Signs of getting old... meh.

[Swatopluk]

Would be too crowded to hold a cup safely anyway

[Bluenose]

Pieces, I agree with Griffin, Russian Caravan is one of my absolute favourite teas.  The last thing I would describe it as is like a bunch of dried leaves.  I suspect that the tea is way too old and has not been stored correctly.  Tea is best stored in air tight containers at a lowish temperature (not refrigerated, though).  If you are a regular drinker, keeping your "ready use" tea in a non air tight container is fine, but I would not want to store it that way for more than a few weeks.  My experience with Russian Caravan is that it is a tea made from larger leaves than the usual black tea and I generally use about 1 1/2 times the normal quantity when making a pot.  Doing that however results in a wonderful fragrant tea that I find particularly delicious.  Obviously your mileage may vary. 

[Griffin NoName]

I agree with Griffin....

Not me, guv.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Drinking tea is Unna Murkin, don't you know? Coffee drinking is considered to be Murkin, provided it's weak and terrible or alternatively, terribly overpriced.

Alternatively overpriced and terrible. Cuban coffee is terrible but at least is reasonably priced.

As a Colombian I demand a decent coffee, which in reality means making it myself...

[Swatopluk]

The canonical bad coffee comes from Nicaragua

[Darlica]

I think I should take a photo of the coffee shelf next time I go to the supermarket and post it here...  

I think Coffee and tea deserves it's own thread... http://toadfishmonastery.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=32&topic=3098.0

[Ranchao]

Today, I was killing some time before heading out, and stopped in at WallyWorld (okay, I know--it's evil, but hey, it's cheap, and wintertime, cash is short.  Sue me.)

And I saw this lovely red teakettle-- porcelain finish, inside and out--one of my favorite types to clean.   It was heavy, which meant even heating, and the finish was flawless, which meant it wouldn't rust for a long, long while.  Had a nice wide opening top, which snapped in (made of stainless steel), and a pouring spout with a whistle fitted in, and a nice "at remove" lever to pull it open without risk of burns from the invisible steam-vapor (something I've done more times than I care to document).

A nice sturdy plastic handle arcing over the top, meaning it was clear of the sides-- critical for gas stoves, which tend to spill excess heat up the sides of pots (spoiling side-handles that can't handle heat).

In short?  It was just what I suddenly decided I needed.  To go with my French Press Coffee machine, which I've been using to make loose-leaf tea in.  One batch is about 20 ounces or so, perfect size to drink up while still warm.  By tearing open the bag, one bag is sufficient to make nice, medium-strong tea in the full 24 ounces.  And I can pre-load the scant teaspoon of honey, if I like.  

I had been boiling the water in a stainless steel aftermarket parts skillet, but if I get distracted, I boil it dry-- kinda hard on the skillet...

So, I bought it.   Brought it home.  Cleaned it up nice and thoroughly, and rinsed even more so.   Filled it with hot tap water, and set it on the stove to heat up, trusting in the new whistle to alert me when it was ready.

And then proceeded to return to the computer, to catch up on today's gossip.   Which got me quite engrossed (facebook and all that).  I even added a new friend, who seems quite nice.   But I wondered why my FB had started playing "sounds of nature", a nice soundtrack of a babbling brook, with faint bird singing in the background.    Okay, nice enough--continue to read the new posts.

About 2/3 of the way down my page, I decided that "sounds of nature" was enough, and where was it coming from, anyway?  Hmmm... searching up and down the FB page, I saw no running videos/sound feeds.  Puzzled, I finally closed down the whole browser---

--- but the sound track persisted!  What was going on?  I even turned off my PC's speakers-- still hearing the "sounds of nature"---

---- when it finally hit me:  that was a steam whistle!   Almost too faint for my aging ears, but loud enough.   A glance back into the kitchen showed it had a nice fast-stream of steam-vapor coming out.   So fast, it had overwhelmed the whistle somewhat.... and the "babbling brook" was obviously the furiously boiling water inside....

... I had me a laugh, then a bit of a cry too-- that I was so old, I had already forgotten the new kettle, and my hearing so weak, that I couldn't pinpoint the source of those "sounds of nature" as coming from the kitchen, and not my PC's speakers...

....  

On the other hand?  Now I know how it sounds, and I also know it's too faint to overcome the TV, so I'll resort to a kitchen timer when watching the tube.    But it did pour ever so nicely, far better than the skillet which always ends up spilling here and there.  

I've got me some nice SuperFruit tea steeping even now-- I'm going to have it over ice, later.   mmmmmmm!  

Oh these winter. You did no crime. These winters are getting hard so it not age but too cold weather that has weekend your mind.