First up, sending letters off to who knows where ...
A while back I was reading about various postal systems around the world just for fun since I love the idea of how for just a few cents and a stamp, a letter can make its way through so many different places and miraculously arrive at a specific mailbox thousands of miles away. It's pretty incredible. Anyhow, there was some mention about how some people have a hobby of sending letters to fictional addresses in other countries hoping to have the letters returned to them with that country's "undeliverable" stamp on the envelope. I guess some people who collect postal stuff love doing it since they hope to get a unique stamp or something recognizing that the letter had made it all the way there, only to be forwarded through that country's "dead mail" center and hopefully returned wherever it came from.
I decided to try it for fun, of course. After all, it only costs 98 cents to send a letter internationally, and who knows - I may randomly open my mailbox one of these days and receive the letter returned with a cool stamp!
I blurred names and addresses for obvious reasons, but check out the wonderful new note-fold origami style I learned! You just pull the tab to open the letter, and it's quite easy to fold back. I'm sending this "hopefully undeliverable" letter to a street in the heart of old Paris (the Île de la Cité where the Notre Dame cathedral is, and Île Saint-Louis are two islands in the middle of the Seine river which were the original boundaries of the city of Paris before it grew much larger and extended over the Seine).
Along those same lines, however, I thought it would be fun to actually send letters that were deliverable, just to somebody that I didn't know at all. I wrote a letter to "whoever received it" in different French speaking countries and I'm going to see if people respond to it. I mentioned how in a world where seemingly all communication is electronic and impersonal, and where all that is left in our post boxes is junk mail, I'm hoping my handwritten letter will make its way into the hands of somebody, and that it will bring a smile to their face. If they had the time, I also requested them to write me back just for fun :)
Three letters ... one going to New Caledonia (La Nouvelle-Calédonie), another to Aix-en-Provence, and another to Lille. Now to find a random (hopefully, residential) address to send it to ...
Of course, I used my new note folding technique ... I'm hoping the fun of opening a little folded note will make the recipient more likely to smile and write me back!
Earlier last week I also received the package of new teas I ordered. I only ordered 5 teas I wanted to try, but my friend Greg who owns Norbu Tea (http://www.norbutea.com) sent a bunch of last year's Japanese green and roasted teas to me as well, after our discussion about the situation in Japan's tea producing regions. Over 50% of Japan's green tea is produced Shizuoka prefecture, just west of Tokyo. With the Fukushima nuclear incident, however, radiation readings from tea plantations in Shizuoka aren't looking good. I jokingly said "well I guess my 2010 Shizuoka sencha is going to be a rare commodity now that nobody can safely drink Shizuoka green tea!" Greg generously sent lots of different kinds for me to taste - they bring me back to my summers in Japan visiting the grandparents where every morning Bryan and I would make sencha, and they would taste it and give us their opinion on how we brewed it :-p
In any event, please check out Norbu Tea if you are interested in some GREAT, quality teas and feeling good about supporting an individual, very small business bringing unique teas to the US. Greg has just come back from Taiwan and brought some wonderful teas back. I am particularly fond of all of the different oolongs, and there are some great Pu Erh (Bo-Lay, in Cantonese) selections as well.
Thanks, Greg!
This was what I had been anxiously waiting for ... Mi Lan Dan Cong is a honey-orchid fragrance oolong tea from Guangdong which is just north of Hong Kong. It has just finished resting after being recently roasted for finishing, and now I have some! For some reason, the varietal of old tea trees planted in this area produces a tea which takes on the scent of various things. Some famous Dan Cong "fragrances" include honey orchid (this one), orange blossoms, and even almond. They are not "scented" the way that jasmine tea is scented (i.e. with flowers or things added into the tea). Instead, it is simply the magic of the varietal of tree that grows in that particular region, and the special terroir of the mountains and the region.
Beautiful, long, twisted leaves - dry leaves smell like honey and toasted graham cracker.
It is no joke - this tea REALLY does taste like a very floral honey ... it's really incredible to think that this is just pure, unadulterated tea leaves and yet they could taste like this. According to Greg, the gong-fu method of tea brewing (multiple, short, small-volume infusions) comes from the region where this tea is produced, and it's easy to see why. Using a gaiwan, I brewed gong-fu style and it revealed a lot of personality changes with this tea. First, just a roasted aroma and toasted taste. However, aftertaste begins to yield honey and a floral aspect. Second infusion was much more honey and a full, floral bouquet. Continuing to infuse, the flavor changes to a more traditional "oolong" with a little bit of astringency keeping the tea bright. Smelling the cup after you finish drinking each infusion is so fun ... the honey aroma (and taste) is unmistakeable. I've also brewed this tea "western style" whereby I threw a couple spoonfulls into my medium-sized teapot and just steeped the leaves for 3 minutes or so. While you don't experience the same kind of "personality changes" that gong-fu brewing method brings out, the tea is still wonderfully delicious, and the astringency is rounded out and less obvious. At $7 for a 50 gram bag, it is an incredible value for so much fun and such a delicious tea! I can't recommend it enough!
I used an old tea tin and covered it in some old Japanese "washi" paper I had to make it much more beautiful. Now it holds this tea :-)
I also had the wonderful chance to try a sample of Greg's new shade-grown Tie Kuan Yin
There are two main styles of TKY (Tie Kuan Yin) today ... a more "traditional" heavily-roasted TKY which is probably more familiar to previous generations, and a newer, green (and subsequently, floral) TKY. This one is the latter green style, but it is uniquely different than just any other floral green TKY since it is shade grown which causes the plants to create extra chlorophyll in the leaves. Looking at even the dried leaves, the vibrant green is pretty remarkable.
What is even more remarkable about this shade grown TKY is the mouthfeel. For such a light colored brew, it feels thick, smooth, and rounded in the mouth. And even more fun is how this tea actually tastes like honeydew melon ... it's sweet! First brew tasted like a shade-grown Japanese green tea (kabusecha) with vegetal notes and a slightly "briny" taste, but second infusion and onward was big and bold honeydew melon .. yum! I brewed this tea yesterday morning and really woke up ... I was not expecting this tea to be so dynamic and interesting! Definitely will get some of this when I'm out of tea - and for my readers out there, it's a definite recommendation along with the Mi Lan (honey orchid) Dan Cong I mentioned earlier.
Leaves are the most vibrant green I've ever seen ... a product of increased chlorophyll production due to the process of growing in the shade.
I also have (from Norbu Tea) some Winter 2010 Alishan (which I've compared to Spring 2010 Alishan), winter Dong Ding and charcoal roasted Dong Ding, and Lao Tai Di (old plantation) Taiwanese oolong so I'll post my thoughts some other time.
Aside from that, I made a fun lunch the other day with some Mahi Mahi that Ian brought home as leftovers ... fried the Mahi and threw together some bell peppers and onions with Tikka Masala curry sauce to make, well, fried mahi tikka masala!
The new crop of Japanese medium grain rice I bought is equally delicious
Also, this past Sunday evening was the first day of the "Movie in the Park" series that goes around the city in the summertime. Here at Dolores Park just around the corner from our apartment, they were playing Caddyshack, so we grabbed the tarp and blankets along with some snacks and a freshly brewed thermos full of the honey orchid dan cong tea and set off for the park!
Getting ready...
Check out the fog in the background! Since the Twin Peaks look over our neighborhood (the Castro) and the Mission Dolores area, the fog actually goes right around us and reconvenes when it gets to the bay
Finally, with the warm sunny weather we've been having lately, the garden is really sprouting.
Cilantro is practically ready for harvest! But i'll let it grow longer...
Red leaf basil is putting out red leaves now
I can see the first of the true sage leaves!
Mesclun salad greens keep getting larger
Kale has practically exploded out of the jar
Spinach (this spinach seed was from Japan) is quite productive!
Lots of edibles soon - can't wait :)
Phew! that was a long blog post. Time to fold the laundry ...
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