A Tea Addict's Journal

Back at home…

July 23, 2009 · 3 Comments

Finally, after about two weeks, I’m back at home, drinking tea properly for the first time.

A few things I noticed on the trip

1) Tap water in places like Utah and Arizona are very high in mineral content.  When I boil them, oftentimes there are precipitation.  I have no idea what’s in the water, but since a lot of them come from aquifers, I guess this is no surprise.

2) Driving many hours in the car with the bag of aged oolong in my backpack under the scorching summer sun means that the tea suffered some heat damage — I can tell that by the end of the two weeks, the tea has at least changed somewhat.  Detailed testing to follow to see if this is just placebo or if the change was real.

3) As long as you have tea that can easily be made in a paper cup and a proper way to heat water, you can enjoy some pretty decent tea without anything else.  The most problematic issue all along is to secure hot water — it’s really hard to find it on the road, especially hot water that isn’t contaminated by coffee taste.

4) The Grand Canyon is very big

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3 responses so far ↓

  • lewperin // July 24, 2009 at 12:22 pm | Reply

    The Grand Canyon is very big

    Maybe if the Canyon could be filled with high-quality hot water, your travel tea problems would be solved.

    Seriously, welcome back!

  • Anonymous // July 25, 2009 at 8:58 pm | Reply

    Out from under the GFW and enjoying your blog again.  I hear your pain about decent hot water which is why I’m travelling with a Taiwan Oolong.  It covers a multitude of sins, travels well in my cup all day and can really stand up to the occasion if the water is good.

    Hmmm….what unblocked website to look at next, so many choices….

  • bsclark81 // July 26, 2009 at 3:32 pm | Reply

    #1 traveling certainly heightens ones appreciation/understanding of how water quality can change the taste of tea, especially if you carry tea that you are use to from a familiar setting.

    #4 made me seriously laugh.

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