Vahdam High Mountain Oolong Tea

Posted on May 2, 2018 by vanbraman

Tonight I tried a second tea that my student from India brought for me.

This High Mountain Oolong tea is from the company Vahdam and had some unique packaging.

Vahdam Tea, Oolong Tea, Indian TeaI like the little saying on the top of the box ‘Unbox a New Journey in Tea’.

Vahdam Tea Packaging, Indian Tea, Innovative packagingInside the box is a vacuum packed bag of tea and also another zipper bag to store the tea in once the vacuum pack is opened. There is also a label to put on the bag that has the type of tea and also directions for use. This is very helpful when you have a lot of tea 🙂

There are also some interesting quotes on the flaps of the box. I like this one the best.

All you need is a cup of tea, a light, your stereo. You know that’s what I had’ —  Steve Jobs

Of course, we have to modify this a bit today and instead of your stereo it is your Apple device that has i-Tunes.

Wednesday Tea, Vahdam Tea, Indian TeaHere is the zipper pack that is ready for the tea from the vacuum pack now that it has the label applied.

You can see also here that it is a Darjeeling Oolong Tea just like the other one my student brought for me.

Darjeeling Oolong Tea, Indian Tea, Zipper Pack, Tea Leaves, Loose Leaf TeaHere are the tea leaves and again you can tell that this is one of the more highly oxidized oolong teas. I like the way the leaves reflect off of the inside of the foil package.

Tea Brewing , infuser, oolong tea, Indian Tea, Vahdam TeaHere the tea is being infused. The color of the tea is about the same as the hair of the little Amish girl on my Wednesday tea towel.

Oolong Tea, Vahdam Tea, Heavy Oxidized OolongHere is the tea after removing the infuser. You can see that there are quite a few small leaf bits in the bottom of the cup. I think that this is just because I basically took tea from the bottom of the bag after pouring it from one bag to another.

The tea has a nice color which darkened a bit more as it cooled. There was a nice earthy aroma with little hints of fruit. The taste was smooth with a bit of citrus finish. It will be interesting to see how the taste progresses through multiple infusions.

The oxidation level for this tea is a little lower than the tea from Andees that I tried on Monday, so it may have better staying power with multiple infusions.

I also have another tea to try in the next few days. I also have a student from Singapore this week and he brought me some tea from Taiwan.

If it wasn’t too close to bed time I would go have another cup of tea 🙂

Steven

Posted in Culture, Food, India, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Roses Brighten a Gloomy Morning

Posted on May 1, 2018 by vanbraman

This morning my roses helped brighten a gloomy morning. The weather for the past week has been much cooler and cloudy than normal for this time of year.

Mr. Lincoln Rose, Roses, Stormy sky, gloomy weatherWhen I went out and picked up my paper this morning I saw again that the sky was dark and foreboding.

As I was leaving I saw a nice photo opportunity as I looked out my garage door past my Mr. Lincoln Rose bush toward the dark and cloudy sky. You can see that the sun is starting to peak through though.

My Mr. Lincoln bush is full of nice big red roses that are very fragrant.

Yellow Floribunda, Yellow Roses, Rose GardenThe rest of my roses are to the other side of the garage door. The bush in front is a big yellow floribunda and is usually full of blooms throughout the year.

You can see some of the other rose bushes behind this first one.

Tropicana Rose Bush, White Mold, moldy leaves, rose bloomsHere are some of the blooms on my Tropicana rose bush. They have a beautiful color. You can also see the mildew on the leaves, which is a common problem with some older hybrid tea roses. It may be hard to see, but I also have a bit of an aphid problem. I need to go buy some ladybugs this weekend.

St. Patrick Rose Bush, Yellow Rose, Hybrid Tea, RosesHere is a beautiful bloom on my St. Patrick rose bush. I like the way that the petals are closely packed as it opens.

St. Patrick Rose, Green Tinted Rose, Yellow RoseHere is another St. Patrick bloom. Here you can really see why this rose is called the St. Patrick. I really like the green tinge to the outer petals.

It would have been nice to spend more time in the rose garden this morning, but students awaited at the office and I needed to face the commute.

I dodged a few sprinkles on the way to work and also passed through an area where the road was wet from a shower that had just come through.

When I got to work the weather was even more gloomy and it was sprinkling. However, not enough to really get wet between the car and the door.

It was sunny through the day while I was shut up inside, but by the time I headed home it was cloudy and gloomy again.

Tonight on my walk the sky was clear, but it was cold and windy. It was a good thing I had a long sleave shirt on as the temps were in the 50’s.

It is so nice to have roses to brighten my morning.

Steven

 

Posted in California, Culture, Flowers, Nature, Seasons | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment