I came across this book on NetGalley while I was randomly searching the graphic novel category. I was looking for a quick read and nearly skipped over DayBlack because vampires aren’t really my thing, but the cover art drew me in. DayBlack is about Merce, a former slave-turned-vampire who currently makes his living by giving tattoos to people. The tattoos don’t just make him money, they also provide him a steady supply of blood. He has a brother and a son (there’s an interesting subplot about how he came to have a son) and is basically just keeping himself busy to pass the time.
Though this debut volume is mostly backstory, I was riveted. Merce’s origin story is unique, as is his feeding method. There are a few disappointingly lame vampire tropes thrown into DayBlack, but I can’t help but feel Cross included them to be sarcastic. The most striking thing about DayBlack is the art. It is clearly African inspired and the characters are mostly people of color, and all of them have strong personalities. Cross didn’t spend enough time on them in the first volume for me to determine whether the characters are dynamic, but it’s refreshing to read something where the hero/heroins aren’t all fair-skinned damsels in distress.
However, DayBlack is not for everyone.
DayBlack is an adult’s graphic novel. There’s blood, violence, drugs, and a few images that could probably be considered softcore pornography. If you’d rather not see that stuff, then steer clear of this series.
For people who are used to more traditional comic/graphic novel art (i.e. East Asian-Style art or European/American art) might not appreciate DayBlack’s style. It’s extremely in-your-face, and almost the entire novel is colored with white, black, and red (Merce actually gives a reason for this while talking about his life). The humor in DayBlack is somewhat dark, I imagine Merce to deliver his dialogue in a deadpan manner.
I will say that even though I’m intrigued by the premise and curious about what will happen to Merce, I’m more interested in DayBlack for it’s art than anything else. I’m not terribly invested in the story, but I do like closure and DayBlack ends on a cliff hanger. It might be frustrating if all of the volumes end that way, but since this is just the first book, it makes sense. I’m giving a DayBlack a tentative recommendation level of 4 stars. I’m curious enough that I plan on buying the second volume, yet I don’t feel compelled to purchase it right away. The first volume of DayBlack came out in 2015, but I still haven’t heard a lot of buzz about it. I wonder if it’s because the audience never reached critical mass, or if it’s because other readers can’t quite decide what to make of it. It’s also possible that I’m simply not involved enough in the graphic novel circles and fandoms to have heard about it.
I’d love to write more about DayBlack, but it’s a graphic novel with just over 100 pages. If I give any more information than I already have, then this book will contain spoilers, and I haven’t downloaded a spoiler tag plugin yet (to hide the spoilers from people who don’t want to see them) so I’ll refrain from including them. Instead, I’ll include a few purchase and information links:
Side note: Do you like cheap used books? I’ve been using Thriftbooks for ages and have yet to be disappointed. Books are offered for as low as $3.59 and there’s a free sign up for a Reading Rewards program that gives you a coupon for every $50 you spend (trust me, you’ll hit that number sooner than you think). If you click on my Thriftbooks referral link, you’ll get a 15% discount off your first purchase and help keep this blog running. There’s free shipping in the continental U.S. for orders over $10. If you’re a teacher, you may also be eligible for discounts on classroom sets of books. Best of all, you’re reducing your carbon footprint by buying used books, receiving them in 100% recycled packaging, and choosing to optimize the shipping for your location and the amount of books you order. Can you even think of a better deal?!
If you missed the first part of this series, you can read it here.
11. Evaluate your commitments
I wasn’t quite sure what could be considered a commitment in this context. I could have chosen to focus on work, or I could have chosen to focus on promises I made to other people. Since my priorities were all personal, I decided that I would define commitments by groups of people. I chose to commit myself to self, family, friends, my significant other, and work. I purposely put work last, even though it ties into self. I have decided that people are more important to me than my job; I don’t want to be the kind of person who gets so wrapped up in work I forget my relationships.
12. Define your goals for 2017
I did this challenge throughout the month of July, which made it the perfect time to re-evaluate the goals and resolutions I made at the beginning of the year. I took each category of my priorities and listed one or two steps I can take towards improving myself, my life, or my relationships in those categories. The major categories are: religion, health, finances and dreams. My goal planning became the beginning of a longer, multi-year plan.
13. Clean out your dresser
I clean out my closet every year and donate the clothes I no longer wear, but I rarely go through my dresser. It took me several hours to sift through the three drawers, and I discovered tee-shirts and underwear that date back to kindergarten. Talk about embarrassing. I gave the tee-shirts to my mom so she could have keepsakes from when I was younger, but I donated the vast majority of the pajamas, socks, and miscellaneous clothing items.
14. Take a step towards a new skill
As a multi-potentialite, I want to try out and become proficient in a number of different skills. Though people like me have been historically called Jacks of All Trades (and masters of none), Emilie Wapnick suggests it isn’t always necessary to have “one true calling.” Since learning Blender (a 3D graphics engine) was next on my list of projects, I watched a few tutorials and made donuts dance. I also worked on an embroidery project I’ve had on the back burner for a while.
My daily habits suck, I’m not even going to lie. While I do get in a fair amount of reading and blogging, I also spend entirely too much time watching television and scrolling through social media. I only really watch TV when I’m in my parents’ house, but trying to kick the social media habit has been a serious challenge for me. Mindless scrolling makes me blissfully numb. It’s cathartic to scroll through everything while looking at nothing.
I’m also trying to balance my social media use as a blogger. I feel like we have to use Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc more and more to be successful. To be honest, I haven’t yet seen the fruit of my efforts, so perhaps its time for me to change tactics.
16. Don’t buy anything for 24 hours
This one was easy. I don’t buy much anyway. I bought bus tickets to New York for my friend’s engagement party, but that was it.
17. Practice single-tasking
I’m not even sure I properly completed this challenging. I single-tasked while doing a tea tasting, but I was taking notes and mentally drafting a post. Does that count? I set aside separate time for reading and watching TV, instead of reading during the commercial break which gives me a bit of a headache anyway.
18. Leave today unplanned
THIS WAS THE ABSOLUTE WORST CHALLENGE. Leaving the day unplanned gave me so much anxiety because I kept feeling like I was forgetting a really important task. I have a questionable short-term memory, especially when I’m stressed out so I have to write things down. Without my to-do list I felt lost all day. I prefer to have my day planned and allow for spontaneity. I don’t mind abandoning the list if I have one, but I can’t do without writing the list in the first place.
19. Go for a walk and practice mindfulness
I don’t go for walks in my neighborhood. Instead I waited until I was in New York to complete this challenge. I was walking around Times Square at around 6:30 AM and I must say it was an absolutely wonderful feeling. At that hour there is almost no traffic– neither pedestrian nor otherwise– but you can still experience the sights and sounds of the city. I felt the breeze on my skin, I heard far off traffic. It was exhilarating.
20. No TV all day– read instead
This one actually wasn’t too hard for me. I was traveling to New York so I didn’t have access to television anyway. I don’t really stream things on my phone, so I had no choice but to read. I think I was reading The Prophet and the Messiah at the time, but I eventually put the book on hold to read Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.
I truly enjoyed the minimalist challenge. The tasks gave me something to focus on during my long, uneventful summer days. Look out for the third and final part in a couple of weeks. If you’ve tried any of the tasks above, or if you have ideas for a new challenge, let me know!
I’ve been talking about using the gongfu brewing method for the past couple of weeks, but it occurred to me that I haven’t really gone into the details yet. I tried to give some necessary information in the first post, but I decided it would be better to simply give my gongfu explanation to its own post.
I personally believe that gongfu brewing is the ultimate mindfulness exercise. For those who don’t know, mindfulness is the action or process of being present in the moment and becoming aware of something. Mindfulness can extend to the realm of emotions by helping people acknowledge and accept the way they feel, but it can also include acknowledging external phenomena.
In Mandarin, “gongfu” (功夫) simply means “skill” or “art.” In the U.S. (and in other western countries?) we usually say “kung fu.” There’s a reason Kung Fu is called a martial art.
When it comes to tea, I interpret gongfu to refer to the art of brewing. I use the full gongfu process to take notes and write posts about tea, but when I’m just drinking tea for myself, I use a simplified brewing process. The following are the steps of the gongfu brewing process, with the steps I use in the simplified process in italics. I explain each step below the main list. If you’re more of a visual learner, scroll down and watch the brewing video below.
Weigh out the tea leaves and observe their appearance
Heat the utensils
Observe the aroma of the dry leaves
Rinse the tea ware with the tea
Observe the aroma of the tea liquor
Observe the aroma of the wet leaf
Serve the tea
Observe the color of the tea liquor
Observe the flavor of the tea
Step One: Weighing out the tea leaves and observing their appearance
I bought a pocket-sized kitchen scale specifically for weighing tea, though just about anything that’ll weigh leaves will work. You need something that can weigh in increments of grams (or ounces if you prefer, but I find grams easier to deal with since Chinese tea literature tends to use the metric system).
The amount of tea you need depends on the size of your gaiwan, the type of tea, and your personal preference. I use 5-6 grams for red tea, 5-8 grams for oolong, 1-2 grams for ripe pu’er, 5 grams for ripe pu’er, and 5 grams for white tea. Green tea typically is not brewed using the gongfu method. I’ll explain more in a future post, but basically you allow green tea to steep in a manner similar to western brewing.
Once I have weighed out the leaves, I place them on a small saucer (usually the one that comes with my gaiwan) and inspect them. I note the shape and color of the leaves, and check for broken pieces. Too many broken leaves means the tea is at best poorly processed and at worst poor quality. Broken leaves typically lead to bitter brews. There are many shapes and colors to look for, depending on the type of tea. I’ll give more information on that when I write posts about each individual type of tea.
Step Two: Heat the utensils
Usually, I start boiling the water before I weigh the tea. Since I’m using the stove, the water is just reaching optimal temperature by the time I write my notes on the appearance of the tea leaves.
After the water reaches the correct temperature (more on that later, in the individual tea posts), I pour some into the gaiwan then pour the gaiwan water into the fairness pitcher and swirl it around. Once I’ve heated the fairness pitcher, I pour the water into however many cups I need, then empty the pitcher and all of the cups. Warming the utensils prevents the temperature of the tea from dropping too quickly once it has been brewed. Temperature changes affect the taste of the tea. Sometimes I use a clay teapot instead of a gaiwan, but only if I’m in a tea house or if I’m brewing for company.
Basic gongfu tea cups. They are also called “three sip cups” because they are small. Image Source: Wanling Tea HouseA typical gaiwan. They come in all colors and sizes.One type of fairness pitcher, or gongdao bei (公道杯). Image Source: Yunnan Sourcing
Step Three: Observe the aroma of the tea leaves
Besides keeping the temperature of the tea steady, heating the utensils also serves another purpose: it makes it easier to detect the aroma of the leaves.
To smell the tea, pour your leaves into the heated gaiwan (after you’ve poured the water out!), cover it, and give it a little shake. Carefully lift the lid and sniff the aroma that comes off of the lid. You can also sniff the bowl of the gaiwan directly, but exercise caution when doing this because the gaiwan is hot.
While it is certainly possible to simply stick your nose in the tea and sniff, the heat of a gaiwan “awakens” the volatile compounds in the tea that give off its flavor and aroma. Use your imagination when describing the smell of the tea, whether you’re making notes for yourself or talking to others. If you’ve read the tea reviews I’ve posted so far, you know I use descriptors such as, “it smells like setting berries on fire.” I’ve tasted teas that smell like warehouses, fireplaces, and milk coffee. Anything that has a scent can be used to describe tea. It’s a purely subjective observation.
Step Four:Rinse the tea ware with the tea
This step is the true beginning of the actual brewing process. To brew tea using a gaiwan, fill the gaiwan with water (the tea leaves should already be in it), cover it, wait a few seconds, then pour the brew into the fairness pitcher, using the lid as a preliminary strainer. Once you are finished pouring, you can either remove the gaiwan lid and put it off to the side or simply slide it so there is a gap between the bowl and the lid. You do not want to leave the gaiwan closed; leaving it closed essentially cooks the tea. It’s not uncommon for some leaves to slip out of the gaiwan, which is why some people put strainers over their fairness pitchers for cleaner pours.
Rinsing the tea ware is essentially repeating the process in step two (heating the utensils), this time pouring water over the tea leaves in the gaiwan and using that first brew instead of pure water. This process reheats the tea ware and makes it easier to detect the aroma of the tea liquor.
Step Five: Observe the aroma of the tea liquor
Some gongfu tea setups include aroma cups, which are smaller but taller than tea cups. After rinsing the tea ware with the tea, flip the aroma cup upside down into the tea cup. When you lift the aroma cup slightly and bring your nose to it, you should be able to smell the tea. I don’t own aroma cups. Instead, I just sniff the fairness pitcher. You can also try smelling the tea cup, but because they are so shallow, the scent escapes quickly. As with smelling the leaves, let your imagination run wild.
Step Six: Observe the aroma of the wet leaf
CAUTION: STEAM CAN BURN YOU. To smell the wet leaf, bring your nose to either the lid of the gaiwan or the bowl and take a whiff. Because steam will still be rising off of these objects, be very careful.
Step Seven: Serve the tea
This is the fun part, brew the tea as you did in step four, this time waiting a few seconds longer before pouring it into the fairness pitcher. Pour the tea from the fairness pitcher into the tea cups. Tradition suggests you should pour the tea from left to right, but this matters less in informal settings.
Step Eight: Observe the color of the tea liquor
This step is somewhat self-explanatory: use your eyes to determine the color of the brew!
Step Nine: Observe the flavor of the tea
Even though the cups are called three sip cups, you can take as many or as few sips as you like. I like using three sips when I first try a tea because I can assess different things on each sip. The first sip is for gauging the texture of the tea. Is it thick and syrupy or thin like water? I use the second sip to thing about the flavor. Does the flavor make me feel warm inside, or do I get chills? Does it taste more like grass or like roses? The third sip is for the after taste. If I hadn’t been slurping the tea on the first two sips, I definitely slurp on the third. Slurping aerates the tea which changes the flavor slightly, especially if you’re drinking a phoenix oolong. After the last sip, I close my mouth and “chew” on the flavor. At this stage, the after taste starts dancing in my mouth. Is the after taste bitter or salty? Is the tea drying? Do I detect something surprising?
I’ve had trouble converting some of my friends to loose leaf tea. They insist that tea is bitter, but they’ve only tasted cheap tea bag teas. There’s a huge flavor difference between bagged teas and loose leaf teas. If you must buy bagged tea, try to get one with a fuller leaf. Tea is varied and complex. I often taste more flavors than I have words to describe. That’s partly why I decided to start posting tea reviews online, to try to put words to what I taste. I welcome additional opinions on all of the tea things I post.
One of my friends once described a tea as tasting like “tires covered in honey.” I can’t remember what tea it was, but I vaguely remember agreeing with her once I worked out in my mind what tires might taste like.
At the end of the day, tasting tea is fun. The above method may seem like a lot of work, but once you get the hang of it the steps go quickly, and you will find yourself opening your senses to the colors, smells, and tastes of the world. If you’re a coffee drinker, perhaps you can use a similar observation method for your brews, or even compare a light coffee to a strong tea. The possibilities are endless. Hopefully you’ll stay with me on this tea journey.
I do most of my shopping on amazon, so I’ve selected a few items that may help you get started. I haven’t picked any tea from amazon; I have yet to find one that’s actually worth recommending.
I was enamored with this book for a couple of days, but now that a few weeks have passed between my finishing the book and my writing this review, I have all but forgotten what was in between the pages. I became aware of How to be Black several years ago when one of my former English teacher posted a picture of her 14 month old daughter mock reading it on Facebook. I didn’t do much research, I figured if it was on her shelf I’d give it a read. I finally ordered the book last year because I saw a good deal for it on thirftbooks (I really recommend this site to people who like to read physical books) but I didn’t read it until this summer because I had the book shipped to my house rather than to school. I must say, the book cover makes quite an impression; the all black cover is not something one sees very often in a world full of flashy, bright book jackets. After reading the opening passages of How to be Black, I held out hope that the book could be added to my favorites list. I enjoyed Thurston’s wit and honesty, and braced myself for a beautiful racial satire. How to be Black, however, under-performed for me.
The writing style was a bit simplistic and some of the jokes seemed forced. Every now in then I read a joke that made me laugh out loud, but I don’t remember any of the punchlines anymore. Having read both Between the World and Me and Negroland, I found How to be Black to an excellent middle-man sort of book. Between the World and Me is deeply personal, emotive, and poignant while Negroland is stilted and icy. I deeply enjoyed both books, but for very different reasons. Between the World and Me tells the story of poverty and overcoming obstacles; Negroland tells the story of privilege. How to be Black illustrates the efforts of a Black mother to educate her son in Black culture while making sure he is educated by and interacts with White people. It’s sarcastic and light-hearted, and though there are excellent lessons woven throughout the narrative, the book as a whole shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
For those who are curious, yes, How to be Black does give step-by-step instructions on how to be Black. Thurston gives a to-do list for both Black and non-Black people, and even plays out a few hypothetical situations one might encounter in their quest for blackness. Obviously, all of his advice is tongue-in-cheek and some of it is based on stereotypes. Nonetheless, I believe Thurston handled the topic pretty well. I’m giving the book three stars because the book is good, but utterly forgettable. I’m not upset I read it, but I probably wouldn’t read it again. If you’re interested in ordering the book from Amazon, click the photo of the cover embedded above. Clicking through the thriftbooks link will take you to the website, where you can search for How to be Black.
Thurston, by the way, is an established comedian. He writes for The Onion, is “Jack” on Jack & Jill Politics, and has a solid stand-up career. I hadn’t heard any of his comedy before reading How to be Black, but I found the below video on YouTube and decided to share it. I’d say his stand-up comedy is pretty on par with his writing. Enjoy!
By now I’m guessing you all know that I read and taste test things a couple of weeks before I get around to publishing the article. Having tasted 4 of the 5 Teasenz tea samples I have on hand, I can say with certainty that this brand is a keeper. The leaves are of remarkable quality, and the prices are so low even an unemployed student can afford them.
For the sake of being concise, I’ve decided to make separate posts with pronunciations and gongfu information, because including all of that into each post is a little messy.
This week, I’m focusing on Yunnan Gold, a tea that will probably be forever seared into my memory. Yunnan Gold (云南金芽, yunnan jinya ) is a type of Dian Hong (滇红) tea. I first discovered Dian Hong about a year ago at my school’s cultural fair. After just one sip, my mouth exploded with the different flavors and colors of the tea, and I knew I would be interested in trying more.
When I received Teasenz samples, I was overjoyed to find not one, but two different types of Dian Hong. Until then, I’d only tried medium-grade Dian Hong, which has a mix of gold and brown leaves. Yunnan (Pure) Gold is the highest quality Dian Hong there is, named for the strikingly golden fur on the leaves. Despite traveling across the Pacific Ocean to reach my doorstep, Teasenz’s leaves kept their shape, color, and aroma. I teared up when I opened the package because the leaves were just that beautiful.
Because Yunnan Gold is a red tea, I chose to use 5 grams in a 100 ml gaiwan with water boiled to 100 degrees Celsius.
The dry leaves of Yunnan Gold smelled like artificial strawberry and grape flavorings (which I consider to
Dry Yunnan Gold Leaves
be a positive smell), with a lot of warmth and depth. I detected notes of mahogany furniture in the mix. When I added the water, they smelled like I had set berries on fire. The tea liquor was a vibrant yellow-orange/ amber, clouded by the tea’s fur. For some reason, the liquor smelled like a chlorinated pool. I’m guessing that has something to do with my water because several teas have had that smell. At any rate, Yunnan Gold’s tea liquor was much brighter than regular Dian Hong’s tea liquor.
When I took my first sip, I was somewhat disappointed by how thin it felt in my mouth. I expected the fur to give Yunnan Gold a thick, syrupy feeling but that was not the case.
Regardless, Yunnan Gold was super smooth; it slid over my tongue and felt like I was being wrapped in a plush blanket. Yunnan Gold’s flavor was much more delicate than other Dian Hongs I’ve tasted, and it was almost more floral than fruity.
The second brew was more orange than the first. It fell more on the red side of the color spectrum than the previous brew. As I continued drinking, I started to taste a metallic flavor dancing around the tea. At the same time, I discovered hints of mango chutney. The more I brewed the tea, the more the flavor began to resemble an unsmoked Lapsang Souchong. There was no bitterness in Yunnan Gold, but I did taste some of
Yunnan Gold (left) and low quality Dian Hong (right) Tea Liquor
the saltiness that is common among red teas. Each infusion lead to a slightly more red liquor; I found the transformation interesting to watch.
Yunnan Gold’s aftertaste is like perfume. It reminded me of Marc Jacob’s Daisy Eau So Fresh. That happens to be my favorite perfume, so I was more than pleased.
If you’re looking to try this fantastic tea, head on over to the Teasenz website.
Teasenz classifies this tea bar as ripe (“shou”) “pu’erh.” I’ve found that the spellings tend to vary slightly depending on the speaker’s region and native language. I tend to refer to the tea as either “pu’er” or “puer,” as I don’t believe the ‘h’ is necessary on the end. I also tend to say “shu” （熟）instead of “shou” for similar reasons. Just as an FYI, “pu’er” in Chinese is “普洱,” and is pronounced the same both in Mandarin and in English.
The packaging of Teasenz Pu’erh Tea BarThe back of the Teasenz Pu’erh Tea Bar package
I’m obsessed with the packaging of Teasenz’s Mini Pu’erh Tea Bar. The tea comes in the shape of a chocolate bar wrapped in eco-friendly kraft paper and stored in an unbleached cardboard box. I took several pictures because the packaging was so cute.
I had so much fun tasting Teasenz’s Mini Pu’erh Tea Bar. Each square portion weighs about 8 grams, so even though I usually only brew about 3-5 grams of ripe pu’er at a time, I decided to first brew and entire square in a 100ml gaiwan. The tea had a very slight fish smell which I found concerning, but the stronger scent was of soil. In general, I find that ripe pu’er smells more like soil than anything else. It was raining heavily in my city when the tea arrived; I figured that influenced the scent. When I warmed the gaiwan and placed the square inside, the fish smell gave way to a deeper, earthy smell. I poured boiling water (100C) over the leaves, closed the gaiwan and allowed the tea to brew for about 45 seconds. I poured this brew into the fairness pitcher and repeated the process. Once the tea had been rinsed, I poured the rinse water down the drain. Due to the processing methods of ripe pu’er, it’s important to rinse the tea at least once, and preferably two or three times to wash away any impurities and to open up the leaves.
After I’d finished rinsing the tea, I once again filled the gaiwan and allowed the tea to brew for 30 seconds. The resulting brew was absolutely awful. It was too concentrated for my taste. The color of the tea liquor was wonderfully red-brown– my mom described the color as “brandy,” but I don’t know what brandy looks like so I’ll take her word for it. The tea tasted just like it smelled, but it was bitter. I will admit, though, that the tea was incredibly smooth. It had a thick mouth feel and coated the tongue beautifully. If it weren’t for the bitter bite, this strong brew of the tea would have been wonderful. I actually gave the tea to my parents because I couldn’t finish it, and both of them enjoyed it immensely. My mother put a little bit of French vanilla creamer in it (she puts creamer in almost all coffees and teas) and my father drank the tea straight. He raved about the flavor and feeling.
Teasenz Tea Bar tea liquor
Because I don’t normally drink such strong pu’er, I decided to experiment further with this tea bar. I have a gaiwan that probably has about a 200ml capacity. I place the entire square in the larger gaiwan and put about 3 grams of tea into a standard 100ml gaiwan. I used boiling water for both and repeated the rinse process I used during the first brewing, then I brewed the tea normally. I noticed and immediate difference between the two fairness pitchers. The pitcher that contained the brew from the larger gaiwan appeared darker than the tea in the smaller gaiwan. Both brews were only slightly lighter than the first brew, though I was brewing in a different room at a different time of day, which may have affected my perception.
I found the brew from the larger gaiwan to be nearly as unpalatable as the first brew, but when I tasted the tea from the smaller gaiwan, which contained a slightly thinner brew, I started to detect hints of fruit. I’ve only ever tasted one ripe pu’er that I actually enjoyed, but that tea also had fruity and floral notes. I’ve found that ripe pu’er can be incredibly complex, but it has to be brewed the right way. The kind of pu’er one finds in a Chinese restaurant is usually so watered down the flavor is almost undetectable, so I’m in the process of finding a happy medium.
The brewing instructions on the tea bar package suggest using a teapot, but there is no indication how large the tea pot should be. I’m going to use the largest teapot I have (it holds something like 6 or 8 cups of tea) and see how that turns out. I’m also going to try using even less tea (1-2 grams) in a standard gaiwan to see how that affects the flavor. I definitely think the Teasenz Tea Bar is promising, and for people who regularly drink pu’er, I bet the tea is delicious. I, however, still need to find a flavor balance that works for me. As I write this, I’m still thinking of how comfortable the tea felt on my tongue. If only all teas had such a wonderful, velvety texture. As you’ll discover as I post more Teasenz reviews, Teasenz delivers tea of phenomenal quality. With a $5 flat-rate shipping fee WORLDWIDE (up to 2Kg) and very reasonably prices, I can definitely see myself ordering more Teasenz in the future.
Click here to explore the Teasenz website, or click here to go directly to their Pu’erh Tea Bar page. The small tea bar (50g) is only about $7 and the large tea bar (70g) is only about $10.
I’m so upset I’m actually heaving as I write this. Let me begin, as usual, by talking about the writing. While Fauenfelder’s writing skills are alright, this book clearly did not receive enough editing. Fauenfelder repeated himself almost every other page, which makes it feel like he really didn’t have much to say at all. It got to the point where I was ready to throw The Computer out the window is Fauenfelder mentioned Alan Turing’s suicide one more time. Some of this repetition could have been resolved with a little reorganization of the material, but clearly the author and editor couldn’t figure that out.
Speaking of organization, I can’t really tell what the theme of the chapters is for the book. At first it seems as if each chapter contains a specific time period in computing history, but because computer history is so fluid, and because most of the development occurred in the last 70 years, the chapters seem forced and at some point the organization switched from time-based to focusing on the type of machine. I think The Computer would have been much better if Fauenfelder has just stuck with a chronological history of computer development.
Organization aside, the font choice in this atrocious. Though I prefer serif fonts, I can deal with sans-serif fonts if they are applied consitently. The issue with The Computer is that each chapter begins with at least two full pages of bold, sans-serif 8(ish) point font that gave me a headache when I was trying to read it. I can’t stand reading chunks of bold text and I don’t understand why authors and editors think it’s a good idea. I read Ways of Seeing back in January and the entire book was in bold sans-serif font. Just…why? Beside the opening pages of every chapter, The Computer featured tiny but regular sans-serif font. I guess that’s not too bad.
I only read 100 pages of The Computer before I gave up and pretty much every chapter featured blank space. The pictures took up most of the pages and underneath or beside each picture there were little blurbs explaining the photo. As I said earlier, these blurbs became repetitive after a while. Like so many tech writers today, Fauenfelder is an Apple fanb0i who seems disgusted by Bill Gates and PC. Gates received only passing mention in the pages that I read, and it seemed like Fauenfelder believed Gates copied Jobs (although Jobs wasn’t exactly an honest person himself, and both Gates and Jobs took inspiration from the same people and machines). I did have fun flipping through the book and asking my parents about which machines they’ve used before (they were in the US military, so I imagine they say some pretty cool machines before computers became mainstream).
The Computer is very awkwardly sized. It’s about as tall and thick as an average novel, but it is much wider and the hard cover makes it incredibly heavy. This is certainly not a book you would want to carry around in your bag. Actually, the book doesn’t even fit neatly on my bookshelf unless I turn it on its side, which makes it impossible to read the title. The Computer is a coffee table book, the only problem is the book isn’t good enough to be featured on a coffee table. If you have the kind of guests that just look at the pictures I suppose there isn’t any harm in displaying the book, but if you have guests who actually read the books, spare them the headache. I love reading about computers and technology, and I tried so hard to finish this book but I couldn’t do it. I’m so frustrated I wasted my time and shelf space on such a derivative book.
I’m linking Amazon and Goodreads to be fair, but I’m by no means encouraging anyone to read this book.
This week, I became well acquainted with Mei Leaf’s Hu Xiao Qi Lan (who see-ow chi lan), or “Summer Haze.” I searched the internet for the characters for “Hu Xiao Qi Lan,” but the only thing I could find was “奇兰” (qi lan), which is a particular type of cliff tea. I typed in various combinations of characters for “hu” and “xiao” but I couldn’t find a combination that made sense. Since this tea came from Tiger Cliff in Fujian province, I’m guessing the “hu xiao” is “虎啸” which means “tiger.” In the end it doesn’t really matter; I don’t need the characters to identify the tea, and “qi lan” will likely be enough for me to find another similar tea and make comparisons. Part two of the tasting experience was not quite as delightful as part one, but that’s not to say it was unpleasant. Rather, qi lan simply isn’t my style. I’m used to darker, fuller-bodied oolongs. If I have to choose between cliff teas, phoenix oolongs and Tie Guan Yin (“tee-eh goo-won yeen”, Iron Goddess), I’m more likely to choose cliff teas. To me, Qi Lan seemed to be more on the lighter end of the cliff tea spectrum. Mei Leaf describes Qi Lan as having an “asian pear” flavor note… but I don’t particularly like pears. Still, the tea was very good.
Beginning brews of the Qi Lan tea liqour
I tasted the tea in a 100ml gaiwan and boiled the water to just under 100C. I don’t have a kettle that allows me to boil water to a specific temperature, so my only options are to either boil the water and wait for it to cool down or to bring the water to a boil then add cooler water until the temperature is right. I usually bring the water to a boil and pour it from a height so the water reaches the appropriate temperature before it reaches the tea leaves. There’s a little bit of splashing involved in this process, but my hands have been burnt so many times they pretty much don’t feel the heat anymore (this is also convenient when I’m cooking). As with Bei Dou, Qi Lan‘s leaves were long, dark and twisted. There were not a whole lot of broken leaf fragments in the package. I measured out 8 grams of tea for the first brew, because that’s my standard, but I also tried brewing just 5 grams of leaves, which is the amount Mei Leaf recommended. Generally, I prefer the flavorful impact of 8 gram brews, but Qi Lan’s flavor became murky and a little bitter when I used 8 grams. 5 grams of tea seemed to be just the right amount to bring out Qi Lan‘s personality.
The smell of the dry leaf was kind of citrusy– I agree with Mei Leaf’s “mangosteen” description. Wetting the leaf brought out the smokey/earthy aroma one finds in nearly all cliff teas. The first few brews yielded a tea liquor that was a fairly bright yellow-orange. The more I brewed the tea, the more yellow the tea liquor became. If I had to look at color alone, I would have never guessed the tea is a cliff oolong, because all of the cliff oolong’s I’ve tasted tend to stay on the red-brown spectrum.
Qi Lan has been by far one of the most interesting cliff oolong’s I’ve tasted to date. The mouth feel is rather thin, but the flavor is complex. The first thing I noticed was the overwhelming brightness of the flavor. If you compare Bei Dou side-by-side with Qi Lan, you’ll notice an immediate difference. Whereas Bei Dou and other cliff teas like Rou Gui (“row gooway”) tend to taste dark and heavy, Qi Lan has a lightness that doesn’t weigh down the tongue. The flavor continued to develop as I chewed on the aroma. Qi Lan reminded me of late spring and early summer fruits, while Bei Dou reminded me of mid-to-late autumn fruit. Bei Dou was a warm tea, but Qi Lan felt cool. Once I opened my mouth again, the flavor dissipated. Qi Lan doesn’t seem to have the long, lingering flavor of darker oolongs.
I still prefer the darker personality of Bei Dou, but Qi Lan is great for casual drinking. In fact, I used Qi Lan for western brews and cold brews that I put in bottles to take with me while I run errands. Qi Lan tastes great but it isn’t overwhelmingly powerful like other cliff teas. I would not, however, suggest drinking Qi Lan with meals that have strong flavors. Qi Lan is a little shy, and I can easily see it hiding behind the taste of a meat dish. As an experiment, though, it might be worth it to see what Qi Lan tastes like as a food flavoring. I wouldn’t use it to make tea eggs (that’d probably be weird) but I wonder if Qi Lan can be used as a cake flavoring. I’m much too incompetent in the kitchen to try it out, but I’d love to hear the results if any of you do wind up testing it.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of my favorite television personalities. In a time where there weren’t many intelligent Black people being featured on TV, Tyson provided me with visions of what I could aspire to achieve. My parents have always made sure my siblings and I had access to PBS, BBC or WHRO depending on which country we were in, so when Tyson came on Nova I watched every episode intently. I’d already been introduced to the solar system in school, and Tyson’s segment sparked my interest in astronomy and astrophysics. I later gave up being an astrophysicist, but I still enjoy learning about planetary sciences. Until I picked up Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, I hadn’t read any of Tyson’s books, but based on his television personality I believed he possessed the ability to write well.Though I’m already fairly current on recent astrological developments, I picked up Astrophysics for People in a Hurry because I desired to read text that had been written with care.
Fortunately, my inference was correct. Tyson’s text was easy to read and beautifully written. Though the reading level is relatively low compared to most adult nonfiction (it is approximately 5th-8th grade level, if that’s your reading level please do not read any shame into my statement. I’m happy whenever anyone reads, regardless of their level). The sentence structure is fantastic. Tyson clearly took time when choosing his words, and his liberal use of similes and metaphors make it easy to grasp the material. My main issue with the book is that is simply wasn’t enough information for me. I’m the sort of person who enjoys delving deep into topics; I like to become a temporary expert on a subject. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry delivers exactly what it promises: a briefing on the history of astrophysics and the inner workings of the universe. Though the book is 224 pages, the pages are short and not very wide. It took me approximately 30 seconds to a minute to read a page. For reference, it takes be about two minutes per page of average fiction, and about twice as long for average nonfiction. The book was a short, quick read, and was extremely portable. Astrophysics is so small, in fact, that some readers may have issues reading the text. I handed the book off to my dad, who has to hold the book almost at arm’s length to be able to read it (he’s far-sighted). Still, for those who travel or commute often, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is not a burden.
Obviously, I’m not an astrophysicist, so I have to take the information in the book at face value. Since I was aware of most of the things Tyson discusses, I assume the rest of the information is fairly correct and up to date. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of new information in the book. I was fairly disappointed that Astrophysics was so general, but perhaps I expected too much. After all, it’s difficult to have both breadth and depth in just a couple hundred pages. To be honest, Astrophysics reminded me of the Very Short Introduction series. Readers with no prior knowledge of astrophysics or astronomy will probably enjoy the book. For those who have seen Tyson’s television series or who have read his other books might not find this book very interesting. If I’m being objective, the book gets five stars. There’s plenty of information, the arguments make sense, and reading the book doesn’t feel like a chore. Because reviews are inherently subjective, however, I’m giving the book three stars. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry simply did not add anything other than a beautiful book cover to my life.
For more information, find Astrophysics for People in a Hurry on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever you normally get your books.
This week, I’m focusing on Yunnan Gold, a tea that will probably be forever seared into my memory. Yunnan Gold (云南金芽, yunnan jinya ) is a type of Dian Hong (滇红) tea. I first discovered Dian Hong about a year ago at my school’s cultural fair. After just one sip, my mouth exploded with the different flavors and colors of the tea, and I knew I would be interested in trying more.
This week, I became well acquainted with Mei Leaf’s Hu Xiao Qi Lan (who see-ow chi lan), or “
Perfect Leaves 
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