Drowning your sorrows

Got the blues? Drown your sorrows in a steaming cup of peach tea! My current choice: Republic of Tea's Ginger Peach. The Republic promises "the sweet lushness of a fancy peach seasoned with the tingle of spicy ginger," but I find it more peachy than gingery. Though, not so much so that you forget you're drinking tea. (Goes well with a cheese danish.)

Regarding the Republic of Tea, I'm ashamed to say that I haven't explored this brand very much at all. I think this is the only tea of theirs that I've tried, and only because of Peach Tea Craze 2011--a period of a few weeks this past spring when the only thing I would drink was peach tea. But I enjoyed the flavor even before that fateful fortnight. Like any respectable black tea, it's good hot or iced, which weirds some people out, but I think it makes for a perfect gloomy day tea because you can be revived no matter which season your gloom occurs in. My gloom came by way of a too-many-meetings-and-too-much-work-and-oh-yeah-it's-pouring-outside kind of day yesterday. I finished my tea so fast I forgot to take a picture, so I went hunting around Republic of Tea's site, and to my delight, found not only Ginger Peach Black Tea, but also Ginger Peach Oolong, Red, Green, and White Tea. And they come in full leaves and bags. So, not only can you suit your mood by serving the tea hot or iced, you can also suit the occasion by picking a particular level of oxidation. I think it's safe to say my allegiance is with the Republic.

At the risk of making this post all too commercial, I found one other really cool thing Ginger Peach-related: Brewed Iced Tea on Tap! Think of boxed wine only like, way, way better. (Has anyone tried this? Is it actually any good?)

Pictures from here and here.

Ghost Street

 Now it's many weeks after the fact, but I haven't had the chance to mention a few tea adventures during my last week in China. A few days before I left, Kelsey and I traveled to a big eating district--an area of town called Ghost Street (Gui Jie). This name apparently comes from "Ghost fairs" or markets that would be held until wee hours of the morning, and the lanterns that kept the street lit would look spooky, like ghosts. (this would have been a nice post for Halloween, but alas, things come up.) We went to a place called Hua's Restaurant that was sort of made to look like an avenue from the inside and had really good food. Our dinner came out in courses--first, potato pancakes, then a chicken dish with fried rice, and finally a crunchy caramel-covered apple treat. 

But, before all that came a steaming pot of a beautiful, honey-colored jasmine tea. (I've already mentioned a conversion to non-black teas, and a particular fondness for one jasmine tea, so it was a no-brainer when the waitress gave us a choice between jasmine or oolong.) What was particularly interesting to me about this tea was the color--I hadn't expected such a rich gold color from a floral tea (yet more surprises!). And, being one who usually takes sugar with my tea, I was also pleasantly surprised that this tea needed no sweetener; it wasn't the least bit bitter. I suppose this is a trait of lighter teas, but I'll have to investigate it further. It suited the atmosphere, the food, and our conversation--a perfect dinner tea.