Kudos to Oz

Gong Fu-style brewing in a teapot. Twice as much tea as I'd normally use for a single pot. Boiling hot water. Only two minutes steeping, at least for the first infusion.

Have been watching hours and hours of international football (World Cup) lately. And holding down my job. And writing something here daily. And at least an hour everyday walking/running with the dogs. And getting up at dawn to write/play songs (the only time I'm sure I can get the solitude I need).

This tea drinking is one of the only things that explains all the energy I seem to have. That and the pact I've made with the devil. #robertjohnson

Two regular contributors here have recently gone AWOL. Asiatic Fox was a fresh new voice in tea drinking, but it seems he needs a bit of a break from tea drinking. Hope he makes it back. And Sir William of the Leaf is still out there, active at LeafBoxTea, visited the World Tea Expo in Vegas, but I haven't yet seen his report on it. Am curious if he met Kevin 'tea tattoo' Rose.

Oh, I almost forgot...recently got a shipment of tea from Claus Kröger in Hamburg. I really need to try a new supplier. Might order a shipment from the other wholesaler in Hamburg. The folks who introduced me to Flugtee. They're Darjeeling experts, and I'm completely obsessed with Darjeeling.

In case you're wondering about my amigo the teahobo, he's leaving for Calcutta and then Darjeeling this weekend. He's only left the US twice in his life (Vietnam and Cancun, Mesico) and is a bit daunted by the prospect of this journey to one of the most important tea growing areas of India.

The teahobo will send his reports to me by email, and I'll post them to his blog. He's not very technically advanced (he's an old guy people), so I'm happy to help him where I can. You can read his exploits at http://teahobo.blogspot.com.

Otherwise, I'll be doing all the things I listed above. I hope you're all enjoying your summer. For you lot in New Zealand/Australia, I know it's winter there. Hope you're freezing your asses off. It'll be summer soon enough. If you're cold, put on another pair of long underwear. Congrats on the new PM. I watched Paul Rudd's goodbye speech. Sad really. Did you really sack him because he didn't do enough for the environment? Wow.

I like the new chick. She's far easier on the eyes than Rudd was. Good job Aussies. Good job.