Coffee Substitutes

[valley ranch]

This calls for a large brandy.

 

[buckabucka]

@Pulsegleaner -aroma of cinnamon bark sounds yummy, and "thief poop" makes me laugh. I buy my tea from arbor teas. They don't have a huge variety, but I like that it is organic and some of it is fair trade.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

It actually doesn't taste all that much like cinnamon (if you look down the list, you'll see there are aroma of gardenia, orchid etc.) A LOT of the finer teas have names like that. Golden Sea Turtle, Water Fairy, Hairy Crab, Gold Coin Rock. Actually I'll be getting some in my upcoming order whether I want to or not, I waited so long that the supply of Song Zhong (Song Dynasty Royal tree) on it's own has run out, and the only they have left is in the 2013 sampler. And I'll need both of the ones they have left to make a pot of any size (so if I can't drink any of the others I'll basically be spending $158 on one pot of tea!)

One I find funny is the fact that there is a tea called Da Hong Pao which translates to Big Red Robe, like most of the famous trees (a lot of the really fine teas come from literally only one tree, or descendants of it's cuttings). Around the fourth generation from the original (the original tree died in the 1930's so even the top grades are third or fourth generation, it's usually called "Little Red Robe" So in trade, it's sometimes called "Little Red Riding Hood"!

My Tie Lo Han translates as "Iron Warrior Monk" since the original tree was very strong of trunk (too strong, it cracked off in a storm) and so resembled a Shaolin Monk in battle stance.

Some of the greens have funny names as well. I've heard of Spring Lion, Halfway up Pear Mountain and Grandfather's Eyebrows.

Your beloved Tung Ting has a higher grade version called "Tung Ting of the Twelve Trees". And the top grade of most Tieguanyin (Iron Goddess of Mercy, the legend is that the original tree was a gift by Kwan Yin to a man who spent his fortune restoring an iron stature of the goddess in a derelict Buddhist shrine.) is called "Monkey Picked" (the best teas used to grow so high up that the only way to harvest them was by sending trained monkeys to climb up and pick the leaves.)

 

[valley ranch]

buckabucka, saw your reference to: "Thief poop." There is a lip balm sold called "Cat Crap."

Who I wonder came up with these titles.

 

[valley ranch]

Great grandmothers coffee grinder made in the early 1800s. It has been repaired a couple times in the 20the century, There are zink plated bolts that can be seen on the side, not available in early 1800 and a plastic insert in the lower cup, installed in the last 50 years.

It's no longer used, I don't know any who grinds coffee by hand any more.

 

[valley ranch]

Well, here it be!

 

[thistlebloom]

That's a cool piece of family history Valley. I think I would use it now and then just to keep a connection to that history.

 

[digitS']

Well, I ain't trying the Thief Poop!

Tung Ting, yeah. Here is a review on the Simpson & Vail website :


The ultimate oolong
This oolong, Tung Ting, is my antidote to the worst days at work, in the middle of the week. It is a break from everything that is wrong with this lunatic asylum of the time we live in.

Steve

 

[Pulsegleaner]

buckabucka, saw your reference to: "Thief poop." There is a lip balm sold called "Cat Crap."

Who I wonder came up with these titles.

The description explains the origin

http://www.teahabitat.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10&products_id=213

Though I admit that this has caused a little problem. With the expense of the tea, I originally had a plan to see if there was any of either available at any of the many shops that sell tea in Chinatown, in the hope that I could get a tiny amount to try first (or since this is pretty common practice, to get a tasting in store) But the name means that conversation (the one time I tried it) got a little awkward (the real problem is that the listing does not include the teas name in the original ideographs, which I could pinto out and show. And the tonal nature of Chinese means that any attempt I might make to say the phonetic name and have it be intelligible is more or less doomed to failure.)

 

[Nyboy]

I guess tea can be just as expensive as wine. I drink Lipton.