Chinatown ain't cheap anymore
 

I recently mentioned the Good Young Taiwanese teas selling for $10/100g
and that was the cheap stuff. There is another island brand selling
their teas for $40/100g but I'll leave that too others to buy and
report back. Over the weekend I got a Xiamen XC lao cong (old bush)
shui hsien for $4/30g. I know that sounds cheap but it ain't for
almost a troy ounce if you consider the weight in gold. It was two 15g
foil packets that unfortunately weren't nitrogen flushed vacuumed
sealed as I've seen with their other teas. I'd rate this the
quidessential foreign tea from another land with mysterious taste and
aroma where the hundred or so mother trees hanging onto a precipise is
older than this country. I tasted this one a long, long time ago and
it's one you don't forget. Ironically the slippery buttery aftertase
reminded me of a 'black and tan' (stout+ale) I tasted at an Irish pub
after shopping. I know I shouldn't be doing that but those Guinness
commercials are enough to make anyone fall off the wagon. Brilliant!
I also got some black tapioca pearls I'm going to cook and try with
teas. I don't like the white ones because they look like puss. Of
course the black ones look like what the muledeer leave behind which
causes my dog to retch along with the horse dung if I don't keep the
property line clear. How come Lost Wages doesn't build a Chinatown?

Jim