Mi Bella Vida

I am terribly sick today and I need to get better for my test tomorrow!

Last night Chris brought ToLife White Tea and it was an excellent choice. The tea is made up of red,white, and green teas. I thought the red tea would take over but the color of the tea actually came out to be a pale green tea, not quite white but it was close.Those tea leaves were very small and for the most part stayed on the top while being steeped. Next, the tea was infused with some Silver needle and Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls to make a perfect tea, in my opinion. Luckily, the tea is lightly caffeinated so I was able to try it before bed. The tea had a very sweet smell, which was right up my alley. The tea was extremely smooth and had that fruity flavor that I like but it was not overwhelming.All the flavors come together for a great blend that will be enjoyable cup after cup. This white
just became the first new tea of the year and I’m happy to mark that off my list of teas for 2009.

Next on the agenda would be to purchase a new teapot. There are teapots have a temperature gauge on the kettle that allows one to properly heat the water to the correct temperature. Heating the water to the right temperature brings out the flavor of the tea but also keeps the tea from going bitter too soon. Of course the steep time has a huge impact on the bitterness of the tea. I have learned to follow the steep time on the tea containers because bitter tea taste gross. Super gross. I found a really cute kettle with the gauge at Teavana. Its called PerfecTemp Tea Kettle and you can purchase it for $99.95. Sounds a bit expensive for a kettle but I think it will definitely be worth it, especially if you drink lots of tea. The kettle with the gauge can also be found on Amazon for about $20 cheaper give or take. Here is the link for the kettle

http://www.teavana.com/Tea-Products/Tea-Kettles/PerfecTemp-Tea-Kettle.axd

In other unrelated news, I started my last semester as a undergrad!Only 2 tough classes but I’m sure I will have the time to study and do well in them I am also going to Sebring in March! Originally I was not going to go because of those 2 classes. They are the business
capstone classes and teachers don’t like to reschedule tests or anything but the syllabus shows that there is no test the week of Sebring. I’m free!

pu erh tea is a type of tea that is made from a large leaf variety and
is named after Pu’er County near Simao, Yunnan,China. These tea cakes
are aged. Some cakes are found to be 50 years old and some as old as
the Qing Dynasty. Much like a fine wine, pu erh is classified by year
and region of production.

This is something that I really want to try. Being a tea ethusiast I’m
up for trying new teas. I just love the aroma of tea. There really is
nothing better for me then a sweet fruity tea midday. On a good day I
will drink 3 teas. A highly caffienated Black tea to get me going, a
light tea for midday, and a caffiene free tea to relax me before bed.

I would really like to try a highly aged pu reh tea but those are a bit
expensive. I wouldn’t buy a whole cake just some loose tea. There is no
way that I would be able to finish a whole cake due to the storing. If the
tea is not stored correctly then it will get moldy and I’m not up for
wasting my money or the tea. If I don’t get the chance to try pu erh
anytime soon then its ok. I have been looking at some tea blends and
have found many that I’m interested in. I was HIGHLY interested in
the Blueberry Acai and thanks to John I got to try it! It was definitely
my type of tea. Its very light, fruity, smooth, and the aroma is simply
fantastic!I can mark that off my list of teas to try but I will definitely
be purchasing some time soon

As of lately I have been following some tea blogs, that can be found on
my blogroll to the right, and I find that they are very useful. They
feature many stores that have a variety of teas with lots of flavor
I would like to start something similar to what they have going on. They
have this big group and they interchange tea. I want to try that with
people that I know because I don’t if I want to be trying something that
Bobby from Whoknowswhere, USA sends me. Nonetheless, I want to try to do
a Tea club of sorts with my friends and enjoy their company and conversation.

Tea beckons us to enjoy quality time with friends and loved ones, and especially to rediscover the art of relaxed conversation.

DOROTHEA JOHNSON, Tea & Etiquette