Keemun Hao Ya

I took a couple of days off work because I have a bunch of vacation hours. Something about being in a pandemic, and the fact that I am terrible at planning trips means I don't take much time off. In reality, I find travelling alone to be a major hassle, and I'd rather just stay home when I have time off. That said, I do enjoy taking some local road trips with my days off. I also know if I go to my favorite tea house on a weekday afternoon I have a pretty good chance of getting the tatami room. There's a lot of competition for it, especially since they can only have one table back there now (pre-plague there were 4). I think it's the only tatami room in the Midwest, I've searched online and that's pretty much the only thing that comes up.
For a while I was the only person in the place. When I was getting closer to leave, a bunch of people wearing scrubs all came in for some tea. A nurse I worked with who used to live in that city talked about how she and her colleagues would meet there sometimes. Apparently back in the day people could drink their tea at the bar counter, but it hasn't been that way for as long as I've known of the place. I hadn't really thought about going until a few days before my vacation when I realized it was not going to be snowing (I woke up to a fresh dusting of snow this morning), and I remembered that the February newsletter email had a 10% discount good until the 14th. Fortuitous timing considering that I made the vacation request in January. I also had a list of teas that I was nearly out of, or was craving. I also decided to try a new tea while I was there.
I didn't take a picture of the leaves since I wasn't the person brewing it. It's a Chinese black tea that is described as being in the family of breakfast teas. It is a milder tea since it is a Chinese tea as opposed to the teas of India, but it is a smaller leaf which makes a stronger brew. It was hard to assess the scent of the tea because it is served in a disposable cup. Sigh, can the plague be over yet? I read online that the public health emergency in our state will be over on February 15, and will not be renewed. I wonder if they will go back to serving pots of tea in ceramic cups again. The first sip was surprising. It had an acidic, almost brine flavor that reminded me of black olives. Thankfully I have learned to like black olives as an adult. Also, to be clear, this tea did not taste like olives, it just had some characteristics that reminded me of them. It was a good tea. There were hints of the flavor of other Chinese black teas like Wuy Rock on aeration. It was good to get out and try something new. Now back to the grind of work until my week long vacation next month.

Comments

  1. Poppy CrockerFebruary 13, 2022 at 12:34 PM

    I'm glad you got a little time off and were able to enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lace makerFebruary 13, 2022 at 6:03 PM

      Me too. It wasn't nearly long enough. That said, I did manage to sort out more stuff to get rid of. Why does the house always look worse after doing that?

      Delete

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