Tea

I just received today an order from Le Palais des Thés in Paris.

Last order I had a taster pack of "Grand Jasmin Monkey King". A lovely mellow jasmine scented Chinese Green Tea. “Harvest of the Monkeys”. Legend has it that monkeys were trained to pick the highest shoots of wild tea plants. Good stuff so 100g of that this time. €6.80/100g

Previously I had a 100g of "Blue of London - Earl Grey of Yunnan". "Yunnan is one of the best black teas in the world and with a fresh and delicate bergamot from Calabria, it gives a particularly fine and well balanced blend." I agree, compared with subsequent Earl Greys I've found it is just so much more subtle. Lovely. €7.30/100g

I do like to have a Darjeeling in. Can be expensive the posh stuff, so a nice but cheaper one this time called "Grand Himalaya" first flush of 2009. A tea that develops as it lingers, well sustained by the astringency of the woody, vanilla notes and a few planty notes. €7.50/100g.

I'm working on my taste for Green Tea and Oolong/Wu-long, so got 100g of Tie Kuan Yin. Wu Long, intermediate fermentation (40%). The darkest and the most woody of the semi fermented teas from China. A beautiful amber infusion, which evokes cinnamon and liquorice. It is the Chinese’s favourite tea. I haven't tried it yet. It certainly smells like it will be a powerful brew. €6.00/100g

Last I ordered a fruity tea. Thé des Concubines. In creating Thé des Concubines, Le Palais des Thés wanted to recapture the unique, welcoming atmosphere of a Chinese tea house. This rare tea is a refined, delicate blend of green and black China teas with rich, fruity notes of cherry, mango and vanilla. Contains rose petals and pieces of fruit. I tried this one at work today before coming home. Tasted rather like a fruity-tea tea-bag. Pretty though. €5.00/100g.

Roadside Shrines

I can't exactly put my finger on why I have never been keen on the idea of roadside shrines to accident victims. I have always winced a little as I have driven past. Why do they make me feel uncomfortable?

I suppose on the one hand a shrine is a little bit Catholic. I think down here in the Westcountry we do seem to be very protestant in our tastes. Not showy. The overt nature of the shine is counter to that preference.

Something more though about grieving in general.

Are roadside shrines more common since we've more or less stopped burying our dead? Nowadays we get a cremation and an urn of ashes. We scatter the ashes. No headstone or memorial. 

My preference has been always to advise relatives dealing with the ashes to choose a favourite spot of the deceased where they will always be able to return to remember.

I don't think that the roadside is the best place to do this.

Surely by doing that we remember the death and are reminded of our grief.

Go instead to a favourite place and remember their life and in doing so it gradually helps our grief resolve. Don't lay a wreath on a verge on the anniversary of a death. Instead, visit the place you used to enjoy together on the anniversary of their birthday or something more vital.