactly which vineyard the grapes came from. For many people in China, tell them it’s a green tea and that’s all they want to know. But maybe the guy working the tea bar has more details for you. :)

Are you gonna try to visit little tea shops, like the ones David talks about?

Florence sounds good with brownies!

It is! Despite the crazy sweetness of the brownies, they still really enhanced the flavour of the tea. :)

We love Ghirardelli brownie mix! (Of course, this time of year, I could take Hershey’s syrup intravenously.)

I just simply adore this tea. :) Glad the brownies helped, even if the sweetness was off the charts!

I’d give my fellow Steepsterites the rest of the pan if I could. :)

Interesting idea, I have Florence and many assams so I’m going to have to try this one.

That is so exciting!

Oh no! I think we are the opposite in our love of Harney teas because SoHo is my favorite and I just can’t seem to get this one to work for me.

Well when I first bought then I loved all of them. It’s only since I moved to ON that they seemed flat. I was worried that maybe the move did something, but you seemed happy with the ones I passed on, and now this one tastes fine, so Idk what’s going on.

Maybe Florence needs a little milk?

Cavo…maybe it’s the water here heh

Nooooooo! I’m going back to BC. :P

Do you have a brita? I find it’s making a huge difference, even though the water here is super soft. There’s just so much chlorine. I miss the aquifer water we had when I was growing up!

Yeah we had a Brita jug, but now we have the filter that goes directly on the tap. I need to make sure I’m always filling my kettle with that water instead of the tap water. (I get impatient? But once I finally get a nice variable temp water I’ve proimsed to not put tap water in it. :P)

Cavo, I ended up bringing your box with me. It traveled back to Markham haha. Anyways, I will probably drink one of the Harney teas at some point this weekend and if I taste a difference I will let you know because then it might actually be the water.

Hahah. You’ve got your own traveling tea box I guess! I’ll keep an eye on your notes to see if it’s the water or not. And I’ll do a better job of using filtered water for my tea. :P

Wow, congratulations! And here I was so proud of finishing 4 oz. which felt like it took forever.

I don’t think I will ever buy another large quantity of tea like that again!

I have a 4 oz of a different Harney tea…wonder how long it will take!

That may depend on how many other teas you have now ;)

I have maybe three teas in that quantity. Two of them I kind of want to last forever, and the third is Thai iced tea blend, which goes fast, as it calls for 3tbsp per cup for really strong flash brewing.

:)

It’s fun when you realize that your tastes have grown with your tea drinking. I’m amazed of what I will drink now vs what I would barely drink when I was smaller.

Had a similar dilemma last night, but the tea didn’t work … ended up snarfing up a Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake anyway. (Yeah, it’s rushing the season, but they’re best right after Halloween :)

Haha! Christmas Tree Cakes – I haven’t had one of those in forever. I’m not sure that I want to tarnish my memory of them by actually tasting one as an adult, though. :)

OMG, I agree VegTea! but as soon as gmathis mentioned them, I suddenly got a sonsory memory. I can remember every texture of the hard icing, sprinkles, cake and cream… and I can almost conjure up the flavor. But I do think I’ll keep that experience in memory and not try to relive it!

where are you off to now?

Sounds to me like the PERFECT DAY, yay for you :-)
Awwww, love, love that show…and Dylan, OMG! This guy is over 50, can you believe! So darn fine…

I’m going to Romania. It’s been 12 years since my last visit there, my mom is so excited she started making food in July, I swear.

@theteafairy I know, right? You should be watching “hostages” if you like mcdillet

Oh, what do you think, I AM!!! I’ll even admit that after the first few episodes, the only reason I continued watching was because of him, but later on, it turned out to be pretty good. Most likely to be cancelled though…

My bf orders have arrived, and I suspect yours should very very soon! but, well, you know how crazy I am about the mail, so you know I know how you feel.

that sounds amazing nxtdoor…and yeah hostages will likely be cancelled but for now…yes pls! :)

Oh no, why are you guys saying that about hostages? Have you heard rumours? I heard nothing. Poor guy… All his 1 season shows. “Big shots” he was in, died after a season. Then he didn’t go back in American horror story for second season (except for voice credits) and now hostages!

Poor ratings apparently…you know how networks are these days…But you never know, fingers crossed!
have you watched AHS 2? Don’t want to give you any spoilers if you didn’t, but he did go back, didn’t he??

Have a great time!

AHS2 is freaking me right out! I’m only on e3, I had to stop watching last night, I couldn’t handle it. Will watch for sure but need small doses. Unlike AHS1 where I watched over and over.

Ahahaha! Yes, I was able to watch the whole thing this summer. And yes, it’s a lot darker and spookier… hold on and keep watching cause he does come back…eventually :-) I say no more!!!!

Holy crap, I hope you’re enjoying Europe!