Violin in C Sharp

 I did a post like this last year - my top 21 songs of 2021 and had a lot of fun with it - so here we are again with the top 22 from this last year.  Expect most (if not all) songs to fall into the K-Pop genre because that has been my dominant genre of the year. As I said last year, my  Spotify wrapped gave pretty good insight into which songs got the most play from me on that service, but that doesn't take into account my non-Spotify listening or the songs that might not have gotten as much airplay even though I like them more.  Let's face it, songs released earlier in the year had more chances to get repeated plays after all. 22) The Astronaut by Jin Release date: 10/28/2022 This song didn't have a chance to make my Spotify Wrapped at all - but it is the song that best represents my musical journey for the last 3 months of 2022.  It's a farewell song from Jin as he and his other members head off to military service. In June, BTS announced that they would be t...

 This is not what I expected it to be. Let me explain.  I knew academically that Darjeeling varies greatly from one flush to another, but I had no idea a First flush would be SO different from the second and third flush Darjeeling that I'm more familiar with. The aroma is slightly dusty, but since I couldn't think what a Darjeeling is "supposed" to smell like, that didn't give me my first clue that I was in for a new experience.  My first clue was when I poured the leaf into my measuring spoon.  Look at it!  Even the leaf looks different than what I'm used to.  Some of those rolled leaves look GREEN.  Since when is there any green in a Darjeeling?  Darjeeling looks like a black oolong!  Doesn't it?? ..... Apparently not.  After a full 5 minute steep, this golden tea liquor was the darkest this first flush Darjeeling ever got.  Color me confused! I suppose I should pause here to talk about what a flush is.  Tea plants go dormant...

 I read the name of this blend and got VERY EXCITED!! How could I not?  My two favorite blends of tea are Chai and Earl Grey.  Putting them together.... I had very high hopes.  I opened the tin and .... blissful magic in the form of spices and bergamot wafted into the air like heaven escaping to greet me.  Ok... that's a bit poetic, but seriously, it smelled DAMN GOOD. The blend in the measuring spoon confused me a little, because the leaves in my chai blends tend to look more full leafed and this looked more like the sort of tea you find in a tea bag.  Still, I could also see the cardamom, cinnamon, clove and black pepper, so my anticipation grew. I steeped the brew and was pleasantly surprised to find that the bergamot aroma blended so pleasantly with the chai spice combo.  The dark red of the tea liquor made me realize that even though the leaf in the spoon had looked a bit off, that they had stuck with an Assam to use as the base (the standard in a...

 This one was quite the surprise.  I made it late at night because a house guest was looking for a tea that would help her sore throat and this seemed like it might fit the bill. As it is a Turmeric tinsane, I was predisposed to not like it.  I admit my prejudice against turmeric tinsanes. This time, I knew that the little stick bits were ashwagandha and I prepared myself for the strange hybrid of licorice and sassafras.  Of course, I also looked and saw what I thought appeared to be lemongrass - but I waved that off as my culinary brain getting in the way of my tea brain, because of course lemongrass wouldn't be in a tea blend...... The color, of course, was yellow as hell thanks to the turmeric.  I expected nothing less. The flavor - surprised the hell out of me.  Turmeric was NOT the dominant flavor for me!  Instead, it was almost a root beer sweet licorice top note with a black pepper finish and a lemongrass aftertaste. I mean... what the hell?...

 I am SOOOO glad that I did not drink this yesterday before the festival. #1, because I did not need a reason to loose my spot near the front to use a nasty port-a-potty and #2, because this is an AMAZING festival hangover blend.  It is EXACTLY what I needed today. Alright, back to the start - I was so happy when I opened this chai and could both see and smell the cloves and black pepper! This is a lot like their India's Original Masala Chai from day 2 - but with added vanilla.  It is delicious - even when I overbrewed it on the first steep.  (yes, a sin, I realize that).  Even over steeped, the astringency was not overpowering (like so many types of chai can go when over steeped).  The mistake of over steeping DOES hide the vanilla a bit.  However, adding a touch of sweet condensed milk into the mug brought the vanilla right to the forefront of the flavour where it had a lovely party with the clove, pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom.    Of note...

  Don't worry, you didn't miss a post - I skipped Day 8.  I promise I'll go back to it when I'm more in the mood for another turmeric blend. So, a basic Assam - nothing to get my expectations up, but I expect it to be a nice late afternoon tea break. Looking at the leaf though.... perhaps there is something here to get excited about?  Those are some nice golden tips I see there which implies that this might be a second flush Assam and not an early summer first flush.  I could look it up on the Vahdam website... but I'll steep it first.  The color alone will let me know if it's a first or second flush as first flush Assam is much golder in color and second flush is darker and redder. Yup, we're definitely working with a second flush Assam.  Oh goodie!  Why am I excited?  Well, most basic inexpensive Assam is first flush - no golden tips, no deep reddish color.  The second flush is picked later in the season.  Because it has longer to soak...

  I honestly had no idea what to expect from this blend. Based on the name alone, I thought perhaps something like the Day 1 Himalayan Green but... somehow.. sweet? Looking at the blend in the spoon.... confused me.  There is a lot going on there.  I could identify the Green Tea of course, as well as the cardamom, and turmeric - but there is a leaf in there that isn't the green tea leaf that I couldn't identify, as well as chunks of root that puzzled me.  I thought maybe... mallow root?  I decided not to investigate until after tasting. The color was... murkier than I expected.  It was almost the murk that I have come to expect from a pre-sweetened tea.  I assure you that my brow was quite furrowed as I stared and studied this during steeping. Flavor - the first thing that assaulted my palate was SWEET.  Dear god the sweet!!  And it wasn't sugar sweet it was.... sugar free sweet?  It was such a powerful sweet that I couldn't taste AYTHIN...