I still drink my teas straight up. I have an assortment of tisanes for
diversion and guests. This year I got the blossoms from a branch on a
cherry tree. Dried flowers when added to the cup tend to overwhelm the
tea. I need to try a scent method. Another good group for tea besides
the flowers is dried fruit. The only spices I use is chai. I have an
Arabic brand scented with cardomon which I haven't tried. I take a
pass on anything bergamot or ginseng. There is a large herbal shop in
the next town and your nose is your best guide. I've been drinking
cooked puerh everyday for the past six months and like beer I'm
starting to like it. Every cooked puerh taste different enough. I
still don't have a pomelo gourd or a column to finish off my puerh
architectural collection.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> Mike 8/31/05
>
> >...
> > Space Cowboy wrote:
> >...

> Mike and Jim,
>
> Your points are of course well taken and amusing. Coincidentally, I'm
> finishing off some Lan Gui Ren this morning -- that's the gensing infested
> blobular bits you sent awhile back. Much as I've tried to dislike it, being
> put off by blendings and mixings that god did not intend, I can't. Moving on
> to Jim's suggestion, when you consider the many half-way decent but in no
> way spectacular cooked Pu'erhs available, a sprinkling of the bits he
> suggests would not be at all a bad thing, IMHO. What about the Pamelo (sp?)
> casing we had talked of some time ago?
>
> Michael